March 2008
I have been nominated to have a look at the noisy rear brakes on this Golf.
I am guessing that they will be disks.
It has done 30K from new. Presumably the pads shouldn't be worn out.
Is there anything in particular to look out for or common faults?
Any special tools required?
I have not seen or heard the car yet.
Cheers
Ian Read more
I know that PSA diesels have Particulate Filters and use EOLYS fluid as part of the chemical process. I see that BMW diesels also have particulate filters but do they also use EOLYS and, if not, how does the filter work without it, please?
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Some more info here, this is a scan of a SEAT leaflet on DPFs, which describes how the current generation of catalyst-coated DPFs work in both passive and active mode.
xs125.xs.to/xs125/08124/dpfle3124.jpg
Hi, My car has started making a grumbling noise at idle. This was first accompanied by a higher pitch "whine" a few weeks ago which I guessed was the water pump. So I changed that (which was completely knackered) together with the cam belt and Aux belt and assumed a fix. However a week later and the whine has gone, and the rumble has resurfaced.
The problem is only noticable with a warm engine and only when waiting in slow moving traffic, when coasting (there is a few hills on my route that traffic builds up on) I can't hear the grumble. Only when the car is stationary can it be heard. When the water pump was changed, I did inspect the other pulleys etc although I'll admit not very thoroughly.
I have had the car about 4 years now and I know everything has been serviced at the right times etc, it has about 120k on the clock.
Any ideas would be appreciated, personnally I'm stumped. Cheers. Read more
Noises are very difficult to pinpoint on a forum like this - only a skilled technician listening to the car in real life will be able to advise.
I'm in Somerset and Peugeot trained if that helps.
Hi guys,
I have a clunky / grindy / rumbly (not quite sure how to describe it) noise coming from (i'm almost certain) the alternator on my 99T Citroen Saxo 1.1x {obviously not seen the 3 separate requests to include the year/engine info in the subject header}
I think it might be the bearings.
Does this mean I need a whole new alternator or can you replace the bearings?
Anyone any idea how much it normally costs for a garage to replace an alternator?
Given that the car is only worth about £500 and then MOT is coming up when it will need brakes and probably a few other bits, i'm in two minds whether to just sell spares / repairs...
Thanks Read more
Didnt realise they were 20.8 mm :)
Has anyone noticed that the price difference between unleaded and diesel seems to be getting greater all the time. Diesel is now quite commonly 9 pence a litre more and I am not clear why this is - did I miss the Chancellor sneaking in an extra tax rise on diesel in the recent budget perhaps.....? Read more
No you didn't. See this thread......
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?f=2&t=61...4
Hi everyone,
First time post here but from what i see you all know your stuff.
I have a 96 xantia 1.9td estate and the fuel ecomomy is shocking.
I have done this several times now and getting the same results each time, i am filling up with diesel and putting in 68 litres. (which is 15 gallons) and the most i have had out of a tank is 397 miles. i have even tried totally unladden apart from me with very light acceleration and not going over 2000 rpm this got me to the 397 miles.
This equates to 26 mpg!!!! only 4 miles better than my mitsubishi evo!
i have checked for leaks through out the system and all is well so does any one have any idea what is causing it to be so amazingly bad?
cheers
paul Read more
hi i had the very same problem with both of the xantia's i had. they have a fine gauze on the bottom of the fuel pick up hose witch is part of the fuel sender unit. You can get to it by lifting up the back seat and lifting off the black rubber cover and unscrewing the large black plastic nut that screws it in to the tank, but be warned they usually break so you might have buy a new plastic nut. The gauze is on the bottom of the fuel gauge sender unit and can get very blocked. The problems i had was lack of power especially when in cruising speed. Bad starting when warm because of vacuum building up in the fuel pipe. I hope this helps you and this is the cause as it drove me mad for 8 months with my first xantia diesel turbo.
We are a family of 3 intending to rent cars in the UK and France for a three week trip.
We will need one for Wales, last week in May, to be rented in Cardiff and dropped off in Manchester. Then we're flying to Perpignan where the plan is to rent one for 2 1/2 weeks to look around the region while we stay at an apartment in Ceret, close to the Spanish border.
While in Ceret we want to have a brief look at northern Spain and Barcelona.
Around June 18 we will fly back from Perpignan to Manchester to hot foot it back to Cardiff for our return flight the next day.
