January 2008
Just bought a cheap run around and after a few days of driving it, i have noticed a big loss in power whilst going up hills. Thought it may be the turbo as when i felt it, it was cool to touch. Any other suggestions would be welcomed.
slt Read more
This might be embarassing for me 'cos I've overlooked something obvious; but does anyone know of an on-line resource where I can check out insurance groupings for individual models of car without having to trawl through a load of other stuff?
Thanks. Read more
Just what I needed.
Thank you very much.
And if so had any success? I've got a 1994 Astra 1.7DTL, and for the last year or so it's been misfiring after a cold start, and white smoke from the exhaust for just a few seconds, after which it's fine for the rest of the day. Also more recently I've noticed a slight loss of coolant, about 1 pint every two weeks. Last night I decided to release the pressure on the cooling system after returning home in the car, and this morning my suspicions were confirmed. There was no misfire and no smoke. I suspect the cylinder head has a small crack, which is not altogether unknown on these.
So, has anyone used any sealant which is available, and if so had any success with it. I might well try it before taking the head off, and although the engine otherwise runs perfectly fine with no signs of overheating. I'm a bit concerned about what I might find on an engine that's done 212,000 miles, even though it loses no oil at all, and a 14 year old car that isn't worth anything now. Read more
I recently bought some Kalimex K-seal from a well known auction site,considerably cheaper than motor factors.Cannot comment on its effectiveness as I have not used it yet but it is supposed to be good.
Tonight at 21:00 hrs on BBC 1. Could be interesting. Read more
How can they care - they don't even know you are there.
Plenty of drivers looked straight at me without seeing me, you don't believe me - go out and ride a pushbike in traffic!
Hi all
I have a Ford Focus 1.6LX Auto which I have not used for a couple of weeks. When I drove it today, it made loud "twanging" noises from around the near-side front part of the car while driving along. I decided to turn around at the bottom of the road and drive back home in case driving the car more could exacerbate the problem. Any suggestions what might be wrong? Do you think it's OK to drive it to a garage or should I have it towed?
thanks
Julian Read more
Julian
Probably best to wait until the exact cause is confirmed.
IF it is a spring, then a pair isn't dear and it's not more than about 1.5 hours to do both.
Our Panda seems to have really poorly designed doors that let dirty water onto the inner part of the doorway. So when you open the door the sill and the outward facing part of the doorway are grubby. Also you open the door and water drips down off the rubber seal on the interior of the door, or worse, the seat. The side windows seem to mist up more than expected so maybe the windows don't seal properly either. Is this a problem with ours or are other Panda owners annoyed at this design fault? Read more
I acknowledge that this is not a lot of help when you've already bought the car, but in our experience of these cars the best method of avoiding the condensation problem is to specify air-con.
Since trading Mrs B's 54-reg 1.2 Dynamic (with no extras apart from electric mirrors) for an 06-reg 1.3 Multijet Dynamic with a/c pack the problem has disappeared entirely. The standard ventilation system is so-so; adding air-con improves it immensely. The climate control version found on Eleganza and 100HP models is better still.
OP may find that regular treatment of the insides of the windows with Fast Glass or something similar will alleviate the misting problem to a degree - we certainly found that it helped on our earlier non-a/c model.
Can't say that I've noticed the door sills getting any dirtier than on other cars we've had, nor any particular issue with rainwater dripping into the car. Only annoying thing about the doors imo is the way the back ones have of springing shut again if you don't pull them open to the first stop - can be annoying if you're in a tightish space and are carrying things or small people.
My 2002 Citroen C5 Diesel 2.0 HDI 110 has suddenly starting losing coolant, about a pint every 100 miles or so. There are no visible signs either of a radiator or hose/connection leak, or of stains on the ground. The car has done 68,000 miles. I asked my local garage (not a Citroen dealer) to have a look whilst it was being MOTed and he could not find anything- it behaved normally under an overnight pressure test. Any suggestions as to how to find the cause (e.g. head gasket, heater matrix etc.) ? Read more
I have just started haveing the same problem car is ok pottering around but once opened up on motorway loses water after about 5 miles it seems to be coming from expansion tank cap.Has had head gasket changed recently and does not over heat. Did you resolve your problem I would be interested to know.
bempton
snipquote
All is not lost.
www.clean-image.co.uk/articles/flood-damged-car-cl...m
An interesting read and lots of interesting photos. Read more
I think our point is the insurer is to blame. They are not sorting cars or writing off but they come back nice and clean. Then fail. wonder who they get work from.
