October 2008
1. How do I know if I need a new battery?
(I ask because I was on holiday recently, and left my car in the airport long stay car park. The car started, I drove for half an hour or so, then had to stop, and put on hazard warning lights for some minutes. When I tried to start up engine, battery was dead. It was restarted and has started each time since, but I gather that it is fairly common for cars left in airport long stay car parks to have flat batteries. The vehicle is over 6 years old now.)
2. What is the best kind of battery to get?
I ask because the CBCB says "Beware of cheap 'Tudor' batteries which can blow acid out of the vent, damaging paint and underbonnet components. Best replace with Citroen branded battery."
www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/index.htm?md=62
Oddly enough, the OE on my Berlingo was a Tudor battery. Do I get a Citroen branded battery, or is there another brand out there that is as good or better? Read more
I recently before encountering this problem.down and 2 mechanics, 1 was the AA rescue man told me my clutch had gone. I replaced the clutch only to find the car still would not drive. On closer inspection the splines on the drive shaft were completely sheared off. I replaced the drive shaft. Since then it has not been easy to change gear between 1st and 2nd. Tonight I broke down again, and it's the drive shaft, same side once again. This drive shaft has only been in the car just over 2 months. Has anyone had similar problems with the Scenic Megane? Am I fated to having to replace the drive shaft every couple of months? I'd had the car for 18 months before this with no problems at all. Read more
Vonny.
Dont worry about the exhusband. After all, he's only a man.........
I'll see if I can crossreferance the number over the next couple of days, as there are two "R's" in the part number I suspect that it will turn out to be the right one.
I have an 02 mazda 6 ts diesel estate with standard air-con. It has terrible problems with misting/condensation and I've tried pretty much every possible combination with the heating/ventilation/recirculation etc but always end up having to open the window and/or have the heating on full blast.
Any ideas of the cause or a suggestion for remedies?
Thanks guys. Read more
Thanks for all the suggestions, I'll certainly try everything suggested apart from the half potato...or should I do that as well?
Clearing away some very old papers, I found the receipt for the first car I ever bought. What it was, how much it cost and when I bought it don't really matter.
What does matter is that it cost just over 10% of my then annual income. I've tried to recall subsequent purchases and income and reckon that I've never spent more than 20% of my gross income on buying a car.
Is that a fairly average sort of figure? I suspect it's rather low but I've always tried to save up rather than borrow except for my first two cars where the loans came from the old man and were repaid in full.
Topical sort of question because with the credit crunch and most cars being funded on borrowed money, I wonder if people's ideas are changing?
I suppose I should say that I've driven workhorses rather than thoroughbreds and wonder if that makes a difference too?
What's the greatest % anyone has ever spent? Was it worth it?
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What about 98.8%?
That's what Irv Gordon did.
"Irv Gordon, ... boasts the world's longest-running passenger car, a 42-year-old Volvo closing in on 2.7 million miles.
Gordon's car is touted by the Guinness Book of World Records as the vehicle with the "highest certified mileage driven by the original owner in non-commercial service."
And he's in West Michigan this week drawing attention to his 1966 Volvo P1800 and Volvos in general. Friday, he visited Betten Imports, 5901 28th St. SE, and today, he is to be the guest of the Great Lakes Volvo Club at the Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners, northeast of Kalamazoo.
According to Gordon, 68, a retired science teacher from New York, he started as a fan of General Motors products. But after buying what he characterized as two "lemons" during the early 1960s, he searched for other options.
A friend suggested he try a Volvo, a make of car "I didn't even know about."
"I took a ride and fell in love with the car," he says, and on June 30, 1966, plunked down $4,150 for a showroom-new P1800, nearly the equivalent of his $4,200 teaching salary that year. "
Hi,
I have recently bought a 2000 MX5, 1.6. It (now) has 65,000 on the clock. Has full service history at mazda, and I only had it serviced about 3 weeks ago.
About a week ago I noticed the engine was "ticking" over quite slowly, then a few days later when I started it up (after about a 30-40 min drive) it started juddering and coughing, and then stalled. The next day it was fine.
I have had it taken back to the Mazda garage where it was serviced, as I was so annoyed the service cost so much yet there was obviously something wrong. After keeping it all day they charged me £85 for "diagnosing" that it "probably was the coil pack". They said it would cost me £250 to replace this.
2 questions:
1. Can I buy the part new for cheaper elsewhere? I have a friend who was a mechanic so they could fit it for me.
2. I have read similar problems on here where it was mentioned it may be the HT leads, could it be this and not the coil pack?
This is my first car and I am not an expert, and naively assumed that as long as I had it serviced regularly that it would be fine, as people keep quoting at me that "Mazda's are so reliable". At the moment the thought of spending another £250 on it, after paying a fortune for the service, is quite painful. The tax and MOT are also due in a couple of weeks and it seems that this car is drinking money!
