On my Rover 75 diesel CDT the radiator fan seems to operate all the time - even if I just turn on the ignition without starting the engine. I can't hear if it's on all the time when I'm driving but whenever I come to a halt and turn off the ignition the fan is always on and continues for a few seconds. This is irrespective of the ambient temperature and the type/speed of driving I have been doing. Surely the fan should only operate when the coolant temperature rises to a certain level? In normal driving the temperature seems OK with the needle in the middle (i.e. as pointing west on a compass).

Earlier in the year I had the common 75 problem of a flooded ECU. The ECU was apparently OK when dried out (although the glow plug relay was corroded and had to be replaced). I am wondering if this may be the cause of the fan problem as I presume the fan operation is controlled by the ECU.

Your comments would be appreciated. Read more

Just taken a test drive on a V reg Corsa 1.4 16v CDX, it drove fine the brakes were a little spongy but the garage said he will fix this for the MOT. However when I checked for smoke there was a tiny bit of condensation steam (the engine was cold). I have just been back now and the car engine was running and there was quite a bit of steam coming out the back.

The car is going to have a full service and 12 months MOT before being sold to me, and it comes with 3 months warranty.

If I buy the car I assume the problem would have to fixed under warranty? The guys been on the site for 28 years and seems to have a decent reputation.

Could a lack of use (cars not been used for a month) and the fact its over due a service just be causing that? Read more

SWMBO bought a three year old 1.3 SR Yaris in 2003 with about 20k miles on clock - since then she has clocked up another 58k and car has performed faultlessly - in fact it passed it's MOT again without anything being done to it last Friday.

Over the last few months I have noticed the computer fuel consumption figures have dropped - in all the years it has constantly read around 44-48 mpg and I had no trouble getting it up to 50 mpg - however it's now reading 39-41 - it runs well and starts first time - Now when starting up from cold I can smell slight whiff of petrol and after first 200yrds to first tee junction when lifting foot off throttle the engine speed doesn't drop instantly like it used to -- I have given it a few Italian tune ups (she drives steady) cleaned plugs and changed air filter - There is no temp gauge only a blue symbol of thermometer and that goes out after about 1 1/2 miles - heater gets hot quickly - so before I ask my local Mobile Auto Tune specialist to come and plug his kit on has anyone any advise as what I could look for - I feel it has to be something simple and connected to cold startup as when engine is hot and I reset computer to zero the fuel consumption figure is back up to 44-48 but after startup next morning it drops back to low 40's and if she does a few cold starts during day it gets even lower -- Doing a tank full to tank full consumption work out it's coming out at 44-45.

Thanks Read more

Hi

My Pug 306 has recently developed an irritating fault. When starting the car from cold it will idle steadily at 1000rpm then the revs will jump up to 2000rpm after a couple of mins. They then immediately drop back to 1000rpm. Sometimes, after another couple of mins, it will happen again. It can also happen after moving off and is especially disconcerting in slow moving traffic.

Also, the engine will sometimes take a while to fire when cold (It used to start straight away, even on very cold mornings).

Neither of these symptoms are present when the engine is started when warm (The idle is very smooth at around 800-900rpm).

A friend (who knows more about these things!) suggested I replace the Idle air control valve which I did. The problems are still there though. I have also reset the ECU which initially made things worse then settled back to the above pattern.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks Read more

Can anyone tell me why our Focus is so prone to steeming up lately.

I went out yesterday evening with my wife and daughter in the car. It had been a warm dry day and no one had damp hair or clothes, it was also a warmish night for the time of year, but the car was still steaming up raely badly.

I have obviously checked the boot and carpets for any sign of rain water ingress but everything is bone dry. I've heard that a fault with the aircon can sometimes cause this sort of problem, although this was occuring without the aircon on. Screen was instantly cleared by demister, but rapidly became misted again.

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