January 2008
Mainly curiousity driven question. How long is it normal for the radiator cooling fan to stay on during a cooling cycle ? I have noticed that if the ambient temperature is 10C or more and I am crawling in traffic or waiting at lights or something that the fan will come on for about five seconds then go off for about 15 seconds and so on. If the outside temperature is colder, it barely ever comes on but if it does the same sort of pattern is followed. Clearly this is not doing any major harm as it has done it for the last 100k as far as I remember and it does not lose coolant or anything. Of course I can't be sure due to road / engine noise, but I don't think it does it on the move due to the cooling effect of outside air through the radiator. Must cause quite a significant voltage drop though, as can be seen if the car is facing the garage door at night with headlights on. The fan causes the lights to momentarily dim a bit as it kicks in.
Is this normal or should I get something checked ? Read more
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7198652.stm
Looks like the Welsh Government may be applying a common sense approach to road pricing. It certainly wouldn't worry me if the UK as a whole took this approach rather than the one size fits all suggestions around at the moment.
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We have had, for a number of years, a system where non-petrol-propelled vehicles are charged by distance and weight. It was designed to make the heavy transport industry pay for actual road damage caused by their behemoths, but, because all non-petrol vehicles are considered trucks, diesel cars are rare here. The road user charges makes them uneconomic unless they are doing outrageously high mileages. Diesel fuel here is tax-free.
Non-petrol commercial vehicles are required to purchase distance in advance and display the receipt on the windscreen adjacent to the tax. In an attempt to discourage cheating on distance run, commercial vehicles are required to have a separate certified hub-odometer in plain view for the plods.
A few months ago, the Powers Who Think They Be floated the idea that all vehicles should be subject to road user charges. At leat they were open in saying that they were worried about the reduction in petrol tax grab because of the move to more efficient engines and smaller cars.
Does anybody know where I can download information on how to remove a sticking central locking solenoid from the back door of my Zafira? Read more
You could ask here. In the Cavalier section they seem to have access to all the dealer diagrams & probably someone has actually done it themselves. www.vauxhallownersnetwork.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f...9
Currently in Bruges for a long weekend break. I asked our hotelier why there appeared to be such harmony betwixt motorists, cyclists and pedestrians. He told me that a new law was passed 4 years ago. Even if a pedestrian dressed in a clown outfit jumped off the pavement in front of your car shouting "ner ner ner-ner-ner", it is your insurance that pays the bill. If a cyclist in a deranged fit rode up a one way street the wrong way and collided with your car, your insurance pays the bill.
There are bikes everywhere coming at you from all directions, but nobody swipes at them with briefcases, brollies or fists like they do in London. By and large, cyclists seem to behave well and, in return, respect is returned by other road users.
Lessons to be learned? Read more
>>>>>>>>I'd have thought that this sharing arrangement would cause problems in Belgium, given how good their beer is>>>>>>>
Funny enough, had two bottles of beer in a bar overlooking the main square in Bruges Saturday night, and felt my legs disconnecting from my body. Squinted at the label and it was 11% (Kasteel Brown by the way, and very nice it was too)
I think there is a cultural thing which is unlikely to make it work here. The Belgians, along with the Dutch have a long history of cycling, kids cycle to school at a young age, people cycle side by side and chatter without causing offence to impatient motorists, even seen people cycle whilst holding an unmbrella and chatting on a mobile "Look, no hands Jans".
I just had to drive off Eurotunnel train onto M20 to realise it had no chance here.
A friend of mine received his new company vehicle pre Christmas, and is having no luck at all in selling his '04 2.0 ForesterX with All Weather Pack. It is a one owner vehicle, 47k miles,in black with an accident free history. I do not know the condition of the tyres or whether a service is due.
He is now looking for offers around £6k, maybe a little less. Can anyone tell me if it is overpriced, or have the recent fuel price hikes severely damaged the residual values of this marque. Similar cars on Autotrader are listed at well over his asking price.
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..... Timothy Taylors is brewed in West Yorks.....
You know how to make a man miss England.
Vectra key won't turn in ignition. Has worked but now not. Can anyone help with suggestions or tell me an easy way to remove the ignition barrel to change it? Read more
Some lock lubricant sparingly sprayed in or worked in and out on the key - even WD40 & left to soak in may be enough for you to wiggle lock to position 1 to get the barrel out without having to destroy the lock housing. If you know the key number from the Pass Card in the handbook pack a dealer can match replacement to rest of locks.
when reversing car on full lock I get loud knocking noise from left hand wheel area, some times right. It sounds like the drive shaft is binding up, Any one know what's wrong, or how much its going to cost. thanks Read more
I had a loud knock coming from my front left when parking. While turning the wheel towards full lock (Either way).
Changed the shocker/Spring unit and that was it. Cost me £15 for the whole unit from the scrappers... Only hard bit was splitting the link from what I believe is the anti roll bar.
We had the windscreen replaced this weekend on a 106 and hoped it would shed light on water collecting in the passenger footwell.
With the screen out this confirmed the the water was comming from the sunroof. We found 2 drain holes either side which we will make sure are not blocked but wondered if someone could shed any light on why the water would be collecting in the footwell.
I have been told that the drain holes on this car are poor anyway but didnt get much more information than that!
There is some surface rust around the sunroof where the water has been sitting which will need sorting out
cheers
{year found via a forum search} Read more
Leaks through the Aerial on the eq. Citroen (saxo) has been up on this site and Door seal leaks are a known prob on 106's. Check these things out just to eliminate them if nothing else.
I am currently trying to find a good manual example of the BMW E39 and struggling! Most manual cars seem to be the 520 and ideally for my price range of £3-4k I would prefer a 528 or at least a 523 SE.
I am looking for cars built post September 98 when the Nikasil issue was resolved and sadly most of the facelifted cars, i.e. 525s and 530s are out of my price range.
I was wondering if I was to widen my search to include auto versions are there any known problems or weaknesses with this box (GM I believe?) and what type of mileage can they see without giving problems? Is the driving experience much worse than the manual and what type of hit on fuel can I expect?
I am aware of the suspension wear issues and possible electronic faults on this car and expect to pay more to run it than my current N reg Mondeo with 128k on the clock, I accept this but as I do quite a high mileage, at least 19000 a year, a 5mpg drop will cost and an autobox failure would not be ideal!
Thanks in advance. Read more
You need to change the fluid in the "sealed for life" auto box, say every 40-60k to ensure long tem reliability. BMW sealed for life is a joke and will not ensure peak performance and relaibility. see BMW 5 series car by car breakdown on this web site.
This morning when I turned the key everything went dead; all the electrics went down. When I turned the key afterwards I could not even get light on my dashboard. In fact, I could not even lock the car, when I left it.
I am sure it is something relatively simple (I hope!!), but what could have caused such a complete shut down of everything electrical, and how can I fix it?
Best,
Jonas Read more
Glad it's all sorted out - and that's not a bad price; perhaps next time that five different people unanimously suggest that it might be a battery problem, you might actually believe them.....
Browse
Thanks I/Doc ! - Sorry for late reply. Tried a couple of days with AC off and as predicted the cycling stopped. Thanks again to all for very useful advice.
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