January 2008
Hi Everyone,
My 2005 Volkswagen Polo 1.4 petrol (Manual) has just been for it's first MOT and failed it - which has really surprised me. The car has only done just over 21,000 miles and has mostly been kept in a garage - so I had thought it was in pretty good condition.
It failed it's MOT on:
Front Wheels Brakes Imbalanced
Although to me it drives ok. It was tested at my local Kwik Fit, where the service seeme quite good. I've got it booked in for a free brake test on Wednesday morning to try to get to the bottom of the problems.
I am interested if anyone else has experienced this and what the problem might be.
The car is still in warranty (just), so if there are any repairs needed (other than wear and tear) I'll be booking it in to my local Volkswagen dealer sharpish!
My last car, a Fiat Marea, never failed any of the 5 MOTs I owned it for .... the Polo was bought new and like I say, I'm quite stunned that such a low mileage car failed the MOT!
Any thoughts appreciated.
Thanks
ScottieP Read more
Why do front wheel drive cars need a transmission tunnel in the rear especially?
There is no drive shaft. The exhaust does not run through it. Neither do electrics. And the bit of small-bore pipework that does, does not need a semi-circular cavity of 6 or 8 inches across!
Perhaps it adds rigidity to the floorpan.
But it certainly adds to the design complexity for the floorpan and the interior design.
My real problem is that with two small children the hump on the floor in the back of the car gets dirtier and more worn than anywhere else! Read more
Id' agree Avant. My first car was my old Gran's 1100 and as a 17 year old I could get 3 or 4 people in the back no problem (I once got 7 people in the car when my teacher miscalculated and it was jam the last one in or leave him stranded when we went sailing every Wednesday (for some reason I was effectively driving on behalf of the school - insurance was probably void but nobody asked...) I do remember when 7 up that there was a v tricky hill to get up that nearly resulted in a burnt clutch but we got up there...all 48bhp to the rescue.
A car the same length as a 1100 now seems very small inside.
dont know if anyone has had this problem before or know what you can do about it.
any helpful suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
my wife and i currently own a vauxhall zafira 02 plate 1.6 16v club.
since we have had the car we have had nothing but problems with it especially in the engine department.
the problems are that when the car is started first thing in the morning no problem.
driving down the road short distances no problem.
long distances start off ok but after about 40 miles or an hour of driving things start to go wrong.
when you take your foot off the gas pedal or slowing down or trying to keep to a set speed the car starts to rev up and down jerk all over the place and if you take your foot off all together or stop at a junction the car stalls.
this also happens when if after a short journey you start the car and drive it again.
after several times of stalling and restarting leaving it for a while and trying again it finally seems to sort itself out untill the next time!
we have already had the e.g.r valve changed at our local vauxhall garage who had plugged the computer in and proved that the valve was the problem, but after paying for the computer to be plugged in and detect the fault and pay for the valve to be fitted at vauxhall dealer's prices, i'm a bit reluctant to do that again.
Also iv'e noticed other people saying in the forum that they seem to be using a lot of oil, which to be honest is exactly what our car is doing for no apparent reason.
there is no leaks i can see around the engine or asscoiated pipework or fittings and no smoke coming out of the exhaust not even on cold startup.
i checked the oil only the other day after checking it only a couple of weeks previously to find to my horror that the dipstick was bone dry, so where is it going?
If anyone has any suggestions of where else to look or try, please could you let me know i would be so grateful.
thankyou
Read more
I've heard of cases on Zafiras where the EVAP [canister purge] valve sticks open and the floor of the plastic tank sucks up on to the fuel pick-up pipe.
That would fit your 40-mile parameter. The dealers didn't get the EGR valve and the EVAP valve mixed up - did they?
They also crack exhaust manifolds; an air-leak there would mess up the fuelling on light throttle.
As it states in the highway code when you hear sirens from an emergency vehicle behind you you are supposed to pull over safely to one side to let it through. What happens if :-
1. you are at traffic lights which are showing red? Are you allowed to cross the stop line?
2. If you are in a lane next to a 24 hour bus lane are you allowed to pull over into the bus lane?
Have read stories where someone was fined crossing a traffic light when it was showing red and also someone was fined pulling into the bus lane etc
Has an emergency vehicle with flashing sirens allow you to break the law to get out of the way?
What happens if you don't give way in fear of breaking a law?
Thanks in advance for any replies Read more
Whatever people may think nothing can really be done properly 'by numbers'. A bit of
leeway has to be involved in a lot of cases.
Agreed lud. Pity the justice systems for motorists does not have any.
I am hoping that someone on here can help me.
