July 2007
Can anyone clarify the legal position on bonnet mascots?
In the olden days, many 'marques' have been fitted with such mascots - of varying aesthetic value. More recently, pedestrian injury concerns have led to these appendages being either spring-loaded, or removed completely.
I have, however, seen (for example) Jaguar mascots being attached to models which originally had none fitted. Are these legal (even if spring-loaded) - if the car was not equipped with them when type approved?
As for the 'naffness' factor - I refer to Alsatian (sorry, German Shepherd) dogs proudly sitting on a Range Rover bonnet...... Mmmmmm, nice! Read more
I've got an Audi a4 1.8 when I got the car the heaters did not blow hot air they only blow cold but last week i was out and they started to blow warm could any one tell me what's wrong the car as got climate control the engine temp runs at about 60C, the radiator is only just getting warm but the rest of the pipes around my engine bay are hot,what is my problem,(down the right side of my engine near the front there's 2 pipes that go in to something 1 is hot the other is cold)can anyone tell me what's wrong as I'm not really clued up on mechanics. Thank you,messa.....
Subject line tweaked along with some spelling corrections - PU, Read more
I would first replace the thermostat and flush the system. Then come back and tell us whats happening.
Hi there, I have an F reg Rascal van. I haven't used the van much since I bought it, but on a recent long motorway run (about an hour into the journey) the van started to stutter / hesitate when accelerating through the gears, from about 1000 rpm upwards in all gears. Once cruising at about 50 mph in 5th it runs fine and doesn't seem to lack power, but as soon as the speed drops the engine stutters when accelerating back up to top speed. Stopping and re-starting the engine can make the stuttering dissapear for a short time (a few mins), but then it appears again.
I serviced the van not long after buying it:
I changed the cambelt, spark plugs, fan belt, oil filter, air filter, gearbox and diff oil, adjusted the valve clearences and swapped the distributor points and condenser for electronic ignition. I haven't changed the fuel filter yet though, and I haven't touched the carb at all nor the coil or HT leads.
I re-timed the engine to 8 deg BTDC, the dwell angle is fine, both the mechanical advance and the vacuum advance seem to be operating correctly, the mixture and idle have been adjusted and the CO2 emissions seem fine.
Generally the engine appears to be in very good condition - no leaks, always starts first time and returns good economy of about 31 mpg.
I don't particularly recall this problem occuring before the service, but then I haven't been on a long journey before I serviced it.
Any ideas much appreciated!
Cheers Read more
Bedford Rascals did not have any acceleration so how could you tell if things changed.
Dell Dimension desktop came with a stick of RAM - 256 mb
When adding another 1 gb, does it matter which slot it goes in? If one puts it in the wrong slot, will it make any significant difference? Read more
Dalglish - that is an interesting Wikipedia page with some interesting links. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.
Pete
Mitsubishi L200 pick-up - does it qualify as a car, or is it a goods vehicle and subject to 50mph and 60mph limits on A roads and dual carriageways ?
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Go on, get out of the car...
www.mikes-walks.co.uk Read more
Thanks for the link JP!!
When I read it in the paper I'd missed HJ's reference to the Berlingo van having different limits to the multispace car variant; I'd assume a van had car limits on the basis of it's being indirectly derived from the 306/ZX, albieit with some 405 thrown in at the rear, and at least in most variants under 2000kg auw.
Is there a source for classification of specific vehicles on the DVLA or VoSa websites?
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Probably the birds were misguided migrants due to the strange weather we're getting !
Hi,
The passenger door on my wifes Astra is refusing to open. It is a 1998 1.6LS five door. One of the first of the newer shape.
The car just refused to unlock on that door a couple of days ago. I have removed the interior door panel and everything appears to be as the haynes manual describes. Using a meter I can see that the multiplug on the lock unit is getting a signal when the central locking is operated.
It appears to me that the lock unit itself has jammed. The problem is that to remove/replace the lock unit you need to be able to open the door......which I cant.
The door was in constant use as my daughter has her baby seat in the front, so I dont think its a case of the door itself sticking shut. I think it's the lock mechanism......but I could be wrong....
Anyone come across this before? Any advice?
Thanks,
Mark
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Making the assumption that a Corsa and the Astra are the same, I have had a similar problem. The fact that you refer to a connection implies it has central locking, yes? My local dealer merely shrugged and said 'the modules gone' which I believe meant that multiblock thing is shot. It was replaced on the driver's side but months after the fault re-occured. All I did was to reach down into the depths of the passenger door and fiddle about with all the wires. I think that somehow two of the connections had got too close and were shorting across. After I had made sure there was a gap between all the spade connectors ( by feel only) the system has worked OK. Just a word of caution - mine was complicated by the fact that a previous owner had fitted an after market alarm 'on top of' the VX central locking.
Hope this may be of some help? maybe I was just lucky!
