July 2007
Hi All,
I'm about to take my car for it's mot and am worried about a hole in the front valence. It's an area where it rusted through - i've so far rubbed it down and painted with rust inhibitor plus a coat of primer but have yet to actually fill the hole with the mesh and filler I have.
The hole is about 4" by 4" and located just forward of the wheel arch low down.
Waddya reckon? i want to take my time filling the hole at the weekend and do a good job but mot due this week and if necessay i'll do it one night after work
Thanks very much,
J
{Subject header slightly amended - DD} Read more
I would like your expert and personal feedback on Ibiza TDi please. I've never driven a VAG TDi car but I used to have a Polo 1.9D R plate and it was completely trouble free motoring for the period I had it (over a year to be precise). So I'm quite keen to go for a TDi this time but I don't want a big car. So far I've narrowed down my options to Ibiza and Golf TDi, Vauxhall Astra 1.7DTi and Mazda 323 diesel. Many Thanks as always!
edited to make it searchable under the new drop down dodas - PU Read more
A generic MAF can be bought on eBay shops for £25 + post. (Best of British Rover Spares)
It takes no more than ten minutes to fit this type as it comes with the moulded plastic mounting. All you have to do is unbolt the old one, unclip the air hose, (strong clip - I use a pair of stilsons to re-compress it when putting it back) and reverse the process.
My car, (a Skoda 1.9tdi), now goes better than new, but find that the generic MAF increases the fuel consumption: this, of course, may be due to my right foot now getting the car to move along a bit!
--
Roger. (Costa del Sol, España)
Anyone had small bumper scruffs removed by specialist firms? I have a small scuff on a plastic bumper and need a rough idea of cost. Read more
How deep are the scuffs ? Do they go all the way through the paint ?
My wife left our S60 parked the other day and came back to find the corner of the rear bumper pretty badly scuffed.
The had really thumped the car and kept going along the rear panel, taking the paint off to the plastic on the clip in plastic protector. They had hit the bumper hard enough to dislodge it from the plastic clips in the rear wing.
I took the protector out and had it resprayed at a local bodyshop for £13.50 all in.
The rest of the bumper I used a scratch remover on. It cleaned the paint up pretty well there is now only a minor kink in the plastic which I may be able to remove at a later date with a hairdryer if I can be bothered.
I sometimes see reviews of say Peugeot 207, and think that I wouldn't mind one, but then to see it in the flesh, looks so cramped and undersized (though they are bigger than the outgoing generation) next to my large saloon.
Now I understand that we live in an overcrowded country full of undersized parking spaces, narrow roads, and small cars are also cheaper to buy and run, if that's a concern, but is there anybody that really *likes* them, other than as a consequence of our undersized nation? Read more
True to a point but two of the most comfortable cars I've driven over any
distance were the Pug 104
Ahh, the dear old Pug 104!
I had a very early 4-door (i.e. no hatch) 104 in my youth and I too have happy memories of driving it long distances - 2 journeys from Hemel Hempstead to Dartmouth and to South Wales stand out. Somehow less was more!
We are currently holding off a trip to Cardiff - should have gone tonight, but we have seen it is still raining in the south west and having lived in Gloucester know the problems we could encounter.
We are considering tomorrow, but are the M42, M5, M50 passable? Five live were saying avoid the M5 between junctions 7 and 11, but no websites or ceefax pages say there is a problem on any motorway.
Anyone more local than me know anymore? Read more
Did the trip last Tuesday morning and if it hadn't been for TV coverage you wouldn't have been aware of floods. Only flooded area we saw was where the M50 cross the Severn south of Upton on Severn, but flooding there isn't unusual. We saw a couple of drinking water tankers on the M5. The Wye was at the top of it's banks at Ross too, but no flooding.
