September 2007
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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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.
ive got a 2001 saxo 1.1 with 36 k on clock..
for about 2 yrs on and off now the engine has been coughing and spluttering at low speed ie 30mph in 4th gear.
ive had it plugged in to a diagnostic and it came back clear and tried a new coilpack but still the same
it might sound mad but its seems to agitate it more if i go over a bump in the road..
if i take it for a good blast up the motorway it runs great for a day or so but then the problem comes back..
please help....truckerdann..
Moved over from Discussion - PU Read more
Not really; but it does sound a bit Italian..... [Shades of Monza...?]
The Marelli 1AP ECU has a common fault of wild timing fluctuations which do set a false knock sensor code; it's actually an effect of ECU back-spiking from a failed coilpack.
As a new sensor cured yours; it's nice to know that the code can be genuine - at least sometimes.
Hi,
My mondeo has been playing up for a while now. When I turn the key, it makes a whining sound and will not start, the engine does not appear to be turning, there is just the whining sound. This may happen 4 or 5 times and then the engine may start, or it may not start at all, and i have to come back later, or it may just start first time.
I took it into the Ford dealership, and they replaced the starter motor. It worked fine for about a month, then the problem came back. I returned it to them, and again, it worked fine for about a month, but has just started playing up again.
Any help would be really great.
Thank you all,
James
S Read more
Is it expensive or not Aprilia?
The price is about right for main dealer. What I meant was that its a dreadfully involved (and therefore expensive) job. Fords are supposed to be the working man's car - I think they need to look at the design of their cars with a view to reducing repair costs. They are getting dear to fix (parts prices and labour times).
My Accord Tourer has done 46k in just over a year and a half. I thought a follow-up review might be of use to people.
It remains thirsty - real world mpg averages 40, I've managed 43.7 on a tank recently, but that was 95% motorway, aircon off and 70 mph on cruise. Talk of 55 is just fantasy.
Dealers are not impressive, on the 37.5k service the oil was overfilled by nearly 2 litres - 50% of engine capacity. I had to fight to get this sorted for free, the offending dealer wanted to just have it drained, the dealer in London I?d taken it to felt this was unacceptable, and eventually gave up and paid themselves to change the oil ? kudos to Bromley Honda.
The centre console was changed under warranty because the lid mechanism wasn't working properly. The paint on the bonnet is very thin indeed - there are several stone chips starting to rust. It doesn't tramline on Pirelli P6000 Powergy tyres.
The alternator blew at 20k miles, boiling the battery and ruining a holiday in France when the recovery company and Honda France were completely unable to sort it for nearly two weeks. Honda UK were brilliant - they intervened all guns blazing and got us sorted out, so due credit to them. (A long discussion of this is in the archive here somewhere - I was pretty upset at the time).
It remains comfortable, is still lovely to drive (although the gear-change is perhaps not quite as silky as it once was), and the interior has held up well. The front speakers buzz, something the dealer has refused to sort, and there is the merest hint of a rattle from door trim, but overall it doesn't feel like a 46k car.
So, the main dealer is useless, the paint is thin and it has a drink problem. Otherwise it is pretty brilliant.
G
s Read more
I seriously considered one of these when I opted out of my company car - in fact I had one on test for a few days, and if there had been an auto version I probably would have bought it.
The Honda (it was 5 speed then) was probably the most bearable of the manuals with an easy gear change and extremely flexible engine but in the end I bought a nearly new MB C270CDi Estate (auto).
Reading the fuel consumption figures on the Accord makes me smile - I can get 50MPG from the Merc on long motorway runs if I try, and pressing on it'll do 45. OK, short journeys around town it's pretty awful - it feels a heavy car and it takes a while for the engine to warm up (the a/c apparently works in reverse to heat the cabin though) - but I tend to use our Jazz for those anyway.
