August 2008
Hi.
I have a 306 (1.6), and the rocker cover appears to have surface rust all over it.
Is this a fairly rommon issue? Is it safe to keep running the car with it? Or, would it be advisable to get the rocker cover replaced as soon as possible? If so, where is the best place to source one from?
Thanks! Read more
Hi All,
This is my first post on this forum but I've read through many in my search for suggestions to an "overheating" problem with my petrol Focus. Last night on the way home from work the temperature gauge shot into the red and I had to pull over several times, switch off the engine and wait for it to cool before proceeding.
A wee bit of background. Over the last week I've noticed that the heater is not blowing hot air (we've had some uncharacteristically mild days up in Scoltand so unusally not had the need for heat!). The fan has also been kicking in more often than usual and for the last couple of days it has been on constantly for the hour long, 10 mile commute across town. Then as I mentioned the temp gauge went to red.
My knowledge of car engines (especially for anything controlled by ecu's) is very limited but I'm willing to learn. Any suggestions on checks I can undertake and signs to look out for to determine the cause of the problem and possible fixes would be appreciated.
In other posts (mikej, same car, similar problem without the "broken" heater factor) I picked up references to head gaskets, radiator blockage, coolant factors, temp thermostat but to be honest I don't know where to start.
Any help appreciated.
Many thanks
Mike (H) Read more
Mike
I've seen a lot of corroded core plugs on those; that could be one possibility.
I was only given 1 key when privately buying a second hand Leon. SEAT tell me the cost of another key is £80 + £30 for coding to the car + VAT! Anyone have any ideas? Read more
Back one step, I'd get an explanation from the vendor why there is only one key, because if your Seat is stolen, the insurance company will almost certainly ask.
Not for one minute saying there's anything wrong, people lose things all the time.
I have 2 cars A Volvo C70 T5 Auto and a VW Bora 1.9TDI Auto.
I drive 38 miles each way to work so 384 miles week.
I've driven both cars to work for a week and worked out the average Fuel Consumption for each
The Volvo 35mpg and the Bora 47mpg.
Doing my sums it will cost me at todays fuel prices £553 a year more to drive the Volvo to work over the bora.
But here is the rub, I brought the volvo before the fuel prices went silly and paid £4500 14 months ago.
I brought the Bora to replace the Volvo for £4500 about 2 months ago.
I've been trying to sell the Volvo since then and had no luck and just a few bites offering silly prices (£1400!) ... so if i sell it now i will loose £3000 on it..
So I'm Selling the Bora, It would take almost 6 years of driving to get the money back on driving a more econimical car. !!....
So for anyone thinking of getting rid of there nice big comfy car and getting something smaller / diesel / more econimical. Then Don't, You'll be worse off for a very long time!!.
On the other side of the coin if you are changing cars, Buy a nice big comfy one, there has never been a better time. They are going for peanuts. Read more
Keep the C70 T5 and enjoy driving a quick, comfy car whilst you still can. When the enviro-facists and taxman has finally killed off enjoyable driving, that's when a bore-mobile like the Bora will make sense...
I've lost a stack on my S80 since I bought it last year (a year too early!) but I don't care, in 5-10 years time such cars may not even be available, let alone affordable to run - so I'm enjoying it for as long as I can.
Again a desperate father feels so desperate to obtain rights to see his child/ren he holds up traffic for hours on the M25.
Whilst I have every sympathy with those being inconvenienced, I feel something has to be done by the Govt to give men fair treatment -
I Know of several fathers who've been stopped from seeing their kids for being victims of the x's affairs and lifestyle and courts always seem to take the mothers side
There is 2 sides to every story, but why does the motorway have to be shut ?? Read more
Motoring related ? - was at the start - maybe ! Locked.
Just wondering, with the increased petrol costs traffic jams etc, - does anyone still just get in the car for the sake of it and go for a drive somewhere for me the greatest way to "chill" is to take my car out somewhere some good tunes on the CD player and drive off for a couple of hours through the country ( i dont go tearing through at great speed) I just like to drive and the feeling it brings, I dont get the same feeling driving to work becasue ive got work on my mind but after work i just think about the pleasures of driving my car - but i feel more and more guilty with constant reminders of air pollution, high petrol prices, and road space (but at the same time it does not stop me)
Anyone else feel the same?