Questions are:
1. It seemed that cheapest rentals are in the UK, followed by France, then Spain, but recently it seems rentals may be cheaper in Spain, so does anyone know of a rental company that they would recommend, whether Spain or France? We are looking for a small car.
2. We've heard white knuckle nightmare stories of driving around Barcelona - any confirmations?
3. Any recommendations for car rental in the UK?
All advice gratefully received.
We are coming from Canada (Victoria) Read more
Thanks for all the help. We just got back from Cardiff a couple of days ago and looking back over the advice I got here, I benefited from much of it. I did go with Holiday car rentals both for Wales and France and it worked out very well. We got a small Peugeot in Wales and an Opel Zafira in France.
We took the train down from Manchester to Cardiff and really enjoyed that 3 1/2 hours much more than if we had driven it, I would imagine.
Driving in Wales was challenge at first due not only to being on the other side of the road but also in unaccustomed tight lane widths, with the additional factor of stone walls right at the edge of the lane often with no shoulders. This was particularly true of the Gower Peninsula - 40 mph never felt so fast. I have never before thought the posted limit was actually too fast!
The scenery in the Gower was hard to leave but when we did, we went up the West and over near Snowdon to Llangollen, where the local tourist information came through in a big way and found us some great accommodation. I had forgotten that they would do this, but see that I was was told here in this thread.
France was totally and refreshingly different, of course, and it turned out that the villages we had chosen to stay in (for 1 week each) could not have been better chosen - the first being Ceret, down near the Spanish border and the second Caunes de Minervois. We really became almost blassé about seeing yet another incredibly picturesque medieval village with impossibly (sometimes literally) narrow streets and amazing old churches/abbeys/viaducts and great wine and cheese selling for near nothing.
So, thanks again to all who helped.
Russell
Returns 30.5mpg on LPG and Petrol 36.5mpg at 70mph. In town both fuels return circa 25mpg.
Are these figures correct?
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Thank you for your replies. I asked because when I first used the car and until it had the EGR valve replaced fuel consumption on both fuel types was a lot better.
50 litres of LPG (roughly £26.00) now returns around 320 to 400 miles of travel.
Befor the valve replacement it would do 400 to 450 on 50 litres of LPG. That again could have been down to me not being as confident or familiar with the car as I am now. Yes, the peddle does hit the floor a lot quicker and harder these days!
Still, if that was petrol it would be twice the cost for the same distance. For the time being, as LPG is one of the products on my local petrol stations that is having the largest price increases applied, LPG is a lot cheaper than diesel or petrol to use as a fuel.
Just had a quick scan and doesn't appear to be here. If mods have no objections, please log on and sign the following petition relating to recent statements regarding VED and road tax.
petitions.pm.gov.uk/UNFAIR-VED/sign
(already mentioned in another thread:-
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=61282&...e )
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Just been reading HJs road test of the new C5.
The most disappointing thing abut the new car is that it is much heavier than the competition, leading to a reduction in around town performance and economy, whilst overall top speed and cruising economy are unchanged.
This is a ridiculous state of affairs.
We are facing ever increasing road congestion throughout the world, so it must be more important to improve urban consumption by way of reduced weight and increased efficiency, rather than a massage the figures for dubious extra urban figures which are impossible to achieve.
Mazda are obviously the leaders in this idealist concept and I hope they do really well. It's a shame that Citroen have produced a car that is heavier that the Rover SD1 3500 V8. Read more
Good luck, EdV. I agree about going for a top trim level to get the acoustic glass, Xenons and decent suspension.
I would be tempted by a tourer (estate) when they come out as a replacement for my Merc C320CDI, A 2.7 V6 HDI auto would be nice, apart from the emissions, which rules it out for me. Funny how the same engine in the Jag XF gets emissions of 199?! I guess ideally I would go for a 2.2 HDI auto (if they made it, and emissions were under 225).
I read, in Autocar I think, that the 'proper' suspension was slightly lighter than the 407 set-up.
Browse
Thanks 659.
This car is unknown to me. I don't know if pads have previously been fitted.
I used needle nosed pliers to wind back the rear pistons on my X-reg Primera.
There is a cross in the face of the piston.
Are the pistons on the VW very different?
The winding tools are less than £10 normally, so will probably take your advice! Not my money.
Presumably there are no odd (torx, etc) fixings on the calipers?
I have only seen calipers with standard bolts or 7mm Allen.