January 2008
I think I may need a new exhaust in the near future so have being phoning up a couple of places to find out prices, a few of the places that I have phoned up have said that their book does not cover my car which is a 2000 1.5 model and have therefore only managed to obtain one price of £75 - front pipe £110 middle section £131 rear box
Are the above prices reasonable and have any other 323 owners come across the same problem when soucing a replacement exhaust? Read more
Hi
have been proud 416 (r reg) owner for 6 months. have previosly only needed to add air to tyres and check levels etc. around 4 weeks ago car steamed over from expansion tank and got worried , temperature on dashboard said between 1/3 and half, refiled and drove home thought all was well. then couple of days later heater now heater only blows cold. car has had new radiator, plugs, leads, dizzy cap, starter, thermostat, recent oil and air filter change. also after reading through this web site other symtoms have lots of white smoke and water from exhaust at all times and whithe mist and petrol smell in expansion tank when running. also bubbles before boil over usually after 10-15 mins (sometimes more). fan comes on not that much but think may be normal as high running temp? all pipes get hot after around five mins. have removed and checked heater valve ok. I have been told waterpump, inlet manifold gasket, the misterious ball bearing, various sensors, power steering pump?, e.c.u, alternator (had battery problem) and a multitude of other things, i have rave software and a passion for learing about this 16v aluminium gold. anybody able to diagnose or help me to test further to remove possibilties or try tests to conduct the more info i have for this ex dealership mechanic the better he can probably help me the car is wonderfull and although only paid 300 for it would pay over it to fix it properly as beautiful and comfortable to drive
have a t4 man from mg garage on standby for next week shoud i unplug battery or ecu to reset codes before i go to him or leave as same?
i am poor single parent willing to do as directed to check or do work as to try to reduce the mechanics bill, but appeciate quality costs!!!!
please help !!!
Thanks in advance
dazrover Read more
Headgasget or manifold gasget or water pump if any of these play up it normally blows the headgasget anyway.The water pump is cambelt driven and ceases causing the belt to strip and ruin the engine the headbolts stretch causing the head to go and the manifold gasget just leaks .If rebuilt with modded parts then it will last till it goes the scrapyard but the cost will probably be prohibitive.
Prompted by a piece on Newsnight tonight, although I've had similar thoughts for many years.
The basic premise is: do traffic lights help or hinder traffic flow & safe passage.
My view is that there is an an inverse relationship between the amount of traffic regulation/control & the rate at which traffic (for traffic read 'all highway users') flows & co-exists in an harmonious & safe manner. For me it's like the the 'drugs question': more regulation seems inevitably to exacerbate & increase the probelm which it seeks to cure.
The admirable (in some ways...) Swedes & Danes have experimented with various forms of traffic de-regulation, though on a small scale, and found, (surprise surprise!!) that traffic flows increase & all classes of road/highway users get on spiffingly - with reduced rage, conflict & accident.
It will probably never happen here of course - to do so would be to accept Homo Sapiens in his/her true sense & know our true nature - sadly not attainable this side of Utopia (or Erewhon - if you're so disposed).
Read more
The driving 'genes' develop & propagate via the survival imperative. If dozens of driving generations have come to rely on traffic lights & assocaited control measures to do their thinking it's hardly surprising that once the cage is opened, carnage will ensue. I wouldn't argue with that for one moment.
What I would argue with though, is the logic that assumes that the withering of personal responsibility & growth external control will cope with the novel situations we all encounter every day & seeks to destroy the intrinsic survival instinct & co-operation 'gene' we all possess.
No, it's not as simple as flicking the traffic light off-switch or burning off the continuous white lines, but neither is it, imho, as simple as turning on more switches & painting more lines. The only place that ends up is with 'Johny Cabs' & average-speed enforcement - or worse!
Hi
I have a p reg astra tdi izuzu engine which has just started overheating if you get stuck in standing traffic for any more than 5 mins, coupled with this the heater has stopped working. Any ideas?
Thanks
Kev Read more
thermostat would be the obvious culprit, when its up to workig temp check the tempreture by hand (carefully) top hose, bottom hose and the rad should be a fairly even temp through out but being cooler slightly at the bottom hose and bottom of rad, if rad stone cold but top and bottom hose hot to touch suspect thermostat
Why do modern cars have such small speedometers when speed cameras are springing up like mushrooms?. It used to be that speedos were right in front of you as per my old Volvo and Mercedes C class. Now I have to drive a BMW (the wifes') that has an unreadable speedo and you are never sure of your speed. The speedo is offset and equal prominence is given to the rev counter that I never look at ( whats the point on a diesel? are we all supposed to be deaf?)