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
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lot to answer but lets cut it short
garage did service took leads off to change plugs ,they may have cranked engine and damaged coil pack because technician was on something else (it happens)
however to charge you £85 and not find even an intermittant coil pack is beyond comprehension
im not a fan of garage bashing but even with a set of hair clips and a strong pulse a monkey could diagnose a faulty coil
another simple test is a co test like an mot station uses
or even stick your ear up the exhaust
bad show,thankfully local independant comes to your rescue,make sure you recommend him and use him in future
message ends
I've noticed in my Fiesta that my inside windows always freeze up in cold weather.
Is there anything that I can do to prevent this?
How do people deal with freezing temperatures to save themselves time in the morning?
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A Fiat Ulysse I owned recently started getting incredibly damp. After a very heavy storm one day I noticed water dripping through the roof lining. I traced the problem to the seal having perished around the windscreen. Bottle of windscreen sealer from local shop later, problem solved and no more moisture in the car.
I left it outside my house all day on a sunny day with all the windows open to drive out remaining moisture, and when I returned to it late afternoon the local police had dropped a cardboard flyer in the shape of a footprint on the passenger seat warning of the dangers of leaving car windows open! I'd have been amazed if the local hood rats had fancied a spin in a 13 year old LHD people carrier.
Hi, Ive been having this problem for a while on my 99 1.25 fiesta.
when the engine is cold, somtimes putting the clutch down will now make the revs die completly to 0 and the battery light etc will come on. Sometimes it will save itself from dying at around 400 revs but the battery light will still flicker when it goes that low.
Its only ever when the engine is completley cold and once warmed up its absolutley fine.
Any ideas
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I've had diagnostics done but no codes ever showed up.
Fault codes are just one small aspect of diagnosis procedures. I think that reading the live data while the engine is misbehaving would be a better thing to do. You need to be sure that the ECU properly recognises that the car should be idling, and that it sends sensible signals to the idle speed control valve.
Has anyone else experienced electrical problems with their new Mondeo? I've had the battery replaced, a number of intermittent front headlight faults that cannot be traced, the immobiliser has taken a few attempts to dis-arm. On attempting to start the car after it not running for only 7 days the battery was flat again. There doesn't appear to be anything obvious draining the battery and it is definitely charging. Read more
Has anyone else experienced electrical problems with their new Mondeo? I've had the battery replaced, a number of intermittent front headlight faults that cannot be traced, the immobiliser has taken a few attempts to dis-arm. On attempting to start the car after it not running for only 7 days the battery was flat again. There doesn't appear to be anything obvious draining the battery and it is definitely charging.
Hi all,
I have had my van error codes read as follows:
P1521,P1608,P0230,P0191
Can anyone tell me what my best course of action to take next is! I have had trouble with my W REG HDI Partner van cutting out and it feels like its being starved of fuel! the guy that read these codes wasnt sure what i should do next and seemed a bit vague about it.
I think that 1521 relates to the clutch switch.
1608 coolant temperature alert.
0230 fuel pump primary circuit failure
0191 i am unsure other than the in tank fuel pump related beit electrical or the pump itself.
I would appreciate any help or advise on what i should do next.
Thankyou in advance,
Symon.
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Symon
Surprisingly enough; I'm all for well-informed people using whatever fuel is suitable - in appropriate cars.
Unfortunately; common-rails operate at the very edge of what is technically possible and are never going to be a good place to experiment.
A failing tank-pump is fully consistent with your fault-codes; maybe it had to work a bit too hard pumping that thick veg oil - although routine failures are not unknown.
Good afternoon everyone.
Bit of a quick one - I don't want to look on the down side but I think the car's deciding to torment me again. Be careful with your answers as they may determine whether I drive it into a tree on the way home.
Usually, my temperature gauge will jump up to just before the middle pretty quickly; before I even got onto the motorway 2 miles from my house. Sitting in traffic would see the needle rise to just after halfway whereupon the fans would cut in and cool it all down. No problem.
Over the last week though, the gauge hasn't really moved much. Work is around 35 miles from my house and I noticed halfway into the journey one morning last week that the gauge had only moved slightly (looks to be around 60 degrees). I didn't think too much of it (thought it was better to be too cold than too hot!) and carried on. Saturday morning, I was on my way to work and thought I'd test it. Had a clear run all the way to work at high speed and no change. So I sat in the car for a few minutes and the gauge did get to just under normal operating temperature.
What gives? My first thought was dodgy gauge (I shan't be fixing it if it is) but the fact that it does move to normal operating temp if coerced, well that's thrown me.
Any advice please?
Thanks,
Adam
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There maybe two options of thermostat i go for the summer stat they just open a different temperatures.
Browse
Vauxhall's own brand batteries are very good value and I've not had one fail under 12 years old .... now branded GO from a dealer, and you get the little green "magic eye" charge status indicator.