We are looking for an estate car (preferably) to replace our 2004 Ford Galaxy about 2 to 3 years old - budget upto around £10k.
As we will be making several long (to Switzerland) trips each year as a family of 5 (3 kids aged 12, 10 and 6) - it is importnant that the back seat has decent legroom, but also that there are 3 separate seats (rather than the middle one being simply a space between the 2 outside seats.
It is not necessary that these 3 seats move independently.
Can anyone help advise me as to which (if any) estates offer this configuration?
Thanks in advance
Rick Read more
I have recommended an estate car with 3 seperate rear seats - the Peugeot 307SW. It can even have an additional 2 seatas in the loadspace making it a 7 seater!!! Not as strange as it actually sounds.
Does anyone out there have a solution, on how to stop a car from misting up.
I have a Astra Estate, and the side windows are constantly misted up. I was told to run the air conditioning along with the heater as it would act like a dehumidifier, but that didn't work.
There is no sign of any dampness in the carpets or upholstery so I am at a loss as to why it is always misted. Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you. Biggrin Read more
I tell you one thing, in addition to those silicone cosmetic sprays designed for slicking dashboards, I have found that liquid/oil based air fresheners seem to deposit the oil on the windows which attracts condensation droplets.
I often see this car put forward as a good reliable buy but I see on HJ's column that gearbox bearings are a problem and they cost around 1k to fix. Surely this would tend to make this vehicle unatractive especially when they are not cheap. Read more
For all you non Jazz owners we have been driving for 40+ years, in VW's Audi, SAAB, Volvo Subaruu's but when the company car days are over and its real money for motoring the choice in the UK is limited.
After road testing Audi Skoda Toyota and M Benz the Jazz was the best drivers car with all round performance.
Yes the ride on the early models was for good roads but after 2006 the ride is better.
Just hire try a Jazz over 200 miles and as for the load carrying well thats just superb
Happy Motoring
Well i got woken up this morning at 3:00am and 5:00am and every since i have been trying to find out what is going on with my alarm.
I bought the 1.8 Bertone convertible yesterday. is on 02. Is kinda standard...bar steinmetz full kit etc (think it was all done at factory, not sure)
Anyway.. at 3:00am is blasts the horn at me. I unlock and re-lock car, 2 secs and its going off again!!! Ran down the stairs and went out to it. Held down the 2 interior light buttons then locked it again!...to my delight i thought i had solved it.
5:00am comes along, now there is a different noise! not the horn any more. I think its the power sounder!!!??? sooo.... i just unlocked it and re-locked it...and it has not gone
off again yet!!!
I have read up on the power sounder articles on the net and just wondered if anybody else knows dif???
Please help, im so tired, thankfully it happened on weekend.
Dan
Read more
power sounder battery is knackerd, dont even bother taking apart and trying to replace batteries, more trouble than its worth and you will not be able to reseal it effectively, if you look in the wheel arch behind the wheel there should be a raised bump the power sounder will be behind this, usually near side fron but some times other side hence looking for the bump
My '95 150K Passat always used to start instantly from cold, as soon as glow plug light had gone out, Now suddenly turns over & over & over before kicking into life in cloud of white smoke, then runs fine, and always starts well when hot. Suspect the glow plugs, don't know when they were last changed, certainly 40K+. I can feel relay clicking when ignition on & off, and appear to have power at glow plug feed. I have removed one plug and appears in good order, lightly sooted but cleaned up easily. (Haven't tried the rest yet because they are awkward to get at!)
Presumably ALL the glow plugs must have failed to prevent it starting ? Have they been failing one at a time and I've only noticed when the last one went ? What tests can I do to check the plugs ? Presumably there should be continuity between the centre terminal and the threaded body ? If I connect one up to a spare battery (briefly!) presumably it should warm up if sound ?
Any advice or alternative suggestions appreciated. Read more
If you do put a live feed to the plugs count 4 seconds then take the wire off not to burn the end of the glow plug off!
As said if all are ok it will fire up.
I am working on a Ford Sierra 2.0 injection DOHC chaindrive and cannot find any marks on the engine block to match with the marks on the crank shaft. Please could somebody help me out. Many thanks Read more
& make sure a new chain, tensioner & slippers ( guides ) are fiited. do not reasemble without new bits.
Doc
Browse
.jpg)
I know the thread is old but my experience with a Golf Mk2 very is relevant here becasue it had exactly the same problems with the front disc brakes, and I was doing about 20K miles a year. 15 years ago the dealers were saying to replace both discs and pads, but I actually did that TWICE over a period of a couple of years and it didn't help. The answer was to replace the discs but keep the old pads (which were proper vw pads).