March 2008

saraht91


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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MW

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.

ralph278

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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grumpyscot

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.

kirklander73

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

kirklander73

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!

gary923

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

zenta01

Hi , just had my cambelt done..10 miles down the road and the alternator light comes on , resulting in no power steering.So , possible loose wire , but where is the alternator?..I can see the turbo and the aircon compressor..but no alternator , can someone give me a clue please?.Thanks.

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elekie&a/c doctor

Also check for good solid power at the large red lead.This is the main charging output lead to the battery.The blue/white wire is the warning light circuit.hth

yammyphillr6

can someone help me, i have a 2001 Yamaha r6 600 and i just put a new engine in which runs very well but when i rev it the digital speedometer goes up too, im not sure what ive done (please help) regards yammyphillr6 Read more

yammyphillr6

cheers bud i will give this a try

Pluke

Hi

I just bought a 03 Ford Fiesta Zetec 1.4 TDCI. Its has 43k on the clock and has a full history.

Now the car doesnt sound that good on tickover, It sound very ticky and a diesel rattle. But also there is a smell of burnt exhaust gasses, The smell is like a cold started deisel smell, Even when the car is at normal temp.

Also the when i turn the car heater on you can smell the same smell.

Needs some help ASAP!

Thanks

Luke
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Pluke

Yes, I have heard this is a problem with the 1.4 TDCI engine. But i cant see why the heater is turned on in the car would pull engine fumes in, Its not a deisel fumes, its exhaust fumes.

Luke

seafrog

hi can anyone help?

Peugeot 306 td 1.9 t reg with lucas pump. now the problem, I used the car for work, fine, I then went shopping, again fine. The following morning it wont start, no fuel in pipe between filter and pump. I bled the line; fine. I left car overnight and the same problem next morning, so on the advice of a friend I have changed fuel hand primer, fuel pipe from hand primer to filter, and the leak off pipes on the injectors, and the return pipe from the pump. I have also taken the whole filter assy off, cleaned and checked. Lastly I bled from pump to the injectors. at a loss to what to do next? cheers

{slight re-write to make for easier reading} Read more

DL

Only use Bosch, Beru or preferebly genuine plugs.
--
groups.msn.com/honestjohn - Pictures say a thousand words.....

vin

The handbook states GL4 75/90 gear oil for my Lancer '05, however I can only find GL5 75/90 gear oil.

Is this a more modern version of the GL4 or are they 2 separate oils even though the viscosity is the same?

Will it hurt to use GL5, does anyone know the difference between the 2?

Thanks in advance,
Vin Read more

mfarrow

www.performance-oils.co.uk/acatalog/Comma.html

... has a comma equivalent listed semi-synth 75W90 GL4.

martint123

String 'em up!

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7308400.stm

Conservative leader David Cameron has apologised after being photographed ignoring red lights and cycling the wrong way up a one-way street. Read more

Pugugly

I was wondering about that, may have been on "blades" I suppose.