November 2007
I have had the car for approx 4 months bought privately and have had no problems until now apart from high fuel consumption. Its doing around 250miles to the tank. Also, I was driving yesterday and the engine warning light came on and was flashing for a couple of mins. the power steering then cut out swiftly followed by the engine. There is a smell of petrol occasionally on the drivers side (rear).
Last point...after starting up and driving a short distance (i.e. for a paper) and turning off the engine, when it comes to starting again there is delay of a few seconds.
any help would be appreciated.
SLT Read more
Hi i have a 1.25 ghia fiesta 1998. i was driving along today with the speedo working fine then it suddenly stopped working. Does anyone have any ideas what's happened? Read more
I don't know whether or not it's just my age, but i'm finding things are getting overly complicated, albeit some product makers have realised it and now make them less technically challenging (e.g. T.V.s).
I've recently swapped my mobile phone back a model to the one i had before, because the new one was too much hassle.
and cars..... I've owned one (2nd hand) now for over 5 years and have no wish to change. Yes i'd like the 'new' experience and the less likelihood of things going wrong, but i'm not sure i'd want the hassle that goes with it looking at some models.
I've heard about the BMW 'i' drive thingy and similar and think to myself 'no, no, no'.
Grumpy old git getting behind the times or average consumer?
Will we get to the time where a manufacturer does what the t.v. product makers have done and dumbs everything down so that there aren't a myriad of buttons on a dashboard and if you want to turn the aircon on there's a great big button in front of you that's glaringly obvious.... or will it keep going and get so bad that most people don't have a clue of what three quarters of their car can do?
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If something goes wrong with the lubrication system on a car then the pressure drop is quite rapid. A higher setting of the warning light pressure switch would only give a slightly longer reaction time in the event of catastrophic failure. It would probably have to be set so high that nuisance triggering would be caused at idle speed with a hot engine.
A pressure gauge is better, but how often and for how long would you have to observe it? The fall of the needle would be quite quick.
A gauge will tell if the level is low by "dipping" during cornering, depending upon the car/layout, obviously. (My Lotus Elan 1965 was good at this!)
The first Citroen BX I had (and all the Cits since) light up a big red STOP light when the oil pressure falls. This did save the engine on one occaision when my wife was driving it.
Topic,
`Have your priorities of a cars features changed over time, in a way you would have once never considered? with particular reference to the ageing process.`
I remember age 17yrs laughing at the `Old Man`, who was contemplating power steering on a car back in the 60`s.
The humour in it was not just my perceived `wimpishness`of this, but that he was built like a tank.
Then there was the maestro clubman D i did 130,000 miles in the early 90`s and the frozen shoulder that refused to heal, followed by the other one going too. No power steering and a straight arm steering position. What felt like 60lbs force needed to turn the wheel at low speeds.
I really came to appreciate power steering and thought, that was it, regarding assistance with what could be called `physical degeneration `:)
Not so however.
As a youth i was never bothered much about heaters, even in those much colder winters. I had a Bond mini car 3 wheeler ( no heater) aged 16yrs and motorbikes.
in fact I can remember getting my first bike, a Honda C90 on my 16th birthday and that winter riding it through the night in sub zero conditions 200 miles to London. standing on the old london bridge (never been far before) and thinking, `Wow` hub of the world.
Then another 200 miles back up here to Yorkshire. All done wearing a pair of jeans, a couple of sweaters and a leather jacket in freezing fog at times.
Sitting here in the lounge, I still feel about the same psychologically, could still get on a bike and set off.... but I know that despite still being fit and able to run flat out, as i approach 60, enduring the cold wearing the same clothes would be different.
Very different.. Perhaps being slim doesn`t help, but I was even slimmer then.
Lets hear it for heating from central vents.
The car heater is essential these days and more than that. I need hot air straight out of the central vents onto the body, but more importantly hands. I would be in trouble without that , even wearing gloves is no good.
So to my surprise, I`m now adding `Hot air (really hot) from central vents` as a pre requisite, more so than power steering.
I`m lucky the Punto van has this because I never thought about it when choosing it.
How many of us would think of `central air vents hot air` though?
Or maybe its just me that feels the cold like this.
Its `payback` for losing nearly 4 stone to get to a `healthy` 11.
(be careful what you wish for;) lol.
Anything that has changed for you over the years?
Regards Read more
I'm not sure if it is my increasing decrepitude (I'm 49) but I, like most others I suspect, have had my expectations raised in terms of comfort and driver assistance.
Who would want to go back to vinyl seats? Freezing in winter and hot and sweaty in summer.
Cars with no heater?
No rear screen demister?
Drag link steering?
Cart spring suspension?
Manual chokes?
Cross ply tyres?
Poor aerodynamics leading to horrendous wind noise?
