October 2008
Hi, anyone out there done a timing belt yet on a 56 plate Vectra Z18 XER engine.
done one 4 days ago with no probs, other than the dealers not having a kit or tensioner/idler, so just put a belt on. Job went out no probs, came back today with a strange noise like a dry belt noise but intermittent, but when the noise came the engine gave a little misfire. Sounds like it was in the area of the exhaust cam variator so changed the variator and the idler wheel. This noise only comes on when its hot and as the tensioner is a simple automatic one now, you can't over tighten the belt. Any info or ideas would be appreaciated.
or if anyone has paperwork for changing the belt as its too new for my autodata disc.
Many thanks
Davey
slt - e-mail address removed to prevent harvesting Read more
hello im looking to give my micra a service soon and have just bought it so not sure which is the very best oil to use as id like to keep the cam chain in good nick. is it worth paying extra for a brand oil on a mirca? engine has covered 60.000 and belive have mostly been short journeys, also ive always used ngk hot plugs with my cars from owning a mini. are these well suited to a micra?
thanks
mike Read more
True..
Nissan dealers supply a service kit for the Micra for around £35 inc. all the filters and 5 litres of 10/40 oil, minus the fuel filter.
Also, the sparks supplied were the Bosch one's mentioned in the owners manual (coil pack version) although I currently still have the NGK.
A friend of mine bought one of these from a garage a few months ago and has returned it a couple of times due to an "emissions light" coming on repeatedly. She has taken it back and after replacing the lambda sensor they maintain that they can'f find anything wrong. I live 60 miles away so any advice to her will be by e-mail. Any ideas please? Read more
you'd need the codes to see what was going on - lots of potential problems that "could" be the solution.
Sounds possible at least that the cat is gradually dying and the second O2 sensor (after the the cat) is reporting this - thus changing the sensor won't effect the outcome.
James
My friend has a Nissan Micra courtesy car and is at a petrol station, but can't open the petrol flap thingy. My car (Toyota) has a pull release to the right, and under the steering wheel, but she can't see anything similar. HELP!! Read more
I did reply, but that disappeared too. Very strange. I said my friend was a brunette, like me, and I was clever enough to go on this website to find out the answer. Was going to bed early, but have had a good laugh. ;-)
Can anyone recommend a cheap multinational garage ot anywhere in Birmingham to get an oil and filter on my astra DTI. I used to got to National Tyres many years ago and they were pretty cheap. Can anyone recommend anywhere cheaper or an alternative?
thanks Read more
Kwik fit will replace oil and filter (using Mobil1 and unipart filter) for all cars, and will charge slightly different prices for synthetic and blended. About £25 and £35 if memory serves.
That's a lot cheaper than I can buy the oil and filter for myself.
My car has just started to beep three times shortly after starting a journey. There are no clues from the dashboard as to what they mean. Can anyone help? The car is a 307 hdi 5 door 53 reg.
Cheers Read more
Hi my 307 HDI did the 3 beeps thing this morning about 5 minutes after starting out, no lights came on though and the outside temp was reading 10?
I had abs sensor problems a month or so back but my husband striped the sensors down and cleaned all the muck and dirt out and refitted it so was sitting correctly as the build up of grime had just moved how the sensor was sitting and so far no more problems.
The sound is like the sound when a dashlight comes on though but no lights came on at all any ideas?
Thanks in advance
SQ
On the final return leg home of a wet saturday shopping trip the orange engine block light came on and the car started running as though on only three cylinders.
It had been an afternoon of stop/start driving between various shopping destinations but it wasn't until the journey home that the problem occured almost immediately. I stopped to chek the manual which indicates that this is an exhaust emission fault. The car felt and ran just as it would if you had removed a spark plug lead. I made it home (approx. 4 miles) and the fault remained consistent.
If the fault were a simple one, such as a spark plug lead coming off, would this make that light come on? Can anyone give me any pointers as to what it might be? Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Read more
Hi Jezzer
I have same fault as you described before. Can you please let me know what was the solution for your problem?...
Why the towing eyes on most cars are located either left or right side of the bumper?
Why aren't they on the center of the bumper?
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OK; I see it - I just don't believe it......
Nor do i, slow speed or not, the bike could get into serious difficulties when braking or on a slippery surface, could be a serious case of the tail wagging the dog.
Did DOT pass that? surely not.
Hi. I know this post goes on a bit but it seems there are a lot of people with similar problems to me and I?m trying to collate everyone?s knowledge into a workable solution.
Car has done, 109k miles
History
Driving at 70mph on dual carriageway came to slight hill and applied extra power. Suddenly the power dropped right off and the glow plug warning light started to flash. (lots of people have this problem). After pulling over, upon restarting, the glow plug light goes on when the engine has been idling for 2-3minutes or you take the revs up to 1500-2000rpm. I conservatively drove the remaining 40 odd miles home in limp mode with the glow plug light still flashing.
Garage confirmed I have a P132A fault code. Garage said it?s a problem with the actuator for the turbo and the actuator isn?t available separately and each actuator only works with a specific turbo, so I got a quote for £1275 for a new turbo and fitting. The mechanic said he had another mondeo in for the same turbo fault 2 months ago.
I'm reading alot into the Variable Nozzle Turbines (VNT) or (Variable geometry turbochargers (VGTs) and the electronic actuator and am searching for a solution which doesn't involve £700+ for new turbo.
Links to how VGT?s work?
www.autozine.org/technical_school/engine/tech_engi...G
paultan.org/archives/2006/08/16/how-does-variable-.../
I have the Haynes manual for the car and it states under the turbo section;
'On models with an electronic vane actuator, the actuator and its bracket can be unbolted and removed from the turbocharger, but Ford state that the actuator must not be separated from it's bracket.'
It seems to me that placing any electronics near to a turbo is not going to end well. I would like to open up the actuator and get the guys from work (electronic engineers) to have a look to see if the electronics are damaged.
Does anyone know why ford state not to remove the actuator from its bracket?
Another cause may be the sticking variable vanes.
There is some related information about sticking vanes posted here - www.fordmondeo.org/forum/showtopic.php?tid/787922/.../
and
www.fordmondeo.org/forum/showtopic.php?tid/788353/
If the actuator arm is disrupted by the sticking vanes, the ECU may flag up a fault in the actuator as a consequence. Any thoughts would be welcome?
There are a few other forum threads on this matter if it helps?
other links
www.fordmondeo.org/forum/showtopic.php?tid/788647/
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=60078
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=63363
Any comments are greatly appreciated...
Trink
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These actuators are electrical and have no vacuum connection and it is indeed the actuator that starts to cease up they changed around 2005 on the mondeo and from 2004 on the Jaguar x type.The reason for the change was the electronic version has a much better response you can split the older vacuum type but not the later electronic model how I would be pleased to be proved wrong.
Does the Suzuki Swift from 2005 - have a timing belt or chain and if it has a chain would it ever need replacing ? Read more
Chains should never need replacing*
Make sure to keep the oil clean. Replacing the timing chain on a high mileage engine will probably hasten its demise as the sprockets will be worn in to fit the old chain.
*unless it's a Triumph Stag.
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Hi all,
well the answer to my problem became apparent when i removed the cam cover from the engine. Inside is a rubber membrane/diaphram which was holed. apparently, when first came out, you could get this membrane seperately, not now, you have to buy the whole cam cover which costs £120 at dealers. absolutely shocking if you ask me. Why this should have gone after doing the timing belt who knows.
thanks for all your thoughts.
Dave.