September 2008
hi there i was wondering if you could help me out my exhaust started blowing about 2 months ago but i dint get it sorted straight away and after awhile it lost alot of power and the anti pollution light came on and esp light and when the esp light came on thats when it lost its power.however i fixed the exhaust and when i 1st started it up the anti pollution light didnt come on so i thought problem solved.when i opened her up the anti pollution light came on and then when i got to 90mph the esp light came on and lost all the power again when i turn her off for 5mins approx and start back up the esp light goes away till i hit 90mph again and the anti pollution light is on constant.any advice would be appreciated.
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I know Volvo drivers are stereotyped, as are some of there cars, but I've got an 03 S60 and I'm made up with it. The car is solid, I believe looks nic, the interior (leather) is really comfortable although could do with a taj more leg room in the back. It's reliable, a little thirsty I admit, and if you need some acceleration it's definitley there when you push the peddle. Turning circle is probably the biggest moan but other than that it's great. I've had a lot of different models over the last 25 years but I have to say Volvo does deliver. Read more
My son's brake linkage is seizing, is OK to use WD40 to initally free it if comes in contact with wheel cylinder rubbers etc.
Then use PTFE type grease/oil for long term use as a prevention of seizing.
Thanks
Made (rather obscure) make/model non-specific Read more
>My tube of rubber grease is about to run out..
I got a small tube (about 20ml) from a local motor factors about 3 years ago so it should still be readily available.
I think it's still included in some brake overhaul kits in the little foil packs like condiments in pubs and burger bars.
Kevin...
Lots of those twin rubber strip speed logging devices around Chobham, and a speed checking officer next to Jubilee High school in Addlestone today...
Best behaviour for now then. Read more
>>The sensors are a known distance apart thus the recording time and distance travelled by the front tyres. It is not rocket science.
A 14" rim will give a considerably different speed reading to a 19" rim passing over the two rubber tubes.
So what happens if a vehicle with really large rims (trucks etc) goes over it - does it record a huge speeding offence!?
As far as I am aware these devices do no more than count traffic volumes.
As kids (heck that was a long time ago!) we used to stand next to the box (deprived childhood....) watching the numbers 'rack up' as cars went by and when there were no cars we used to jump on the rubber tubing to add our own ;-)
The only types of camera's that (I know of) to use a device that links it directly to the roads surface (via loops built in to and under the roads surface) are attached to Truvelo, Peek and Speedcurb.
tinyurl.com/3wk3ad (link to Daily Mail)
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What did you say, sir? Water in the passenger footwells and everywhere else? Well, it'll either be the pollen filter or the plenum chamber. They're all like that.
If you can bring it in on, er, Tuesday we might be able to look at it on Thursday week. Course there are no guarantees, sir. And as I always say, what's a guarantee worth in this game? No, that was just a joke, sir.
Why are we so busy? Well it's customer care training for three days, elf'n'safety for two and diversity training for one. Apparently poor people are under-represented in our ownership groups.
Will we be able to fix it? Now you're asking, sir. We might. But then again we might not. I just can't be any more specific, I'm afraid.
Me? Oh no, sir. If I could afford one of those, I wouldn't be working here, would I?
I've just helped a neighbour change his discs and pads.
The new discs had a silvery/grey, paint like, protective coating which the instructions said not to remove.
He got his greasy thumbprints on one, so I gave it a clean with meths. It took off the coating.
It's been yonks (decades maybe) since I changed any discs. They used to be coated in grease.
Can anyone tell me what this coating is, and why it doesn't, supposedly, have any effect on braking performance?
The discs were not MB OE, but according to my neighbour 'fifty quid more than the cheapest, and the man in the shop said it's what MB would use'. Read more
Sorry NC, I can't recall the brand. I saw the box in the bin, a German sounding name IIRC, but I'm sure it wasn't Textar.
This is the genuine wording from a genuine advert on the Autotrader advertising a vehicle for sale, I won't give the make model year as that would lead you straight to the advertisement and could be seen as naming and shaming. The car is advertised at £1,499 by the way which is about £200 more than its worth.
