March 2008
My Zafira has a water related problem which I think is stagnant water but my wife says is more sulpherous.
Although not exclusively so the small can be 'invoked' by using the washer on the front screen. I have tried changing the screen wash but this makes no difference.
It also happens after rain and I have checked that water drains away ok.
It seems likely that the seal at the bottom of the screen is leaking - if this is the cause then where would the water get to inside the car?
Any suggestions? Read more
Hi,
I need advice on how to replace a Toyota Rav4 Rear Wiper rubber that has perished. Popped into Halfords today and they don't list the model. Looked at the wiper arm/blade and couldn't figger out how to replace/remove the rubber. Checked the manual - no instructions.
Thanks in advance for any help.
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Best you speak with Toyota. I got involved with reproduction wipers on our Yaris and they were rubish.
The other day I filled the 93 up at a Shell garage and the difference on a litre between diesel and unleaded was 8p!!! On a full tank fill of more than 50 litres that's 4 or 5 quid. Since the car only does 43 to the gallon I'm thinking my days with diesel could be coming to an end as I could easily find a petrol car (admittedly probably a smaller one but that's not a problem) that'll do 40ish to the gallon and I'm saving on fuel costs.
I know it depends on the mileage and the car you drive as to whether it's worth it but when you factor in the original premium you pay for diesel cars anyway I find it surprising when the papers say (as they did the other day) that diesel car sales will soon overtake the sales of petrols.
Or are we just being shafted by the oil companies again? Read more
The BMW costs £27k the Prius £18k the 520d averages 40 mpg and does 185
g/km the Prius does better than that.
Oh dear someone else who has fallen for the hybrid con. It is absolute nonsense to base a cars green credentials on the amount of CO2 it produces. Hybrids are not green, their whole of life environmental impact is much greater than that of a conventional car.
For sticking behind the Roomie. Any online recommendations. I have a large one that the Landie pulls, this is just for small scale stuff. Recycling trips, domestic waste etc. Read more
And reduces the risk of fly-tipping which costs a fortune to clear up after the stupid pigs. (sorry one of my pet hates).
Oh yes the Roomster is known as the Roomie amongst owners (not that I've spoken to one just picked it up on the Briskoda forums.) - has a better ring to it that Beemer (my previous maker of choice) though.
Hi
I am thinking of one of these to replace my for Granada what I would like to know which is better for reliability and cheaper to run ie on parts , service etc,
it won't be a new one it will be about 3-4 years old Read more
I?ve owned a Mazda6 for around five and a half years now and have been extremely happy with it. My local dealership is excellent, servicing is competitively priced and reliability is second to none.
Although I?m a low mileage driver (clutching wooden desk as I type) the only expense I?ve incurred, apart from the usual, is the replacement of a small lens which was fitted during my last service for an additional £4.00.
If it wasn?t for the increased size of the new model, I would almost certainly buy a replacement 6 within a year or so.
Mine isn?t the estate version and I have no experience of Honda.
Hope this helps.
Clk Sec
I appreciate that it is the Easter weekend but if anyone out there has a list of ( or access to a listing of ) the Sachs-Boge distributed " Hi-Drive " suspension products and can tell me what part TC254 is, it would be much appreciated.
Thank you.
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Please disregard original post.
Could not identify part because I was told that TC254 was a Hi-Drive part number, it is infact an AC part number and the item is a lower ball joint used on Fiats.
Happy Easter to all.
Hi, whenever I start the car first thing in the morning the coolant indicator beeps and then starts flashing - it's done this for a while now but as it goes off after a while I haven't done anything about it. The coolant level is fine. Someone looked at the car yesterday and suggested it might be the head gasket that is on it's way out as the coolant smelt musty. Does anyone agree with this?? Could it be something else? He suggested it would cost £500 to replace the head gasket so I'm loathed to just go ahead with this without asking some advice. If I leave it, could I be asking for trouble?
Also, how freqently should the timing belt be changed? It was replaced at 61500 (2 yrs ago) along with the MAF sensor.
Many thanks!!
