March 2008
What fuel consumption efforts and mistakes, including purchase, have you made over the years?.
1) 1967 Mini van, fuel consumption (best) 38mpg on east coast run. Fitted a Mangoletsi ? Manifold modifier, which basically just seemed to do nothing except cut performance as it reduced inlet manifold diameter. Had every fuel and oil additive going but no gain, wasted money.
2) 1979 Yamaha SR 500, fitted Dunstall megaphone and promptly lost around 15MPG. by having to re jet ect, to avoid a massive flat spot. came to the conclusion that the original exhaust was `tuned` to the engine, but didn`t put it back ;)
3) That `really economical`, much loved 2CV that actually could be forced down to 30MPG on maintained full throttle on the M1. (sold after 87,000 miles after losing me a fortune in mileage claims)
4) Its replacement, the 1.6 petrol auto Maestro that eventually got down to 23mpg on long runs as its main jet wore due to the rubbing needle. Sold in desperation as it needed leaded petrol too.
5) The saviour of my finances, in the early 90`s recession, the new Maestro Clubman D, that could get 60MPG, drew max car allowance and ran for 130,000 miles.
Boring after that as i had learnt a lesson, but for some reason as the years went on and fuel consumption became less of an issue for the pocket, it became an issue for the mind....
I think its just me really, can`t blame Yorkshire for that ;)
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my focus 1.6 estate speedo dropping each morning for 15 minutes up down etc then seems to right itself help please 02 reg
Moved over from Discussion and the subject line re-written to include year and engine as well as a suggestion as to what the fault could be ! Read more
I would have thought it should be covered under the warranty - it's certainly the first thing to try !
Search this forum for 'vss' (posts > and < 1 year) and you'll find plenty of posts from me and others about this issue.
Anyone planning an escape from the road tax injustice on 2+ litre petrol cars?
A couple of my friends are, but more out of "feeling robbed" or rather, denying the money to the government, rather than the actual cost.
We were discussing it last night and the view was to get out before there`s more general awareness hitting residuals.
Any thoughts?
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DP - does this take account of the fact that your 11% employees NI threshold
will rise from the 2007/8 level at £34 840 pa to the 2008/9 level at
£40 040; an increase of 11% on £5 200 = £572 a year extra ?
www.bytestart.co.uk/content/taxlegal/9_15/national...l
Sorry, I made a typo. It's £10, not £50. Yes, it does take into account the new NI arrangements. Anyway, it more than offsets the extra road tax.
Excluding inflation of course....
Cheers
DP
I used to have a Rover P6 V8 which has now found its way into the hands of a professional panel beater and restorer. He's made it look so great and it apparently still runs so well at 33 years old I was thinking of buying it back off him and importing it to the USA.
The breadth and depth of knowledge in the backroom never ceases to amaze me... so I'll give it a shot.... does anybody here know about the legalities of this?
As an aside, I met a guy who was over here working on secondment. He actually imported his British car and drove it around with no problem on UK license plates for the six months he was here, and then shipped it back. He said it was cheaper and easier than renting a car for six months or having to buy and sell a car here. So it must be possible...
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>Illinois
Even worse. Emissions regs not only vary county by county but also believe it or
not by ZIP code.
I know that much, where I used to live (10 miles away) I had to have an emissions test, but in my new place I don't.
hi
hope someone can help.last week i cleaned the engine bay with a power washer,next morning started car as usual,started up for a minute but did not sound good..then cut out,tried again no luck,thought i could smell something burning so disconected battery,no fuses blown but under fuse box there was a few wires making contact with each other,seperated these and taped them up correctly. however i am not getting power to the glow plugs,and the strange thing is the glow plug light on the dash is staying on permentlely but fuel light beside it is going out after a few seconds like the glow plug light should,anyone know where i should start looking for the problem?
can anyone tell me where the timer for the glow plug is? greatfull for any help.
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thanks....i will give that a try.
Drove the car to work and as pulling into parking bay at the works noticed engine sniffy with overheating smells. No lights came on. Cooling system had lost all coolant through leak. Engine will not start though does turns over. What is likely wrong will it ever go again.
Regards
Jim
{year found via a forum search. Easier if you'd put it in in the first place} Read more
Unfortunately, it doesn't take a lot to destroy the head gasket on these engines, so if it has lost all its water then it's highly probable that the damage has been done. As the car is 14 years old, repair costs are likely to exceed the value of the car, especially if it has relatively high mileage. 306 diesels of this age can be bought for next to nothing nowadays.
Martin
I have bought in the past on Honest Johns recommendation a Nissan Cherry, (£400 6 years)and a VW Golf (£900 7 years).
The Golf was running OK but It has been hit from behind.
Now I need a replacement hatchback up to 1.6Ltr £1000 maximum.
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:-)
No: a £1500 car becomes £750...
And a £750 car becomes £499.
Hi there, I had a quick search on this board and saw the last post on this topic was in 2001 so I thought I?d ask if anything has changed since then; what are people?s opinions on buying 6 month to year old ex-rental cars?
The only reason I ask is because a friend and I are looking into trading in these vehicles and would like to know if there is still a strong stigma attached.
Any opinions would be greatly appreciated.
Regards
Tom
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We ran a fleet of 100 self drive cars and 200 vans and while I would consider buying an ex hire van I wouldn't consider an ex hire car - on one occasion I pulled a driver out of a car after he had screeched of the forecourt in one of my cars, as he was waiting in the traffic.
Recently had a new cambelt and tensioner done by a local one man garage and all was fine for a week. I now have a loud cracking noise coming from the exhaust area both when it's cooling down and also when heating up. Now I know that exhausts make a ticking noise as they cool down but this is more than a tick; also startled an old dear as she walked past the other day just after turning off the engine, it's that loud!
I went back to the guy who did the cambelt and asked if it could be anything to do with the work he did when changing the cambelt; his guess was that it was coming from the catalytic converter and maybe I need to get an emissions check to see if the cat is damaged. I had a complete new exhaust from the cat backwards about 6 months ago, so the exhaust itself is in good condition.
Do any of you mechanical boffins have any theories regarding this annoyance? TIA, Paul Read more
There is a proposal to reduce the limit of alcohol in the blood from 80mg to 50mg. The proposals also suggest graduated penalties including first offence 6 points for 5 years and an automatic ban for 2 offences. Sounds reasonable to me. While I don't advocate dd, it has always seemed harsh to potentially lose your livelihood, home etc for what could have been a slight transgression.
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008...l Read more
Prisons are still full - don't give 'em any more ideas.
Browse
1965 Ford Zodiac Mk3 auto - fuel bills for month were around £16 (I used to keep a log) good old days at 19mpg scrapped it for 2CV in fuel crisis of 70's-- after numerous small cars back to Japanese barges - 207bhp at 22mpg but Oh the luxury - 24 if I drive real smooth.