Papho
I took my two year old Volvo V50 into a nationwide brakes specialist on Tuesday 3rd July because my brake pads appeared worn and would probably need replacing. I was informed that all four brake pads needed replacing and the job was completed in half an hour. When I left the branch I carried onto my work I noticed that the brakes were making an unusual screeching sound that seemed to be relieved once the brakes were applied. I am aware that new brake pads need to bed in so was prepared to suffer some noise, but it became apparent that after one hundred miles (home ? work twice) the noise was not diminishing. I took the car back to the nationwide brakes specialist on the 5th July and all the pads were replaced. I was informed that the pads seemed to be ?pitted and worn as if they were old pads? and would be returned to the manufacturer under warranty.
Another set of pads were fitted on July 11th after travelling 500 miles failed to cure the screeching noise. This new set were ordered specially be the nationwide brakes specialist parts dept who ?had experienced this once before on a V50?. They failed to make a difference and five miles down the road began to scream again. I telephoned the nationwide brakes specialist and was told that they would purchase genuine Volvo brake pads and these were fitted on July 18th. After travelling thirty miles down the M1, I had to leave the motorway because the screeching was causing other drivers alarm.
On 20th July I informed the nationwide brakes specialist that I needed to take the car into a Volvo main dealer to get them to remedy the situation. They agreed with the suggestion and said that they would inform their area manager. Volvo inspected the brake pads and before even removing them, stated that they were non-Volvo brake pads because the edges were square and not bevelled. The pads had also not been greased to enable them to fit properly in the brake shoes. On removing the pads they found that the front pads were manufactured by Fomico and the rear pads were UniPart ? neither were stamped Volvo brake pads.
I agreed to allow Volvo to remove and then bevel the edges of all the fitted brake pads and grease the shoes to allow for a correct fit which would take approximately an hour. The cost of the work was £160 + VAT. Having informed the nationwide brakes specialist, he said that they had definitely fitted genuine Volvo parts because he had the Volvo box in front of him which had been purchased from Volvo in St Albans. I informed him that there was no branch of Volvo in St Albans. He said that the ?Volvo? pads were not bevelled and therefore were the correct pads, having replaced the (third) set which, curiously, were. I told him that the Volvo main dealer considered bevelling the pads a normal procedure for correct fitting, but he said that would now invalidate the warranty - even though he suggested that it was a procedure that should only take about five minutes which is strange; Why wasn?t this procedure attempted by the nationwide brakes specialist on any of the previous sets of square pads then? I refuse to believe that bevelling the edges of the pads should invalidate the warranty.
I have suffered three weeks of brakes screeching and I have been more than patient with four visits to the nationwide brakes specialist. I have spent several hours having brake pads replaced without complaint since it was handled in such a courteous and professional manner. It is apparent that information for the correct specification and fitting of Volvo V50 brake pads has not been communicated to the nationwide brakes specialist fitters and that is a failure on the part of management. The fitters in the nationwide brakes specialist addmitted that mine was the first V50 they had ever fitted brake pads to, but that should not excuse the incorrect fitting.
Am I being unreasonable in asking for the cost of bevelling? - Even if it does sound steep at £188, since the nationwide brakes specialist could not fix the screeching after 4 sets of pads?
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Agree totally with Aprilla. Pads should be taken out of the box, a light smear of copper slip on the rear and a bit on the sliders to stop it seizing. They should then be fitted to the vehicle. Under NO circumstances should you need to start filing them. If any form of filing is required I would hand them back and say they are incorrect. Pads are fit and forget - all the thousands of pads I've ever fitted I've NEVER had to resort to using a file!!! I suggest you talk to the service manage of the Volvo dealership and ask him to show you which technical bulletin his mechanic got this advice from. I bet he can't produce the evidence.
I would also write to Volvo customer service to find out if this is common practice.
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These are the views of Robin the Technician with 35 years in the trade. I fix, therefore I am...
I want to check my rear brakes on my Citroen C3 - in the Haynes book it says to replace, as a matter of course, the dust cap and the hub nut (staked type) Is it REALLY necessary to replace these? Nut torques to 148ftlb then is staked. TYIA! Read more
I did ring one factor who advised a scrapyard...LOL!
Another didn't have them.
Citroen dealer here I come - I wanted to avoid them......
.... how dare I work on my own car!
Got a ticket the other day for parking outside the bay (width) Council would not accept the appeal - Is there a minimum size for bays ?
Got a medium size 4 x 4 and most of bays in Hull will not accomodate it so if appeal not succesful will not be going back there ! Read more
Parking bays in London vary enormously in both length and width, quite apart from the ones (on the Embankment for example) specifically intended for coachloads of open-mouthed provincial tourists.
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Waino asked
PU suggested
I do and it works a treat! Just remember to keep them sharp!
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e Prôf - Another Recycled Teenager