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That is where I would go first. If the antifreeze is old it might be a good idea and flush it all out and replace with fresh. When I do this, (on other cars) I take the opportunity to totally disconnect the expansion bottle and clean it all out. Most level indicators work by a float system or a floating lever system that when the fluid falls, sets off, or breaks, a magnetic link which makes the electrical contact. These units can usually be CAREFULLY disassembled as they are usually very simple. They often have lots of gunge on them, so a good clean up can work wonders. Make a note when you disassemble and replace exactly all the bits in exactly the right order. I recently put a lever unit in upside down, so that when a leak occurred the lever never fell, and the light never came on.
A sniff teast will take 10 minutes and be very accurate.
My MOT station just pop the exhaust tester in and any hydrcarbons present (which should not be) show up easily.
Or if you know one please ask them -
Warning lights:
They come on when the ignition key is turned on, so that one can check that the warning light itself is working
But in too many vehicles the warning lights are placed higgledy-piggledy all over the instrument panel. And often there will be spaces where there is a light on a different model but not on yours because you don?t have the relevant accessory etc.
In times past there were so few lights that you could easily see that one was not coming on. Now there are lots of them.
Now I don?t like a straight row of uniform switches because I prefer to be able to use them with a minimum amount, preferably zero amount, of taking my eyes off the road to look for them. I don?t want to feel for the row then count along for the switch I want, let alone try to read a label. Thus different types of switch in different places for different things suits me.
But randomly placed lights are, for me, bad ergonomics. If the lights could be placed in a row be it straight or curved, or a recognisable pattern, the driver could see at a glance when starting the car / vehicle that all the lights were in order. Now you and I, dear reader, are careful and thorough. But we know that most of our friends and family, lovely people that they are, don?t even look to see if their tyres are inflated before they set off, so they?re not going to memorise the positioning of random lights, are they? Taking the trouble to see a nice triangle or H - shape or whatever is, just, within the bounds of possibility. (And if we get tyre pressure warning gizmos with yet another light that will sort the above failure to inspect issue.) The - you don?t have a soft top so you don?t have a warning light for it - problem could be dealt with by using some imagination. E.g. one bulb of a particular colour sending light by a fibre optic to each dummy position, only lighting them at start up time. Or a separate area with its own pattern for the lights for optional gear.
This is a less serious issue as cars move towards having a little screen that can tell you all sorts of stuff, including that one of your warning lights has failed. But not all cars have these yet.
So - designers - rather than try something YOU THINK IS clever with the indicator and wiper stalks yet again rather than leave them well alone this is something you could mess with with my blessing for a change.
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Can I ask designers to make it a little easier to replace light bulbs generally - especially headlight bulbs. I don't care if you say the bulb will last 10,000 hours - it'll still go faulty long before then.
Hey! Car refuses to start, turns over exremely slow,sometimes not at all! battery good solenoid on starter clicks in, rev counter is 'jumping' as the IGN key is released, Earth on gearbox was found to have come loose but fixed now recent clutch change and new stereo. any ideas anyone?
Thanks for looking much appreciated. Read more
HA! did cause me to think!! problem is i no longer have an airing cupboard!! lost it to a combi boiler.... (The missus!!!) thanks for the tip though!
Vehicle :- Skoda Octavia 1998 TDI 4 Door Saloon. {year added to subject line, as per the 3 separate requests}
My brother who owns the above vehicle requires a replacement Off-side electric window motor.
I'm not sure but I believe that he has ruled out every other possibility of failure, bar the motor itself.
As Octavias are rare in the breakers yards, ae there any other Skodas or VW's that might use the same motor?
Regards,
Gary. Read more
If the water is from the washer bottle is "THE PROBLEM" add some Baby Steriliser liquid (Milton etc) or steriliser tablets.
Leave for a while then use the washers heavily to flush the liquid through the tubes.
If this is the cause the Milton will kill the bacteria in the water & solve the problem.
If it is a leaky windscreen seal then Autoglass & the other glass companies is the only resort.
I had a leaking backscreen on a Co Car 20 years ago - discovered on day 1 - 3 new screens + sealers BUT 3 years later it went back still leaking.
The Co & the Leasing Co did not want to pursue Peugeot so I bough air freshners on expenses every other week.