October 2008
OK, first things first. I am absolutely not condoning, considering or suggesting this. I'm just curious to know more for interest and discussion value.
Speaking to a friend last night he told me that he has removed the catalytic converter from his car. He says it has significantly increased his mpg and the car's performance. Also that it went through the MOT emissions test without a problem. Clearly this is not permitted but it struck me that if it works, why don't we hear of more people doing it ?
To pose the silly question, if mpg is improved then surely emissions are commensurately reduced ?
What, apart from the legal/moral issues are the downsides ?
Is there some....er.....cat-astrophic problem looming for him ? Read more
Everything I've read on the internet suggests that the valve stem seals are leaking.
Spoke to someone recently that reckoned it was normal for 2ltr cars to do this as the automatic choke was 'forcing everything thru'. Reckoned it could be fixed by giving it a tune up.
I would have thought that if a car had an ECU then it wouldn't have a choke or be tunable, other than by remapping the ECU. Which would be a modification rather than maintenance.
Read more
I'm looking for some help on oil choice. The manual says 5w-30 or 10w-30.
Bearing in mind the above, should I be using mineral oil or fully synth?
Happy lunchtime to you all,
The hazard lights on my 9000 don't work. The indicators work fine so I'm assuming that it's the switch unless those wacky Swedes have a seperate relay for the hazards. Does anybody have any experience of this? Is replacing the switch an easy job? It looks very tight in the dash. My track record on 'simple' jobs is not great...
Cheers in advance. Read more
I also had this problem with mine, basically you have to remove the glovebox 4 or 6 screws on the outer casing, (Do not remove the 4 screws on the inner glovebox as these are for the brackets), you'll have to take the clips from the air pipe off, these are just clipped on followed by removing the glovebox internal light wires off, behind that there are 2 screws which house the fuses, when you remove these the panel comes down and you'll see all the relays.
The relay you want to replace from what i can remember is the one on the back right hand side, it does say on it flasher relay, if you've got the same as me then the description is: Part Number: 41 11 522 - Relay, Flasher 2x2
I would recommend buying the new relay from: m5saabcentre@aol.com or contact them on: 07910931357.
They charged me £5.00 and £1.95 P&P for the relay which if you look around that is the cheapest around as i got quoted £55.00 from various parts shops.
The hardest part about putting it all back is making sure you house the air pipe on the left hand side, you'll see what i mean when you do it.
Hope this helps?
All the best for now.
Note: Do not take the hazard switch out as it tends to break like mine, if you do break it then the above people can supply you with a new one.
i bought a car a month ago that was cat d damaged in 2004......however the air bag light is constantly on does this mean that when it was cat d the air bag was used?
also anyone got any idea on how much it will cost to get this repaired? i have got kids and dont want to be driving them round in the car if its not safe? Read more
Hi,
I doubt if the airbag deployed or the car would'nt have been classed as a cat d.
The most common fault on these is a poor connection under the front seats.
Look under the seats and look at the connections. If you can, pull the connection apart, and gently wiggle the wires about and then reconnect the plugs. Turn on the ignition and see if the light now goes out. If not, try it another time on both seats and then recheck.
If light still on, you will need a diagnostic check to find out what is preventing the light from going out.
hth
As heading I have just bought two new front tyres -- Looking down Mytyres and Camskill for prices I found suitable tyres but before ordering I went to my local backstreet tyre fitter for a fitting price - Turns out they did me a deal fitted for much less than I could have done from Net. So I have supported a local fitter. Vredstien Ultrac Sasanta
While scanning for tyres I came across "Gislaved" tyres - now they bought back memories from late 60's early 70's - I put some on my Mk2 Zodiac - they outlived the car but by heck they were dodgy in wet - came to roundabout full right lock and just carry on - they were hard rubber - anyone else remember them? Read more
Oppps
Was early in morning I penned that - wasn't quite awake. Sessanta :-(
Hi there,
Hoping someone can help with this having read some of the other posts. My Audi A3 1.8T (Y reg) starts okay sits at normal revs for about 10-20 seconds then revs drop really low and engine then dies.
Engine warning light also on.
Bit of a car novice so any advice from those more technically gifted greatly appreciated! Read more
Engine warning light also on.
Needs plugging into a diagnostic reader to extract the fault codes - this eliminates most of the guesswork.
I am coming to the conclusion not, following on my Corsa HG thread.
I have always bought cars privately in the past for this reason, I just can't see any good cars that traders are selling.
The problem is either find are a car thats in good machanical condition but well well too over priced, I find a good car in a bad garage or I find a bad car in a bad garage.
So I am now looking at private sellers, I know its more risky but this seems to be where the best cars are.
What do you think? I just get put off as after buying my last car privately it over heated a day later although this was just the thermostat. Read more
I seem to recall an article by umm Ian Royce (?) in the 'Buying Cars' magazine c.1994 stating how this £2k (ish) level is problematic for both buyers and dealers. I think the article was entitled "A Car That's Not Too Grand" and he laid out the issues, basically the ones listed above (and no doubt mentioned below).
Whilst I am sure the examples of cars mentioned in the article are no longer relevant, the sentiments haven't changed.
But yes, at a dealer you get a £500/750/800 car for £1500/2000
I wonder what happened to him (Ian Royce, assuming I've got his name right)
cheers
Stu
hi all ive just bought a patrol on ebay,,if you look me up (welderjames) you will probably be able to see it,,,
the problem is the throttle pedal fails every now and then,,eg,,i have the pedal at normal position,,say about half or two thirds way at 60 or 70 and then for no reason it just feels as if it has disconnected from the engine,,
no differance in the pedal feel at all,,just like as if a wire has come loose,,,
if i take the foot off the gas and re press again away it goes,,back to normal,
ive had a good look around and the unit looks fine,,
just wondering if this is a common fault or maybe the throttle has nothing to do with this failure??
is it something else im wondering?????
thanks james,, Read more
My escort van won't start. You turn the key and the starter just clicks but only one click. So i changed the starter for a reconditioned one and still the same problem. i have also changed the alternator as this was found to have a crack in it. This all occured after i was caught in a flood and had hoped changing these parts would fix the problem but to no avail. It was only up to the bottom of the doors. Enough to fill up my footwells. I've had it running from a bump start and it ran fine, it was just that when you switched it off it wouldn't start again. A friend told me it could be an earthing problem or a short somewhere but i don't even know where to start. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Read more
You need to equip yourself with a simple circuit tester - a screwdriver with a 12 volt bulb in the handle. [Under a fiver.]
Connect it's earthing clip to the battery negative and see if it lights. Then, leaving it lit, try and crank it and see if it stays lit. If so; repeat that test on the bolt on the starter with the thick red wire.
While driving the car from cold half a mile or so, the temp gauge fell to zero and the car lost power, probably into limp mode, radiator fan came on and stayed on. Managed to get home, turned off engine, restarted engine and temp gauge flew up to normal temperature, fans were off. car was back to full power.
This has happened a few times since, as it hits normal temperature, goes into limp mode.
Could this be the temperature sensor failing or some other problem? Read more
Thought so, I'll check for loose connections and try sensor. Thanks screwloose.
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Emissions are not a problem for cars made before august '92. I've de-catted a couple of cars that I have that were pre '92 as quite frankly I couldn't care less about the environment and would rather have the extra power. On my current car I simply took the cat off and smashed out the contents - easy!
Oh and by the way V-tech make kids toys, I think you mean VTEC ;-)