June 2007
Some of us can still remember the Unipart advert: 'the answer's "yes" - now what's the question?'!
Can anyone tell me whether Unipart service items - plugs, filters etc. - are of reasonable quality? Are they OE manufacturer's re-badged parts, or made specifically to Unipart's specs?
I'm not even sure if the brand exists anymore, but parts come up fairly frequently on a certain internet auction site....... Read more
I have a new neighbour 3 doors up and he has a customised Impreza. Now when he starts engine it is left idling for a while before he drives away. Both whilst it is idling and driving, the noise it makes is ridiculous. You can feel it vibrate through the house, it is enough to waken you.
This is exhaust / engine noise, not radio!
Is there rules on how noisy cars can be? Read more
There is a railway near our house and we get a lot of noise from trains, which I don't mind EXCEPT that there is a short section of worn old clickety clack track that hasn't been replaced by welded track and the train wheels make very loud noises as they go over the joints.
Looking for some advise on the running costs a 2.0 WRX STi PPP. What can I expect to pay for services etc.
I'll be doing roughly 20k per year so what kind of maintanence costs are involved, for example brakes, tyres and anything else? Read more
I didn't notice the 20k per year in the original post. I'd agree, not the ideal car for that. I'd have kittens leaving it in a carpark anywhere and hard suspension on a long run would be very tiring.
How about a Legacy 3 litre Spec B? Comfortable despite 18'' wheels, discreet, fast enough (0-60 6.5 secs), good handling although not quite in the Impreza's class but better than anything else of the size for the money. I get 30 mpg on a long run driven sensibly now it's run in, dropping to an average of 25-26 mpg in local use and using the power. All the toys including a good built-in sat nav and you can get them relatively cheaply. Well screwed together and reliable, Good discounts are available. Have a look on www.subaru.co.uk and use the used car locator.
Just read another post about bleeding the clutch when you do the brakes. I am about to bleed my brake system and refill with new fluid. How does one bleed the clutch on an 02 plate TDCi mondeo? Presume it shared same system as brakes? Read more
I would bleed the clutch to renew the fluid in the pipe and slave cylinder or it will polute the reservoir if not bleed. Bleed it slowly as rapid bleeding can draw in air as some cars reservoir has a flow limit into the Clutch section and it will run out before the brake section drops too low. This done so a clutch pipe ir seal failure does not empty the reservoir and cause brake failure. Regards Peter
Hi,
I have a Ford S-Max and would like to change my head unit to an aftermarket head unit for more features.
My only question concerns that fact that my car has factory fitted bluetooth so that my mobile phone hooks up with the car and all calls go through the stereo and integral microphone.
I assume that the bluetooth unit is not part of the head unit as the same head unit is also fitted in S-Maxes without bluetooth. However, the head unit does display the number that is calling me when my phone rings.
If I take this Ford head unit out, will the BT work with an aftermarket head unit?
If not, if I fit a HU with built in bluetooth to connect to my phone, will it use my integral microphone in my car? If not, how do I speak when connected to a call?
I'm not that 'up' on ICE so any help is most welcome. Read more
Reply to a post I put on the Nokia discussion website says it does work on N70 but there are minor issues. A new version due in about a months time. Not anywhere near to getting a new car yet (and have not decided if it will be the new Mondeo).
Hi, I have a Vreg focus 1.4 hatch. Just been down to a garage as my exhaust needed replacing. I have since found out that the manifold flexi pipe has a hole in it and its going to cost a lot to get a new one. I have rung round all the salvage yards but can't find one for a 1.4, will one from a 1.6 fit or can you get a repair patch for the pipe? Any help on this would be much appreciated.
thanks. Read more
I have a 1.8i Mk1 Focus and as far as I know, the manifold and flex pipe are separate, on all the Mk1 models at least.
On the 1.4 and 1.6, the flex pipe joins the exhaust manifold to the (if it's still original) one piece rear section which contains the (horizontally mounted) catalytic converter and the two silencers.
On the 1.8 and 2l models, the cat is mounted vertically between the manifold and the flex pipe and the flex pipe is joined to the original one-piece rear containing the two silencers.
As for cost - the flex pipe for my 1.8i cost £68 including fitting at ATS which I got replaced at the same time as the centre and rear silencers (£170 in total)
The flex pipe from Ford would have been £82, but of course you'd have any fitting charges on top of that (I certainly wasn't going to tackle those bolts after 70,000 miles !)
I found getting Focus exhaust prices online quite tricky. One I did find was www.onlineautomotive.co.uk - my flex pipe was around £62 (incl. VAT and delivery) for comparison.
Need some advice regards how I stand regards getting my money back on a car I purchased last week.
I purchased the car (bmw) on the 5/6/07 for £4000 from a trader. The trader has various high end models on his for court. I was told by the sales man that the car needed valeting and a service and this was why the car was so cheap. He tried to tell me this car would be worth £5999 if they valeted it etc (max value £4500 in my eyes). The car sales man wrote down on the receipt 'no warranty implied or given, sold as seen & tested. The sales man told me the car was from a friend of the bosses and he would sell it to his mother it was that good a car.
