May 2008
I realise the car is still in warranty, but, I'm going abroad next Tuesday and will not have a chance to see a Citroen garage. I saw small stain on driveway today. On investigation it is coming from bodywork/undertray on drivers side about a foot behind front wheel and a foot in from the sill. It doesn't appear to be oil, but then again it's not quite water. My first thoughts were that it may be coolant (which I'm not too worried about as I can keep a check on it) but, the thought just struck me that it may be Eolys.
I also don't think its from A/C as I've had it turned off recently. Also it has no particular smell.Thank you.
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My colleague, who like me owns a Qashqai, returned to her car from a meeting last week. When she fired it up she couldn't believe that the exhaust seemed to be blowing badly on a brand new car.
Took it to the local Nissan dealer only to find that someone has taken the time to lie under the vehicle and saw off the part of the exhaust that contains the cat converter.
Apparently they are after the precious metal (platinum?) that lies within. I assume the QQ was fair game because it was relatively easy to lie under. £500 to put right including a damaged manifold repair caused when they bent the exhaust over, presumably to muffle the noise as much as possible.
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stealing cats to make money is on the increase does that mean its the purrrrfect crime!!!!!
Hi,
I bought a Rover 45 through an auction last week and have realised that having gone through the owners docs I do not have the security card containing the radio, key and security codes.
As there are no Rover dealers anymore does anybody have an idea how I can obtain these details. While I dont need the codes at the moment there may be a time I will, change of battery etc.
I did see in old forum from a couple of years ago someone mentioned that a Vauxhall dealer can get the details???
Cheers in advance
JonR Read more
An xpart dealer should be able to get the codes or even your local x-rover dealer may still have the software. I have just obtained all of my codes including the EAK code and key number for my MG. They were going to charge but I had it serviced (well oil change) and got them for free.
Hi all,
I've noticed in the last week that when holding onto the gear stick slightly or lightly putting my foot onto the clutch, there is a pulsating feeling that correlates to the car's RPM and load.
For example, heavy accelerating, and you can feel the pulsating feeling through the pedal and slightly through the gear stick, whilst at a steady 70mph not on an incline, I can barely sense this pulsating feeling, but again definately related to the engine's RPM.
Before I get this checked out very soon, is it safe to say the DMF is on its way ?
Thanks in advanced. Read more
I'm wondering if you should be looking at citroen.co.uk instead?
www.citroen.co.uk/site-map/
helo...can anyone help please?
My 1998 punto failed to start yesturday and the AA man couldnt diagnose it. He wrote on the breakdown report
" live feed to coils and injectors no switching" He said it might be either the crank sensor or a relay or the ECU. He said to change the sensor first and if it doesnt work to do the relay and failing that, the ECU
The fuel pump primes but there is no spark, my local (30 minute drive) scrapyard has the same model in but i have a mate who is an experianced mechanic says it is bound to be the ignition pack , saying the fuel wouldnt prime if ECU/crank sensor is faulty I dont realy want to buy the wrong bit/s for it obviously and i only have free car hire from AA till saturday lunchtime.If its the sensor or relay it would be handy (cheap). Thankyou for any replies Read more
Good job...
BTW a clutch slave should take no more than 30minutes max..easy job.
I have a BMW 325 saloon. Since I hd the car there has always been some vibration through the steering wheel as I start to apply the brakes but stops as I increase the pressure on the pedal. I also noticed that often agter making an emergency stop this vibration appears for a while at speeds above 50 MPH. Just recently I have noticed the nearside front wheel is significantly hotter than the offside wheel. I would put this down to the brakes binding but the car does not pull to one side when braking. Performance and fuel economy seem to be OK.
Anyone with any ideas? Read more
Please don't.
It's not worth risking secondhand parts for braking systems. It'll probably come off a car about the same age as yours, and likely to suffer the same failure.
Hi all,
Can somebody please help me resolve this.
My car is again playing up - spoken with the dealer that I purchased it from in November of last year and all I got was a 'it is now out of our hands' type of reply.
I now seriously regret ever coming across that company.
Car is again back to juddering under power, cutting out, won't start - just like when I first got it.
Also the service yellow/amber symbol (car with a spanner) light keeps coming on and going off.
Car seems to be running fine even if fuel economy is a little bit lower than usual.
Fault is present when vehicle runs on both LPG and petrol.
This is the fault:
The car once started, runs like a dream either on LPG or petrol. Until you come to a halt! The engine then just custs out and has great difficulty (on either fuel) starting again.
There is no audible clicking of solenoids etc.
