April 2008
I notice that the service interval for these cars is 2 years/20,000 miles. As I would only cover 12,000 in two years does this really mean the oil would not be changed for 2 years? Seems like a long time to me.
culmhead Read more
Mum has an 03 plate StreetKa with 40k on the clock, which is acting up - I just wondered if anyone had any suggestions.
Symptoms:
Car starts fine, and idles fine, but misfires and "tugs" severely under load. This is worst when the engine is cold, and going through its warm up stage, but to be honest it's pretty bad all the time. Seems at its worst when asked to pull from lower revs in a higher gear, and less pronounced at higher revs.
As I said, starting performance is fine, and the idle is smooth and even. No EML on the dash. This is making it quite hard for me to do anything with it - a misfire at idle would be easier to track down, but no, it idles perfectly.
Plugs were changed at the last service about 8 months ago (Ford/Motorcraft genuine replacements) and this has started happening in the last month or two and has got progressively worse.
Any suggestions gratefuly received.
Cheers
DP
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Cheers screwloose,
I'll take it down the garage tomorrow. It's got 44k on the clock and it was last serviced by Ford in April. However, having looked at the tick sheet it seems the leads and plugs weren't changed.
It just seemed odd that it suddenly started after sitting in the garage for 3 weeks.
Ceers for the reply.
SWMBO Mirca is drinking fuel like it is going out of fashion. The way it is drinking fuel you would think it was a 2.0L. She brimmed the tank the other day and made 3 trips with a total mileage of 150 miles and the tank fuel gauge is in the red already.
Has anybody have any ideas on how to resolve this?
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I bought a 2001 micra 998cc last month and as with the other two micra owners, I believe the car is using much more fuel than it should. One of the reasons I bought the micra was because I hired one on hols and was very impressed with it's fuel consumption.
As with most people I haven't got a lot of spare cash to try all diagnosis and and found the soldering article too technical.
would anyone mind suggesting in what order should I try all the recomended solutions? Ta
Hi problem with 2006 1.6 renault scenic- while checking contacts for rear brake-sidelight i shorted the connections, fuse has blown for sidelights (n\s) and i can`t find a fuse - the glovebox fuses are ok and the box under the bonnet next to the battery all seem to be BIG fuses. Does anyone know where the fuse is ? it is driving me crackers!!. The brake lights and headlights are ok ,just the n\s sides.
Thx
barabus
ps sorry if not clear enought this is my first post.
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I have a similar problem - is this just a time-consuming job, or is it tricky? Any tips?
I've had my 2.2tdci S-Max for a week or so now. The engine is basically the same as in recent Peugeots and Citroens, but as far as I can tell from official Ford press releases and also from peering into the engine compartment, it uses a single turbo rather than the twin sequential turbos, though it still hits 175bhp max.
It's mostly smooth, powerful and quiet, but it seems to have an annoying fault. On light throttle, at up to 2000 rpm or so, it can lose power in an abrupt way, as if the turbo were shutting off completely. The fault is easily reproduceable, always under the same conditions.
I suspect bodged mapping by Ford, when they tried to implement the single turbo conversion.
Anyone else driven a 2.2tdci in an S-Max or Mondeo yet ? Experienced the same problem ? Read more
Scrap this - I have just seen a thread by Cheddar asking this very question!
Interesting, I had not seen this thread before and it was resurrected after my post asking about experiences with both versions of the engine.
To the OP, re your comment about Ford converting the engine to single turbo, the original design specs for the engine family presented by Ford/PSA quoted two 175 bhp versions, twin turbo and variable vane single turbo (plus a 150 bhp version as used in the Freelander and a couple with commercial applications).
As it happens Ford actually quote slightly more power for the variable vane single turbo, it is easy to confuse PS and bhp though Ford quote 129KW and Peugeot 125KW.
Hi - is it possible to retro fit ISOFIX on a '04 Ford Fusion?
Honest John's latest column mentions fitting straps directly to the belt mounting points - is this another option?
If I could get an ISOFIX kit - that would be great!
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Probably not as all vehicles with ISOFIX mountings have to be tested before getting the approval, its one reason why ISOFIX seats are so expensive as the only standard is for the clips and nothing else.
As each vehicle has a different rear passenger cell and rear seat construction there is no 'one size fits all' for ISOFIX.
I'd be apprehensive about trusting an aftermarket fitting.
Hi,
Anyone have any sugestions for a high revving engine on a 2005 1.2 16v Clio.
Starts OK but idles at 3000+rpm. Runs OK (apart from 'Idle') and pulls OK
Any suggestions greatfully received.
Newgadgetman Read more
I gave the throttle body a really good clean, once installed I cleared all the fault on the diagnostic reader, which was about 13 in total!! Potentiometer this, potentiometer that.
There really is no use to home car maintenance without one! I want to say thankyou for this forum culture.
I have a Citroen Xsara Picasso Diesel and I have a strange problem.
When driving on the motorway at a constant speed (or any road over about 50mph) intermittently it feels like the brakes come on - the brake *lights* certainly do and the car slows. Taking my foot off the accelerator and pressing it again clears it. If my wife drives the car and I follow I can see the brake lights flicker occasionally like a loose connection but surely that cant be the case as the brakes come on.
We've had Kwik Fit look at and thoroughly inspect and clean the brakes and they say nothing wrong. What could be going wrong?
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Bernie rubble's talking about a petrol Picasso, so I don't think the injector seals are an issue. Does this have the same crank pulley set-up as the HDI?
Years ago (more than 15?) i remember seeing a machine at several petrol stations. It had a thin tube which you insert into the dipstick tube of the engine in your car and remove the engine oil. Basically it allows you to change the engine oil without the need to get under it to remove the sump plug. Not recommended because you should change the oil filter as well unless it is accessible from top of the engine.
Are these machines still in use nowadays? I am looking for one in the Nottingham area.
Thanks to those who have replied Read more
But do they use the manufacturers OE filter?
I like to see the Mobil 1 going in from my own can ;)
Once again the subject of unreliable modern diesels has popped up on the forum. Also HJ alludes to it in his column this week. I switched to diesel 12 years ago and have covered almost 500k miles in various diesel powered cars since. With the notable exception of a Renault Espace they have all been faultless. The question I have for anyone who has access to the facts is this. What are the actual relative failure rates by brand /model on diesel versus petrol variants? It seems that we get a lot of vague tooth sucking and dire warnings but I have yet to see the actual numbers supporting this assertion. Not suggesting that there are not issues but my personal experience could not be more different. The cars I had prior to my diesels were all petrol and quite a few of them had mechanical failures. By comparison my diesel experience has been absolutely trouble free apart from that wretched Renault. The pay off is that in the roundest of terms I have saved circa £20K in fuel costs as a result.
The truth is out there but what is it?
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What is the verdict on a HDI 407? They seem to be relatively cheap and don't figure on the technical pages too much. Are they a money pit or a good car with relatively poor badge?


My 407 Coupe has 2 year/20'000m intervals. It's just 12 months old and has covered 8000m. Peugeot offer a free 'check' at 12 months. They check/top up the levels, check brakes etc etc. Just had mine done with no problems revealed.