October 2008
how do you turn the fog lights on the ford focus? i havn't got a manual or handbook....please help. Read more
Hi,
Next Thursday I need to travel from Edinburgh to Stansted (driving, not flying!).
I haven't done that journey for years and I'm not sure if the A68 or A1 will be quicker/better for the first part of the journey.
Any local knowledge most welcome. I'll be leaving Edinburgh approx 4.30pm on a Thursday evening.
Thanks Read more
Having consulted my satnav (set for fastest route) it always gives the M74 route for anywhere in the east of UK south of the A66/A1 junction at Scotch corner.
Hi,
My car failed its MOT because its emissions tests were too high, I hope some one can help me figure out what I need to do to get this fixed. Also I'm getting excessive exhaust smoke, I think this must be related.
The smoke isn't black and I wouldn't say its blue, so from I've read on the internet I don't think oil or coolant is burning.
Will replacing the Lambda Sensor fix this?
Any help greatly appreciated, thanks guys!
Here are the results from the MOT:
Fast Idle Test:
Engine Speed (2500-3000 RPM) * Not Checked
CO: (<= 0.30 % vol) 0.63 Fail
HC: (<= 200 ppm vol) 108 ppm vol Pass
Lamba (sign) (0.970-1.030) 1.055 Fail
Second Fast Idle Test:
Engine Speed (2500-3000 RPM) * Not Checked
CO: (<= 0.30 % vol) 0.54 Fail
HC: (<= 200 ppm vol) 110 ppm vol Pass
Lamba (sign) (0.970-1.030) 1.042 Fail
Netural Idle Test:
Engine Speed (2500-3000 RPM) * Not Checked
CO: (<= 0.50 % vol) 0.44 Pass
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I may have missed something here but dosn;t this engine suffer from sticking valves? It might be worth trying more expensive fuel and then doing an italilian tune up but to be honest there is a simple equation here.
X3 = Smokey engine.
Where x is the number of years without a service.
How many miles have you done without a service? When was the cambelt last changed? If the cambelt is also due it may bot be worth fixing.
Hi,
The electric door mirror has gone on a friend's mark 4 silver VW golf and I was wondering what sort of price would it cost to get it replaced and how difficult is it actually physically removing the damaged one and putting in the new one?
I have seen the mirrors, in black, on ebay for £38 incl delivery and was wondering whether they need to be painted or not? If it was me I would settle for it being black if it was fairly easy to fit.
Already had a quote of £280 for replacement and painted of the mirror silver which seems steep.
T. Read more
Tawse, would you be able to provide details of the garage that you used if it's not to far from London and the job was completed to your satisfaction?
Thanks
Fitting a tow bar to my 56 reg astra hatchback.
The tow bar is a simple enough job to fit very similar to my 2000 astra, but the electrics are a bit different.
There is a panel in the boot on the n/s/ when opened there is a small fuse box and plugs with one empty space, is this for the tow bar wiring?
Or do i just fit like solder the wires in, id rather not use scotch locks.
The tow bar is second hand the wiring as been cut off so no plug if needed?. Read more
Checked it several times waggled the plug and wires nothing but side lights?
Mine is the 56 plate but yours been newer they maybe switched on, anybody know?
Checked the indicators and the test lamp flashed 3 times but thats it? maybe will work when i plug in the light board. ( when i get it)
I have the airbag warning light on my 53 reg Mondeo but am abit scint and wondered how expensive it COULD be. I hope not too much!
The other problem I have is that when I put the blower on this morning i could smell a faint wiff of petrol. I have not had the blower on recently as not required and have not smelt the petrol.
Please help Read more
>>Anybody any comments about the petrol smell?<<
Are you sure that it's petrol and not "stale" heater smell? (You said that you hadn't used the blower for a while)
I think you will have to have a look under the bonnet for signs of weeping from the fuel pipes. If you do it with the engine running the fuel system will be at its working pressure.
(Don't use naked lights when looking :))
Hi all. My petrol Mondeo which I got cheap a few years ago, is now starting to burn oil at the rate of about 1 litre per 1000 miles. I know it was an ex-lease vehicle and servicing had been neglected, which is why I got it cheap. I bought it at 74k miles, and it now has 105k on the clock. At the last MOT in the summer, I had to have a new catalytic converter fitted + HEGO sensor, at a cost of £450 inc. diagnostics. I recently checked the spark plugs, and with the exception of the plug in no. 3 cylinder, all were oily around the tops of the threads near the plug body. I should say that the car is performing as well as it always has, and if I wasn't looking after it myself, I wouldn't know from the performance that anything was wrong; no misfiring, no lumpy idle etc.