Have also noticed the the temp gauge now sits at the 12 o'clock as opposed to the 11am position.
All fluids are correct and there is ample fuel - I have checked this!
Tron.
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We experienced something similar with our 2003 1.6 Astra (8v Active). It seemed to happen on longer journeys where a higher speed was maintained; after a while, there would be juddering and loss of power and when we pulled over it would stall and not restart (at least for a while).
One time we got the RAC man came out who'd come across it before; he tapped a valve while we turned on the engine and that sorted. It's apparently a dodgy valve and a fault on the EMU. From research etc we were told that the EMU can be turned off and this should fix it. It's expensive via the garage so I'm looking at buying an extry-level reader/scanner to sort it as I need to add a new transponder key too.
Can any body tell me where the fuses are located ?? In particular the one for cig lighter. Read more
Many thanks Chris
The company car is due for renewal soon and I am considering opting out.
I work from home most of the time, so although we *need* two cars for convenience, one of them barely gets used. Up until now, we've used my company car for most of our needs (wife commuting etc). In fact her Focus is nearly 12 months old and has covered just 2,500 miles.
But I'm now considering opting out and buying a slow-depreciating car. Wifeys Focus will pick up the reigns as primary form of transport and my new one will be our second less-used car. I'd like to go new (just because), and budget is up to £15k
My theory is that over 4 years, the cash allowance will have paid for the car in full, and whatever it's retained value is, will be pure profit.
I'm thinking traditional slow depreciators like the new Mazda MX-5 et al...... any other suggestions?
The other theory is to go for something small, frugal and basic (Polo BlueMotion) which would pay for itself in closer to 2 years, and would also likely retain a fair value. Read more
It seems to me that a few factors are missing from the OP's sums.
The current family fleet consists of a heavily-used company car and a little-used private car, so most of the costs and wear-and-tear are born by the company. If the privately-owned car is now doing the miles, that cost will be born by Mrs OP.
However, the big issue seems to me to be that if I understand things correctly, the car allowance is £4,000pa in total ... yet the OP is treating it as if it only had to cover capital costs.
Mapmaker's figures near the top of the thread (tinyurl.com/5k9xg6) tell a rather different story: after you deduct running costs, you actually have about £2,500p.a. for the car's capital cost. And that's assuming no contingencies: the accident where you are found to be at fault and lose your no-claims-bonus, the repair that takes longer than planned so your have hire a car because the garage won't give you a courtesy car while they wait for parts, etc.
If it it was my car allowance, I'd budget for £2,000p.a. capital cost ... and that gives you rather difft choices than the MX-5 you would like.
If you could persuade your employer to allow you to run a car up to 5 years old, you could still do very nicely at that level because you'd avoid the heavy first two years depreciation, but if they insist on a car less than 3 years old (and you want new anyway) then you can only budget for £6 in capital costs over that time. Since most new cars lose 50% to 60% over their first three years, that means you are looking at a £10k-£12k new car ... and no profit for yourself on the deal.
Rather than having to invest your own capital in a new car up front, have you considered leasing? That way someone else bears the capital risk. Motorpoint's list (tinyurl.com/6droxz) suggest that your £2,000p.a would get you a Skoda Fabia diesel or some similar alternatives. I rather like that sort of car, but it may or may not appeal to you.
NW - posts merged on your behalf.
Hi - hope someone can help. Have just bought a pre-owned 1991 Mini after 20 years without, and am rediscovering the joys of Mini electrics.
Headlamps and instrument lights were working OK; I used the full beam switch, and (almost) all the lights died.
Still working: brake lights, indicators (including via the hazard switch); reversing light, horn, ventilation fan, interior ceiling light.
Engine still starts and runs fine; alarm circuit seems unaffected.
Not working: instrument lights, sidelights, headlamps, rear foglamp, front spots.
I've checked the handbook, and it doesn't look like there's a fuse failure which would take out this group of things. I believe the front spots were fitted by the previous owner; don't know what they are wired up to, or which fuse they are on.
Any suggestions gratefully received! Read more
I get a feeling here that some of the problem might be an incompetent previous owner making electrical changes that can make fault diagnosis very difficult. It might be best to strip out all that wiring first of all so you can get back to something that resemble sthe original wiring diagram.
My neighbour has a Peugeot motorcycle with lots of wiring amendments, Goodness knows why, done by twisting wires together and covering with insulating tape. The only advice I've been able to make is to improve the quality of the connections, because they defy logic and any wiring diagram.
Sounds like a case of the "the lights are off but somebodies in".
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"Sultana" Brown always said that an O level in Chemistry would come in handy one day.