October 2007
Hi
I have a rattle from my engine/gearbox when accelerating and putting the engine under 'strain'. This only lasts for a short time but am not sure if it is a gearbox or engine rattle.
The noise only happens when the car is in gear.
Any ideas?
{Engine details added to header from a forum search of past questions. Please inform if incorrect - DD} Read more
Number 1 son has just bought a T4 van (no side windows) which has been part converted into a camper van. Should he insure it as a camper van or as a normal commercial van. He will be using it as a private vehicle no for business. Read more
There are a lot of specialists that advertise in the VW magazines. The more complete the conversion the lower the premium so it might be worth putting some effort in before insuring it if possible.
When people say a car has 'sticking tappets' - what exactly is the problem? How costly is the potential repair?
If they say that it sounds 'tappety' when cold, and clears up when warm - what is the problem? Read more
Thanks for the explanation.
So, they are a symptom of wear and tear?
I do not have a FTO with the aforesaid symptoms. It is just that I have seen these descriptives with cars for sale.
Checked the oil the other day on my W C class diesel and the oil was needing topping up so i put about half a pint in and occasionally the oil high warning light comes on the motorway. the sump can't be much overfull as i put only the half pint in so how sensitive are these pressure sensors? you get so many different answers on how to check diesel oil levels that it is confusing. some say check when cold, others when hot and yet some say run it, let it cool 10 mins then check it. Anyone sure of the best way to check levels? Read more
To the guys who offered advice thanks, I have been checking the oil level after a run when about ten minutes has passed. The warning light is intermittent and only on the motorway. Lowering the speed soon has the light out and there must only be a tiny amount of oil too much in the sump. The car has covered 125,000 miles and i have the oil changed every six months.
{Moves to thread discussing it}
They're out again.Minimal mist this morning-front and rear foglights blazing. Read more
Well its been discussed 8,000,000 times before in here (using the same exaggeration software as some contributors). Thread locked.
Interesting article in Autobild comparing the three main players in the estate market.
Road tax in Germany goes on the particle polution so diesels pay a fortune and small petrols almost nothing.
KOSTEN/GARANTIEN AUDI BMW MERCEDES
Abgasnorm Euro 4 Euro 4 Euro 4
Steuer pro Jahr 417 ? 386 ? 463 ? (road tax)
Typklassen HPF/VK/TK 17/22/28 17/24/25 20/25/24
Werkstattintervalle nach Anzeige nach Anzeige nach Anzeige
Kosten Ölwechsel/Inspektion 200/500 ? 170/600 ? 180/600 ?
Garantie/Gewährleistung Garantie Gewährleistung Garantie
Technik/km-Begrenzung 2 Jahre/ohne 2 Jahre/ohne 2 Jahre/ohne
Garantie gegen Durchrostung 12 Jahre 12 Jahre 30 Jahre
Mobilitätsgarantie unbegrenzt 5 Jahre 30 Jahre
PREISE/AUSSTATTUNG
Modell A6 2.7 TDI Avant 525d Touring E 280 CDI T
Airbags Fahrer/Beif./Seiten vo. S/S/S S/S/S S/S/S
Kopfairbags vorn/hinten S/S S/S S/S
Schiebedach ab 1130 ? 1693 ? 1250 ?
Automatikgetriebe 2200 ? 2154 ? 2249 ?
Anhängevorrichtung 960 ? 821 ? 1023 ?
Metalliclack 820 ? 923 ? 976 ?
Grundpreis 45.500 ?* 45.651 ?** 49.671 ?*
S=Serie, * inkl. Automatik und Luftfederung, ** inkl. Automatik
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> Road tax in Germany goes on the particle polution so diesels pay a fortune and small petrols almost nothing.
Well that's diesel stuffed then in the medium term if that continues.
With the Japanese and Americans mostly refusing to consider diesels, and the German government taxing them out of the market, that's the three main manufacturing bases favouring petrol -- so where is the diesel push coming from? The French? (Like they have a significant share of the most profitable markets).
Hi,
Just found out from the fifth gear website that Jason Plato has been injured in a crash. Details: fifthgear.five.tv:80/jsp/5gmain.jsp?lnk=101&id=2428
Its not on the main BBC news so can't be very serious.
Cheers
Jlo Read more
I have real respect for Jason Plato's ability. He must be one heck of a driver to put it mildly. He came back an injured man and of course he would have been in a lot of pain. He still gave the title a very good shot in the Seat under impossible circumstances.
ABS light staying on, checked the obvious fuses, one under dash the other in engine bay, tried taking the ABS ECU connector block off to see if any corroded terminals, but all ok. I was wondering about doing a continuity test with my multimeter on the individual sensors to each wheel, then realised I could probably do the same thing at the ABS unit connector block end, so I had a look today and the terminals are numbered 1 to 23, numbers 8 and 9 are larger than the other 21 terminals, and it is an ATE unit and the vehicle is late '98 turbo diesel. I obviously need to pair various terminals up and bridge them with the meter, so does anyone know which terminals go to which sensors? Read more
Worth noting that the 48 teeth ABS rings on the CV joint often rust away and fall off. The sensor has nothing to sense and the ABS light comes on.
.*********
Disconnect the drive shaft, drop the ball joint, tap the new ring into place with a bit of Locktite and bob's your father's ...
Easier and cheaper than doing an entire drive shaft.
I received a letter today asking me to send back my ins cert for a policy I cancelled.
The letter is dated 2nd Oct and says that in accordance with Road Traffic Act, I am required to return the cert within 7 days, but I only received the letter today ( 10th) and it wasnt mentioned when I cancelled policy.
Should I be worried or just send it back tomorrow first class mail? Should I ring them and just confirm its not a problem? Read more
And don't think that by sending it Special Delivery you'll get better service! Sent some important student loan docs to daughter now at uni in Liverpool. Not delivered today despite the fact that I paid £4.30 for it, but PO have now withdrawn the guarantee for the duration of the strikes.
I've been having some issues with the harshness of my car's engine between 3000 & 3700 RPM. It normally only happens when the car is warm & I am accelerating. When first reported to my local dealer, they said it was a lifter problem & replaced the hydraulic lifters under warranty. However, this didn't resolve the issue. They then told me it was a characteristic of that engine. I referred it to another dealer who said that the car had the wrong oil in it, though it was correct as per the handbook. They said that Vauxhall now recommended the 5/20 for the Turbo engines. However, this change has been no difference either. Anyone else had a problem like this?
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5W/20? That's a new one. There isn't a 5W/20 Vx oil available. I think every new Vx runs on their 5W/30. That said a minor change in oil viscosity is very unlikely to cause the problem.
JS


I had the same thing happen with my T reg Focus 1600 (difficult to start / dials sweeping across the instruments on startup) I changed the battery for a new 1 & its been fine ever since.
Incidently I now have a 51 reg Mondeo 1800 Zetec with the same problems as described above (rattling noise, difficult to start sometimes) so I will be changing the battery & hopefully that will cure the starting problem......