July 2008
Hello,
I have a 1991 309 gti which is dark grey and the problem i have is that the lacquer appears to be peeling or faded.
What would be the best way to restore the paint work?
Please help. Read more
I see the forthcoming (and handsome) Vauxhall Isignia comes with "a wide-angle lens, so it can read signs at the roadside and centre lane markings simultaneously, and can take 30 pictures a second. Depending on the available light, it begins to read road signs from a distance of 100 metres, and when it recognises a number, it displays it on the instrument panel. "
A manufacturer has developed a system which saves the driver from reading, let alone understanding, roadside signing.
Personally, I think a threshold has been crossed. Whereas Merc with their night vision technology and Citroen/Honda and their lane-drift warning systems, have developed systems which improve safety and awareness, this Vauxhall system is supplementing basic road knowledge and the sort of abilities one has to demonstrate when they take a driving test.
The bizarre irony is the system displays the road-sign meanings on the dash, thereby taking your eyes off the road itself. Good grief.
Any opinions on this, or am I being slightly too indignant?
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I'm interested to know how they managed with the cruise control buttons this time around, in Vectra they were so, so, so stupidly mounted - in the end of the indicator stalk. How's the situation now, anyone ?
Where do I check the oil level on my Wagon R+? How do I check it? What oil should I top it up with? Read more
afternoon all;
My lovely green Vectra X20XEV simtec 56.5 ECU has decided to devlop a new fault, as follows:-
I'm rattling up the M3 at around 60 all is normal, then the car suddenly judders and the rev counter starts fluctuating rapidly between 0 and 5000 rpm. I dip the clutch and the car stalls, flick ignition off and back on again and the car fires up and all is back to normal.
This has happened twice in a week, so I'm getting rather twitchy. I haven't checked the blink codes yet, but I suspect it will just give cam and crank sensor malfunction, like it always does when the engine isn't turning over - no blink codes with engine running.
My line of thinking is that it is likely that the reference source for the rpm display is likely to be the crank sensor, so if this sensor is going faulty ( hardly an unusual occurence on an X20XEV) this could give the fluctuating display.
Anyone got any other possibilities before I resort to blink codes / proper Tech 2 diagnosis?
Cheers. Read more
Yeah, cheers tb, I had to do the old to new type cam sensor conversion on the first X20XEV Omega I had, from memory there's an extra wire in the cable, which you need to earth. I really want this to be a cam sensor problem, just so much easier to fix than crank. I might swap with the cam sensor off my Omega which is still sitting on the drive, that was runing fine when I pensioned it off, other than the MOT fail on emissions I couldn't fix :-((.
Hi fellow motorists, Im not a true petrol head,but ive sold machinery to the trade for over thirty years and im an avid fan of the way cars are made, run, and sold. Im particularly amazed to the extent "badge engineering" is so rampant thesedays. You really dont know what your actually buying, and its clever marketing. I dont see anything basically wrong with the principal, it must keep costs down, and it costs mega bucks to develop new engines/platforms. I would just like more transparency. I know its nothing new, I passed my test in a Morris 1100 ,(IM Old), and at the time there were four makes on the go, you could have an Austin 1100, a Morris, a Riley and a Wolsely. But they all looked the same, apart from trim, badge, spec and performance. These days it aint so easy. Most folks it seems dont realise that VW cars can appear in various guises and that Seat, Skodas, and Audis, are often VW classics under the skin, or maybe trim would be more accurate. I note the Skoda Suberb dosnt even try to disguise its roots apart from the badge.
So with VW, GM, Ford, etc rebadging and rebodying willy nilly I think it would be a great help to know exactly whats underneath the skin. Motoring writers blow the gaff now and again, but its obiously not common knowledge outside the trade, and Ive seen peoples jaw drop when they find out they are actually driving a Golf with another name. I saw a Nissan van the other day that looked just like a Renault, my mate next to me said , thats cos it is!!! I hear in Australia if you buy a Ford its actually a Mazda, the only Ford bit is the badge. Please let me know, I reckon theres enough here for a book, maybe called, "So you thought you were driving a ?????.
Cheers , keep on truckin , Rugman 08
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The rubber under-spoiler strip for the Skoda Fabia is the same as used on the Seat Cupra - but it's actually cheaper to buy one from a Seat dealer than from Skoda (£15 difference in price)
Hi all;
A good friend of ours is selling her late husband's Focus. 99T, 1.8 LX (not Zetec) We are in the market for a decent car to tide us over until sometime next year and would be interested in buying it from her. After looking about on AutoTrader and Parkers' I am a bit confused as they list the trade-in value at £1500, yet Auto Trader shows dealers selling similar cars for £1000 or so.
