July 2007
06 Avensis 2.2 D4D hatchback
I had my towbar & electrics fitted by a professional company but the interior lights fuse blows. Toyota dealership says the feed is taken from the boot light so the circuit is overloaded, towbar company says its 'in the manual and should work'. Where should the feed be taken from? Direct from battery, via a fused link?
Keith Read more
I have a 2003 Saab 9-5 2.2 Tid which recently had its water pump replaced after it had been leaking pretty badly for about a week. A week or so later it shredded and threw off the auxiliary drive belt - driving the ACC, power steering, water pump (not the timing belt, fortunately). This was repaired at the roadside but it has now partially shredded the new drive belt again some fifty miles later. The crankshaft pulley appears to be slightly bent; when the engine is running it looks as though the outer edge is wobbling from side to side.
Could this have been done when the first belt snapped and was thrown off? is anything else likely to have been damaged? the car is due to be recovered (again!) tomorrow. Read more
Hi
Most likely the vibration damper (rubber insert) in the pulley that has broken up and may well be from when the water pump was done.
I often forget to check tyre pressure for a long time!
Anyway, while searching for a pressure monitoring system, I came accross this device
www.savemoneyoncars.co.uk/tyre-pressure-monitor.asp
Seems resonably priced. Does anyone have experience of this or similar device?
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Generally, what a load of old cobblers!
I check my tyres once a week.
I tend to overinflate them by 5 psi. (I do a lot of motorway driving and it reduces fuel consumption).
If you bother to know your car you can soon gauge whether the tyres appear low. Tyres do not lose pressure over, say, a one month period unless there is a problem. So, if you usually have 32psi and you find that it has dropped to 26, then you have hole somewhere.
Hi all, don't laugh but I've just bought a used Vauxhall Sintra. My 6yr old daughter played with the spare key fob during the purchase and now the car's power lock unlock still works fine. However, the alarm will not cancel until it has gone off.this is what happens , I press the unlock button on the key fob and all the car locks unlock, I then open the car door and the siren sounds . I then have to press the unlock button again to cancel the alarm. I've contacted Vauxhall about this and they would be happy to fix it for around 100 quid, id rather buy everybody on my street ear defenders. Please help me if anyone knows of a fix Read more
The Sintra, being built in the USA, doesn't have many systems in common with European Opel/Vauxhalls - the alarm is one of them.
Try the Vauxhall Owners' Network ( www.vauxhallownersnetwork.co.uk ) for advice - don't hold your breath, not many Sintras were sold, so not many owners!
I have a problem with the speedo on my Citroen Xsara. I got the car jump started yesterday and when it was jump started the needle on the Speedo whizzed all of the way round so that instead of resting at 0 MPH, it just points straight down.
Could it be possible to jump start it again to try to see if the needle jumps back? Is it okay to jump start a car that doesn't need a jump start without damaging the car? Read more
Hello all,
I recently saw a motorbike on biketraker advertised as new, unused and unregistered. The advertiser has paid for the bike in full but has never had the opportunity to pick it up from the dealer due to an unfortunate personal circumstance. The bike is still at the dealer and has not been registered yet e.g. no owners from new. The dealer is over 200miles away so make a journey to view is too far.
I've spoken to the dealer who has backed up this guys story so I know there's no fowl play going on. On this basis I agreed to make the purchase as the price is quite reasonable.
The dealer wouldn't accept the money on behalf of this guy as they said taking in the cash would conflict with the end of month figures.
Anyway, I've paid the moneys in full direct to this guys bank account and will pick up the bike tomorrow. I could have paid a deposit but thought this was the quickest method to get things sorted.
I'm assuming worst case here but....
Where do I stand if I get to the dealers and it turns out there is something damaged on the bike or it's not as described? Does the dealer take responsibility?
Can I reject the vehicle/claim my money back bearing in mind I'm not actually accepting the goods and it's still on the dealers property?
I've not actually signed anything yet to say I'm having it - apart from depositing my cash into someones account.
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anyone heard from avit yet? wonder how he got on.
I'm sure this has been covered before, but I can't find it with a search. What is the best way to remove biro from leather seats? Read more
Thanks everyone, baby wipes got most of it off and a little bit of aftershave on a cotton bud the rest! I suspect if I'd noticed it straight away last night I would have only needed the baby wipes.
Hi, taking the Mk2 Renault Scenic to France next month, the headlamp lenses are plastic if you are familiar with these.
What ones are recommended by yourselves.
Thank you Read more
Most headlights have a hatched zone on them that marks the area of the beam that needs to be masked to prevent dipped lights dazzling oncoming drivers.
Take duct tape and cut it to shape to cover the hatched area. I do that, and I've driven about 4,000 miles in France, Belgium and Holland since last October.
I've not been stopped once, except in broad daylight when the Dutch police were checking IDs and nothing else.
My FiL bought a brand new car from an internet company in September 2006. He collected the car from the company premises and it was exactly what he had specified with only 3 miles on the clock. Taking the car back to Northern Ireland he was told by the firm's Director that the V5 would follow but that he should be prepared to wait several months for this.
Six months passed and no sign of the V5. He rang the seller who was puzzled but agreed to send out a duplicate and to wait up to 21 days. June came and went then he rang again to say it hadn't arrived. They were even more puzzled but again agreed to send a duplicate on 5 July and to wait up to 14 days. The document has still not arrived and it's the 25 July (albeit there have bee 2 postal strikes). The odds of something getting lost in the post 3 times over the space of 9 months must be astronomical
His car is due to be taxed at the end of and he's getting really concerned. I've checked the DVLA website and the vehicle is registered with them. Assuming that the V5 doesn't arrive this time what are his options as regards ensuring that he is the recorded as the Registered Keeper of the vehicle? Can he simply apply top DVLA for a duplicate when they don't seem to have asked to send out an original in the first place?
Any advice must appreciated.
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re. your friend here:
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=52260&...f
q. is he your f-i-l ?
Yes, Daglish, both friend and FiL!
A while back I mentioned that my dads old pug 405 was on its way out (burning more oil from the sump than the tank). So anyway, last week it finally died and broke down in rather spectacular fashion - lots of smoke and oil pouring out of the engine. This was on Thursday, my dad doesn't have any breakdown cover so on Saturday we went to tow it home.
However, when we arrived at the spot where it had been left - it wasn't there!
So far we have contacted, Trace, the local council and the police - it's nowhere to be found and the police think it was probably stolen. The car is all legal and wasn't parked on yellow lines or anything like that, although it was on an unlit country road on a large sweeping bend, parked just before a width restriction.
There's no way the car could have been driven, it was as dead as they get (my dad flattened the battery in some vain hope it would start) so if it has indeed been stolen it would have to be towed.
I find it hard to believe the car has been stolen (who would nick a 13 year 405? with a knackered engine?) and I'm worried that there's been some sort of admin error and the car is sitting in a yard racking up a massive storage charge.
Anyone got any ideas?
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>>who would nick a 13 year 405? with a knackered engine
It might have been taken for banger racing,(saves them buying a car to wreck) if so, you wont recognise it anyway,you wont want it back either...
Browse
Thanks for this - you've triggered a recolletion, a couple of years back my local Toyota franchise displayed (Toyota) chiller boxes in the boot. Maybe there's a connector (for an optional boot cigar lighter socket) hidden away some place or perhaps the lead had to run through the split rear seats to the power outlet at the back of the centre console.