September 2008
I have only had one blowout, it was years ago in a Ford Cortina and was caused by a small sharp rectangle of metal being thrown up by the offside front wheel and going on to slice through the sidewall of the rear offside: Bang!
I have heard of many blow-outs and often there is an obvious cause, as in my case above, but in a worryingly large number of instances, there seems to be no obvious precursor to the tyre failing.
So my question is, why do these tyres blowout?
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Just noticed that one of the rear tyres on my Mondeo, a Pirelli P Rosso is actually fitted the "wrong" way i.e. the sidewall labeled "Inside/Interior" is facing out. I've checked all the others (which, whilst not the same brand, are all directional) and they all seem correct i.e. they have all got the "Outside/Exterior" label facing out.
Is it a serious safety issue? Basically, how big a deal is it?
TIA. Read more
Guidance somewhere (is it on this thread?) is that incorrectly fitted rotational tyres when used on a spare wheel should be treated in the same way as a spacesaver spare - i.e. reduced speed, reduced range, and drive straight to the nearest tyre fitter.
Hi all,
Just a quick question - if you are buying a used car from a main dealer and it has minor scratches and/or dings on it what is the general buying advice?
Do you ask the dealer to repair this as part of the sale or do you knock the cost of repair off any offer you make? I am thinking here of 1 to 3 year old cars from main dealers.
I assume, if you go down the repair route, that you get it in writing before completion?
Thanks for any advice,
T.
p.s.
Same question re tyres or marks on interior plastics or fabrics? Read more
Beware of cars that have had the engine steam cleaned. It will remove evidence of
oil leaks ~ I found this out from bitter experience.
Plus it strips lubricant from linkages and suchlike and forces moisture into electrical connectors etc.
I note from some car auction companies lists of vehicles for auction it states VAT marginal, I cannot find any explaination on their website of what this statement means, can anyone explain ?
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Just to sort of correct the commercial vehicle references, above, they are NOT sold as margin or qualifying vehicles, they are sold as being SUBJECT TO VAT, which means the VAT is ADDED to the bid price. Cars will be sold at bid price, the VAT element shown on the invoice, when you buy it.
VB
I have a frustrating problem with my petrol engined Polo, and I suspect the garage are running out of ideas.
Recently the emissions warning light came on. The garage advised that the Lambda sensor had failed and so we had it replaced. A couple of months later the light came on again and I returned the car to the garage. They replaced the Lambda sensor again, on warranty, blaming a dodgy part. Within the last few weeks the light has come on yet again, and so I took it back to the garage. They now appear a bit puzzled as to why the sensor keeps failing. I am losing confidence that they know how to diagnose and fix this problem. Has anyone had a similar problem, or have any suggestions? Read more
i posted the answer to this the other week
it needs a proper new cat not a micky mouse copy
My mate is having problems with the remote tyre pressure warnings on the dash.
The dash info panel has always warned of slightly low pressure on the Front O/S tyre since he had the car. - but now seems worse.
News Tyres were put on last week and now gave warning of puncture on Front O/S tyre (1.6 bar inidcated pressure).
Checked pressure with 2 gauges as 2.0 bar, pumped up to 2.2 bar.
Other tyre at 2.1 Bar.
Warning in car stopped saying puncture but still warns of low pressure - 1.8 bar (after 10 minutes driving on a dry day).
After 2 days tyre looks fine - no pressure loss, but still warning.
It is a common problem for these sensors not to work?
Is there actually a sensor in the wheel or is it done by some clever device on diveshaft or hub? Is it an easy job to change whatever it is that detects the pressure?
thanks in advance
S.
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It's the Law of Unintended Consequences at work.
Manufacturer invents TPS. Safety nazis go "Oh, that's a good idea, let's make 'em mandatory."....
406 estate X Reg 2.0 HDI Diesel.
Aircon on climate control not cooling for sometime , probably due to loss of gas over a period, not bothered about this.
However Interior heater / cooling blower fan has now stopped working alltogether.
Checked fuses F2 & F40.
Checked blower motor works with a direct feed.
Checked feed OK to both fuses above from ignition switch.
So from haynes manual wiring diagram , fault can therefore now lie in either :
Blower control module
Heater Panel
Air Thermistor
Any thoughts on whats next best course of action to trace fault, am I missing something obvious to check before trying to source say a new heater panel ?
Would the aircon pressure switch turn off the blower ? Thought this would just stop the aircon compressor turning on ?
Any advice welcome ? Read more
Had same problem it turned out to be the wire from ignition to fan was not conducting power. So faulty ignition got price for new (fell over) decided against & RAN PERMINENT FUSED LIVE
from battery through bulk head has worked ever since.
Hello all.
I'm looking to get shot of my 120K 51-plate Mondeo estate (2.0 Ghia X auto) before something expensive goes wrong, and have been thinking (largely because they seem stupidly cheap, and the Mondeo left me feeling slightly shortchanged in the oomph department) about a 3.2 V6 auto Vectra estate. I've seen 04/05 ones going for £4,500.
I've also been pondering 2.0T/3.0 petrol Laguna Initiale tourers (reliability apparently much better since the 2005 facelift) and Jaguar X-Type estates (2.5/3 petrol). Also like the idea of a Subaru Legacy 3.0, but they look a bit 90s.
We only do about 7-8K a year, so I'm hoping fuel cost won't be too much of an issue. I just get the feeling that it's quite a good time to buy a big petrol-engined car if you don't do too many miles - on the basis that their used prices have collapsed.
Vectra C reliability from what I've read seems pretty good - particularly for this engine and the Toyota-engineered auto box. Does that tally with anyone's experience? I have to say the Mondeo has been excellent on that score, and having had old Volvo and Merc estates before I'm never going back to "premium marque" service/repair costs again (hence why I'm not quite so keen on the X-Type).
Insurance would be up two or three groups from the Mondeo, and the tax would be more. I'm prepared to pay that differential in exchange for right-foot satisfaction.
Is it a stupidly impractical choice? Are big-engined auto Vectras as fun to drive as the performance figures imply?
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Bet they wouldn't post a kiss though :-)
The coolant light on my 2005 Passat TDI has come on twice in a month. The water does appear to be going down but there is no apparent leak under the card. Any ideas ?. Read more
[URL=http://www.drivewire.com/vehicle/volkswagen-passat/coolant-antifreeze/]vw passant coolant[/URL] leak problem closed. :) my friend help me fix it.
I've just bought this car (55 reg), but later found there was no owners manual!
Has anyone got a link I can download this in PDF (or other format) so I can get the tyre pressures, oil spec etc etc??
New to this car so any help greatly appreciated.
Thanks
moorlok.
{subject header amended to give a brief summary of question being asked - ie, tried to make less vague} Read more
No labels were fitted to '05 vehicles. It sounds as though they have learned something - it certainly took them a while.
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I too suffered 2 tyre failures ( or blow outs ) as they exploded & took the wheel liner out as well on 2 seperate occassions but with the same make of tyre. These were 225/45/ZR18 Pirelli's!. Apparently not uncommon!. Mine were not driven up or down kerbs etc & just gave out at speed each time on a motorway. Impossible to tell wether they had struck a sharp object or not although I was alway's fairly observant .
The only possible common factor is I used to wash my car with a steam cleaner ( yes hot ) with particular attention to the wheels to remove the brake dust. I have since read an article that using a pressure washer on tyres can cause the rubber to delaminate! with the possible risk of tyre failure!.
no more pressure washing around the tyres for me & no more blow outs since iether!
I Doc