September 2007
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My Mazda MX5 1.8i (1996) has just been serviced (91k miles). Within a mile of driving home the engine started smoking. I would describe it as bluish. With the bonnet open, it was clearly coming from under the righthand-side block, from what I understand to be the cylinderhead. The guy who serviced it said that it had been empty of oil.
Recently the powersteering fluid was also completely empty. I replaced it and decided to watch it in case there was a leak, which I mentioned this to the service guys. But on the way home I heard the same groaning noise, so checked the fluid and it appears to be empty again even though the service checklist says it was replaced (the engine was still warm when I checked- perhaps this changes the level?)
On top of this the car has been making a tapping noise. I asked here a while ago and there were suggestions of tappits, so I asked the service guys to look. Basically, they say it is fine. They saw no leaks and the noise isn't anything they feel I should worry about. (Pat me on the head, I am a girl afterall! Ha)
I am completely unconvinced. I am worried that both the oil and PS fluid have needed completely topping-up in less than a month and that the tapping noise is something doing serious damage. Any suggestions/thoughts/knowledge would be much appreciated! Alternatively where can I find a decent mechanic in SW17?!
s
Thank you! Read more
Sorry, website is mx5parts.co.uk
Made from neoprene and Genuine Mazda, the camshaft cover gasket deteriorates with age, becoming too hard to effectively seal the cover.
Always use the Genuine Mazda gasket as aftermarket copies are often too thin to seal effectively
only £10.83 inc vat (list price £21.11)
www.mx5parts.co.uk/product_info.php/products_id/240
There you go, straight from the horse(power)'s mouth.
I've just had my 2002 Mondeo successfully passing the MOT. The garage has advised that the "rear crossmember bushes are starting to perish" but it passed the MOT as the deterioration "was not resulting in excessive movement".
Would appreciate if you could advise what I should be looking for (as a driver - not a mechanic) to detect any further deterioration and how much the job should cost to put things right when the time comes. I seem to reacall HJ advising that Ford have a tool for this job which considerably reduces the cost/time.
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Mine needed replacing at 3yrs 4mths (102,000 miles). Job done at local Ford Rapid Fit, cost £195 plus £25 to realign tracking, total £220 using non-Ford parts. Using Ford parts would have been an extra £130.
I am thinking of buying a 1.6 Mini one,i have looked at the official fuel figures but as these are normally way out what can i expect to get mpg motorway commuting and general use ta
Andrew.
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If you get better than the urban consumption from a car then smile!
SWMBO Getz just manages that even on long runs.
A strange problem seems to have occurred on my 1997 MK2 Mondeo. One of the rear doors seems to have gone into double locking mode. It will not open from the inside or outside. The handle moves from the inside as if it is "double locking" mode in a way that it seems to be disabled.
All the other three doors unlock and lock fine with the remote and when using the key. As the troubled door is unable to be opened I do not seem to be in a position to strip it down or examine the mechanism etc. Any help would be much appreciated.
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I had this problem: rear door deadlocked and childlocked and not responding to the central locking with either the key or the fob. Tried removing the fuse - no joy.
I first took apart the working door to see what I was dealing with. Then, on the malfunctioning door, I took to the interior door card with a screwdriver and a stanley knife and managed to remove the centre part of it. Behind this I cut through the foam so I could see into the door.
Now the clever bit. First I unplugged the electrics from the lock. Using a small mirror stuck with blu-tack to the back of the door and a tiny LED torch so I could see what I was doing, I took a welding wire bent to the right shape and poked it into the slot at the back of the lock.
There is a tiny wheel shaped component inside the lock which is pale yellow. Turning this a bit (it has a little lug on it that sticks out) undoes the deadlock. I could then open the door from the outside. Ta Da !
All I need now is a new door card and a new lock. I might try mending the door card as I made a neat job of cutting a hole in it.
I did notice that the inside of both doors was gopping wet.
Can anyone give me some advice? I have a 2001 206 hdi (2 litre) , its sound apart from the fact that my digital mileage display has just gone off, not sure where to start, could it be a fuse but nothing else has gone, now I don?t know what miles to the gallon I am doing or how many miles I have done.
I would take to a garage but think it could cost me an arm and a leg.
Any ideas I could try?
Shouting amended (ie, the UPPER CASE text), and header made less vague - DD} Read more
I have a feeling the digital odometer in Pugs relies on a backlight (orange digits on a black background?) - if so, the bulb's probably blown. Allow a couple of hours and you can change it yourself, just need to remove the instrument panel. They're tiny little bulbs (I've done one before on a Nissan), Halfords sell them for £2. So, if you're confident enough doing the work, it'll cost you £2, whereas adding £60 for a garage's labour will take you further into "arm and leg" territory.
