August 2007
what is the correct grade of engine oil for this car? castrol website says 0w 30 and local honda dealer says 10w 40? Read more
My new car overheat today. I have changed the thermostat which seems to have helped, been out for an hour in it and hasn't overheated but didn't get stuck in traffic so couldn't tell. The fan is not kicking in as early as I like the only time I have seen it work was when it overheated but I suspect it needs to come on earlier.
Does anybody know where this switch is I just cannot seem to find it and I do not have a Haynes manual.
It is the 1.3 Endura E.
The radiator has a few kinks in it but seems to work fine (it is hot to touch) and you can feel the water pumping through as normal. Read more
It could seize, but then the belt would squeak. Basically it cant (AFAIK).
just heard a colleague had his car towed for having no tax.
Apparently it's £160 release fee, plus you'll need to provide a valid tax disc before they'll release it.
But it also has no current MOT.
So how do you get the tax without the MOT, when you can't get the MOT because the car's impounded?
Just curious how they'll handle this. Read more
If it has been towed by DVLA they will not require a valid tax disc (or MOT or INS ) to release the vehicle. All they require is the release fee.
which will be about £80 within the first 24 hours (from the time of 1st clamping)
after 24 hours you will (if towed away) be charged for the towing fee another £80.
If they towed you immediately they do not charge for the tow until 24 hours has passed, (because they gave you no opportunity to pay before the tow).
After this they will also charge you a storage fee per day.
On top of the release fee is a deposit of I dunno... £100? which if you tax the vehicle within 7 or 14 days (I forget which) You will have returned to your credit card. You have to show the tax disc to a the people at the storge compound or your nerest DVLA office who will fax a form to the clamping compound saying the tax disc has been shown. and you get your deposit back.
I was at Europort a few weeks back and saw only one UK car with beam deflectors on,
Is depressing the headlights to the lowest position an alternative? and is this the likely reason?
Read more
I was just wondering whether they are at all compulsory to have headlight deflectors.
I am referring to the pdf document provided by theAA:...
Friend?s car (75k miles) is suffering an intermittent fault. Brought to idle a few miles after a cold start it misfires badly. EML sometimes illuminates. Misfire won?t clear until car is switched of and restarted, after which the problem will not occur for the rest of the day. In addition the EML sometimes illuminates when driving without causing any obvious problems with the car?s running.
MB dealer charges £250 for diagnostic and says ?unknown? fault code, finds one cylinder slightly low on compression (3 at 11 bar, one at 9bar I believe) and suggests fitting new cylinder head for £3k. Friend leaves MB dealer??..
Specialist confirms the above (for free), including unknown fault code. Thinks problem may be coil packs, but these show up as OK under test. He offers head repair for much more reasonable price, indicating it may be a sticking valve. Friend is going along with this. He?s going to keep the car for a while; reasons a burnt out valve won?t get any better and it eliminates one possibility.
We still think it may be electrical, but thought coil packs would tend to fail completely and not intermittently. Why does it happen only once after a cold start? Any suggestions greatly appreciated.
JS
Read more
Update - haven't seen it myself, but I'm told that the head came off and one inlet valve guide was found to be loose in the head. The associated valve and seat are both slightly burned, hence the low compression. The theory is that this guide moved during warm up, held the valve off the seat, and caused the 'misfire' - actually a spell on 3 cylinders as that one lost compression - and the consequent burning of the seat. When the engine stopped it went back into place. So, just as well this problem is sorted. Head is away for repair. We shall see......
JS
Yesterday I did a very vulgar booze run to Calais, so in the space of a few hours joined the P and O ferry traffic both ways.
I was struck by how few cars/vans had bothered to display GB stickers or plates. That included some very newy-registered cars where I would have thought it would be the norm now, rather than the exception, to specify a GB plate when buying it.
P and O , both at Dover and on the ferry, made announcements re Euro driving requirements ( obviously hopeful of selling some kits) but few people took any notice.
It's not like people had rushed there at short notice- there were some very-elaborately organised roof racks/Thule boxes/trailers - but for some reason a lot of people ignore a basic requirement which I think has been the law for 20 years , and where as I understand it French police can have an on-the-spot fine from you .
It seems very arrogant behaviour but is there some deep-seated philosophical/political objection I haven't spotted?
Read more
One week to Germany next month, Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance
UK Airport Hotel and 8 days parking £92
Flights for 2 and checked in baggage £86
7 days hire of a Focus estate £160
That is about £350. At say, 30p a mile, plus a channel crossing I don't think you can get your own car from Dover to Bavaria and back for less than £350. That's only my take on it and I do agree about the faff at the airports BTW!
