September 2008
Judging from the rattling, it sounds as though a baffle has come loose in the exhaust back-box on the old Mondy. The 8-year old original was replaced 2yrs9mths ago. The rattling can only really be noticed when the car is idling at a standstill and can't be distinguished once moving. I'm not sure if this would be an MoT issue, but it still has another 9months to go on the current one.
Could you chaps tell me, please, if I ignore the rattling, would a loose baffle (or whatever it is in there) adversely affect the engine?
Many thanks Waino Read more
Can someone offer some advice on this subject?
Last year we had the cylinder head gasket replaced on our MGf 160 Trophy by the main dealer after just 26000 miles. Last week a hose was blown to bits and our local garage tells me this was due to the cylinder head. I contacted the main dealer who said they checked the head itself when the gasket was replaced but now there's probably serious indentations and the cylinder head will probably have to be replaced. They are currently chcking the head and I'm waiting for them to get back to me.
Can the head deteriorate so much in a year (and just 6000 miles) after supposedly having been checked?
Would indentations not have been evident last year?
It cost me £738 last year and a new head will undoubtedly be a lot more.
Any advice out there?
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At the start of the this month i took delivery of a new a3 sportback. Having covered a 1000 miles since, today whilst driving along I heard a loud metallic sound from the car (It almost sounded like something was hanging down from the car and scraping along the floor). Having checked nothing is, the car went to the local audi dealer who could find no fault. This noise lasted for about 300 metres and then dissapeared. Any ideas what it could have been?. One suggestion i've had was that a stone had got between the pads / discs or the plate that was meant to be stopping this from happening was touching the discs.
Any ideas, and has anyone else had this trouble?. Read more
I once had a small branch caught crossways between the mid exhaust, just touching the wheel on the inside. I thought the bottom of the car was going to fall apart!-down on muddy hands and knees and a hard manual jerk was required-but all was well
This was on an A3--but it could have happened on any car. ...
Whilst finally getting round to watching the BTCC from Sunday I was saddened to hear that SEAT have decided to pull out of the Touring Cars and also the Seat Cupra Competition which was one of the support races on BTCC days.
Don't know what the politics or reasons behind this are but I personally feel that the SEAT brand has grown dramatically in the last 4 or 5 years, while the BTCC link is a coincidence or not I don't know? They have also invested a lot of money in putting their TDI racers on the track and even winning races.
Many moons ago, when Volvo first brough their T5 Estates to the BTCC, I felt that this gave them a whole new image etc and the same has happened with SEAT IMHO.
Curious as to reasons for withdrawal, wonder if they had decided the TDI was too expensive or maybe not competitive enough, but could not go back to petrol for marketing reasons?
This from SEAT website
www.seatsportuk.co.uk/BTCC/2008_btccnews.asp?ID=21...5
Is there any manufacturer coming in to replace them? Field is getting narrower and narrower and is really only going to have BMWs, Vauxhall and Honda with I think only Vauxhall being a manufacturers team.
I only hope this does't mean BTCC is in decline, went to my first meeting this year at Knockhill and son and I had a fantastic day out!
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*Sorry for off topic post*
I think if SEAT had carried on down the road of the original Leon they would be doing better. By cobbling together some really good bits from the VAG parts bin, screwing them together reasonably well and wrapping it up in a distinctive body they were onto a winner.
The original Leon Cupra's/20VTs in particular were an excellent package following the simple formula of offering more performance, more standard kit and better handling than their posher VAG stablemates for less money (acknowledging their lack of prestige) and they sold well. I still miss mine.
Then it all seemed to go a bit wrong with slightly awkwardly styled, identikit offerings (new Leon, Altea, Toledo) with too plasticky interiors. Now the new Ibiza has been saddled with an old, weak engine range.
I wonder if VAG are in fact driving SEAT onto the rocks, as in the meantime Skoda have continued to get better and offer great cars.
Or a similar tracked military vehicle? Any hints or tips, dos and donts?
My other half got me one of those 'driving experience' vouchers as a little surprise present for my birthday a while back, and I've got it booked for this Sunday.
I'll obviously get tuition on the day but I'm looking forward to it, its on my mind, so I wondered if anyone had any experiences to pass on?
