July 2008
This is the warty thing that sits on the front bumper, and squirts water at the headlamp. What's this unit called? Read more
Headlamp washer jet? tinyurl.com/5zagfq
My current plan is to set off at about 6pm in the hope that as I reach each traffic blackspot, rush-hour will be over.Would hope to arrive in Folkestone at about 10:30, although I ensured the hotel we're using had 24h check-in, just in case. I may give them a courtesy call to let them know about this possible lateness.
Another question though, is what route to use?
I had just assumed I would use the obvious M6-M1-M25-Dartford tunnel route, but someone suggested M6-M40-M25 (anti-clockwise) to avoid Dartford, and in fact, according to Google maps, this route is only 7 minutes longer anyway.
Does anyone have any thoughts? Read more
Thanks everyone.
My current plan (although it changes every ten minutes or so) is to stick with the original route to start with. The TomTom should give me ample warning of any issue, and allow me to swap easily to either of the other possibilities.
It's good to know of the other possibilities beforehand though, so I'm ready if the worst happens.
The last couple of mornings, the Volvo has exhibited behaviour that is a mite concerning. Yesterday morning, it fired up instantly as normal, but wasn't running on a full compliment of 5 cylinders. A quick blip of the throttle cured it, and it's been fine ever since. This morning, it didn't want to start at all. It took about 20 seconds of cranking before it fired up (after which it ran perfectly).
Any suggestions? The spark plugs are genuine Volvo items fitted by a main dealer at the last service they were due, and are still well within their service life according to the schedule. I would normally be checking things like HT leads, but it doesn't have any. Any suggestions or any common areas of weakness to check?
By the way, once up and running, the car is running fine, pulling well, returning mid 30's mpg, and there are no warning lights on.
The car is coming up on 132k and has a full Volvo history to 110k, and has been maintained to the schedule independently since. The forthcoming service (due in a few miles) is a simple oil and filter job - plugs aren't due until 144k.
Cheers
DP
Read more
Screwloose,
Thank you. This will be my first port of call if the problems continue. Again, it was fine from cold both times today.
I can confirm it is a B5204T5.
Cheers
DP
I would be grateful for some advice please. I am looking for a car but am on a budget of between £4,000 - 6,000. I would prefer a petrol car but need it to be economical so that I can keep the running costs low if possible. However, because I will be using the car regularly, I am also looking for something reliable. Can you recommend a reliable and economical car that falls into my budget? (However, I would consider recommendations outside my budget). Cheers. Gazz
Read more
Can you recommend a reliable and economical car that falls into my budget?
To see how much values have dropped, take a peek at the news item on the right from last week:
www.honestjohn.co.uk/news/item.htm?id=5020
Prices Realistic at Auction Today Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:28
examples below of cars under 70k miles.
Ford Mondeo 2.0i Zetec, 2005/54, 55k miles £3,125s
Peugeot 407 1.6HDI 110 S, 05 reg, 70k miles £3,100s
Vauxhall Astra 1.6 Club, 05 reg, 68k miles £3,800s
All the above will leave you plenty of spare cash to pay for any unexpected unreliability issues. The extra cost of petrol and tax will not make a big dent in your budget.
and how about this:
Range Rover 4.6, 2000W, 67k miles £2,500s !
Honest John made reference to an American law last week that basically states that any vehicle holding up five or more vehicles commits an offence. I have heard many people discussing this innovative piece of legislation and wondered how it is policed in practice?
Cameras surely could not be utilised? Does this mean for example, that travelling at an indicated 30mph in a 30mph area, as soon as I have 5 or more vehicles behind me, I have to pull over to let them speed past? What if you have had four cars following you for the previous 5 miles; you then accumulate the 5th car just as you pass a camera, but there are no lay-bys or other stopping points to allow them to overtake? Although private indibviduals should not seek to police the roads by virtue of their style of driving, it does seem that law-abiding motorists are the likely losers in this legislation. (Unless it's aimed specifically at middle lane hoggers)
Perhaps the rule is designed for American superhighways and not for our overcrowded motorways and quaint, quintessentially British 'A' and 'B' roads? Read more
What about the very strange law in the US that doesn't set different speed limits for trucks - we were regularly passed by trucks well over 44 tonnes doing 75mph. When they came behind me, I as quickly as poss moved into another lane, as no way could they stop.
Approaching traffic lights on a main highway, the lights changed to red when I was about 100 feet from then, I could stop no bother - the truck behind me in another lane applied his brakes and didn't stop until well over the crossroads. Thankfully, nothing was coming across his path................. the Highway Patrol guy wasn't too impressed either!
the air con is not good enough- press the air con button and the compressor engages and the fans start up, the temp only goes down to around 10-13 Celsius. Or around 9ish with the recirc button on.
So i thought there either a leak or low on gas- pooped of to kwik-fit for regass, they let the machine do the work and according to their own gauges the temp has only dropped from 13c to around 11c- i.e. pretty much the same as before the regass- to be fair they did not charge me for their work.
So i think there?s probably no leak (or it would not start the compressor) and has the right amount of gas is in there. The only thing i can hear is a clicking noise now and again when the air con is on (a bit like the compressor click) however the fans are still turning so not sure if this clicking is relevant, other than that i am stumped Read more
I've dug out my old Haynes manual. The control panel operates the heater flaps which are contained in the air distribution housing.
I'm afraid it sounds quite complicated. You need to remove the ashtray and radio and quite a number of screws. I'd recommend getting the book as it shows where the screws and tabs are.
I've removed the similar panel in my C5 without a manual. Good job I was replacing it with a new one as I broke a number of fixings. Be careful!
how do you fit a new door mirror to a picasso without breaking it ?
Read more
i have a ford focus estate 1.8 tddi, the problem is when its idling it sounds as rough as a bag of spanners could anyone please help with some advice. Read more
Browse
Do you know anywhere that will scrap spammers like you?
I wish I could get all my PPI and Microsoft scam phone calls rerouted to these sort of people.