May 2008
Any ideas how long an alternator should last on average.
Focus 2, 05 1.6 TDCI- Replaced after 23,000 mls
C-Max 05 2.0 TDCI- replaced after 28,000 mls
Spoke to a RAC technician who said they have been called out to many alternator faults on newish Fords. Is there an inherent problem with them? Read more
Website designers can never let well enough alone. Now, the very useful former version of Multimap has been scrapped in favour of a less detailed one. I don't like AA or Viamichelin either. What else is there? Read more
Google maps send feature is handy.
Plan a route on your PC (much easier than a tiny touchscreen) change it to suit. Click send --> If you're a BMW, Merc or Audi driver, plop in your BMW Assist number.
Go out to car, switch on ignition and new message recieved!
Cool!
Peugeot 306 TD 1.9 Hi all I was driving along at 50 (motorway roadworks)and it started to shake through the steering randomly I then got off on to a side road and turned the car to the right and got a clonking on full lock so I thought it was the drive shaft I bought a second hand one from a scrapy put it back together and it is still doing it I checked the wheel bearing for play I even got the car off the ground and tried it with the engine runnig and in gear there was no noise I am right in thinking it's the drive shaft and only makes the noise when under load any help would be great .
Thanks Neil Read more
Hi again it was the shaft changed it again and it has cured the problem
Thanks Neil
I have a flight this Friday at 5:45pm.
That means check-in no later than 4:45.
I work in Old Street, on the Northern Line.
I am paid by the day, and cannot get away with leaving work earlier than 3pm and still getting paid.
I live in Surrey, from where my normal journey takes me on the train to Waterloo station and then on the tube.
My first plan was to catch a train from London Bridge to Gatwick Airport station, where my wife + kids, and luggage would meet me in our car.
My wife has other ideas, having recently passed her test she hasn't driven any more than 3 or 4 miles, and is not willing to to do the 35-mile drive.
I have contacted a 'folding scooter, we drive you home'-type company, and they want £110 to do it. Bit pricey I think when you add in petrol and parking.
So my next plan is for me to drive the car in in the morning, park it somewhere in South London, go into work on the Northern Line, and then going home at 3pm head on the Tube back to my car, zoom off to the airport, park the car, and meet the wife and kids, , who would have got the train, in the airport.
So I'm looking for advice on parking conditions and likely driving times around 3:30-3:45 from stations around the southern end of the Northern line. There are no motorways to utilise: can one make good progress over the A217 (or even possibly A23/M23, though I don't remember the A23 being great for driving).
Any thoughts? Read more
Anyone want to guess what flunky drives? "210 bhp with a 0-60 time of 7
seconds"?
Whatever it is, it is sadly wasted so far on Ms flunky. Perhaps a trip with a Paris or Rome taxi driver in the right mood will make her see the light...
:o}
ive recently noticed a few keep left bollards ( replacements) that are ever so thin about 3 inches thick and shaped like an elongated lozenge roughly the same colour as a rear number plate, any one else noticed them ? Read more
They are painted to represent various skin and hair colours ..........
That's "political correctness" taken to a ludicrous extreme.
It's time to fetch #1 daughter from university. How will the route M40-M42-M6-M62 be, leaving Oxfordshire at about 6 pm on the BH Mon 26th May? is most of the traffic coming S, or will there be hordes making their way N on the M6 from a w/e in the W Country. Read more
She cycles in from Carnatic Halls - can only afford to drive/run the communal kids' car that's being used to teach #2, so can't take that away to uni. Moving into a shared house slightly closer in for years 2+3.
I am thinking of getting an import frim Hong Kong. A CDA-9887. Anybody bought one or know anyone who has had any experience? Do they work ok over here? I have heard of problems with US imports when tuning the radio but I haven't heard much about these.
{dropped car make/model as I'm assuming this is a general question about Apine Stereos?} Read more
Hmmm. Thanks for the links, but it's disappointing to see this sort of thing cast as threat to honest traders.
I'm generally wary of yet more regulations, but these ones seem rather good. By outlawing all sorts of dishonest practices such as bait advertising, they make it harder for dodgy businesses to compete against the honest traders. Read more
>>65% of Britons think that second hand car dealers are likely to rip them off
The other 35% know it.
Iraqi pal drove me last night in gf's car, a 94 Golf CL auto. The car goes perfectly well but the idle speed in N or P was above 1000 rpm at all times, usually between 1100 and 1400. Without knowing specifically what the idle speed should be, I thought this was on the high side, and of course the variation seemed to indicate some sort of fault. He says the car is quite thirsty, but again no figures. Although a perfectly sensible driver well used to London, he surprised me by asking what the rev counter was. I seem to remember his BMW 520 auto had one too.
Is it possible that this high and variable idle is caused by mechanical stickiness in the main inlet butterfly rather than some engine management glitch? If so, might it be amenable to a bit of oil and rattling the butterfly back and forth a few times? I feel that my friend and his gf may not be too good at judging a garage, and the VW specialist I recommend is in Kilburn, while they live beyond Richmond. Does anyone have any ideas about this? Informed comment gratefully received.
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Thanks very much Screwloose. I will pass that all on.
My colleague has just brought one of these vehicles and he is having intermittent problems with it.
It starts first thing in the morning, do a short journey in it. After parking the car and switching it off, the car will not start again for another 40 mins - 1 hr. All the lights on the dashboard come up, engine trying to fire up but does not. Similar circumstance as to if a car overheats and you have to wait for it to cool down before it will work again.
Does anyone have any ideas as to if this is a common known fault or what the issue could be related to?
Many Thanks. Read more
A diagnostic check may indicate the fault.However from your description I would hazard a guess at the problem being the camshaft sensor.A known issue with these and usually requires a modified sensor and adaptor lead.hth
I think the answer here is yes and no.It would seem that models where the alternator is fitted low down at the front of the engine bay are suffering problems related to water ingress and subsequent corrosion of the internal electronics/connections.Mondeo variants appear to be ok as the unit is fitted to the rear of the engine.hth