August 2008

Dynamic Dave


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daveyjp

A quick search reveals coke cans etc are 330ml as this is close to the standard US size of 12 fluid ounces - it's also almost third of a litre. 440ml is a third more than a drinks can and convenient to manufacture.

Logisitcs will also be based around 440ml cans packed in 4s. Boxes, cardboard trays, pallets etc etc will all be designed with this size in mind.

Martin-Darwen

I have a 53 plate Jeep, Grand Cherokee 2.7 CRD, with 47k on the clock, and recently it has started having a problem with the auto box, when I start the car the lights on the gear box do not light up, the car will move forwards and back on its own power but when I apply gas nothing happens, but it is intermittent, I used the car this morning and it was fine but went to use it again an hour later and it took me 45 mins of turning the car on and off to get it to work, has anybody ever herd of anything like this or can anyone help, even went to my mechanic and he was stumped, please help !!!!!!! Read more

the englishman in france

i have a 53 reg crd and have the same fault what did you do and what did it cost regards james

i to have a gearbox problem on my 2002 crd she blocks in second or third gear, turning off the motor and restarting used to help,but in the end nothing worked, now my dealer has told me the box is u/s and has changed it, 7000€ worth, took her out of the garage and 10 miles down the road she blocked agan, the dealer said the new box is faulty! today a friend said that the gear shift is electric, could this be the problem, help please i dont know what to do next. thanks in advance for any replys

Cliff Pope

Remember a year or so back someone recommended one of these from somewhere - it was on offer and seemed very good value. Lots of people said how useful they were as portable power packs, not just for starting.

Well, they are not quite as good as cracked up to be. Mine was registering fully charged before I used it to inflate a tyre. After 5 minutes I could hear the compressor getting slower, so had to stop to recharge. Out of interest I tried recharging and then starting an engine. It turned over twice and then died.

My conclusion is that they work well for a year, but probably have cheap batteries inside with a very limited capacity and life.
I suppose you get what you pay for. If you want to jump start a car with a portable power source, use a proper battery. Read more

gordonbennet

Why are we worried about jump starting sequences, i delivered some new motors to a compound today, the chaps that came out collected a brand new large European saloon which was absolutely flat, jump leads out, bonnet up, one chap holds both terminals on and immediate start, leads off, leave to tick over whilst checking the delivered motors.
To be honest this is normal practice at most compounds.

We don't get involved in any of that, think my company is probably wise too, if new car don't start on the key, and they can't/won't fit a new battery, it doesn't go.

If that was my car one week out of warranty and i did that it would probably be an uneconomic to repair write off.

adampbrown

I took my 2001 Fiat Punto to my local garage for a replacement clutch as a result of the original "burning out" as the mechanic put it. Everything seemed fine with the new clutch, but now, 3 months later (and only several 100 miles later), the clutch is slipping badly.

I have contacted the garage and they are taking the car back in, but I would appreciate some advice on what could be causing this to slip so soon following a replacement, and whether I should be expected to pay the full cost of the investigation/clutch replacement. The mechanic has told me that he can't understand it, and will have to strip-down the clutch and investigate - should I have have to pay the full cost of this considering it is only 3 months since he fitted it?

Any advice on the technical or legal matters would be very much appreciated.

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DP

Adam,

This is very difficult, as clutch life depends on a number of factors - application, how the car is driven, under what conditions etc etc. A healthy clutch can be destroyed by unsympathetic treatment in a couple of miles, or can last 200,000+ if treated carefully. Of course, you can have component and manufacturing defects causing premature failure.
I think you will have to wait and see what your garage says when they strip the clutch down.
FWIW, I had a replacement clutch fail suddenly on my old Sierra after just 3,000 miles. The plates were still as new, but a significant number of the pressure plate "fingers" were deformed which was put down to a manufacturing defect - the replacement cost me nothing. The new clutch (same make as the duff one) did the next 70,000 miles in my ownership with no problems at all.

gordonbennet

We've all been quite amazed at the huge quantities of black smoke produced by many of the newer turbo diesels whilst under full power, i'm not talking old high mileage vehicles either.

I shall not name the makes, but 2 spring to mind as being very bad for this.

I was behind a new Landcruiser Amazon V8 twin turbo diesel today, he took off at an astonishing rate and continued under strong acceleration up to about 80 or so, what was really noticeable was a complete absence of even a trace of black smoke or any exhaust trace at all, very fast acceleration too.

