May 2008
I have an imported Pajero 2.8 LWB that runs fine when warm but when starting from cold the engine cuts out after a few hundred yards, if I keep the key turned or leave it for 5-10 mins it will eventually start, it will sometimes do this again before I can drive away and then it will give no problems all day.
Does anyone know the fault and cure.
As I said it is a 1994 Pajero/Shogun 2.8 Auto.
Read more
I know the normal arguements about Diesel vs Petrol. i.e. Diesel will give better economy, torque is useful and it will pay for itself if you do more than 15k / year.
We are looking at a Midi MPV, and having test driven a few (Mazda5, Verso etc.) the Diesel engines seem to suit my wife's driving style / car weight better (low end grunt, meaning less gear changes in stop/start traffic, and plenty of torque for motorway overtaking).
The concern I have is that 95%+ of her journeys are going to be short ones, less than 5 miles from a cold start, plenty of it stop / start traffic.
What would the real world fuel economy of a Diesel engine vs Petrol from a cold start over a short distance be (I presume the Petrol would warm up quicker)?
I've also heard a number of horror stories of particulate filters clogging and severe fuel dilution of oil after only 3k when a car has been subjected to such short journey abuse.
Should I be concerned?
Is a modern Diesel still a sensible(ish) choice for a school run car?
TIA - Rufus. Read more
Thanks everyone - so looks like Diesel won't be too stupid a choice, provided it gets a weekly blat!
All I need to do now is convince SWMBO that I *HAVE* to rag the nuts off the thing to keep it running sweetly!
Rufus.
Hi, we have the air bag and service light illuminated on our Megane dash. We put it in to be checked out and the garage say that it is the spring behind the steering wheel. It might be just a wire loose but we have to change the whole module costing £180. I have heard other people locally having this light coming on. What are your views on the forum. Thanks, regards, Paul
{awaiting exact year and engine details to arrive in my inbox - DD} Read more
Oh, third precaution is DO NOT USE AN ORDINARY MULTIMETER to test continuity of Airbag Circuits, that could set off the detonator.
The Airbag computer uses a very very low current to test circuit continuity.
Hi all, recently bought an 05 S60 D5 auto with 26000 miles on it, i've since put a couple of thousand miles on it and it seems a nice car to drive, but what do the BR's think of these cars and what is there to look out for in the future, regarding engine, gearbox, suspension etc, thanks for your views. Read more
just bought a 2003 D5 a couple of days ago and love it!
its got 135k on the clock with full dealer SH
with things like the top engine mount and bushes being the likely cause for anything to go wrong would it be worth while taking out an idependant warranty? I can get the Platinum www.warrantyworks.co.uk/carPlatinum.jsp for £280 for the year.
Anyone had any experience with these sort of things?
I'm always dubious with insurance companies looking for the first way out of paying!
cheers
In my rearview mirror, on Saturday I spotted cars behind me being flashed by a speed camera on the dual carriageway section of the A46 Lincoln bypass. In the past, in the absence of signs to the contrary, I've always assumed that the limit was 70 and in fact I've driven past the camera at 70 on countless occasions. The question is .......... has the limit recently been dropped to 60? If it has then I missed seeing the sign, the camera may have flashed me as well, and I may be in trouble! Read more
They also flash at fixed intervals as it is good for the discharge capacitors which lose capacity if left constantly charged and ready to fire.
Wonder if anyone else has come across this and even better has a solution that does not involve a trip to the workshop.
The CD player with in dash 6 CD changer unit on my 56 reg Nissan Note will not load or eject CD's. When I start it the message comes up 'Checking Trays' which it just keeps scrolling. It will however play the CD's and change discs happily enough, it is just the load/eject function which appears at fault and the continuously scrolling message.
If there are no ideas for a DIY fix is there any way of extracting the CD's currently loaded? The manual is silent on 'emergency ejection' procedures!
Thanks in advance for any help or comment.
Steve Read more
Problem sorted! This may be of interest to other Nissan owners with the same CD player setup as well.
In desperation yesterday evening I tried a bit of the old fashioned impact technology. As the CD player started up I gave the unit a couple of sharp thumps on the dashboard immediately above it. Turned unit off and back on again. Pressed eject and the CD's started coming out again and so far it seems to be working fine.
