October 2007
Hi
Tyre advice would be appreciated.
Coming to the point of buying first pair of replacement tyres on 2004 Jazz at 24,000 miles. We have the Sport model with 15 inch alloys. The tyres on the car are Bridgestone Potenza tyres 185/55 R15 with a 82V speed rating. Questions:
1. Is it overkill to have a V speed rating (up to 149 mph) on a car that never does more than (ahem) 85 to 90?
2. Can you mix speed ratings on tyres i.e. go for a lower rating on the replacement tyres?
3. Bridgestone have AZ and DZ versions of this tyre but about £10 diff in price, unsure what this means.
4. Are summer tyres, which these are, the correct ones to go for in the UK or is an all year tyre better for normal use?
5. Is it still the learned advice to put new tyres on the rear regardless of whether FWD or RWD?
Thanks in advance for any help.
GM
{SLT} Read more
I saw this car recommended on a thread last week, regarding fast cars under £3k
Is this a worthwhile purchase. Eyeing an 02 for £2.5k. Seems cheap as to me, for 167bhp, but my daddy taught me well - there is no such thing as a free lunch.
What is the down side on these cars (apart from gp 16 ins) Read more
Don't tell me its on t'internet I found it the old fashioned way by word of mouth!
How quaint!
There was something on the internet about the WWII battle nearby. Curiously, I couldn't find Cassel on Google Maps, so your secret may be safe for a little while.
Perhaps this could be a post-Carter retirement plan: a modest volume of B&Bs and Restaurants, as Patricia Fenn used to do?
Further info e-mailed to you rather than have a telling off from a Mod for going off-topic !
- PU
I seem to remember reading a thread about a tag system for paying tolls by direct debit. I cant seem to find it on the forum search, does anyone have any information?. As swmbo likes to sleep when we travel at night I thought an automated system might be easier!
regards
Matt Read more
I have an older style tag direct from France, the monthly fee is €2 - or was last time I used it earlier this year. So to charge €5 looks to be another example of 'Rip off Britain'
i just bought an 03 mk3 mondeo tdci ghia, i checked the car over before buying as well as i could and have checked cars in the past without problems.
alas! one thing i didnt think to check for was rust! i am sure i can be excused for this as it is an 03 car and not something you would expect to have to look for, especially for what i paid for it.
however, after a couple of days of ownership i decided to give it a more thourough clean, and, on my hands and knees poised with cloth in hand there it was RUST running along the (inside)bottom of every door, not just a bit but deep old flaky rust, hidden out of sight from a standing position.
as you can imagine i was in total shock to find this amount of rust on a fairly new car and just wandered are there any more out there with this problem, if so, what have you done about it? Read more
The water is coming in behind the door cards. Take them off, you'll see some clear membrain that keeps the water out. Around the bottom the sealant (buytl tape) dries out, lift the membrain away and clean off the old gunk and re seal with some waterproof sealant like you use in bathrooms. I'd check the front doors as well.
The rust will just come back, the doors would need to be changed, I had rust popping up on my old Mk3 Mondeo, its was a 2001 and I got it when it was 13 months old. It also rusted around the drain holes on the bottom of hatch, and around the b piller trim on the drivers front door. The dealer at the time never mentioned about checking the paint check. I always asked for it to be done but they never spotted the rust anyway.
I've got a 55, Mk5, manual, petrol 1.6SE now just over 40k mostly motorway commuting over 60mph. I've only Dealer serviced so far and always on time (might be 200 miles over by the time it is actually serviced).
Twice now, the Low Oil indicator has come on days before I take it in for a Service (and about 200 miles since the Service warning stopped telling me in how many miles).
Is this model just leaky or is my particular car bad at retaining oil? Is a Dealer likely to find a problem (and hopefully fix it) or do I need to buy a proper car (not at all impressed vs my old Mk4)?
Also, PAS 'might' be slighlty stiffer - could this be connected to low/old (long life spec) Oil?
Cheers,
Matt. Read more
for the sake of your wallet check your oil level weekly and top up if necessary with the correct oil, probably fully synthetic.
