August 2008
Having the above problem.
Sounds like rear suspension or shocks?!
Could it be anything else? Any ideas or advice appreciated!
Read more
SWMBO's X -reg estate (sixty-odd thousand miles) has recently started to need its coolant level topping up - about half a cupful every fortnight, low mileage covered in that time.
An inspection under the bonnet and under the car reveals nothing. (Mind you, the car stands on gravel.) All the hoses I can see and/or touch seem dry, with no trace of residue. No trace of oil contamination. The car runs fine.
Is this something I can pursue myself, or does it need some kind of pressure-testing, or other specialist equipment?
As the cambelt (to our knowledge) has never been changed, are we looking at a possible coolant pump failure?
Typically, of course, the car is booked on a ferry at the beginning of September!
Any help gratefully received. Read more
Looking at the auction prices in HJ's report, there were clearly some bargains to be had.
One really jumped out at me though: Subaru Legacy 2.0RE Sport Tourer, 2005/55, 41k miles £4,500s.
£4500. That's almost bangernomics money!. Read more
Anyone fancy taking a gamble on which leasing company will be the first to go under?
A couple of graphs in the links below highlight where the market really is
uk.finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=LOOK.L&t=2y
uk.finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=INCH.L&t=2y
Lex, Pendragon et all are all similarly being hit.
Anyone in the trade that's being vocal about how well their business is doing is almost certainly going to be in the dole queue in three months time. The honest ones are cursing and devoting energy to minimizing overheads and stocking £2k corsas and the equivalent.
I've read that with factory fit xenon lights there is a switch somewhere to change the dip setting for driving on the right hand side. So how do I find out if they are xenons and how do I access the switch please? Or do I have to get stick on deflectors? Read more
Thanks for reply... I'm not up on carspeak, what is HID? If it's headlamps then yes
When I worked near Leeds (but never ventured into Leeds itself) I frequently heard the term "Leeds gyratory" mentioned on traffic reports on the radio. What exactly is the "Leeds gyratory"? Read more
The Hanger Lane gyratory (A40 / A406 west of London) has been called that for years, but any resemblance between traffic speeds and anything gyrating is pure coincidence.
One of the rear brake discs of my car has a band of heavy corrosion on one of the braking faces, about 8 mm wide at the outside of the disc. The rest of the disc's face is clean. I'm not concerned about it because it's passed two MOTs, but I'm curious as to why this corrosion hasn't been worn away by normal use of the brakes. Is the corrosion harder/tougher than the parent metal of the disc?
Just to give you the full story ........... all four discs were very rusty when I bought the car due to it only having done 4000 miles in 16 months (and hence having stood idle for long periods) but there's now only just that one disc which still shows corrosion. Read more
It's not unusual for manufacturing or assembly irregularities to result in slight differences between the positions of pad surfaces in relation to the disc, or for the pad friction material to be slightly differently placed on the pad backplate. Sometimes differences are present in the calipers too. My impression is that some makes of pads are better and more precisely finished than others. Perhaps this is an extreme example. 8mm does sound a lot though.
I've got mondeo 2005 TDCi 96kW and got problems with regulation of turbocharger. In this model is used electronic regulation (Rotary Electronic Actuator). This small thing is broken and I can't buy new one becouse they don't sell it. I can only buy complete turbocharger (turbocharger with this regulator) but it's too expensive (1000 eur). In my car is turbocharger GT1749V. I have forgotten to write, I am from Czech Republic so I hope this part is avaliable in your country. Can I buy it anywhere ? Have you had (and solved) this problem yet ?
Thank you for all reactions. If you've got any ideas I'll be plesured.
p.s.: Sorry about my english a hope you understand me, other way ask me please , I'll try to explain it better. Read more
My TDCi 130 has vacuum varaible vane, IIRC the electronic system was fitted to Euro4 compliant cars, whether it was necessary who knows.
Hi all
Have had a new battery fitted and new alternator but the car would not start today.
I gave the starter motor a prod and hey presto it started so I'm guessing their lies the problem.
How easy is it to take the starter motor out of a Rover 45 and is it best to replace it with one from a scrapyard as I hear they are very expensive when new?
If anyone could sort this for me in the Greater Manchester area at a reasonable price I'd be most grateful? Read more
The starter motor is only held in with 2 bolts and can be done from above, so no need to remove wheel and arch liner. See me doing in on a mgzs here:
youtu.be/rtuMCh3iIlw
I want to check my Air/Fuel ratio on my kit car that I use for abit of fun, when using full throttle on a trackday.
I've read as a cheap way to check this would be using a Lambda sensor and a voltmeter.
There is no Lambda system on the car as its using Webers.
So what type of cheap Lambda sensor could I use, any recommendations ?? Read more
How about getting the car to a rolling road tuner. May be able to give the engine a tweak
for more efficiency before yout track day also.
I have a 2002 Daewoo matiz that has a strange defect, when you start it up from cold e.g. standing overnight (even this summer) it belches out smoke for abot 3 seconds to a minute, after that its fine and runs smothly without problems at all even if I stop and start again within a houtr or two, but if I leave it for a good length of time or over night it just belches out smoke again.
This is an embarasment more than anything and if I reve the engine a little to try and clear it I smoke out the street. Have you any idea what could be causing this or what i need to check to track it down? Read more
What colour smoke? If its blue its quite a common thing for the valve stem seals on these to give trouble.
Browse
The water-pump is a possibility. Mine was renewed, as advised, with the cambelt at 6 years/48K miles (99T 306). Some weeks later the low water-level light came on, which made me suspicious as the car had never had any leaks. Turned out that the replacement pump was faulty; coolant stains in the sump-tray confirmed the leak.