October 2008
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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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
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
For years I have practiced freewheeling with any manual car I've owned. I always completely disengage the gear (i.e. not just hold in the clutch).
In times past, with carburettors, I can understand how this would keep consumption down, but on newer vehicles, with engine management, what exactly happens when
(a) you freewheel with engine idling
or
(b) you simply go onto trailing throttle. Does the management system / fuel injection actually shut down completely?
I say this because in a friend's car the computer showed zero consumption when he was on trailing throttle. Read more
>> If you can slow down on a trailing throttle you will use no fuel
That doesn't sound quite right. You're implying that for a time the engine isn't firing.
If the engine is firing it must be using fuel.
I think he might be refering to a diesel, L'Es, that will be the case... it is discussed further down the thread....
Hi All,
Couple of questions on the Golf mk3 (M reg).
1) How do I tell which engine code it is? I've looked on the chassis plate and on the engine chassis itsself but not seen anything (ABU, ABS, etc?) code like.
2) Where are the fuel injector(s) - I assume hidden on the back? (towards the cabin) How do I tell if its single point vs Multipoint injection (unless when I can find the injectors there are more than one?)
3) Where is the crankshaft sensor?
Thanks a lot for any help!!
James Read more
Screwloose,
Thanks for the information - the scan tool just said 515, so I assumed.
Cheers,
James
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
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.
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?
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.
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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?