August 2008
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
Hi All, have read haynes chapter on idle problems, but not getting on to well with
there solution ,, so require help in easy lay mans terms, speed is about 1500 rpm
all the best wittsy Read more
wittsy
At least they're all fuel injected in some form.
No they are not. Some have a carburetor. This one appears to, as the OP refers to the choke.
Hi there
Got a strange problem with my Focus.
The car drives ok but after 5 mins of driving I get a whiring/buzzing sound which rises in pitch as the car accelerates. If i take my foot off the gas the sound goes. The sound's not especially loud but it shouldn't be there and it's got me worried.
When the car's stationary it ticks over nicely and revs normal, with no odd sounds.
Any advice is gratefully appreciated
slt Read more
if it really is ur gearbox, it means the bearings are gone... ive got a similar problem regarding my gearbox. got a 1.8 focus too.. my input shaft bearing is naff and so when the clutch is up, i can hear a whirring coming from the engine.. but infact its coming from the transmission.. when u engage the clutch, the whirring goes away..
its supposedly a common problem with the focuses.. but it doesnt affect driveability.. took it in to mr clutch and they said just keep using it until it gets to the point where u cant engage gear anymore lol! cos if ur bearings are gone.. the only thing u can do is change the gearbox.. and mr clutch quoted me £864 including labour.. so i thought.. ill just live with the whirring noise..
hope that explains a bit!
regards,
matt
Bought my Panda 3 years ago from Reg Vardy in Sunderland. About a year later, went in for a warranty issue, they were closing down. Moved my custom to Benfield Fiat in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Went in today to look at the new Panda Cross, sorry, sir, we don't have one as we're giving up the Fiat franchise. A shame because Benfield were a good Fiat dealer on the service side.
Visited Springfield Fiat in Gateshead, a relatively new Fiat franchise. They tell me Pandas and 500s are selling like hotcakes.
I'm getting confused. Read more
if you have a positive comment, Andrew, could you please post it.<<
The daughter has since spent 3 years in Holland, first getting me to sell her Punto down here (Cheshire). She has now returned and got a Golf Plus at Fords of Winsford. Since the Punto was serviced at an indie, I can't offer any comment at all ... sorry, Chris :-(
"Men were advised to leave their shirt tails hanging out if they went out after dark, so they could be seen by cars with dimmed headlights." tinyurl.com/6q5tum Read more
....and let's avoid the obvious remarks !
any ideas on a fault with a friends 2001 v60.. When it's cold and during the warm up phase, the idle is quite erratic, although it does not cut out. When warm the idle is fine. I have checked the basics and for any signs of an air leak etc, but all seems to be ok. The car is new to my friend and he has no idea how long the car may have been like this. Also the engine management light was on, but was reset.. the fault code was lambda control, but fault erased and light now out. The car has covered 91k mls. I also believe volvo intercoolers were prone to pin holes and corrosion on the diesel models, but does anyone know if this also affected petrol intercoolers as well. Thanks James
slt Read more
My 01 S60 2.0T has a slightly wonky idle on cold, particularly during the first 5 seconds or so after initial fire-up where it fluctuates quite noticeably. It then settles, and is OK. Idle is rock steady after this.
I bought my car from a friend who I've known since he had it (I actually went with him to test drive it when he bought it 4 yrs ago), and it's always done it. Never got any worse, and never seems to have any adverse effects elsewhere. No MIL, pulls like a train, and does mid 30's mpg. I'm leaving it well alone.
There is a problem with the throttle body on these early 2.0T engines, which manifests itself as an erratic idle, but this occurs at all times, not just on cold. Perhaps someone else will have a better suggestion, but I think this is a characteristic, to a degree anyway.
Cheers
DP
Because I'm obsessively cautious I normally fill up when the gauge gets down to half full. However, it recently occured to me that this meant that I was never getting a full tank of fresh fuel and that a proportion of the tank's contents will now be 5 years old. What effect, if any, will the practice of filling up like this have?
(Ignore the fact that for a lot of the time I'm carrying around more weight/mass of fuel than is strictly necessary.) Read more
What a thoroughly over-optimistic lot you all are.
The tank is not half full, it's half empty.
hi all, just wandering if anyone's come across my problem, i drove it last night and its was fine until suddenly the car starter jolting and when i accelerated it lacked power, but this morning it was barely ticking over, I had a look at her after work, the fuel filter was bone dry, and there was some fluid on the manifold well on the side of the one going into No1 cylinder, it doesn't seem to be petrol, could the manifold be cracked in side?, leaking coolant? the fuel pump seems to be fine i'l try fitting a one way valve to see if it helps, coluld the intake manifold be causing the poor fuel flow?and the fluid on the outside of the manifold?
Any help most welcomed, thanks
Kevz Read more
Hi, I'm having a bit of a problem! changed the battery in my key fob and now the car won't start, well its starts for about 3 seconds then cuts out, I was told it was a key fob issue so managed to get another one but I still have the same problem, I was then advised that I have to program the key fob, not sure how to do this, I have R reg diesel astra, can anyone help please, going a little mad here. thank you in advance, Darren
Read more
Inside your fob is an immobiliser chip. I suspect it fell out when you changed the battery - easily done. The car will still start regardless of if a battery is in the fob or not - it won't however if the chip is missing. The battery is only required for the light / central locking (depending on what type of fob you have). Replacing the fob won't help unless you have the transponder chip in that fob programmed to your car - which has to be done either by Vauxhall or a competent locksmith with the necessary equipment.
Start by looking for the chip at the location you changed the battery. It's approx 10x3x2mm in size.
Does anyone know how to make the computer screen on my 1.1 colt any brighter - ie easier to read?
I have the setting on 6 - is this as high as it will go - or does anyone know of a better way to make it readable. I can just about read it when the weather is dull and overcast - but sunny weather-forget it!!
slt Read more
Daughter has a 2007 model (but as far I know is the same display) which I drive perhaps a couple of times per week and I've never noticed a problem reading the display - and I do look at as I try to get the MPG over 50 on the run into town!
I guess you might not be able to read it if the sun was shining on it, but then that would be a tall ask.
Browse
.jpg)
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?