May 2008
Hi all.
Driving to work yesterday the spalshboard under the engine near the exhaust came off. It wasn't pretty as i was doing 70 at the time. Anyway I've lost the whole thing.
Question is will it be OK to not bother replacing it. I've spent quite a bit of money on the car over the few months and really can't be done with any expenses if I don't need to.
Car is a 97 406 diesel if that makes a difference. Read more
Passes an A4 Avant (53 reg 1.9tdi) yesterday towing a two axle horse trailer with a large horse (a lot of the horse showed over the door) inside.
Would he be over-weight - it was being driven very gingerly but did have a proper matching number plate on the trailer so I guess he does it regularly. Read more
re- the plating advice, - this may help!
>>What unbraked trailer can I tow? You can tow a maximum of 750 Kg with an unbraked trailer but you cannot exceed half the kerb weight of the towing vehicle. You can tow a trailer with a Gross Weight higher than your car?s towing limit as long as you only load it up to that limit. It is illegal to exceed the car?s towing limit.>>
>>www.ntta.co.uk/law/law/identification_plates.htm<<
Billy
hi my bosses lexus has done about 149,000 miles, and its now misfiring extremely badly on the front 4 cylinders, after driving it in and out of the workshop every day for 6 months, we've put new plugs and leads on it had the inlet manifold of and nothing seems like nothing was blocked, but very coked, we thought it may be something to do with the E.G.R. valve (exhaust gas recycling), please can some one help? Read more
dubz
Does this misfire happen at idle or driving? Have you had it checked for fault-codes? [Probably only the dealers have the kit.]
What about the compressions - have they been checked for stuck valves? Could this be stuck injectors - are the plugs wet? What else has been checked or tested? Was it only the front of the inlet manifold that is coked?
There are a couple of adverts where a car in question doesn't seem to be quite real, i.e. I can't pin it down to a make/model. Do the advert makers take a real car and alter the exterior to make a anonymous looking car so not to upset the real manufacturer?
The first one is for the Renault Scenic where the wife and kids get all excited, then discover it's the car parked behind that the husband/dad has bought...and they are not impressed. I can't work out what the car behind really is, it looks a small MPV but which one? The other is the Direct Line insurance advert with the bricks falling on the car, something about the grill says Volvo to me, but the rest of the car doesn't. Read more
There's an insurance advert with a young girl driving a new red Passat with her dad in the passenger seat. I assume that he's teaching her to drive then he gets out and clouts the lamp post with the passenger door.
They both laugh (I'm sure I would if I did that to my new Passat) but even more remarkably she managed to use the manual handbrake (I thought the new Passat had a button handbrake).
Bit sad that I actually picked it up.
I got my first ever new car 3 and a half years ago. I was cleaning it today and for no reason I can fathom out the thought entered my head that it is a bit barmy referring to it as my"new" car (which I do --all the time) 'cos it ain't. Any longer. Have the neighbours been sniggering behind my back?
I just stood there and went a bit blank. In fact I went in and had a sit down. The damn car looks different now. Scruffy. Out of date. If I find a spiders web in the corner of the roof that will be the end. Next step use it as a chicken shed. Really stupid---I used to buy cars older than this.
Damn. This is a real bummer.I think I need counselling. Or cancelling. Read more
Although if you only pay 75% of the list price then your car won't loose
much value anyway. With some cars you can quite easily get 20+% discount on a
new car particularly from some of the places recommended by HJ.
So you really think that once you've driven it round the block some mug is going to offer you 75% of list price?
No! They'll offer you 75% of what you paid for it. So virtually 50% depreciation on list price before it's left the forecourt. Makes it pretty sickening when you're paying 40% tax on the relevant percentage of list price, if it's a company car, doesn't it.
Just replaced the head gasket on a 94 astra 1.6 eco tech the car runs fine but is burning a lot of oil and therefore smoking a lot out of the exhaust. Any suggestions on whats going on?
Cheers Read more
Did you disturb the valves and forget to renew the valve oil seals, or damage them when you did renew them?
Hi I own an old Escort the problem as with most old cars is rust. I have quite a problem on the inside of 2 of the wheel arches. I could just get some spray paint and botch it for a few months, but is there something I can do to stop the corrosion getting any worse? Maybe a sort of sealant or something?
It looks a right mess, but I can't afford a better car! Read more
It is too late , junk it, it is worthless, get a modern car - much safer and nicer to drive.
I had an Escort 1991- I sprayed the wheel arches from new with Supertrol- no rust after 14 years, but the car is old fashioned and my Mondeo is rather nice. You can get them a few years old for what I paid for the Escort new!. I find that incredible. Nobody moans about that though?
Rust is incurable- beliee me, but preventable , you need to stop it before it starts.
***** This thread is now closed, please CLICK HERE to go to Volume 3 *****
As suggested in the subject line in view of the the fact that this topic ain't going to go away, decided to turn this thread into a volumized one stop shop for all matters about VED Bands.
Usual rules apply - will be locked after 100 replies and volume 3 started.
Inevitably this will include a political slant, any rants will be moderated or chopped.
Any standalone posts will be moved in here.
Vol. 1 is here:-
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?f=2&t=63...9
PU
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Your analogy doesn't hold. If the council demanded extra council tax for previous years or
you were taxed on tobacco you had already bought then it would.
The road tax increases don't apply to previous years, so that's a red herring (that would indeed be retrospective taxation, but it's not what's happening). And council tax increases or re-bandings apply regardless of whether I bought the house 5 days ago or 50 years ago, which is a similar stituation to the road tax.
So the analogy does hold.
On my way to work last week, I noticed a very souped up & badly modified Renault Clio had gone nose down into a ditch by the side of the road (no loss there then). On my return journey I saw that the vehicle was still by the side of the road, and that there were now stickers on the windows.
However as I drew closer to the car I noticed they were not of the usual police aware variety. Instead they simply said authorities aware.
Am I to believe that the police have now washed their hands of wrecked vehicles & if so, who are these mysterious "authorities"? Read more
A few years ago, one of our savvy engineers took delivery of a new Octavia Estate having realised the dramatic improvements that had been make in the quality of Skodas. As soon as his back was turned, his gleeful colleagues had plastered it with home-made 'Police Aware' stickers.
I've recently been getting a loss of power on a 2004 1.2 8v when the engine is cold and under load in 3rd or 4th. To recover need to change down and then it seems to clear. Engine not lumpy as others describe in fact it seems perfect until these funny losses of power.
The Emissions light has come on and stayed on but the car has passed it's MOT so suggests emissions are ok.
I've see the lambda sensor listed as a potential cause, I found it and disconected it but light stays on (maybe it should?).
Thinking of changing the sensor ~£30 b ut wondered if anybody could tell me if I'm barking up the wrong tree?.
I see you can buy testers for ~ £16 but would need somebody to tell me what the supply wire is? www.gendan.co.uk/product_DR68283.html
Appreciate any help
Thanks
Steve
Read more
sorted it was the lamba sensor
>Whisky, I didn't know there was two the one that came off does indeed appear to be under
>the oils sump as it was soaked in thick black gunge. There are no leaks though as far as I
>can see
Mines an 2002 model so maybe they are slightly different although I can't see why it would be, you should be able to tell if it had the second cover if there are 4 extra clips further back, although its quite restricted clearance that far back. Without looking under mine to check (its wet :-) ) the second cover started around the back of the front suspension. Think the front cover kind of locked into it, so the back had to come off to get the front off (IIRC thats the very reason why my back cover is in the shed).