February 2008
Hello,
I've performed my fortnightly oil and water check today and noticed my coolant was right down - not enough to set off a warning light but it must've been blooming close to it. Anyway, when I opened up the oil cap I noticed a fair build up of creamy gunge clinging to the bottom of the cap with a little bit on the inside of where I put the oil (dunno the proper term for it!) - I know enough to know that this gunge can be a fairly bad sign.
I've done a few googles and various things have been mentioned.
1. With my coolant being so low, would this mean the temperature of the engine would've been higher than normal and therefore caused the gunge?
2. The dipstick shows clear normal-looking oil - before and after a journey sufficient to heat the engine up.
3. Most of my journeys are around 12-15 miles long (basically to and from work or to the cinema and back) - I've heard mention that short journey's can sometimes cause this but 12-15 miles is more than enough to get my temperature gauge to its usual leve.
4. The temp gauge has not deviated from it's usual position once the engine has been running - the car doesn't appear to get hotter more qujickly etc.
I'm assuming the recent very frosty weather has resulted in the coolant being used up so quickly? I've checked under the car and there isn't any fluids leaking apart from an oily build up under the gearbox (it's always been like that for as long as I've had the car).
5. There's been mention that a faulty rocker cap can cause the gunge - what is a rocker cap!? Is is the actual oil cap? Would a new one resolve it?
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Just checked my my oil and it does not even show up on the dipstick, i topped the oil up only 3 weeks ago, so what could be causing it to use so much oil? the engin looks clean and no oil under the car when left over night, any suggestions would be great. Read more
Its done 112,000 miles, if its just the age of the car i can live with that just dont want anything to be wrong as i had the clutch replaced 2 weeks ago which cost £ 220 and as you say the car is old so dont really want to spend any more out on it, and to be far apart from the clutch going (it was the original clutch so did well to last over 110,000 miles) ive had no problems, had its MOT in January and passed with no faults at all and not even an advisory note.
just picked up a 2litre petrol Ulysse which, if you're careful coming off the throttle does idle, but in traffic it stalls more often than not. I have yet to buy a Haynes manual for it but until then does anyone know if there's a way of manually adjusting the idle speed or is it all under the control of the ECU? Any useful suggestions most welcome. Read more
norm
That's stretching the memory cells; but I think it's the little 4-wire drum-type one on those - mounted on the side of the throttle housing.
Clean the throttle plate etc. first.
Hi guys, I'm looking to buy a car for my Mrs, the choice is between Honda Civic and VW Golf, we're looking for 1.4/1.6 petrol engines and the budget is £3000.
Which one would be a best buy with this budget? I know they both are excellent cars and she equally likes them both but which one would prove a better option in the long run, we're looking for something that cheaper to run/maintain and reliable. It'll mainly be run around town as a second car. Thanks. Read more
Just thought I should let you guys know that I went and bought a 2001 Honda Civic 1.6 i-VTEC privately, its one owner with 88k miles on it and its got full Honda service history. Wife quite likes it so its all good :)
Good morning, I have had a long standing saga with my 607 with problem after problem which have just seemed to be unsolveable. Finally found a really good Pug mechanic with the full on Diag 2000 kit who had a look at clearing my ECU down for me. To his surprise I had many many perminent errors (many of which should now be historical and he is surprised the car moves), on trying to clear them down he was getting a communications error every time and could not do anything with it.
He said that he has never seen this before and it could be the ECU that is a fault, on the other hand he has never seen a bosch ECU go wrong like this before so it is more likley to be a wiring problem. The really odd thing is when he checked the mileage my car has done the ECU is reporting a meer 87,000,000 km (I haven't added extra zeros, it is eighty seven million kilometers). Now I'm no expert but I think that would make my car a record breaker as it's over a million a year.
Has anyone experienced a similar issue? I think this is the ECU rather than wiring, can anyone recommend a good recon ECU supplier?
