July 2008
how do i check if my starter motor is any good before i buy a new 1can i check it leaving it on the car, or if not taking it off ?
what it is, --- i have fitted a new diesel pump and ive had trouble starting it again, turning the engine over the battery went flat i jumped it with jump leads but just got a click i tride it a few more times and the same thing just a click and then nothing not even a click,the battery is fully charged i turn the key all the lights come on on the dash and all the driving lights are fine. have i worn the starter out? how do i check?
also if the battery goes flat does it do anything to the immobiliser?
i no theres a lot of ? here but i not to good at electrics
any advice please would be great
thanks carl Read more
Hey folks
I have an odd issue with one of the front fog lamps right now ? don?t know if US cars have these, but they are the inboard lamps in the front lamp units. Anyway, one is getting a healthy 12V, the other shows between 6 and 9 volts ? upon plugging a good bulb the voltage goes down to zero. It?s as if any load on the circuit brings it down. Bulb-failure warning is lit up the whole time. The earths there are sound, I tested it with a new earth lead to a test bulb; the cabling is sound too. Problem is not the bulb, I have swapped in known-good bulbs
I need to trace things back to the ?lights control unit? - must be under the dash ? Fuses are good too ? the number-4 fuse servers front fogs as well as the single rear fog.
Smells like a bad earth, but apparently not !
Cheers
Frank
1992 230CE W124
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I had a very similar problem on an Omega ( in the midlle of the very, very dark New Forest at 6 a.m.) Turned out the crimp connection bettween the lucar(?) connector and the feed cable had corroded under the plastic shroud, and was producing significant resistance in the circuit. With no current drawn there was still 12V on the connector, this dropped to stuff all when the lamp was put in circuit.
Not the kind of subtle problem I wanted to investigate at that time and place!
I have a c.10 year old Pendle bike carrier unit, 2 L shaped poles fit into a block that itself is bolted onto the tow bar. I now want to fit this unit onto a new tow bar to be fitted to a 2003 reg car. The tow bar man says he is not allowed to fit such an old block because of "type approval"(?) but ... Pendle tell me that it's legal to have such a block fitted provided it's only used for carrying bikes whereas it would be illegal if used for towing. Any suggestions gratefully received! Read more
Either re-fit it yourself, or find someone who will.
I would appreciate some advice on where to purchase a toll tag for france. I haven't bothered for the last 16 years but it sounds rather appealing. I have gone to various web sites that have appeared on this section before but have been unsucessful in obtaining a tag. I don't have a French bank account & would just like to pay by card. Any advice greatfully recived.
I Doc Read more
I always keep a credit card in the car for "car expenses". All fuel, tolls etc go on this card. Everything else goes on the one in my wallet. Never been remarkably delayed at a peage when using card payment. I take the view that even if there was a security issue with the card I always have the other one as backup. Unless I lived in France I wouldn't bother with a peage tag.
Is there a problem with the mk4 diesel engine on a 1.9e sdi, dropping a valve onto piston and damaging engine completely. Read more
The fitted a new timing belt and kit, when they changed the hydralic tapits.
hopefully someone can help, ive got a mk3 16v golf and on idle it seams to be misfiring, if i bring the revs up it clears until 3k, its the same when driving it as well, as soon as you get to 3k it holds back and splutters, ive changed the cap, arm, plugs and leads, any ideas would be great. Read more
well it turned out to be the main relay for the ecu wasnt making a good contact, many thanx to replies.
hi, i am a real novice when it comes to cars.
i have just changed oil & filter, air filter, re set gap on spark plugs, and checked HT leads for Arc-ing.
car idles fine on rev counter and runs fine,
however when idleing it appears to miss every 4-5 seconds (counter does not move), causing the whole car to vibrate, it also sounds like pop pop sound from the centre exhaust box, i noticed the other day that this seemed to be blowing, however it was only replaced in december.
Could the exhaust be the problem or should i look elsewhere
any help greatly received. Read more
Basically it speaks for itself. Single electrode are just that - they have one electrode, multiple electrodes have more than one. eg
Single:- www.densoplugs.co.th/images/09l.jpg
Mutiple:- www.densoplugs.co.th/images/28l.jpg
www.densoplugs.co.th/images/18l.jpg
A friend, to whom we sold our 1993 Citroen ZX 1.9D many moons ago, noticed a water leak coming from under the car, and so called out a nationwide recovery service, of which she had been a member for some 30 years.
Now, I'm afraid the details are a bit sketchy, but basically after 6 hours attempting to fix a small water leak, the car won't start and there is a suspicion that some terminal damage has been caused to the car by the recovery service.
The recovery service has now suggested to our friend that she pays £850 to have the engine stripped down to find the cause of damage, and if the damage is as a result of their negligence, they will pay for repairs.
Needless to say, a 15 year old ZX has a market value somewhat less than £850, even with today's inflated scrap values. But the thing is she loved this car. She is only the 3rd owner (my Mum and my wife being numbers 1 & 2), it is in immaculate condition (or was until the recovery service got their hands on it!), was economical, cheap to run, etc., and all she wanted was the water leak to be fixed so she could carry on getting to and from work, etc!
Letters have been going to and fro for 2 months, and she wants to threaten legal action (would have doen sooner IMHO). I have suggested CAB advice/help (for monetary reasons).
I think the Service should fix the water leak and return the car in working order (as it was before they started attempted repairs), but what do the Back Roomers think should be the solution? Read more
Update.
The owner had an engineer look at the car. He diagnosed 'worn pistons and a problem with the cylinder head'. Looks like the car was about to expire anyway, and it was just coincidence that this happened when the Recovery Service were called.
The car is now headed for that great car park in the sky ...
I've just sold a 2.0 litre Mondeo and purchased a 2.0 litre Focus which I expected to be every bit as lively (or perhaps even more so). My wife has an Escort 1.8L and this is also quick. However, I am disappointed. I have had a new clutch and major service and, although the car runs sweetly, it still only seems to have the power I would expect from a 1.4 litre car. On long motorway inclines it is a struggle to maintain 70+mph. Accelerating full-throttle from rest, there is no kick and the engine struggles past 5000rpm.
My garage mechanic has suggested that a new exhaust might fix it but this would cost around 600 pounds and I would be loathed to pay this if there was still a chance that the problem was not resolved. Any ideas? Read more
I finally got it sorted - it was the catalytic convertor. When this was removed, you could see that it had partially collapsed. Perhaps it had not rattled because, on the Focus, it is monted vertically right under the exhaust manifold so any broken bits drop down and may be held in place by the exhaust pressure. Interestingly, no fault was registered within the ECU despite there being an exhaust pressure sensor on either side of the cat.
I'm used to running cars where the service schedule advises renewal of fuel filters which have been the in-line type and reasonably accessible.
We now have a Honda Jazz and 2 Fiat Pandas in the fleet with no mention of replacement of fuel filters in the service schedules and no sign of in-line fuel filters on the cars.
The Jazz does have a filter in the tank but due to the tank being beneath the drivers's seat access to it is hugely complex.
Has it become normal practice for fuel filters to last the lifetime of the car now? Read more
we also ran a Polo C with an in line *petrol* filter for 17 years and it seemed as free flowing at the end as the beginning (same filter, 115,000 miles). I believe `asphaltines` are the problem with Derv filters..
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yes ive got a voltage tester -- is it called a multi meter? well ive got 1 of those