... And then the car might get sold on without all the "history". Wonder if they can sort out traces of petrol in a diesel.
Hello, 1996 V6 Vectra, has an ignition problem, firing on 4 cylinders, has been plugged into Tech 2 which only indicated No2 and 5 cylinders not functioning. All leads checked individually and 1,3,4,6 all sparking but not 2&5, coilpack removed and coil that supplies 2&5 cracked and melted. Coilpack replaced but 2&5 still not sparking!, any suggestions welcome, have been told this could be an ignition amplifier problem, but do have a clue what or where this unit is on the Vectra.
Moved from Discussion
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Hello, i sorted out the ignition problem on the Vectra, when the coilpack expired it damaged the ECU, Tech 2 was showing absolutely no faults, a replacement ECU has the car running smooth again. On trying to obtain a replacement ECU i was assured by quite a few "gents" that all V6 ECUs were interchangable!, this is not the case!. The ident numbers on the ECU body must match ie HH for HH, GT for GT, etc, AVS Vauxhall in Nottingham were very helpful.
Hi folks,
Any help and advice would be appreciated. I'm currently looking for a new used car to run into the ground as my 8 year old petrol Mondeo finally starts to give up the ghost and look like costing pots of money to fix.
My run is a bit of a killer. It takes me over some very bad roads, plenty of potholes, corners and steep hills. Almost every part of the Mondeo's suspension has been replaced at least once in the 18 months I've been doing the journey. It's a fairly long one as well and I'd say I average between 100 and 130 miles a day depending on which roads are closed on a given day; currently this costs in the region of £70-80 a week just in petrol -- I dread to think what it cost in tyres, suspension parts and servicing.
My thinking is that a solidish diesel may even pay for itself. The more miles to the gallon it does the more marked the savings I make, given the number of miles I do. Just to give you an idea of the way my mind's been working, I've been looking at a low mileage 1.4 TDi Ford Fusion amongst other things, not the most fun or glamorous vehicle admittedly but cheap servicing and excellent fuel economy. Other thoughts were a Rover 75 with the BMW diesel engine or a Skoda diesel.
I've got a budget to 7k, which I'd be looking to pay back in 3 years, so the vehicle would need to last that long if it cost the full amount. I'd be interested in hearing people's suggestions, either along similar lines or, if you think I'm approaching things from the wrong angle, from a completely different perspective.
It would be really useful just to get some fresh ideas.
Thanks
H Read more
What about a Verte? Its a Ford Falcon Au III pick up, built in Australia and the saloon version iis very popular with taxi drivers It was imported to the UK by Verte, a firm set up by the boss of AC Cars, but failed (because of poor distribution/marketing) but the motors live on. They have the ford 4 litre straight six engine BUT its LPG powered and built that way by Ford. Everything about it says Ford. The advantage is the fuel costs - LPG cost around 52 pence a litre and if you think there might be a loss of power, you would be hard pressed to tell with 4 litre lump.
You might be able to tell that I own one. Its not for sale. But they do come up every now and then on ebay. Parts are plentiful (in Australia) and the shipping costs are not that bad. They are very solid cars (or UTES). Mine is an automatic with air conditioning, you can also get them with cruise control and electric windows.
Regards,
Weedy
Browse
It's not unknown for these to incorrectly have 2 air filters in - one on the inner wing, and one in the large box directly above the inlet manifold. One might look fine, and the other would be manky.
>>these are not the easiest things in the world to adjust
True, but at least the shims are between the cam and follower, rather than between the follower and valve stem tip!
>>you will need a special bit of equipment
A micrometer to measure the shims?
>>lots of shims
either that, or access to a surface grinder to take some metal off your existing shims.
I do agree - the valve clearances on these engines were routinely ignored, and frequently the inlets would close up completely, losing compression and hence performance - although it's more usual for the valve clearances to cause poor starting from cold.
Number_Cruncher