So, the perennial question - what is the car really worth and how much to offer a close friend who would like for us to buy it? I'm thinking £800 but are we that wide of the mark?
Many thanks!
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If the car is fairly good then £1200 is probably a fair price for all concerned.
Hi All,
As previously posted on here, was one of the lucky winners of motorshow tickets. Going on Sunday (thinking least traffic and got commitments tomorrow).
Been debating best way to get there. As I don't know London at all did think of using the Tube, but as my wife pointed out will need pushchair and stroller for our daughters (2 and 5 as no doubt will get quite tired with all the walking), and we really dont fancy the prospect of struggling with these. Additionally both girls love escalators so will want to go up and down endlessly. On top of that, they're both very playful, think everyone is a friend and love trains, so could get very excitable and wander around on the train itself.
So, getting to the point, looks like driving will be best option, is it likely to be relatively pain free (although live in West Country am not daunted by big cities- find Bristol stress free and used to live and drive in Caen, which was truly atrocious). Being Sunday, should it be fairly straightforward, and where are the best places to park in the area? Or are there other options that are simple and fairly exuberant child friendly?
Many thanks in advance.
Pete. Read more
Many thanks for that- will bear in mind. Although the girls do love planes, so would probably love to watch them.
Got the fluorescent jackets, bulb kit, fire extinguisher, documentation and warning triangle tucked away in the Hyundai coupe ready for my trip to Spain and France.
What are the latest thoughts about headlights?
I've set them to the lowest position in years past and sometimes used duck tape (after polishing the polycarbonate lens to limit the amount of stiction). Tried Metro deflectors once and the adhesive 'safe with polycarbonate lenses' seemed to be water soluble- both fell off with the first rainy day!
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Last week whilst sitting waiting to exit the ferry. i witnessed the driver in front trying to attach his magnetic GB plate to the rear of his Mercedes. After about 6 failed attempts and watching him carefully clean the surface and still fail, I had to get out and show him that the boot lid, and bumper mouldings were plastic, and that the roof over the rear window was the only place that it would stick! I still do not think that he understood the problem and thought the plate was faulty. Perhaps I should have offered to swap my spare adhesive freebie GB sticker.
pmh
Hi guys.......help please!
just recently, the glow plug light on the dashboard came on only intermittently, cranking became sluggish, and starting was adversely affected. I renewed the pre-heat/glow-plug relay, and now I'm at a stage where the glow plug light on the dash always comes on when cold, but only stays on for about 2 seconds, not the 5 or 6 I'm used to, and the cranking/starting hasn't been improved. Recently I cleaned up the earth connection from the battery, and starting had been very good. Yesterday, I also cleaned up the connections to the starter motor too. This speeded up the cranking somewhat, but has not restored the good starting. I've done the following checks using the circuit diagram from the Haynes manual on the car:
Battery voltage is between 12.5 and 13.
Power to the ignition switch is good, as is continuity through the switch
I'm getting 12 volts at PIN 3 of the 5-way plug in connector to the preheat relay, only 9.5 volts to PIN 4 when cranking.. (Both those come from the ignition switch)
I'm getting battery voltage across the two eyelet connectors to the relay which are the power in from the battery and power out to the glow plugs.
I'm getting 10.5 - 11 volts at each of the glow plugs, and my test bulb lights when I connect it between the feed wire to the glow plugs and plug 2. (I'm assuming the others are good too. They were replaced earlier this year and have done less that 8k miles)
This voltage and current to the plugs stays on after the glow-plug light on the dash goes out BUT, STARTING AND CRANKING ARE STILL NOT GOOD, though she will start!
Also, the glow-plug relay clicks on when I turn the ignition key, but only clicks off when I turn the ignition key off again.
I'm suspecting that the relay, although new, is faulty.
Any ideas or suggestions would be gratefully received.
Thanks alot
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Congratulations Richard! You know what it's like when you're thrown off the scent cos you think you've already checked that bit?! Thanks again for your help.
Tony
Generally speaking (well, I know there are exceptions)
Japanese cars have better mechanical bits but their interior even outside look is often bland
French cars are dodgy mechanical/electrical parts, their shape or interior is eye catching.
So, why no one thinks of putting a Japanese engine in French cars? Then we can have best of both worlds?
Why can't we have best of both worlds?
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I have to say that the various shades of silver I had over the last few incarnations always came up a treat and certainly on the 330d still belies the miles (and speeds) its been driven at.
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Ok many thanks for your help.