On the way back yesterday I had one of those 'you think you've seen it all moments'. An extremely impatient driver decided he was too important to remain in the traffic where the M42 and M6 toll merge (6 lanes going to 4), so decided to overtake me on the cross hatching, then remained in the outside lane until 300m before the M42 splits and then made his move to join the M42. Avoid any 03 registered 2.0TDi Zafiras in dark blue registered in Birmingham - this thing was smoking like the Ttitanic and giving out huge lumps of black smoke during cruise - I'm sure his three unstrapped kids enjoyed the rollercoaster ride though.
Hi,
I have had new tappets fitted in my 2000 mk1 alhambra, is there any processes i need to follow in the next few thousand miles to bed the tappets.......or can i just drive as normal.
{Car details added to subject header - DD} Read more
thanks mate
The Laguna 2's quality problems have been well documented on various forums. My question is did the 'face lift' of 2005 do anything to improve the quality and reliability of the car. I am looking at a very reasonably priced 2006 1.9dci and have in mind this particular engines history of Turbo/intercooler failing and engine distruction. Have these problems been sorted? Or do I steer well clear!!!!! Read more
Not disrespecting Renault or Renault car owners but I really don't understand why people buy
second hand Renault cars? I made this mistake back in 2003 by buying a megane
and I learnt my lesson!
I bought a 1997 1.6 Megane in 2004 (£1k), kept it for three years, and in the time suffered a power steering fluid leak fixed cheaply with a back-street repair (Renault part would have been several hundred), a small head gasket oil leak which corroded exhaust (which needed replacement), new head gasket was fitted for about £100. It also needed a lambda filter to pass MOT emissions test, plus general consumables, i.e. oil, oil filter, break pads, etc.
At no time did it fail to start, or break down, and could be relied on to get us to and from our destination.
Eventually written off after to a tyre blow-out at high speed caused by poor tracking which had caused wear to tyres.
We had a VW LT35 recovered today - flood damage. The driver said that the van just stopped, and that the water was at headlamp (air intake) level.
Apparently he was able to move the van from the flood water by using the starter motor whilst in gear. Someone offered him a tow start, and eventually the rear wheels locked.
The engine is now 'solid' and in the process of being stripped down.
My best guess so far is that the initial flood of water into the air filter totally blocked it, causing the engine to stall through lack of air, and that subsequent attempts to move and restart it have caused terminal damage. It might be worth bearing this in mind if you encounter floods.
{originally posted in Tech Matters, but has now become more of a general discussion, so moved across - DD} Read more
The insurance have just settled up.. straight off....
Offered me the car back at 23% of the value they put on it .. erm which I did, now all I need is some luck to get the engine rebuilt...
why do news reporters have to stand in flood water up to there armpits to tell us something we all ready know? or stand outside a house of a family who have been massacred by a mad axe man , oh and lets not forget the abundance of cut flowers at tragic road accidents (sad as it is) by complete strangers !! self indulgence at the extreme... Read more
Hi all, today i saw a VW passat that looked very much like my own standard W plate car. Obvious difference at this fleeting glance was the badge in the middle of the boot. In stead of the standard VW was a brown badge with the wolf's head in the middle and "Wolfsburg Edition" (or similar) around the edge. A quick search on the net points to the USA but I'd swear it was right hand drive but may be wrong. Can anybody enlighten me please. Thanks, Deecee. Read more
It's not difficult to get Wolsfburg badges - there were a few very limited wolfsburg edition golfs but nowadays most cars badged up are wolfsburg are just imitations, i'd hazard a guess that this passat is one too
Browse
Thanks folks,
It's a BMW E21 - netti.nic.fi/~salpa/bmw/bmw315.jpg is a link to a pic of one (tho not as pretty as mine!). This shot shows quite nicely the area I mean. The valence is non-structural and one-piece and goes around the front of the car (below the bumper) back as far as the front wheels. It bolts to the wings on either side beneath the bumper. The hole goes right to the lowest point of the valence where there is just a about 1/4" of good metal below but this doesn't quite meet in the middle, if you get what i mean?.
Cheers,
J