Yes all those cars worked fine as basic transportation and still have a certain "retro" appeal but to be honest we are all used to rather more comfort as a basic minimum standard.
Not just in cars either, central heating, draught proofing, double glazing, fitted carpets etc are all almost regarded as basic essentials now although they were luxuries in my youth.
I did an idiotic thing today. I topped up the windscreen washer bottle with liquid from a bottle of the right colour, and with liquid of the right colour, then looked at the label. It was antifreeze. I didn?t think that it would do any harm, but wasn?t sure whether it would have the desired effect, i.e., sparkling clear windscreen. So, I spent about a half-hour siphoning it out with a small bore tube.
Has anybody any tales of emergency measures for windscreens and radiators.?
One of the tricks I learned when I was in Africa was how to fix a radiator leak when there were no motor factors for 100 miles in any direction. You can usually buy eggs, and the white makes a good sealant. The chap I learned it from had it in place for three months when he told me.
Don?t mention nylon stockings for a fanbelt. Two things, women wear tights now, and it doesn?t work anyhow.
SLT Read more
Remember when oil came in 1/2 litre tin cans and you opened them by pulling
a foil strip that ran across the top of the can?
I remember 1 pint and 1 Quart (2 pint) cans
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2005 Ford Mondeo Zetec 2.0 TDCi 130ps
Done just 1300 miles in my 2:0litre diesel C4 Picasso. An EGS issue has just cropped up and it is going in to be looked at tomorrow.
For past week, whilst in "auto" mode, sometimes fails to change from 2nd to 3rd then 3rd to 4th. Happens mostly from cold, but has happened whilst warm. Have feathered and tickled and kicked and coaxed throttle to make it change to no avail, resort to right paddle to change.
Hope it is not the harbinger of doom. Maybe connecting up to computer and wiping clean and starting afresh might cure? I am sure it is a computer glitch rather than mechanical. Hope also it is not one of those intermittent things that garage says they can do nothing about cos "nuffink shows up on der compooter mate"
Will keep board informed of progress.
SLT Read more
Whenever i lift my foot of the accelerator i get a knocking sound in the left handside of engine/gearbox regardless of what gear im in and what speed im doing, but not when im stopped! The noise appears to clear when the clutch is depressed. My dad doesn't think its the little ends rattling on the engine, but could be the gearbox or constant velocity joint? Any ideas?
Many Thanks
Lisa
SLT Read more
Unfortunately Lisa hasn't visited the forum since Tue 13 Nov 2007.
I have decided to get rid of my Picasso. Its a 51 plate and has done 120,000 miles. It has a full Citroen service history (with additional oil changes, if that makes any difference). The Aircon doesn't work and there are faint handprints on the body - it's met Blue. The interior is free from damage or any visible wear. It's tax and Mot'd until Jan 2008. It's a 2.0 litre HDi.
Any idea how much it would make if put into an auction please.
Many thanks
Big Norm
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Thanks for the info. I'm looking at trading it in - I wanted a rough value at auction to see if the price they offered for mine was too ludicrous. Obviously, this needs to be off set against the reduction in the price of the car they are selling me. I used the What Car target price and the internet to try and get a guide as to an acceptable discount.
The vehicle is suffering from an intermittent lack of power. In low revs in 3rd or 4th gear the engine pulls back similar sensation to the rev limiter cutting if you have over revved it.
I have been in touch with the Nissan agent and as usual in these circs they want the vehicle to be doing the problem all the time before they will replace the offending part under warranty.
They think and so do I that the problems is the diesel air mass filter having had a similar problem previously with my previous Tino but the agent will not change it even although it is a cheap item. I have suggested that they put the vehicle on their computer to check the problem out but they say it would not nessarily show up.
Any ideas?
Scot Read more
Update on the above
The vehicle went back to the local Nissan agent and the fault was diagnosed on the garage computer as a faulty throttle sensor.When this was activated the vehicle went in to limp home mode and contimed to do so until this was reset by the garage.
All appear to be on order now
I ran the car till the tank was (I thought) nearly empty. I guess it was pretty dry. The was still running normally when I stopped.
However this morning it would not start (there was a clicking noise when I tried), but no starter motor.
I got 8l of diesel and poured it in the tank and operated the bleeding button on the top of the fuel pump (for quite a while).
Initially when I tried to start again the clicking was gone but the engine still didn't turn over.
However after a delay the clicking started happening continuously.
Anything I can try or am I going to have to get a mechanic to look at it. Read more
>>Tried jump leads?
Nothing you suggested then Screwloose.
We wouldn't like you to know we appreciated you in case it cheered you up ;>)
Browse
yeah i understand that it wont do many miles just going for a paper...that was just an example of when it wouldnt start properly.
thanks for everyones comments. all seems to be well so far after taking it to ford so fingers crossed.