Hello everybody, i am new here. Sorry for my english, i am italian.
I have elsawin 3.30 but i am having big problems using it.
Almost every page get me an error "internet explorer scripts".
I run it on windows 2000 ....updated...but i don't think system is the problem.
I already tried to re-install it but always the same errors.
For example: if i go to electrical data not a single page is working, always the same error.
Do you think it is something about corrupted data??
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Not I would suggest very sensible >>
The point is, as dial-up is rather laboured, I would not have wanted automatic update to start without input from myself. In most cases all the updates available at the time were downloaded when I was ready and had devoted a session for that purpose. However I did not use SP2, even though I now do have the SP2 CD ROM from Microsoft.
I think i may be right in saying that cars under 5 years old, maybe longer, are fitted with alarms and/or immobilisers as standard. If your car is fitted with these security devices do you still use any other security devices like krooklock, steerlock, autolock etc. devices that covers the steering wheel etc or any other devices.
Have not seen any cars under 5 years old fitted with these devices. Plenty on older cars.
{Slight tweek to header as all cars come with a factory fit steering lock of some description - DD} Read more
I saw one fitted to car on the lower deck of a P&O ferry a
few weeks ago! Either a creature of habit or someone very frightened of life!
Or maybe someone going on holiday with a car full of valuables, and thought they might as well stick it on rather than leave it in the garage?!
Hi guys,
I've got a 2005 Mazda 6 and a few months back I started to notice an occasional external squealing sound from the left-hand side of the car which occured when accelerating round left-hand bends. Twitching the wheel to the right stopped the noise, so I presumed it was something to do with the power steering and thought I'd get it checked out when it got taken in for it's 2nd service, as it was fairly infrequent and didn't sound too bad. (My dealer isn't local so 'popping in' isn't possible)
Now the service is due and it's starting to get worse - it's squealing for a fair amount of any journey now, but still seems to be louder when steering to the left. I'd never associated the noise with the brakes before , but tonight it started making a similar noise when braking.
Now I can tell at a glance the state of the pads on my Focus, but the pads on the Mazda are obscured by the rest of the brake components so I can't tell easily - I might have to take the wheels off to get a good look at them. I was also presuming that if the pads were worn through to the metal that the discs would be noticeably scarred and they appear to be fine. (NB. I bought the car at 16k miles and it's currently on 25k - I've no idea if the pads have been changed previously, but I suspect not)
Does anyone have any thoughts on whether this is steering or brake related ?
If it's the steering, then it'll hopefully get sorted under warranty but if it's the pads, then I'd prefer to know beforehand and hopefully even change them myself.
Does anyone have experience of changing front and/or rear pads on a Mazda 6 ?
Cheers.
s
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You're right guys - I'd not heard of this 'screeching' brake pad wear indication before so hadn't had reason to check in the manual, but I finally tracked down a couple of lines on the matter on page 5-10 :
"Brake Pad Wear Indicator - when the disc pads become worn, the built-in wear indicators contact the disc plates. This causes a screeching noise to warn that the pads should be replaced."
However - I've checked all the pads on the car and they are all fine. The pads on the front look almost new in terms of wear and those on the back are more heavily worn, but still have plenty of life left in them and should be good until next year at least.
Do they screech way before they get to the minimum thickness ? If I was being cynical, I'd suspect that the screeching is a way of Mazda trying to get you to change your pads more often !
Incidently - is it normal for rear pads to wear down first ? (I'm presuming that the pads have not been changed since new) I've only ever had cars with rear drums before, so am not sure of the brake force distribution when you have discs all round.
I might as well get Mazda to look at it when it goes in for it's 2nd service next week. If it is a dodgy caliper, what are my chances at being able to get that done under warranty ? They shouldn't go after 26k miles, surely ?
I have a Vauxhall Corsa Life 1.2 53 reg and the horn does not work. Had the horn and electrics checked and it appears that the fault probably lies with the wiring to the horn from the press buttons on the steering wheel. Does anybody know how to gain access to the buttons so that the wiring can be checked at that end? It looks like the cover on the steering wheel has to be removed which is a worry due to the airbag and not wanting to set it off or damage it. Read more
Any ideas where to locate it on the car?
Fuse box (under the bonnet) most likely.
We bought our current house at the beginning of the year and were working to a strict timescale as we'd sold, gone into rented and the lease was up! We made our offer on the basis that we had to exchange and complete by specific dates and the offer was accepted by the vendors on that basis.
To me, the fact that your purchaser didn't do this and withdrew rather than insist that you proceed within an exact timescale, suggests they've had a change of plans.