Also the gradations on many speedos are set at 0;20;40;60;80;mph etc whereas the most important speed is 30 and 70mph and 50mph is almost as common as 40mph. I know most of the cars are produced abroad now but do the designers of cars never visit GB when they specify the instrumentation
What are the journalists doing about this? The Top Gear and team bleat about speed cameras but never mention the actual design Read more
Just had a look at Rich 9-3's link to a SAAB dashboard. I'd almost forgotten about that turbo boost gauge. Come to think of it, a lot of Italian sportscars in the 70s had dials for oil temperature, level and pressure. What a lot of lovely dials to distract us from the road ahead, especially the ones so thoughtfully fitted down by the handbrake! (Remember the Scirocco?) (In most Italian cars of the time, a "distance to next breakdown" dial would have been much more useful :-)
Reminds me of Ambrose Bierce's "The Devil's dictionary":
"BAROMETER, n. An ingenious instrument which indicates what kind of weather we are having."
Hi all,
I've been the lucky receiver of a tidy Ka, 75k miles, and I'm just after some guidance from the helpful people here who may be able to prevent me from splashing out unnecessarily on garage checks :)
So, just a couple of things to explore:
-I've had it for just under a fortnight and 800 miles. Is roughly a litre of oil consumption during this period acceptable/average for the age and mileage? I do mainly short runs to and from work (steep hill and in this weather I aint walking!) and go for a long fast run about once a week to get out and give it a good run.
-It's a bit tappety; this quietens down to a quiet knocking once the engine's warm and it only really makes a racket under hard acceleration. I've heard old Fiestas/early Kas/Escorts that make more noise so it doesn't bother me too much but is it something to keep an eye on in the long term or is it more just an annoyance to put up with for some of the time when driving it?
-There's a knocking noise coming from the front right hand side of the car which is almost certainly the bushes which I know from having had a quick chat with the garage where it was serviced for the last three years. Their advice was that they were going at the last service and to just keep driving it but to expect to replace them at the next MOT which is due in July. Again, something to worry about or shall I just keep driving it?
Thanks! Read more
I'd just experiment with thicker oil to start with. It wont cost you anything more than you pay now as you are replacing the oil on a continuous basis as it is getting burned up all the time.
If that doesn't help matters then you will either have to look at gettting some work done(£££) or learn to live with it.
Hi,I was wondering if someone can shed some light (excuse the pun) on my headlight adjusting problem.Ever since I have had the car people very occasionally flash me thinking I am on main beam,but I am on low.So I thought I would lower the low beam to stop this as it is offensive to other drivers and annoying.The car does not have electrically adjustable headlights.I have found one adjuster,it is on the back of the headlight unit,it is a black mount with a 12mm black nut pointing up,this moves the adjuster in and out when turned,I lowered the low beam down but then found it also brought the high beam down as well.Is there anyway of adjusting the high beam back up,I have looked but nothing looks obvious to me.Any help will be much appreciated.Thankyou,,,Andrew...
--
Read more
I have exactly the same problem with my MG, the headlights are electronically adjusted for height, from a roller switch on the right hand side of the dash just below the air vent. It has 4 settings 0-3. I find if i drive on low beam with the setting turned to 2 or 3 i dont have a problem. The 220 diesel we have also has the same switch, so i presume they are common to all.
Can anyone please remind me of the name of the resistor which fits in one of the heater air hoses? Its the one which controls the fan speed - at the moment we've only got speeds 3 and 4. I've replaced this item once, years ago, but now I can't remember what it is called so as I can order one. Many thanks!
Read more
I replaced mine (1.8 vti) with a rezpak from ebay) and it was cheap and worked.
how difficult ajob is it to change timing belt on 1.7 td isuzu engine
{subject header expanded somewhat} Read more
they are fairly straight forward once you get covers off and time it up there are bolt holes in pump and cam pulleys to lock in position and a huge unmissable mark on crank and a spring loaded tensioner
I once went down south and and ended up passing through a place that had a very complex multi, mini, roundabout system all connected together.
Drivers no doubt well versed in its intricate rights of passage seemed to have no problems despite seeming a little jug like on detecting my slow, careful courteous (Yorkshire) attempt to fit in with them.
Yes, I was like a beetle blocking an ant run and there was much fuss and gesticulating of mandibles.
Point is, Why should Local Authorities be allowed to install fancy road systems that are only understood by the local populace due to their sheer exposure to it and no doubt much study of it in the local paper?
Regards ;)
Read more
I was in Colchester on business a couple of weeks ago and came across the "magic roundabout". I did not know it was there, thought the only one wasin Hemel Hempstead.
It didn't pose any problems at all. In fact I was so fascinated by it that I went all the way round (on purpose) before going back to my exit - I wanted to see how it worked.
Whether it is more efficient than any alternatives, I don't know (though suspect it is) but as far as ease of use goes I had no complaints.
Browse
Tried an indie exhaust place, he advised that they do not see a lot of the 1998 to 2003 Mazda 323 for exhausts hence the reason why a lot of places do not list the prices.