May 2008
On the A414 from M1 J8 into Hemel Hempstead there is a normal Gatso. They have just installed a CCTV camera about 10 metres down the road from the Gatso, pointing the same way but angled down at the road. Any ideas what it is? It isna't a security camera for the Gatso as it has been angled to point away from it, at the road. Read more
Has anybody else noticed how most colleagues / friends have no idea there family vehicles are going to cost more to tax in many cases.
I run 2 cars on a strict budget. Neccesity means i buy 6 months tax each time. In an age where most people pay there insurance monthly, possibly buy the car and pay monthly, the need to buy a tax disc once the rises impact out of ones spare cash in a single month is going to be increasingly difficult. Appreciate what has already been said about it being a relatively small expense in overall motoring terms but a significant monthly hurdle to encounter once or twice a year.
Appreciate this subject has been discussed at length already but the paying for same only touched on.
An arrangement to pay VED monthly would be useful, but expensive to put in place one assumes.
My Xsara Picasso 1.8 perhaps is a s typical family car as one will find but i believe it's emissions of 187 in the new banding will suffer quite a jump.
Your comments most welcome
Mark W
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I'm not sure what "in the sticks" means these days. I live on the outskirts of a town, but the public transport system is not good so the car gets used.
There is tax relief for business expenditure. With a basic rate of 20%, you get back 20% of any increase effectively.
Easier to police because there isn't anything to police.
Given that I'll never make a claim on it unless I've damaged somebody else... what does it give me?
Windscreen cover.
Anything else?
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The insurance co don't think fully comp - in this case - is worth much, or they would be charging a lot more than £50 for it.
The price is low because, as Mapmaker has surmised, the value of his car is low.
All the other stuff is largely irrelevant as far a calculating the extra premium for fully comp is concerned.
The Sun is reporting today:
"JELLYFISH blobs which grow in greener petrol and diesel could wreck car engines, a motoring expert warned yesterday.
The alert follows the move towards bio-fuels. Every gallon sold on Britain?s forecourts since April 1 contains 2.5 per cent of the crop and vegetable-based additive.
But unless garages spend £1,000 a time flushing out their tanks regularly, bacteria rapidly multiplies in the mixture.
It festers to form gelatinous lumps in fuel tanks which clog filters and destroy pipes and seals.
Mechanics said affected cars will lose power before the warning light comes on. The problem has to be fixed quickly before damage worsens.
Gas industry expert John Moore said: ?It poses a serious threat. Unless tanks are thoroughly cleansed you will find strange jellyfish-like objects in the fuel.?
Is there any truth in this? Read more
Marine fuel tanks are prone to fouling by microbiological growth. The bacteria grow on an interface between the fuel and included water droplets (ship fuel tanks are often "displaced type" where fuel is pushed out of the tank by pushing water in). The fouling can have some dire consequences as the bacteria excrete some fairly destructive compounds to ferrous components (sulphites and sulphuric acid), there can also be detrimental effects on plastics and rubber.
This is using standard marine gas oil (diesel fuel), you don't need biofuels for this to occur, although the higher concentrations of fatty acids in biofuels may exacerbate it.
Other than the corrosive qualities of the bacteria, it produces a slime/sludge which readily clogs filters. The quick fix is a biocide treatment and several filter changes, the ideal would be to empty, clean and sterilise the tanks and associated transfer system. Fortunately a car's fuel system should be much easier to treat. Blocked filters and a brown slime on the filter surfaces is probably the best indication, and a decent chandler will have the necessary treatment.
the new shocks absorbers on my vectra are shaped abit differently to the originals. the rubber boot doesnt mate with the rear trailing arm as the originals did.
is this common and acceptable?
a couple of pictures showing the difference
roverfan1.spaces.live.com Read more
thank you top bloke
the part numbers on the boxes did match the online reference numbers. its qh lipgas (lipmessa) 179.988. perhaps a case of one size fits all but they were cheap, i must admit.
