July 2008
When accelerating the car makes a whining noise which starts at about 1500rpm, it only starts about 1-2 minutes after being started and driven. I've recently had a Check engine light on which was diagnosed as a faulty EGR vavle which was replaced but the noise started about 2 weeks after the light came on and is still there now the vavle has been replaced. Read more
I have a Renault Clio 1.5 dci 2002. Today whilst driving down the M4 at a steady 70-75 with the car driving as normal, i suddenly felt a surge of power and heard a small bang,looked in my rear view mirrow and a large cloud of black smoke has been left behind me. After this the car seemed to run ok, even though i was taking it very easy. Any ideas as to why the car would do this? Read more
Apparently (according to Honest John), the EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) valve can stick on these. This can cause black smoke. It can also lead to turbo problems. Might be an idea to get it checked.
I have recently bought a towbar for my car and I haven't got a wiring diagram. Please could anyone help,
Thanx,
Tony1961. Read more
Hi
I'm interested in buying one of these - probably a 316i, 318i or a 320i. Just wondered what are the points to specially look out for? After looking at two cars the weak points seem to be:
1) Overheating leading to head gasket failure
2) Rust round the rear arches.
3) Sticking sunroof switches and instrumentation problems.
4) Lumpy idle from cold, including hesitancy on revving the engine - my 1992 Toyota doesn't do this!
Would appreciate any advice/comments! Read more
My 320i does 22-25 mpg on a 10 mile round shopping trip, and a lot lower if I am enjoying myself, 30 mpg on a motorway. Check front wishbone joints for wear. Although the 320i straight 6 is a peach of an engine I would go for a 323i or bigger as they give better mpg. See Honest John warnings about later vanos engines and blocks.
I have to go from Liverpool to Anglesea tomorrow (saturday 12th July) - time will be of the essence, if I may describe my problem in delicate terms.
Is it true they are hiding cameras in builders' vans and other strange locations now? I'm not so daft that I can't see a fixed camera, but are the limits confusing, ie do they go up and down arbitrarily and do they have wide dual carriageways restricted to 30, and so on... I know the A55 is notorious but just how aggressive are the traffic taliban up there?
And no I am not a reckless speeder, I have a clean licence and my last crash was in 88.
THANKS Read more
>>Don't forget your passport!
And your waterproofs. Not an insult, despite seeing some of the cleanest sheep ever during a pleasant (although damp) week there last year!
I consider myself immune to road rage (breath slowly, count to ten, I hope you crash you - ) but when people block the ENTRANCE to a petrol station... not just to get a pump on the "right" side of their car, but in order to hedge their bets before joining a queue. They also, at my local sainsburys, cause a queue on the actual road which is dangerous.
This I believe is a growing trend. It ought to be stamped out and the offenders punished.
I always give them a good blast on the horn, after I've made sure that there's no-one in their car bigger than me. {SNIP stereo typical comment removed} Read more
Escargot you're certainly living up to your name ..........
D'oh!
Hi guys
The temperature gauge on my ZX TD has been running slightly cool recently, around 80 - 85C instead of the 90 - 100C I believe is normal. As it was overdue, I renewed the coolant, and the thermostat (which I suspected might be the cause). I let the car idle for around 20-30 mins, sometimes running it up to 2000rpm. The gauge barely got up to 90C before slowly dropping down to 80 - 85C without the fans cutting in. I couldn't get the temperature gauge to go over 90C and the fans haven't cut in since. Normal operating temperature is still 80-85C. I'm more curious than worried as I'd rather have over cooling than over heating, but has anyone got any ideas on this one? Should I just have run it on a faster idle for longer to check the fans would work?
cheers in advance
Tony
Read more
Don't believe the figures implicitly-the gauges are not that good-there is a lot to be said for the BLUE-WHITE-RED type of gauge.
Please help or point in the right direction. I have 2003 Micra and require all new tyres (well actually 3 out of 4 - but thought it best to replace all 4)
I'm literally spoilt for choice - just too many options and it is starting to hurt! - At present I have narrowed the choice to four tyres but I do not know of a comparison site or indeed much about tyres as this is the first time I will have had to buy them!
Bridgestone B391 - as supplied with the car £200 all-in
Bridgestone B250 - £200 all-in
Firestone F590 £177.08
Michelin Energy Saver £170.24
The above are the best prices I have found (online or other) for the chosen tyres. I'm not even sure if they are suitable and which are better -obviously manufacturers have their claims and dealers have their own agendas etc.
This isn't a plea for the best price/cheapest tyres, but a request for choosing the correct ones - basically does anyone know of any reliable and independent review sites?
Apologies if I've put this in the wrong section, but this seemed a logical place.
Steve
Read more
Which? magazine does regular reviews. For me it's always Michelin for durability (usually cheapest at
Costco).
Hello again Roger
Are there any current reviews for the Energy Saver? - regret to say my Which? subs ran out. There seems to be little reviews of Energy Savers and none on the website you kindly pointed out to me.
Still trawling through :-)
Steve
have a bizzare problem that when the side lights are turned on the rear fog lights also come on. The headlight switch has been changed but problem still exisits. dealer's only thoughts are its an "expensive" electircal or computer problem. Anyone evercome across this problem? Read more
hi
this may or maynot help ,owned an espace with same problem turned out to be the towbar socket .
as inside socket there was a small button ,when connected to the trailer plug its activated this button to transfer fog light power to trailer fog light ,it was simply stuck .
changed plug problem resolved.
worth checking,happy hunting
I had the misfortune, last night, of following a Mitsubishi Grandis, between Banstead and Purley. I couldn't get past this vehicle and therefore noticed how overbright the rear stop/tail lights were, up high, either side of the rear window.
Each unit comprised approximately 23 LEDs and when held up at traffic lights etc. they were exceptionally bright when the brakes were being applied and as this was an automatic it was very uncomfortable being the car immediately being said vehicle.
Surely there should be regs. limiting the amount of brightness emanating from this type of assembly - they should be attenuated during the hours of darkness.
Read more
Browse
You didn't happen to have an over-anxious mother, or mother-in-law in the car at the time? - It's just my mother used to make a whining noise if she was in the car and I accelerated briskly
(sorry - feeling frivolous - Friday afternoon, and on holiday from Monday!)