September 2007
Hi,
The fuel tank door on my Mondeo is broken. Basically, a small piece of plastic (it's the bit that should act as the door catch) has snapped , which prevents the door staying closed. Blu Tac has temporarily rescued me, but it's not very pretty and not much of a deterent to fuel thieves!
I bought the car used, and was surprised to see that the very same thing must have happened in the past, as I found an identical plastic catch rattling around inside the fuel tank door space when attempting to super glue my bit of plastic back on (it won't glue back, of course!).
So, I suspect that this is not as rare as I'd first thought. Does anyone know how much it'd probably be to get it sorted out?
Many thanks in advance. Cheers!
s Read more
My Mazda 6 is ready for its 75k mile service. Mazda dealer wants around £260 for this and of course I get my service book stamped (its up to date so far from previous owners who had it "officially" serviced by Mazda dealers)
There are independant servicing companies that I've spotted on the net who claim they will also stamp the book once the job is done eg. Prestige Car Servicing - around £220 for this but they do collect and return the car in that price.
Which one should I go for? ie. is having the book stamped really worth the money in the long run (residual values when I come to sell on the car?) or should I just get it serviced partly myself (oil/filter change etc.) and perhaps more complicated bits at a local garage and forgo the book stamping.
Any advice greatly appreciated.
Andy
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Hi just got my Nissan Tino last week its a 2002 model ,as days go by you start to notice things about the car you didn't notice when i first got it... hope this is normal just noticed when you start the car first thing in the morning you can hear a very very slight knocking noise just for a 5- 10 sec period then it goes away is this normal, its a 1.8 twin cam very slight knocking i may say any help would be great thanks
s Read more
Normal characteristic of these engines - about 5 ticks before it runs quietly. Is just
the timing chain waiting to be lubricated. Correct oil is 10w40 semi-synth.
Yeah my QG18DE does this as well. Four or five ticks and then silence.
It worried me at first but it hasn't got any worse so I just ignore it now.
Hi I have 306 t diesel when I drive around town at normal speed theres no judder but when going on the motorway it judders badly I have changed the discs and pads last week something else I have noticed is when you speed up on the motorway the steering pulls slighty to near side for a moment but then centres up again the drivers side outer edge of the tyre is slightly rough the near side tyre is perfect any ideas would be helpful
Thanks in advance Neil Read more
Peugeot 306
Hi again I had a brake judder a while ago and solved it by moving the the wheels (back to front)around this was after changing discs/ pads etc all was well until I got two new front tyres now the judder is back took the car back they checked the balancing and said it was fine they thought it was discs so I have swapped them (discs) over to a spare set cleaned up the calipers and it was fine for a few miles then it started again always happens when slowing down from 60 ish when the speed hits just over 40 the judder starts the judder is mostly through the steering wheel I am now wondering what has changed where the old tyres out of balance they did shake a bit at 60 could it be a sticking caliper not giving full contact was the old wheels covering this up any ideas as this is really getting to be a pain
Thanks Neil
Does anyone have the tightening sequence and torque value for the head bolts on this engine please? Thank you. Read more
Thank you to you all.
hi, is anyone doing any special offers on semi synthetic oil at the minute? thanks
s Read more
You'll probably get a better response if you post your investigations here.
Where?
I have just borrowed my daughter's Xsara Picasso, and tried to fill it up. Ignition key fits the filler lock, but the key won't turn. Tried WD40 in the lock, but it made no difference. Am I being stupid and missing something? Or is there an alternative way to get the cap off?
Thanks for any help.
s Read more
Screwloose. Thanks for the idea, but the key I have is the only one and "it has always worked in the past".
Another wonderful idea put forward from the Tories.
They are considering charging up to £2000 as a showroom tax on high polluting vehicles to encourage people to buy more efficient cars.
I suppose at least with this idea we will have a choice instead of just being hammered for parking at the supermarket.
They are relentless in their quest to destroy motoring if nothing else.
Looks like another 4 years of Brown then at election time with ideas like this from the Tories. Read more
The peril of stuff like this is that once a tax becomes big enough to be worth avoiding, it will be.
As an example, stamp duty in Portugal is high enough that people started companies to own houses. Sale of companies was exempt, so you bought a company that owned a rather than the house itself. So the tax take reduced.
Add a few thousand quid to the cost of a new car and ways will be found to avoid them. Preregister all of them in the Channel Islands/France? Dunno, but a way will be found.
V
My trusty old 1994 Vitara's ignition lock is becoming unreliable. It is prone to jamming in the off position, have used wd40 which has helped. Is there a specialist oil for locks available out there,
Thanks as always
Mark W Read more
Local locksmiths (still plenty around) will sell you a tiny container of graphite based lubricant - its the best thing for lubricating a lock.
my 53 reg 1.6 5 door match golf. the re mote central locking will not work unless within 6 inches of a window i,ve tried the obvious by replacing the batteries in both remotes but it doesn,t make any difference. over to you screwloose! Read more
You comfort module should be next to the steering column under the lower dash panel.
Getting it plugged-in and read is the first step.
To be honest I'd find a cheaper independent - I've never dealt with an independent that won't stamp the service book. £220 is a lot for a non-dealer service. Even Kwik-Fit will do it significantly cheaper than that.