The car came with 11 months MOT which was passed by another garage not the trader. After driving back home, the next day I notice my drive way was covered in oil. I rang my friend a mechanic and he came and had a look. To his amazement he could not believe a trader had let this car out for sale.
1.The head gasket had been incorrectly fitted and was leaking.
This was only the start of it, I took the car to another garage to let them have a look at it,they told me the car would not pass an MOT and should not be on the road. Corroded brake pipes,corroded disks and only working at 20% at the back,rear suspension bushes the list goes on and on. 5 major things would stop it from passing the MOT and the head gasket was on top of all that.
I took the car back to the garage and asked them to look over the list the other garage had picked up on. I told the manager I no longer wanted the car and would like a refund. He responded with 'I will only fix a few things on the list which he deemed appropriate'. The car is not road worthy and is not fit for purpose. He told me it was not his problem the car would fail the MOT because he didn't do the last MOT.
Does anyone know the obligations of a trader? Do they have to check the car before they sell it, as this trader claims he doesn't. Surely this is not right as even Trading Standards state that just because a car has its MOT it does not make it road worthy.
Any advice?
{Subject header made less vague - DD}
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Just to be negative. as though you haven't had enough problems.
If/when you get judgement in your favour, that is most certainly not the end of it. The judgement has to be enforced, which IIRC, means another trip back to the Court.
In one of my earlier posts in this saga, I mentioned getting the bailiffs on your side, have a word with them - does the defendant have other unsatisfied warrants? Is he a man of straw? Is he a limited company or a sole trader?
If a sole trader is the house full of stuff on HP or on rental? The bailiffs cannot seize certain items essential to living or the tools of his trade. There may not be much left worth seizing.
Good luck.
Hi everyone, I don't know if anyone can help?
My FIL has a 2004 Golf 1.4 Match (last of the Mk IVs), and is having problems with the instrument panel. Whilst the rev-counter, odometer, temperature gauge and trip computer all seem to work fine, the speedometer has packed up completely.
Also, the fuel gauge only reads correctly until the car is driven, at which point the needle floats around randomly and the Engine Check light is permanently illuminated. This seems to have come about as the result of checking a couple of fuses to attempt to solve another problem...
Could a disturbance of the fuses cause this problem? If anyone can give us any ideas we would be very grateful. Read more
UPDATE
The car is now sorted.
Following a telephone call to the local main dealer who quoted £70 just to look at the problem, FIL called the local VW independant specialist (W H Jervis, Stoke on Trent). Despite being visibly busy, they diagnosed the problem with the dashboard AND repaired the initial fault (a non-opening front passenger door) on the spot. The fee for all of this was £5! Needless to say, Jervis's received a decent tip and the promise of much future custom.
Thanks again to elekie doctor.
Been reading a few topics about the power loss issue my car seems to have. it could be the PFPB sensor thing or the EGR valve.
Where exactly is the EGR valve on this engine? I pulled a vacuum hose of the little round thing which is bolted above the turbo and plugged the hose before driving off to test it. Basically there was no turbo after that. reconnected and it ran ok.
There is also a similar thing that could be the EGR valve to the front left of the engine as you look at the car from the front. This also has a vacuum hose which connects to it and the valve seems to connect to the hose from the intercooler. Which one is which?
Also how do I establish if it is a sticky EGR valve or the controller (PFPB)??? Read more
When the EGR went on mine the first time it had poor acceleration upto around 1800rpm - you could put your foot flat on the floor and hardly any acceleration. And then after about 1800rpm it started accelerating fairly normally.
The next time the second EGR failed the car started reving strangely and then it just died and would not restart at all.
So from my experience of EGR failure (one stuck open and the other closed?) I do not think it's your EGR. But as others say it is apparently easy to remove and clean out.
Can you please advise me on where I can find the fuel filter on a TDCi mondeo (52 plate). Then how do i change it? Believe you need to prime it once done.
cheers
Subject heading altered to give others a clue ! - PU Read more
Dear oh Dear. Just to put the record straight, I can work on cars and always dop my own work on them apart from plugging it into a computer. I asked these questions as I dont want to make a hash of the fuel/oil filter changes. Also as I have no manual I needed someone to point them out to me. If I wanted to have a go and mess it up I would have done so without anyones advice!
Anyway, many thanks for replys as have helped me out.
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Hi,
Not 100% sure but I believe it will probably be a federal Mogul one - (Fram) probably the worlds largest (they make champion plugs). Surprisingly there aren't that many filter manufacturers on the planet and those of any size generally produce reasonable product.
Unipart filters are good value for money and top quality - they have to be otherwise we wouldn't sell hundreds of thousands a year.
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These are the views of Robin the Technician with 35 years in the trade. I fix, therefore I am...