A trawl through some (mainly American) websites suggest that 'sticking' CD's may be a bit of a possible issue with these units. Some sites also suggested that the cause may be home burnt CD's in the unit slightly warping. I did have one in there and maybe that was the cause.
I have learnt a lot from this site and I hope that the above is of some use to other forum members.
Regards,
Steve
Hi Guys,
I currently drive a MK1 Clio and fancy a change to something more up to date and good looking, economical. I typically drive 2-3 times a week within London outside of peak hours.
I like the look of a Stilo and am drawn to a diesel (for the better mileage). I'm specifically looking for a 3 door model, hopefully loaded with all the toys - aircon, satnav, electrics.
I'm not a boy racer or customiser but do like to have some power on tap for overtaking/powering away from clumps of traffic on the motorway (when I venture out of the city).
I'm looking at the 1.9 diesel (80bhp) but also aware of the 115bhp version.
I would like to get feedback on;
1. Apart from additional bhp (& higher ins group) is there any advantage getting the higher diesel model?
2. Are there any known problems/characteristics with the Stilo diesel range/engines?
3. Anything else I should know about Fiats in general? Parts availability etc...
4. Can anyone suggest a similar sized alternative diesel? (3dr, good looking, loaded with toys) My Budget is £3-4k, looking at 4-6 year old models.
Thanks in advance.
Mark.
Read more
> Fiat make fine, basic cars but when they overload them with technology they can have problems.
The flaw in that argument is that all modern cars, from the most basic up, are loaded with technology. You can't really avoid it.
The days when the like of Fiat can get away with making their electrics out of bits of string and cancelled component orders from a ZX81 are long gone.
In my experience of over a dozen relatives and friends who have owned Fiats of all descriptions, they seem to run tolerably OK until they hit year six or seven then all hell breaks loose. I wouldn't want to be there quite honestly, especially when the Fiat's raison d'etre (being cheap) is matched by various Nissan and Korean alternatives that don't break nearly as often.
Is anyone else getting as sad as me and seeing how many miles they can eek out of a tank of fuel?? In an effort to offset the rising fuel costs, I've taken to trying to fill up as little as possible and to drive as economically as is reasonable (60mph on motorways & A & B roads).
I last filled up last Thursday and since then have driven up to North Wales and back (incl some 'spirited' driving around Snowdonia & short trips to shops) as well as driving from Wilts to Southampton and back all this week which includes the joys of the M27 to the north of the city! Total mileage so far on the tank is 980 miles. Fuel light came on at 930 miles. Based on my current fuel economy of 69.1 mpg (trip computer accurate to 0.5 mpg), I think I could reach 1050 miles before running dry. Going to definitely take it up to 1000 miles so that I can tick it off the strange list of achievements that I want to achieve!
So am I alone in my sadness or do other people want to 'come out' ;-)
Bost
p.s. car is a 10yr old Passat TDI with a notional fuel tank capacity of 62 litres but with a little bit of 'venting' will take another gallon or so.
Read more
Thanks MikeTorque!
Sorry if this a dumb question, but if I copy the entire contents of my C drive to a freestanding external hard drive, then I attach that drive to another computer, will I be able to run the all the programs and data that I ran on my 'donor' computer? Read more
whilst "http://tinyurl.com/58mud2" could be putting me in the "mud" if somebody
wanted to introduce some malware and I didn't check the status bar
Goto tinyurl's homepage, click on "Preview Feature" in the LH menu, then enable previews so that you can see the link before accepting to be taken there.
Providing you don't delete the tinyurl cookie from your temporary internet directory, each time you click on a tinyurl link in the future you'll always be able to preview the link first.
Hi all, some of you may remember that I was recently seeking opinions on Avon tyres. I've decided against them and have narrowed my choice down to Dunlop SP2000 Sport or Goodyear Excellence.
Does anyone own a set of these so they can offer an opinion? Key drivers for me are comfort, road noise and longevity.
Thanks. Read more
I have had good service from NCT5s on 3 occasions. Quite cheap as well.
Anyone had experience of Michelin Energysavers, the very new ones first fitted to the 307?
They are supposed to improve the plague of longlasting hard compound tyres, ie. wet performance.
.jpg)
Its pump off,quite a big job,i've had the job done many times in the past but my man has now retired.