I followed SWMBO home the other day, and the hilux diesel (3.0d4d) is exactly the same, not a trace of any smoke even under full power kickdown, i put ours down to the millers..;)

Neither of these vehicles is lacking in torque, so its not that the engines are being starved of fuel, why can some makers diesels run clean and others not?
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Westpig

wife's X Type est (2 litre Ford diesel) used to do it, didn't concern me, but when friends following us through Scottish Highlands complained about it and said it was bad, took it back to main dealer under warranty.

I think they said it was a failed pipe to EGR valve (or something similar). Whatever they did they cured it, we don't get any smoke now.

catalyst2

I am thinking of buying a new top-of-the-range Jimny, priced at £10,660. However, I checked its depreciation in the Glass's guide and it is shocking, according to them it would only be worth £4,500 after 2 years with 25K mileage.

Why does it depreciate so much? Read more

catalyst2

Thanks for your input on this.

renaultneveragain

The latest problem that our Renault dealer is reporting with our Espace (50k miles) is that there is an oil leak from the inlet manifold. It's nothing to do with the turbo because they have just replaced that, but I don't understand why there would be any oil feeds at the inlet manifold?

They say they need to remove the injector circuit and remove the injectors and in doing so, they would need to replace the injector seatings and feed pipes, cost £832+VAT assuming the manifold itself needs replacing.

Does anyone know the workings of this engine well enough to confirm whether there is actually any oil passing through the inlet manifold that could give rise to a leak, because the diagnosis sounds a little unlikely to me?

Thanks, Rob Read more

Screwloose


If you were planning on selling it soon - don't touch it - just bin it.

[Just don't buy another one....]

Hugo {P}

Hi - how are you all? I haven't been here for a while. Its nice to see some old names still here with a few new ones as well.

Anyway - my Nissan Primastar, just after being picked up from a full Nissan Main Dealer Service, started revving to the point that I couldn't change gear. My foot was not on the accelerator. I pulled over and turned the ignition off. This was less than half a mile from the dealership.

I then phoned the dealership who sent a couple of mechanics out to get me. One guy drove the vehicle back and the other gave me a lift back.

The dealership are saying that it seems like an issue with the turbo, letting in oil and allowing the engine to burn its own oil. I spoke to the dealer principle/owner himself, who was very helpful. He has promised to get onto Nissan first thing in the morning as the vehicle has done less than 17k and is just under 4 years old.

Is turbo wear a credible explanation for this fault, or are there any causes that could have been introduced during a full service?

Thanks in advance

H

PS, can we have "Primastar Van" in the drop down box guys ;)

Best I can do. Really needs to be in Technical Matters, but no year or engine size given - which is a requirement for TM Read more

Screwloose

Hugo

Frankly; this stinks. You deliver a perfectly healty, low mileage, van for a service - and you get it back with ruined turbo bearings??

Did they start and run it with no oil in it? That will kill a turbo very effectively.

Christopher

Afternoon folks.

Have a problem with the old work horse. I now use this as a second car and is used for any rough / commuting jobs. Have had a problem with the ABS light on the dash.
Went to a festival a few weekends ago. Parking a nightmare and due to the lake of mud in car park, had to be towed out of field by a tractor. Resultant mud in the wheel arch, suspention mounts and brakes was severe. All has been cleaned now but the ABS warning light has been going on and off intermittently. I can feel a slight decrease in feeling from the brakes but overall efficiency seems fine.
A) is this anything to worry about
B) can it be fixdd by myself...if so how &
C) would such problems cause terminal problems with the ABS system?

Many thanks ina advance for all suggestions and replies.

Christopher Read more

polecat10

just had the same problem with my ford puma but my ABS was cutting in all the time too(even when not braking) I fixed it by removing the front wheels and feeding a cloth between the face of the ABS sensor (which was covered in crumbs of rust) and the notched wheel (the gap was a couple of mms)and giving it a good rub backwards and forwards to clean the face of the sensors.
Don't know if the clio has exactly the same setup but worth a try as it only yakes 20 inutes or so and saved me spending £150 quid in a garage.

gramar

My wife needs a replacement for her aging Kia Pride. We've discounted the new Panda - too small and bouncy with over sensitive steering and also the Picanto - not enough go.

On Sunday we tested an 04 plate Ignis - liked it for size and found the engine has real zest above 3,800 RPM but they're hard to locate s/hand in East Anglia. Does any reader have an Ignis - would you recommend one or should we look at other cars? Read more

stunorthants26

Enjoy and thanks for the update! Let us know how the ownership experience pans out!