May 2008
Hi,
My friend owns a 1987 Mercedes 300SL. During startup (cold or warm) the car is difficult to start, then hunts for a few seconds before sorting itself out. The car also very harsh
during speeds of 40 - 50 miles an hour but if ran in sports mode it seems o.k.
Someone advised the head needs rebuilding due to blown gasket at £2000. I have checked for water from the exhaust and in the oil but there is no trace (although I haven't ruled it out) and added a component called K-seal just in case. Someone also advised the harshness at 40 mph is due to a wheel baring. I am considering checking the plugs, filter and wheel baring this weekend. Although I have some mechanical experience I do not know a lot about these cars. I think this model has a carburettor fitted. I was thinking it could be a choke problem? Any advise please?
Mike. Read more
4yrs for blackmail.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7415331.stm Read more
Well done Westpig proper old-fashioned clip over the ear policing
Just remembered another example of that. Two of my wife's cousins, brothers, were once hauled in to Oxford central nick in an inebriated state. One was fairly stoical but the other was making a shrill drunken clamour. They are fairly used to that in that particular nick - I did it myself there once actually - so they are quite world-weary and irritable about it.
My wife's noisy cousin fell silent after a young copper had asked deadpan: 'Shall I beat him up now Sarge?'
LOWESTOFT is going alter the heavy-vehicle driver who goes too fast. Nine of them were hauled before the county Bench and fined £2 10s. each. The speeds ranged from 18 to 23 m.p.h., and they were checked over a distance of a mile by the speedometer on a motor-cycle and sidecar driven alongside the offending vehicle.
The Auto 18 June 1925
Did they really mean alongside? Makes you wonder what the truck driver was doing>
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Funnily enough, I have been researching my family history in the USA by going through newspaper archives from early 1900's. A lot of the small town papers had columns describing motoring offences by local citizens. One of them (in 1910) was for a guy prosecuted for "1 armed driving" for which he was fined $2. Whether they meant he had only one arm, or was driving with one arm on the window ledge a la "Roman Holiday", they didn't say.
I am planing a car trip to the channel islands next month, to see some friends and soak up the sun, and am looking for advice on ferries.
So far as I can see, Condor Ferries have a monopoly on ferries from the UK to the Channel Islands, and their website offers me a return fare of £210. To be honest, that seems not too bad, because it's a lot less than I would have to pay for a shorter crossing on the Irish Sea (Holyhead to Dublin).
However, I seem to recall reading something on this site about ways of getting ferry bookings more cheaply, some website that offered discounts, or something. Does anyone know if there still anything like that, and whether it applies to the Channel Islands? Read more
You can get a small amount of cashback by booking through www.quidco.com - remember to clear cookies first though.
Is this just a cheap vectra?
What percentage of it is likely to be vectra parts - 80%?
Thanks. Read more
I am thinking about buying 2 of these.
The daihatsu sirion's, despite being brilliant are just not big enough for the new displays our client needs.
If these are 90% vectra and the price is right, i may purchase 2.
Will update in the coming months - if anyone knows any more, please update.
Thought I would give a report on how I was getting on with the Octavia.
Had it just over 5 weeks and it has done nearly 5k so getting run in nicely. This includes two business trips to Broxburn and one pleasure trip to Antibes so a fair few motorway miles.
Car is slightly noisier than the Honda but not really noticable except at idle where nothing comes close to the Honda diesel. Comfortable seats with plenty of adjustment, not had anyone in the back for any significant time so no comment on that but looks as much space, if not more, than the Honda (but children have left so that is not really a concern to me).
Performance is adequate and it moved when you want it to, deceptive for 35bhp less than the Honda. Economy when it came was under 50mpg (50 on the trip) and now it is 60mpg+ on the trip and still improving. 600 on a tank not a problem.
Boot really is huge and swallowed everything we would have put in the Honda for the trip to France (and the Honda was an estate which we would load up to seat level). Performance and economy did not suffer that much with the load (still 55mpg loaded and with air con on most of the time).
Stereo is good although the CD changer is largely redundant (must get around to recording some MP3 CDs!) and son is here for the weekend so will try his IPOD out in the Aux socket.
No socket in the boot (Hatch) but cold box lead does reach through to the socket between the front seats.
Power is always on at the lighter socket (unlike the Honda) and it is in an inconvenient place for the PDA based sat nav. Invested in a brodit clip and mounting bracket and routed a wire across to the fusebox behind the trim so the PDA mount is only powered on when the ignition is on and means I don't use the screen mount any more - much easier to do than I expected especially with a little help from Briskoda - also makes the screen easier to see in the sun of the Cote D'Azur.