A friend of mine is at his wits end with his X5 whose battery keeps going flat after a week or so.
It's been into the local BMW dealer numerous times, for new battery (x2), new ignition switch, new alternator (£1000!) but still the battery flatens after a week or so.
Any suggestions on a technical level, or recomendations for a company that will diagnose the problem?
Thanks in advance
MVP
Read more
Alll BMW dealers should have a data logger system that they can connect to the car to monitor the quiescent current drain on the battery. When the ignition is turned off there is a 'shutdown sequence' as the various ECU's etc turn off - there is a spec for this sequence and for the quiescent current drain and the dealer should compare this against the current graph show on the logger.
It could be many things. I had a 7-series that had a fault with the system that applies pressure to the wiper blades. On a 5-series I had a fault with the heater ECU - difficult to find but by chance I heard the heater valves randomly 'chatter' whilst I was working on the engine. In both cases the battery would go flat overnight.
i own a 1997 p reg fiesta 1400cc zetec 16v ghia x and when the engine starts to warm up its making a loud ticking sound from the engine department, the ticking sound increases and decreases depending on the throttle but there is no smoke, oil loss ect but i hear if you use the wrong oil it can damage the engine? its done 109k miles any thing wrong/damage done or is it a case of a sticky valve/tappet
thanks Read more
oh and forsgot to say, tends to wobble/vibrate if i go over 4k rpm (??) the car shakes but not through the wheels but only if im driving, if i free wheel it doesnt do it.
thanks again/
Why does HJ always refer to the 2001 Mondeo as a mk2, Ford call it Mk3, everyone else in the world calls it a mk3! Mondeo MK1 was 1992, MK2 1996 and MK3 2001, Mk4 2007. I've owned a Mk2 and a Mk3.
Rant over. (phew)
[Subject line edited to remove hysterics...it's only a Mondeo, calm down dear. ;-) PG] Read more
For info HJ has now sorted this.
Regards.
Hi guys i am new to the forum and would like some advice. I own a 2005 mondeo zetec s 2.0 tdci hatch which i bought from new. The car has done 56000 miles from new and has been fully maintained by my local ford dealer.
A week ago last monday (20th) i started her up after doing a 30 mile motorway run and then i was in a meeting for an hour, so she was still relatively warm and she was spluttering at around 500 rpm,couldnt rev it, smokin very very lump, smelt of diesel, so very quickly turned her off. tried again after and then the same problem again no throttle response etc. Had to get recovery at my expense back to dealers.
So i hired a car as their initial thoughts were fuel contamination, they tried a different tank of derv and she still wouldnt run, then they had to wait for some engine updates and as they not a massive dealership some guy had to come from there main branch.
So this morning he presents me with a cup of green coloured liquid and said its contamination, look at those tiny little particles in the fuel, he said they were going to reprogramme and drain the tank (after they had already done this once). I questioned that the fuel filter was at fault as surely it was its job to stop these black particles reaching the engine, anyway i left him to it and said i would be back at 4 to see what the problem was.
At 3:30 i get a call from the girl on the service desk saying its not good news, the "head is cracked" i asked her what caused this and she basically said driving too fast or long motorway runs, i explained i need my car for business use, therefore it is of no benefit to me to abuse it. Anyway i arrive at 4 and talk straight to the mechanic, who showed me the cracks, i showed the girl from the desk the problem, she said the service manager is coming in the morning to get a fuel sample analysed, i explained this should be under warranty she says talk to this guy tomorrow etc, etc blah blah. So i took a sample of derv from my car just in case things get hairy, i can then get an independant analysis.
Please see the following page forn pics of the damage, i have highlighted the issues in green, let me know what you guys think about this, the car showed no faults before this happened it just came up.
www.putfile.com/andymarshal/images/141693
Thanks for any help in advance
Andy Read more
Looking at the pics, it's the mouting faces and stud holes for the camshaft retaining caps that have cracked.
There is NO WAY contaminated fuel would cause that.
It is a) a faulty head casting b) bad assembly (over- or undertightening at the factory)
It's a warranty job, no question. Those parts should never fail in service.
Browse
The cheapest API-SL spec 10w40 semi-synthetic you can find. No brand-names, no fancy 0W30 "Edge" nonsense. Just plain old oil, as per most other non-Ford petrol engines. Local motor factors should sell 5 litres for well under £15.