If you ran a PD engine on regular oil( say 505.0 spec) instead of 505.1, what would be the outcome? I'm not suggesting just one oil change, but over 50K - 100K miles.
What would wear, and what would be the repair / rebuild costs?
NB. I'm not thinking of doing this, I'm just wondering about the implications for a high mileage PD engine that has been regularly (but not dealer) serviced. Hence uncertainty as to whether a PD-specific oil was used.
Interested in your comments. Read more
Two simultaneous posts - with good agreement!
659.
Hi my wife has a 2002 2.7td terranoII and when you take off in first gear the car has started juddering ok in other higher gears until you start changing down into 2nd is quite feirce, is this a clutch problem ??
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thanks for your advise
jon
i got a 96 model 1.25 zetec fiesta ( mileage says 7000 but its had 7 owners before me and no service history so thats probably 107000 ) and while stuck in traffic today i noticed the temp gauge slowly creeping up to a lot higher than it ever has been ( it never goes any higher than the " O " in the normal part of the gauge but today for the first time since i owned the car it went upto the letter " A " ) . After owning a few peugeot diesels im pretty paranoid about temp gauges so i always keep an eye on them so i turned the heaters on full to help cool it down and pulled over . the water level was fine and when i opened the cap it wasnt overpressured like the head gasket had gone . since this has happened the temp gauge goes up and down noticably when im going up or down hills .
it hasnt overheated yet but does anyone know how i can cure it and get the engine temp to remain constant again ?
another problem im having is that when i put my foot down from under 2000 rpm there is a rattling noise when the engine is under load and the last few days its happening all thro the rev range when i accelerate , its not a knocking noise but i cant explain it , i recently changed the oil and put 10w30 in there and that aint made any difference , any advice ?
thanks in advance Darren Read more
If it only happens when you are stuck in traffic the chances are that the radiator cooling fan is not working. When you are moving at a reasonable speed the force of air through the radiator is sufficient, but when stationary, it needs the fan. If the temperature drops when you start moving, that's what it will be.
If the temperature goes above normal when climbing hills at a reasonable speed, you probably need a new radiator. Could be a faulty thermostat, but if the temperature is normal most of the time you can probably rule that out.
The noise under load, does it sound like a diesel engine? If so that is 'pinking' due usually to over advanced timing or getting to hot, maybe due to the mixture being weak.
I have a 97 2.0 8v GTi. I scanned the ECU which showed the Hall sensor out of tolerance, replaced the distributor(the whole thing) and it cleared the fault, checked and traced all wires back to the ECU all fine, car runs like it should when fault code cleared when running but as soon a switched off fault comes back. any help would be greatfull doing my head in only reving to 5000 now and car is not as responsive as it can be. thanks mike
corrected the 50000 rev thing. Read more
Thanks matey. All sorted now :)
I have a 1.4 inspire s that is making a creaking noise occasionally when I pull away or when I am accelerating.
The creak occurs typically when I am doing below 3000 rpm. The creaking noise is not constant and happens infrequently. Occasionally, I feel the creak on the steering wheel. There is no creaking noise when I am not in gear.
The vehicle has done 60,000 miles.
I have taken the car to the Honda dealer and they did not hear the creaking and did not seem to have heard of the problem before.
I have read some reports on this web site stating that this model of car has problems with the gear box. Do you think the creaking nose is the gear box or is this just due to the age of the vehicle?
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Hi John,
I'd probably ask for a solution to a rare problem like this on a more specific forum like www.hondacivicforum.co.uk/ I'm sure the guys over there would be able to help you out.
www.speedcheck.co.uk/FAQs03.htm
Why is it that there are some speed cameras which haven?t been painted yellow?
Cameras which have not been painted yellow are operated by the Police enforcement unit and are not operated by the safety camera partnership. They do not form part of the national safety camera scheme and fine revenue can not be hypothecated.