'No best price No final price don't phone up and make an offer saying ah very high mileage too dear i have to travel very long way I'm not bothered where you live its not my problem best price for me my friend I'm not your friend I'm here to sell cars not pretend to be your friend in fact i probably wont even like you i just want your money and never see you again bring enough cash not your cousins brothers aunties uncles nephews sisters friends credit card details don't say all Ive got is £1450 please do it for me my friend again I'm not your friend why do i want to give you it cheaper i don't even know you you will be chased and have very long drive back to very long way away from where you've just come saying you cannot do that yes we can its our car we can. Was £1499 but too cheap so we put price up.Have a nice day. XXXX THE FRIENDLY PEOPLE. where we show we care for the personal touch £2,499.
Do these people ever sell any cars?
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>>of that London estate agent in the sixties who became famous for his comically
honest descriptions of the flats he was selling but about half as witty.
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Brookes?
After reading the BMW indicators post I was thinking about the motoring questions in life that I can never think of an answer to such as:
How can you drain Castrol Magnatec from your engine when it is designed to stick to the parts inside.
and
After 20 years of driving why does my wife still think the clutch pedal is an on/off switch ?
.............any more out there ? Read more
Why are all fire engines called Denis?
For the same reason all keyboard players are called Roland.
Our local fire engines all say M A N on the front.
Pretty obvious that there is a man driving? what did they expect? a Duck?
Got back last night and, well im relieved. Yes I can drive just about anywhere but the Cornish idea of a country lane is tarmac on a bridleway, complete with grass growing up the middle and hedges so high you can only see 5 ft around any given corner.
I love the place, you feel the stress just washing away, but thats until you find out where your staying is down a road that is almost scary, esp when a Range Rover comes hurtling round the bend and expects me in my DAIHATSU to mount the bank, lest he get it muddy. Lets just say my misses demonstrated her displeasure :-)
All that said though, it is a place that small cars do make sense towns and villages are tight, parking spaces small and the increased fuel consumption you get from virtually always either driving up or down hill make a huge amount of sense.
I was amazed at the speed that buses travelled at - I could hardly keep up with some of them and I wasnt crawling along either.
Also, it has to be said, they are in general far more polite than most, perhaps not in so much of a hurry as it takes so long to get anywhere anyway!
I imagine that learning to drive somewhere so challenging would certainly make for better drivers in terms of judgement of gaps and hazard awareness as its all too often your not worrying just about whats infront of you on your side, but what may be coming the other way on your side too!
Lovely holiday though, going back next year, twice! Only downer is the 4 1/2 hour drive home. Could do without that :-) Read more
You must forgive me FT, coming from a 4th floor flat in south london, the only flower I was familiar with was the dandy lion!
The pink thing I was thinking of is the red campion ~ www.floralimages.co.uk/psilendioic.htm
Violets appear about the same thyme I believe.
Dogstar.
The Gaffer tape is on the lights and the spider in the wing mirror knows something is up. Arrowheads in the soil on the Somme at Agincourt are quivering cos the Sat-nav has locked onto them and colonies of algae in the fuel filter are quaking in their boots at the thought of their French counterparts coming on board, at the next fill up.
Setting off tomorrow AM. Any suggestions for the best current route from South of Leeds to the Eastern docks? I can just as easily run down the A1M and down past Peterborough if required - although I have never done that on a Sunday Morning.
Usual route is the M1.
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A14/M11 minimises exposure to M1 & M25 roadworks
Don't forget there is an event at Duxford tomorrow - large model aircraft.
Be ready for the roadworks (if they are still there that is!) either side of the Dartford crossing though - we got caught up in these in August when we went to Ghent for a long weekend.
Don't forget your headlight sticky on thingies & all the H&S bits you now have to carry - police were pulling & checking vehicles for these at Calais - cheaper to buy here than over there.
Fuel was cheaper over there than here too.


Yep, I love my S80. All those plus points of the S60 and you get acres of room in the back and a bigger boot too. Only real downsides is a dowdy image and increased thirst from the extra weight.
The good news about the D5 is that Volvo consistently underrate them. The old 163bhp D5 actually knocks out around 176bhp and the newer 185bhp D5 really produces a healthy 198bhp!!
Get them tuned up and you can get 200...220bhp or more out of them - genuine T5 levels of performance with less revs and less fuel!!
Fantastic engines and wrapped inside a fine car too.
Let's keep the secret to ourselves, eh? ;)