I am of to the Alps in December and may need a roof box on the car. Does any one have any experiance of how much the fuel economy will reduce by?. The car is a 1.8t Passat estate that generally returns around 35-36 mpg on a fast motorway cruise. The roof box is a long thin one as opposed to the squarer bulky ones.
Thanks Read more
Used to lose about 4-5 mpg in the 1.8 T Saloon. Not all down to the box, some would be due to four people in the car and the boot full as well!
Check the instructions about maximum speed - mine states 60mph max (it has seen 90 but I did get nervous).
It used to be the case that if you took your car in for an MOT a month early and you took the old MOT with you, the testing station could issue you with potentally 13 months of MOT. Is this still the case with computerised MOT`s. Also would the same apply for a car which is 35 months old taken for an MOT. Would it also get 13 months MOT? Read more
An update. I took my Scenic in for MOT the middle of October, (remember it was first register beginning of Nov 04) The MOT expiry is now beginning of Nov 2008. So you can effectively get up to 13 months MOT. I did not have to produce the v5 nor did I ask for the extra period. The tester said it was all computerised anyway
Took my astra in for a 1st service 56 reg at a large vauxhall dealership in leeds.
They only change oil & filter, check levels a quick look around then it's done,
however they forgot to stamp my service book, then just about to drive off service light still lit, mechanic sent over to re-set just jumps in with mucky overalls sits there & re-sets service indicator!
Then tell's me about a known problem with the locking wheel nuts that they snap!! so i asked have you changed them under warranty? no he said the manager crossed it off the service sheet! has anybody else had as much hassle as this? & any probs with these locking nuts? don't fancy changing wheel in rain/wind/hail to find the damn thing snapped!! Read more
I don't know whether the actual nuts can snap but when I had the AA out recently to fix a wheel problem on my Honda CRV, the AA mechanic warned against ever permitting tyre/mechanics to use a torqued air gun to tighten or undo locking wheel nuts. Quite how you are to avoid this is a different matter I guess.
In his experience, it seems, there is every chance that the coded nut devices themselves are likely to disintegrate or strip if an air gun is used!
Following the torrential rain over the last 24 hours, I noticed a small puddle in the front passenger footwell of my 2004 E46 BMW Touring. It has happened once before when it was parked for a week, again during heavy rain. It's rained plenty of other times without it happening though.
I tried to feel around the sides of the carpet to trace the 'flow' but couldn't seem to find any other wet patches other than the puddle on the floor.
I don't have a sunroof.
How do I go about sorting this? Any known weakspots I should check? Or is the only option to get the missus to hold a running hose over the car until I see some water appearing (which might be quite a while...)?
Thanks Read more
I had a car that did that for the same reason but only when parked nose downhill. Harder to trace. Maybe replace the door card too.
I have a '98 R 1.8 Vectra with a X18XE engine. The engine management light is on and the local garage read it for me and diagnosed the Cam sensor.
I opened up the Haynes manual to see how easy it would be to change it myself. I've removed the air filter housing but then Haynes and our car seem to differ. Haynes says to unbolt the top timing belt cover and then I should be able to see the sensor. Looking at the car the 1 bolt I can see is partially obscured by a large emgine mount bracket. Do I really have to unbolt this engine mount to get the timing cover off? Would have thought it'd get a mention in the manual!
I'm wanting to fix the car to sell it, starting to think I may be better off selling it broken..
Read more
You can get a CAM sensor from LMF Vauxhall for 14 quid. It is the standard original part (no mods required like the current one sold by Vauxhall)
I did the job myself but look out for a few things.
The engine stabilizer bar did have to be moved out of the way.
The timing belt cover is all in one on my 1.8 Sri so it all has to come off.
When removing the screw that mounts the sensor DON'T drop it like I did. I eventually found it behind one of my timing belt pullies
The sensor has to be set to pick up both cams so make sure it is aligned.
I had to replace the cam cover gasket as well as it had hardened off.
Browse
Especially in the rain:) Morris Minor was the only car I had, that I recall with cross plies, but my powered bikes were certainly all x-ply. Ran them on what they came with. Required care on greasy roads, but were hard, unyielding and long-lasting. I think the rubber on most bikes now is far more grippy: they certainly have a short life.