Ste Read more
I was thinking that last night - I always have a perverse pleasure from driving in the rain - I had a 40 mile trip the other day in torrential rain - it was in the work Honda, lights, heater, air con and wipers - and a journey time that was long enough to enjoy the Radio 4's Afternoon Play. Couldn't find fault with any of that - the play was one about a B17 being flown to Florida n WW2 (still available on iPlayer) - brilliant.
ROVER 600S have a red key and dealers sell you a key for 60 plus Vat and then cahrge 1 hour ie £99 plus VAT to program it to your system.
Quite expensive.
My wife said go to timpsons and they are £30 for one second for £15 and are programed.
I went its true and for 345 £45 {typo corrected} pounds i have now got 2 new ROVER ^)) keys which all work well with my existing key.
Read more
345 pounds? seems a trifle steep ;-)
Hi,
Hope you can help.
Just had my car MOT'ed it failed on the 'Offside front velocity joint being insecure'.
Got the garage to fix it so it would pass and now I have a leak from the steering fluid.
I took the car back and now they say that the hose (which in rubber and 2 aliminium parts) has to be replaced at a cost of £135.
Having looked at the haynes manual I have a feeling that they either damaged the part when they did the original work or they didn't put a new seal back on. Does this sound likely.
I had no leaks before this happened.
Many thanks
Kat
Read more
This is a little confusing from your post but basically you are describing 2 different systems.
The power steering system is seperate from the cv and its gaiter.
Cant understand why they would have damaged the steering system (leak) by fitting a cv joint and/or gaiter.
Could be just coincidence. It does happen !
iI have a Gt Tdi Golf 3 door with 60K on it.
It drives 100% with plenty of power, But starts poor in the morning.
It fires right away but the rpm is down at 600 and it coughts and splutters for two seconds while white smoke is coming out of exhaust.
After all this she idles 100%
Has anyone any ideas.
i have just bought the car and a full 60k service was carried out at 55k 12/07
I have removed the bleed screw from the fuel filter and turned the ign on with my finger covering it and the pressure of the electric lift pump in the tank is identical to a good atarting car.
Read more
I Had a look today but couldnt find the glowplugs, I left the trade some 4 years ago and loosing ground slowly. If i can get the cap off if i can find it, I will check for 12+V at the cap with ign on when cold then i will check each glowplug in situ by passing current through an ammeter to the glow plug i know that initial current draw for a glow plug is @13Amps then after a second they are down to 10amps.
Pleae guide me to the dlow plugs 140Bhp engine cross flow not like passat.
Following on from the thread on problems that tall people have - short people suffer too.
My misses is just 5ft and had terrible trouble finding a car she could drive without hitting her knees on the lower dashboard. Nor could she find a single manual car that allowed her to sit a decent distance from the steering wheel ( and its airbag ).
Here is an example - two Skodas - in the Fabia, she could sit close enough to operate all the pedals without hitting her knees on dashboard, just - the larger Octavia, not possible!
There seems to be a trend to fill in the space under the steering wheel with plastic coverings, but these can seriously hamper knee room., nor do they provide a range of adjustment that allows short people to avoid sitting 2 ins from the wheel!
Its one of the reasons she has gone for automatics because she can sit further back on account of no clutch, which generally needs pushing down much further than either of the other two pedals. She reckons she gains 2-3 inches in legroom by going auto and it allows her to sit more comfortably too.
Seems like cars are designed for a narrow band of people heightwise. Read more
Wouldn't it be great is we could get HonestJohn to start including in his reviews quick opinions of someone who is, say, 5 foot tall and someone who is 6 foot 4 inches tall - get both ends of the scale?
I am 6 foot 2 inches tall, and like another poster in the tall thread, I used tower over people but these days I see numerous 20-somethings and teenagers who tower over me so there is a huge range out there.
I think the height issue is an important aspect of a car review that is simply left out by the pertrolhead reviewers who mainly concentrate on how fast something goes - thankfully, HJ is different and his reviews are the best in my opinion but, time and time again, I read a great HJ review of a car only to go along to the showroom and discover that I simply can't get in the thing let alone be comfortable and healthy inside.
There are serious health and safety issues that are ignored by care reviewers. Perhaps NCAP will eventually pick up on this?
Browse
Onlyone-jc
One thought and I don't know how long you have had the 306, has your car been one of last summer's flooding victims?