I am contemplating an overhaul of the top end and have a couple of questions:
1. From this info, is it possible for any of you to say if the most likely cause of oil ingress to the combustion chambers is top down (valve stem seals perhaps), or bottom end up (piston rings perhaps), or could it be both?
2. If I do nothing and keep putting oil in it, how long before the oil burning wrecks the new catalytic converter? (We do about 10k miles a year)
thanks in advance........any comments welcome about the overhaul too.
tonymuso
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thanks kith for that detail......I'll follow my wife in the car and check for smoke. Presumably the cat wouldn't deal with the blue smoke then?
Hi I have a meriva 1.6 life 53 reg paid 4k for it at 22000 miles had it for 6 months had numerous problems since buying. Recently had car juddering but showing no faults then exhausts emissions light came on took into local garage and reading came up egr valve fault.
He did a quick check said hopefully its just the valve that needs replacing would be about 250-300 quid. But if the problem is worse its gonna start getting costly. He put some sort of oil down the valve the light went off and it drove as normal but he did say it was only a short time measure.
What I want to know is how much is it to replace valve?
What happens if more than a replacement is needed?
I have to top-up oil every 2-3 weeks is this normal? Or anything to do with the valve?
Also and i do know i have been conned when i bought it but when i first saw the car on the forecourt my brother took it for a test drive and the light was on then. We asked what it was he said its no problem i'll get it sorted when i picked it up 3 days later the light had gone. Could the garage have done the same temporary measure to save fixing it? So was the car fit for purpose when I bought it?
Any help is much appreciated, Laura
{53 changed to 2003 as 53 is the reg plate, not the 'year of manufacture' - which is what the fill in box requested} Read more
johnreeves post your details and i will look into it ie year, make, model, engine size, auto, manual, Regards TB
SWMBO and I are going to vietnam in December, it seems we need visas.
The Vietnamese Consular section website lists a number of different ways of getting the visas.
I don't like the idea of putting my passport in the post. The "send by fax and collect in person", sounds about the best option. Does anyone know what the queues are like?
Our stay is for tourism and is more than 14 days, but less than 30 days.
Any helpful advice would be appreciated. Read more
I'm on 3 - had a contract for nearly 2 years now. Can't remember off hand what the tariff I'm on is called but for £15 a month it gives me 500 minutes and free voicemail. Texts are 12p each but I send 2 or 3 at most a month so that's not a problem, and web access costs £2 /MB - I'm finding I'm using that increasingly.
I've found coverage to be as good as other providers, and reliability is very good - not had any problems since I took out the contract. When my first 18 month contract ran out 3 called me and we negotiated a good deal on a new handset with the same monthly price as previously.
Hi,on another post iceskater wrote:
>>" I got a new U581 of ebay (£60) nice bit of kit but unfortunately it
doesn't seem to work on this model. Will be back on ebay soon. Had a
word with 'talktomycar' today and bought an ELM327 from them. (They said it would work
or money back £50) Should arrive tomorrow not convinced that its going to work however.
Believe the protocol is ISO14230-4 (KW2000)
All the data I've found about the diagnostic connector suggests that pin 16 is the
battery positive. Pin 16 is not fitted on my connector hence no power for the
ELM327. I've got pins 1 4 5 7 11 12 fitted. I believe pins 4
& 5 are ground pin 7 is K-line pin 11 is alarm/remote. Is pin 1
or 12 the 12V line. Does anybody know?. Does anybody know of a cheap code
reader that works."
I need a code reader for my ever troublesome 2003 Peugeot 307 hdi 110 & like probably alot of other Peugoet owners was wondering if anyone knows of a relatively cheap code reader that will work on this model & how iceskater got on-did the ELM327 work?(I doubt it!)
P.S.I also bought a u581..brill tool but not on a 307! Thanks in advance Read more
Hi, yes it is a Maxdiag FR704 bought from eBay international
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Switch on headlights and pull out same switch one or two clicks, depending on whether you also have front fogs.