October 2008
2 months ago, I brought a 1997 Citroen ZX "Leader" 1.9 straight diesel. Whilst this car was fitted with the immobiliser keypad, this did not work - i was told it had been "de-activated"
I have been driving the car around without problem, putting about 3K miles on it already.
Tonight, when I went to start the car, I was greeted with flashing lights, a lit up keypad and beeping. It appears the keypad has sprung into life and since I do not have a code I cannot get the car started !
Why has this suddenly happened? What can I do? I need a quick fix, since I have to be in work first thing in the morning. Not worried about getting shot of the keypad altogether!
Thanks, Dan Read more
HEY!! long story short-i need the expertise of you honest john peeps!! PLEASE! I have £1000 to buy a honest non flashy reliable car but i have sooo many people (who dont have a clue to be honest!) telling me buy this buy that...... what do i trust? i will allways look for FSH and no boy racer mods etc.... but what car? i really dont care of brand or image. I have had quite a few VW cars and they have dissapointed to say the least! there must be one brand that stands out and is worth a chance. What do you reccomend? thanks in advance! Kursk. Read more
Don't try buying in that price range at auction. Leave that to the dealers who operate in that market. There are too many potential pitfalls. On line auction sites are just a market place. You need to see the car and test it to authenticate the advert content. I have never ever bought a car or been happy that is was as described on on the site you mentioned.
I am going to put the Primera I mentioned earlier up for sale if you are interested. It is a perfectly good car and will be less than £1000 and it is in the West Mids, so may not be too far from you. You can see my profile if you click on my user name.
I phoned National for a quote on a new back box for my dad and they said £69 inc vat. These seemed too steep as I know on a Fiesta the trade price is around £20 for one of these. He said it came with a 2 year guarentee.
I then phone Kwikfit and they said it would be £49 inc vat and 3 year warranty.
Why is there such a big difference in price?
please don't alter trading names in a negative way Read more
in 1992 a rear silencer for a ford fiesta mk3 rs turbo (1990 H reg) was £200 and had to come from germany. couldn't get a copy part, had to come from main dealers.
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approx 3 month later the exhaust,,,rear silencer on my girlfriends mk2 fiesta 1.1 rusted through the welds and partly fell off,,,,cost £20.....fitted......
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we won't even talked about the low profile tyres that only perelli made....
.huff......
.bought a golf in the end....cheap parts from german and swedish...haha
I've just P/ex'd a 7 y.o. Citroën Picasso 2.0 HDi for a 2007 ?koda 1.9 TDi ex demo with 11k.
I religiously changed the oil and filter on the Citroën every 10k and used fully synthetic Total Quartz 9000 throughout. The engine used no oil between changes and ran sweetly for all of its 96k. - The Picasso was a blooming good car, very little went wrong.
The Octavia is set up with variable service intervals so I've no idea how long to run with the oil and filter, nor any history of what oil to use.
It hasn't used any in 1500 miles.
Any advice please? Read more
I would recommend an oil and filter change every 10k miles for this engine - the VAG variable service regimen leaves the oil in the engine for too long. Although the long life oil required by this will retain its lubricity, the levels of contaminants after (say) 20k miles are too high for my liking.
You must use oil to VAG spec. 505.01 for fixed interval servicing or 507.00 for variable. I use 507.00 oil at fixed 10k mile intervals as it's fully synthetic. You need a big 14 sided socket for the oil filter plastic cap.
Do not depart from the VAG oil specifications - oil for a PSA HDi won't do.
659.
When I lift the bonnet up on my car (which is a petrol) after I have used it, I think that I can smell engine oil in the hot air that rises from the top of the engine etc. Do you think that most cars have this sort of smell under the bonnet when they are hot and how would I tell if the rocker cover was leaking ?
Read more
1.8 Focii are pretty famous for splitting the breather hoses from the PCV valve on to the back of the inlet manifold. Might be a good place to start looking for an oily smell.
Passed a cyclist on the way home tonight who had flashing lights front and rear.
Looked like multi-LEDs to me and the rear seemed brighter than a car's.
Always thought flashing lights on the road were a big no-no.
Are they legal for a push bike? Read more
Cars used to have acetylene headlights too in the first decade or so of motoring CP... Of course most early motorists were rich hobbyists who took a mechanic with them to do that sort of thing.
i recently changed the glow plug on my booster heater thinking it was faulty. The story was i had thick white smoke coming out of it for excessive periods of time when the weather was cold. I changed the plug and this morning cold weather and it kicked in. To start with it seemed to work ok. The fumes looked like they were being pushed out of the exhaust. " minutes later the smoke became thicker and didnt look as though it was being pushed out but just coming out under its own steam. Any ideas on which part is gone or anything i can do to rectifie the problem. Many thanks Rich Read more
Might be a fan motor fault - they're finicky things. They are scannable with a good scanner - I'd try that next.
HI ALL....
following on from a diffo post....about my hi fuel consumption....
my heater only blows cold air i read that the clio's suffer from the heater matrix clogging/scaling up so i tried this....
take off the hoses from the the matrix where it goes though the bulkhead...i put some clear tubing onto the in/outlets of the matrix....blew though some air to remove some more water and elevated the hoses and filled with heavy duty descaler from the supermarket...the type you have to leave to work.....i left it for 5 hrs and a lot of cr#p came out when i flushed it ....put it all back together again ....while this hasnt cured it 100% i now have warmer air and the stuff i used recomends leaving it for 8hrs....but i couldnt....this may seem like a bit of mucking about but its that or taking the dashboard out to fit a new matrix....so i'm gonna do it another couple of times to see if it helps...
i'll post the results as and when .....AL........ Read more
For a long time now I thought I would always keep my cars maintained to nothing but OEM standards and have them serviced at the dealers.
I have just been quoted circa £260 to have the rear discs and pads replaced on a 1.4 Corolla and think this is a bit steep. I do not yet have a good indie I trust although the potential is there with a local guy, he always seems busy but when I approached the place for a price I did not like the attitude of one of his mechanics who spoke me to me like I should not be disturbing them. I can get over this though if I am convinced he will do a good job.
I walked past a brand new Avensis the other day and looked at its wheels and noticed Bosch brake pads fitted from new.
I do have a Bosch Service Centre conveniently up the road from work and wondered if anyone has any experience of using them.
I would be grateful for any feedback or views of Bosch Service Centres.
Thanks. Read more
Rear disc pads are a bit trickier than fronts and need a special tool to wind back the piston.
Not a good job for a first timer to learn on.
Could somebody tell me if I am correct in believing that if no camera signs are displayed and you are then caught on a mobile camera speeding, in my case 42 in a 30 limit, the photographic evidence cannot be used as it is in contravention of sections 7 and 55 of the data protection act, whereby a sign must be displayed if members of the public are likely to be photographed or recorded on video.
Thanks for you input.
Roger Read more
Urban Myth
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Memory ....try 0001 as well, in fact maybe first, they changed the defaults at some point and i cannot remember exactly when.