Cheers,
Rich. Read more
Enjoy yourself.
Hopefully they have by now or their voucher may have expired! LOL
Wayne Rooney filled up his Range Rover with unleaded petrol on Monday night.
tinyurl.com/4bevhs
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I think he's lent it to Michael Carrick. he was behind me today in a black CL63 AMG!
Is there any benefit to using a low pressure washer with a car cleaning fluid for cleaning cars? I wanted to use one on the bodywork as well as underneath the car to get some wax on the areas that don?t normally see any. I have a feeling though that the fluids designed for washers are not brilliant. I don?t mind using a general purpose one under the car using the pressure washer and a better product on the bodywork, applied by hand. It?s a new car that hasn?t been washed yet so I want to use good practices from the start. Should I get a coat of wax on as soon as possible?
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A SWANSEA man claims he has been left with a £2,000-plus bill after his car was filled with contaminated fuel at a Tesco filling station.
Peter York says he is furious after filling his Ford Focus with diesel at the Tesco petrol station at Fforestfach on August 17.
Full story:
tinyurl.com/4auzfs
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Plus he's a teacher, so he's bound to be right.
Right,
5 months ago, yes that's right back in April/May I took my car in for a service to a Mazda dealer, this dealer was 20 miles away and selected because they were the cheapest in the area.
All good, they advised that the car had a rust problem which was common with these cars, a simple warranty repair should do the trick. They offered to fix it, but I declined thinking my local dealer will do the job to save the hassle of traveling.
Took the car into local dealer a week or so later, they need authorization from Mazda, guy took photos and said he will ring me.
Few weeks later I go on holiday, I am fairly busy so forget to chase things up, which I shouldnt be doing in the first place.
Return from holiday wondering about the car, go to see them in mid July, they say your work should be authorized by 18th August - we are very busy sir!
A week before the job, dealer calls and says Mazda aren't happy with the photos (this is almost 3 months after they have been taken) asking to bring the car in for new photos.
Car gets new photos in August. Early September I give Mazda UK a call, saying that I am being messed about. They send me a letter saying 10 days. Today is the last day, ring them up and get told to wait until Friday, the dealer should call you and arrange a date to be booked in, I am sick of this and just want away from my local dealer and take to the dealer 20 miles away that were good to me at service time.
"I'm sorry sir, you cannot take your car to the other dealer, if you do wish to do that, we have to start the whole process again"
This involves the whole taking photos for authorization on the same body repairs again, rather than just handing the case over to the other dealer.
Also my local dealer will farm the work out to some dodgy accident repair centre. What a joke.
Does anyone have any advice on how to resolve this easily? Read more
Sounds as silly when my Mondeo has rusting doors. Took it to the local dealer and they send me to their bodyshop. Photos taken but due to a file size restriction on emails imposed by their HQ they cannot send them :-)
Then I chase and still they cannot send? I ask why not post a disk or print out the pictures but no the process is send via email. Later I try to chase them along via the lease company and they say take elsewhere. Then because the lease company never paid the 20 quid per year body check then Ford wouldn't do anything anyway! Warranty void.
Which is why I left photos in the car of the panels before it could have gone to auction!
Best of luck with your case. I think I'd stick with the current dealer and when work approved try to get it transferred somewhere better.
My old Honda has an immobiliser key. The handle cracked. The "circuit board" bit could be anywhere between here and there! Luckily, I've a spare. Should the 1st. one not turn up, is it possible to get some sort of similar "circuit board" stuff (tinned copper sandwiching fibreglass sheet) to make up a new one?
That's unless, of course, immobiliser keys for 18 year old cars are easy to get (and cheap!)! Read more
Heck! If I buy the smallest quantity possible, I can make at least 60 of these things, sourced at *retail*, for 8 quid!!!
Glen - I doubt many people here will have owned an F as the general consensus is that they aren't reliable, I was told that I was going to have dire problems with mine (turned out to be the most fun car that I ever owned). You may get a lot more accurate answers at the MG forum that I linked to earlier, every other owner on there has had their CH or CHG done at some point! Depending on where you live some of them may even be able to do it for you for a fair price!