April 2008
This is my daughters car and I haven't had a chance to see the car yet.
The airbag light is lit continuously when the ignition is on (which I understand is not an MOT fail point).
Previously this car had a problem with connector behind the instrument module (when all warning lights were flashing) and Fiat fixed it (2 years ago). Since then the airbag light has flashed occasionally but is now permanently lit.
I don't think the wires (if any) under the front seats have been disturbed.
Any thoughts please? Read more
My Dad's keen to replace his existing, ageing petrol V70 with a newish (probably 06/56 plate) diesel, probably the D5 and certainly an auto rather than a manual. However, he wonders about the 'geartronic' - what exactly is it, a conventional auto or what? How does it operate, compared with 'conventional' auto if different - is it a two-pedal car? also - what are they like, particularly re any known faults/longevity?
He's pretty sold on these, as long as the geartronic box is sound. Any thoughts? Ideally from people who have or had one?
thanks
Neil
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I've recently bought an 05 S60 D5 auto, and was struggling with the fact that if an auto went wrong it would cost a fortune, so should i stick with a manual, and it would be juicier, and it wouldnt be as "sporty" to drive. Well i drove the auto and i'm so glad i went for one, its silky smooth and pulls like a train, also getting 44mpg doing 70% motorway 30% town driving, fantastic cars.
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
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.
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.
Hi All,
Just a quick question,
Thinking of escaping the punitive VED charges.
Which diesel will be the most reliable/cheapest to operate (based on experiences) between the following:-
VAG 1.9 PD130
CDTI 1.9 150
TDCI 2.0 130
HDI 2.0 136
Many thanks,
D Read more
I was also unlucky when I got my derv.
It was a 03 octavia 19tdi alh engine. Had 23k miles.
but found on cold starts that it was reluctent to start, and coff'ed/lumpyed up to running ok, with lots of blue and white smoke.
turned out that th hg was naf, gasses were getting into the header, and smoke coming out of it if cold started with cap off.
but, there was more.....
It had the original cambelt, so i got that changed due to age. note the smoke/starting issue was there prior to change.
The original belt was still pressent and showing signs of age.
now back to the hg, I took it in to be done, and had it skimmed, and valve guides needed changing too and 2 followers(oil filled) fell apart.
was noted that the piston tops were scuffed and damaged and 3 conrod were assumed bent as the tops did not go as high as the 1 did. no idea how or what happened there, i moved it on once hg was done, too costly to carry on, it had some chequered history that car did.
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 was finally defeated this morning by a Vectra and forced to allow a mechanic to swap a headlamp bulb. I took my revenge by pointing out to a nearby salesman that I wouldn't be taking a new one when its lease is up in May due to this rank stupidity.
Anyhow, on arriving at work and recounting this to a colleague he said that as of the 1st of July this year it's going to be illegal to sell a vehicle in the EU that you can't change all the bulbs on yourself.
Presumably this means that they won't be able to get EU type approval, but anyone know more? Will the rules apply to all makes / models or just newly introduced ones? All bulbs or just headlights? Are there any guidelines on what constitutes the ability to change them yourself (e.g. you *can* change the sidelight bulbs on a current VW Sharan - but it's a very unpleasant task)?
Sounds like a win for common sense to me, but need clarification.
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Objects in the rearview mirror may be huge and a very long way away. Read more
Buy a Fiat Panda and you will be transported back to those days not only
when replacing bulbs but for all your car maintenance issues.
agreed, so simple, i have changed the head light bulbs on my 100 hp in less than 10 mins. no tools necessary, same applies to indicator bulbs and side lights. easily done at the side of the road.
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.
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Two other possibilities on a MK2 Punto.
Most likely - airbag connector for passenger airbag is right above glovebox. Momentary break in the circuit will put light on. This momentary break will often arise by trying to close the glovebox with too much in it. Puts pressure on the connector, 'et voila', light is on. (Ask your daughter, in a hopefully non-accusatory manner, if she could have been trying to get too much in the glovebox)
Less likely - problem with the airbag de-activation switch (at left end of dashboard - open passenger door to see it). Also known to put the warning light on.