Hi I have a metalic blue 306 1994 2 door 1.9 turbo diesel but I can't find the paint code as the sticker is missing from the front suspension strut I have rung main dealer cars not on Peugeot database any ideas how to find the code Thanks Neil Read more
No offence taken PU, I just felt a bit embarassed that I'd completely ignored a very useful link and gone off into Google-land to find the answer myself!
Does anyone know what the recommended mileage is?
s Read more
According to Autodata ...
Up to 2000 : Replacement every 72,000 miles or 6 years ...
2000 on : Check and replace if necessary every 36,000 miles and replacement every 72,000 or 6 years ...
As a rule, I'm not a fan of "personalised" number plates or anything silly like that but this idea has popped into my head and I can't get it out now, so here goes. I've looked around the web but can't find any information on this, so maybe someone here could help.
I've recently bought a new car to replace my trusty Vectra. She is a gorgeous MG ZT (no laughing at the back, she is truly a fantastic motor!) so I'm spending a lot of time standing in the kitchen gazing lovingly out of the window at her. I'm looking at the registration plate and my mind starts wandering thinking about the registration numbers of my previous cars, and then this idea popped in.
My very first car was a 1982 Ford Fiesta mk1 and as such, had a suffix style registration in the form XYZ 123Y. Nothing special about it that would make anyone want it, much less "cherish" it. Now obviously this car is long gone (scrapped), and I started wondering what happened to that registration number, is it gone for good? Is it sitting on computer somewhere? The DVLA? Somewhere else? And really what I want to know is, is there any way of getting it back and putting on my new car? This would be purely for reasons of nostalgia, nothing else, and to be honest I've got a feeling it's a non-starter but can anyone shed any light on the situation..? Read more
I had a Rover 75 estate, then a saloon, both from brand new, both in Diesel and automatic.
The best cars I have ever owned, and far superior, IMHO to BM's and all that mallarkey.
I was really gutted when Rover went down the pan.
Initially replaced the Rover with a Mercedes CLK, which I thought was pants.
Replaced it with a Renault, which is sort of OK, but nothing like as good as the Rover.
But better than the Merc.
Honestly.
Any advise would be most appreciated !
On cold start up (usually) a large cloud of greyish smoke comes out of the exhaust (I can smell it whilst sat in the car) and the revs seems to hunt a little until the engine gets warm - my local Ford main dealer couldnt find anything wrong and I am about to ask him to look again.
Once warmed up the car drives normally and fuel consumption is unchanged.
Many thanks.
{Subject header amended to include problem - DD}
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Take the engine over 4,000rpm regularly-it will make the valves rotate in relation to their seats-they don't rotate at lower rpm.A lot of big diesels(lorries) have rotators built into the valve operating system to even out the wear but manufacturers of small engines rely on the engine being revved occasionally.
We recently got a 15" LCD TV with built in freeview, currently in the kitchen, it is great.
However it has no front panel power switch, only a rear mounted rocker switch that is clearly not for every day use, we have switched it off at the wall when away though otherwise have used the remote as advised in the manual. The TV has a crystalbrite gloss screen and areas of shiny (though tasteful) plastic that attract dust so we have taken to throwing a teatowel over it to keep the dust off.
Yesterday we were out for a few hours and opened the front door to the sound of the TV, there had been a power cut and the TV had switched itself on as the power supply was reconnected.
The TV had been on for nearly two hours (we could tell from our oven clock when the powercut had been) and was rather hot under the tea towel, who knows whether it could have dangerously over heated if left much longer. However aside from the danger of it being covered it could have been on for days or weeks if we had been away from home.
Lessons:
Dont cover an appliance that is on standby.
Always switch the power off if out of the house.
Nevertheless it is perhaps a bad design to have no front panel power switch AND to be on by default when its power is reconnected. Read more
You can buy them for under £20. Woolworth's Value line etc. They all (afaik) have timers - allowing fresh bread at breakfast time. I use mine pretty much the whole time.
The only feature I've ever envied from the more expensive ones is for a small loaf. Some come with two sizes of bread tin. How large is your family?
Use vegetable oil, not olive oil, otherwise you get a strange flavour.
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 ?