Many Thanks
Adrian Read more
The Diag goes back to the mid-90s; but if it's lists your car it should give sensible readings. The fact that it doesn't makes me think that it's not to be relied upon.
You have the one-piece plug? Any [tiny] number on that loose pin hole? Might be significant and I'll try and ID it's function with the pin number. Is it a big terminal or a small one and is it offset outwards from the "top" row?
I am currently driving arund the the company pool car which is a diesel Golf.
Quite a nice car in many ways - nothing special but quite nice to drive.
After a long run [Bristol to Hove] I switched the engine off and upon restarting was told that the oil level was low.
Purchased 1 litre of 507 spec oil from Halfords and it took the full litre to even get the dip stick to register the fact that oil had been added. The level is about half way up the dip stick.
The car was recently serviced (roughly 3k miles ago) and to me this seems excessive consumption.
I'm not a slow driver but I don't cane the engine and always let it get up to full working temp before applying the loud pedal. Can't talk for the other users of the car though.
Is this a trait of diesel Golfs?
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So you know it uses oil yet you still don't do anything about it until
told it needs some? >>
And you're so perfect that you check the oil level on your own car religiously right?
I have an 1994 caviler, replaced the starter, replaced the ingnition switch. When i turn the key i get nothing, no lights, nothing at all. Read more
It'll be a Chevy Cavalier, a US model that was a favorite with driving schools but went out of production in 2005. Now replaced by the Cobalt I think.
As Screwloose says, first thing to check is that the battery connections are OK and that you're getting a live feed to the ignition switch.
Kevin...
I want to fit a towbar to my C4 GP Citroen.
Do I need to have a specialised wiring kit or can I use the normal kit with a by-pass relay.
Read various things on Google, but it confusing. Read more
www.towsure.co.uk and ,yes, the C4 is covered.
Hi all
I off to Switzerland this summer on an expat posting (probably for 3 years) and so will be selling the Mondy tdci and SWMBO's Astra.
My company will reimburse me for the difference in trade and retail price when I sell the cars for the move (I'll proably use the sure sell auction).
The catch is they need an offcial price comparison, Parkers etc is unlikely to do.
I understand Glass's guide is the industry standard but is it available to the general public, preferably via the web.
If not is a dealer likely to be willing to give an official valuation?
thanks for any input
Dan Read more
Go to a dealer that stocks the sort of car you're selling.
Tell him the score.
Ask him to photocopy the relevant pages of Glasses guide for a few quid.
You never know, he might even offer a sensible price.
Last September my girlfriend had a car accident in which her Almera was shunted from behind. The other driver admitted liability and his insurance company decided it was an uneconomic repair and agreed it was a write off and agreed to pay out. However the car is still drivable and so she is still driving it and has asked to keep the car and they said they would deduct £50 from whatever payout she is made.
After 2 months of mucking around a cheque arrived out of the blue for £1200. This was strange as she had turned down this amount over phone and so was annoyed they had gone ahead anyway.
So we wrote a letter back explaining that seeing as she brought it for £1800 4 months before, it was worth a lot more and enclosed 2 print outs from Auto Trader for £1600 odd, and asking for a fair price nearer to that.
Today, 5 months after the incident, they have said there value system only values the car at £1200 and that all she is going to get.
This stinks, as a few years ago when my sister had a claim (with a different co) they were open to negotiation.
Just on the principal alone we are going to put up a fight, any suggestions welcome on the best way to proceed.
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thanks for even more replies.
firstly we sent the cheque back, as a matter of protest, with a letter on 2nd Jan.
some of the questions have answered themselves, but she wants to keep the car, as its pain finding and buying a new car. I guess she will be in a better financial position, but the car isnt worth what it once was and as someone does quite rightly said, if fails an MOT, she has the option to source a new car.
we will fight on....
Browse
Its likely the recent very cold weather, take it for a long run then change oil and filter.
Or you could just ignore it ;)
Regards