The big question - do I regret the change - No, the neighbours might (but he has a 2.0Tdi Passat so he cannot complain!) Read more
The car surprised me the other night, to carry my step ladder in the Honda I had to angle it across the load area, corner to corner and on its side (rear seat flat).
Put it in the Skoda (its a hatchback) the other evening and it fits front to back flat (again rear seat flat). This is a very big boot!
It is a 1.9 and the last tank was 59.2 mpg - brim to brim.
Hi All,
i hope some one can help, i have a ford maverick 2.0 xlt and the ABS light started to come on, i took it to be looked at and the garage says it might be the sensor failing, they reset it but the light came back on. since then the light has gone off but when i brake i get a kicking feeling from the brake pedel... the brakes are also not very good.
any ideas what this might be?
southy
strange typo referring to ladies' support wear removed ! Read more
Is yours a 2008 model? if not it will be different to the OP's vehicle so his solution won't help.
Hi,
Any views on fair price for labour (live in Middx just inside M25) to replace belt, tensioner and water pump.
Thanks Read more
Muuch cheaper to do it yourself. I have done several, about £18.00 for a belt and I have never had to change a tensioner and only one water pump.
Sorry if this question has been asked many times before but I need to decide very soon.
I had virtually settled on a Bravo 1.6 Multijet but am having second thoughts now. Considering the current price difference between petrol and diesel, I am now wondering whether I should consider a 1.4Tjet 120. Being that much cheaper to buy, I may be better off over a three/four year period going for the petrol. Any opinions on this would be gratefully recieved?
I live in a rural area, drive mostly on clear A roads and rarely in City centres. I drive from Cumbria to South London maybe 6 times a year and to Glasgow area about the same, mostly on motorways. Annual mileage is perhaps 12k to 14k on average.
I have done some sums but would like another opinion.
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Don't forget to factor in the value of each car at 3/4 years for a true cost.
At the end of the day if you can afford both, I'd go for whichever I preferred driving.
Turbo petrol > diesel for mixed driving, diesel > petrol for chomping the M-ways.
My 406 110 Hdi has developed a fault following a largish splash through a big puddle of water. This is the third time in as many years this has happened (different driver each time). After hitting the puddle, the car refuses to rev past 1000-1200 RPM, putting out lots of smoky unburnt fuel if you try.
Each time the car was limped home at sub 1000 revs, and whatever was the problem, some electrical unit I suspect, it would dry it after a day or two at most. No water got into the air intake as the air filter was dry, so nothing to do with this. It ticked over fine each time, so i would start it and let it heat up for a while until it eventually dried out whatever was shorting. It seemed like all the injectors were being triggered instead of just the one so you would get a lot of vaporised diesel out of the exhaust if you tried to rev. Anyway, after the last time, it dried out after a day, but this time I have a permanent loss of torque and power overall and particularly in the lower revs.
The 110 has plenty of urgency normally, but now it seems like a 90 or even like there is no Turbo.
A Peugeot Service manager drove it and said the turbo was definitely kicking in, but did not think that the power was down, but I know it is also the fuel economy is down significantly in city driving, from about 43 MPG to 36. Long journeys with constant speed still produce 49 MPG plus.
Could the wetting and possible shorting of some sensor or control signals have caused a permanent change in the way the the common rail fire each injector? Its obviously delivering fuel, more than before, yet I have really low power in the lower revs. Overtaking is now a memory!! Tried the disconnect battery thing to reset ECU, all this got me was an "ENGINE IMMOBILISER FAULT", a tow trip to the garage and a 100 euros to reset. and its still the same.
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Binding front brakes and/or warped discs? Failing front wheel bearing/s? Front wheels out of balance?
Jack up front of car and check if wheels rotate freely to see if brakes are binding. If so, check if the brake calipers are frozen by removing them and gently pumping the brake pedal (not to the floor) and check if the pistons move in and out on both sides.
Also check the brake pads for unneven wear, check the discs for warping by measuring the side-to-side run-out when the hubs are rotated. Also check the brake pads can slide in and out freely when the caliper is mounted to the hub, and is not gettting stuck due to corrosion of the pad and/or sliding contacting surfaces.
If wheels are running freely, grab opposite sides of the front wheels and try to rock them from side to side and top to bottom to check if the wheel bearings are worn.