May 2008
I'm off to Phoenix in a little over two weeks for six months and while I'm out there I'll have the use of a car (though I need to sort out my driving license first - I filled out the forms and stuck the photo on, then missed the white box with my signature... oops).
Anyway, I've never driven on the "wrong" side of the road before. I'm hoping that sitting on the left will make it pretty easy and all that's really needed is extra care when making turns from sideroads, but is there any advice more experienced drivers can offer which I can take on board?
Anything general about driving over there / dealing with the police / parking / freeways / speed limits / etc will all be welcome.
Cheers,
David. Read more
Friday
Fixing a Hole
Sara Parker travels from Cumbria to London via the M25, seeking fans of freshly-dug holes.
From R4's excellent website. Listen whilst Backrooming. Excellent. Read more
Having fought to constantly replace side light bulbs in a previous car, I decided to buy "fit and forget" LEDS for my car. I bought 10 via the internet, and am very impressed with them.
I want to fit them to my wifes new panda (think they'll go in), someone at work seems to think that they;re not road legal. In Halfords, packaging on LEDs says for "off road use only", but is that because of the lack of an E number on the bulb ?
They're not dazzling anyone in my opinion. Has anyone had trouble with Plod or MOT tester with "normal" white LEDs fitted to their car ?
Might get some red rear LEDs too if good feedback on here ! Read more
It looks easy to replace Fiat Panda sidelights. You can easily unclick the cover over the light unit. However, the sidelight bulb holder is a tight fit and in an awkward position. You might need to use pliers to shift it and as I said before your new bulbs may not last long.
i have a peugeot 607 2.0hdi 110 hp 52 plate with 90000 miles on the clock its been ok apart from the fap filter witch cloged but has been replaced but it has now developed a missfire well not a missfire but at low throtle openings or just before going on to overrun i.e coasting the engine picks up and makes the car surge for a split second it dosnt do it all the time but seems more likey to happen when the car is up to running tempreture there is no engine managment light on Read more
yes RHS do appear in the chassis number the particulate filter was changed 5000 miles ago the milage is now 91000 yes the fault codes do reocur over time the fault codes were given to me by the peugeot main dealer they told me they are the faults and there machine doesnt give numbers . I guess that psa or p codes come from a snap on machine just one last thing their is a butterfly vavle on the inlet manifold its black plastic and is opperated by a vacuum pipe that goes to a solinoid vavle mounted on the bulkhead the butterfly is fluctuating when the engine is running is this correct also the engine only misfires occasionally normally when the wife and kids are in the car possably because the engine is working harder normally you would have to drive it 30 ish miles befor anything happens thats why i think its somthing electrical i e breaking down as it gets hotter
{separate threads all merged together as related to one another}
The recent wet weather has seen the usual pool of water in the passenger footwell of the family Mondeo. I reckon I bailed out about 2 litres of water, not for the first time, and the shagpile and underlay in this area is beginning to look pretty knackered due to the pulling about it gets every time I try to dry it out. And now the sun is shining, it's starting to get pretty mouldy pongy.
The usual culprit is, by all accounts, the pollen filter area but having had this checked by my tame mechanic, and then having checked it myself, there is no sign that any water is getting in this way.
So, where do I look next - anyone got any other ideas? Read more
are you loseing engine coolant could be heater matrix leaking
Hi to everyone,
I have a Mondeo IV with a BT-based car-kit.
I connected 3 phones to it (different reasons for that :) ), and now I don't know how to erase them. In the manual they are saying nothing about this, and the people from service don't know how to do it.
Do you know how to do it? Or any ideas? I tried a lot of things, but no use.
I have to mention that the car-kit has 6 "slots" for phones, so is not such an urgent issue, but... ;)
Thanks a lot!
Regards from Romania!
Dan
Read more
I want to change the aux drive belt on my 1000cc Yaris. It has aircon so has an extra long belt. Reading the manual it says that the top engine mount need to be removed.
Now I am not bothered by anything mechanical, but these days do not like getting the fingernails dirty ! Has anyone ever done this and is it a straight forward job. Read more
ref the 6000 double din fitting stereo, ive seen a SIX disc in-dash unit, no need for an external changer, can that be right? either that or a mp3 single disc version would suit, any ideas? Read more
Yes,Ford do a 6006 unit that is fitted to Mondeo and Focus models.It has am/fm radio and 6 disc loader.hth
Drove one of these today. Thoroughly enjoyed it - very 'rorty,' very fast when desired (60ish in second makes it good for overtaking safely and fun for pulling out of the bends!) and easy to drive at a slower pace and round town. 31 mpg on a fast run wasn't too bad from a 2.0 engine either, I thought.
Faults, given it's a 8/9 year old car? First and second are very stiff and clunky, the clutch is a bit stiff and theres a worrying 'shunt' from the chassis when floored in second if dropping down quickly from third, but that may just be the effect of a comparitively powerful engine in a small, lightweight car. In any case I've been told I'll get 12 months MOT if and when my friend does sell it and she'll get any problems seen to so it's mechanically sound; I'd just need to give it a service and grit my teeth at the insurance quote!
Are these generally good cars and would you folks recommend I go for it, ignoring the boy racer connotations of this kind of car? Read more
Not driven either myself but the owners used to say there was nothing in it performance wise at normal speeds but the nature of the 16v meant it went better higher up the rev range.
hi. my 2002 fiat punto td never missed a beat in five years till i got hit from behind by another vehicle. i drove it to the bodyshop was repaired i went to collect and found a locksmith trying to open the door. the bodyshop said nothing to do with them. it was taken by recovery to fiat specialist who fitted new ecu and bis box gave me a bill for £600 and still not starting. bill states;non starting key code light on. fiat examiner scan no communication with engine or body ecu .fitted engine and body ecu. coded key with fiat examiner code accepted.but key light still flashing. vehicle now at home still not starting. local garage put his reader on but could no communicate . any suggestions Read more
Anyone checked the obvious, like the feeds and particularly the earths for the ECU[s]?
After body repair it's not unusual to find some earth points left off, or loose, in some dark corner. One is below the N/S rear light. Others are in the kick panels and by the battery.
.jpg)
Watch out for vehicle checks at State borders. We had to drive slowly though a darkened car park entering Nevada while torches were shone in. Big queues also built up while returning to California. Inspecting for illegal agricultural produce I deduced.
Carry plenty of water- you will need it.
Do not stick to the inside lanes of greater LA freeways if you want to go straight on.
They rapidly change to slip roads.