November 2008
Just looking at Manheims auction list for Thursdays sale and note a lot of the cars that may interest me are listed as "No V5". Why is this, and is it a problem? Read more
hi im new on the forum and would like to know why the turbo has cut out on my friends 307 hdi i have just changed the particulate filter and filled the liquid levels that cleared one code for antipoluuttion filter and now have just one code coming up which is po246 (turbo pressure solenoid valve) is this a quick fix? i have been readind the forrums and found screwloose to be something of a genius when it comes to the peugeot any help will b greatly appreciated.... Read more
Google "Peugeot Planet Owners Map" to find some local fellow Pug owners with dealer level diagnostic equipment.
My Fiat panda 4x4 needs two new front tyres. The existing Bridgestones are not available. ATS say Viedersteins Snow Traks will give me twice the mileage of the Kumo Snow tyres being suggested by my local garage. ATS say the Kumos are a budget tyre but the garage say they are mid-range. The Viedersteins will cost £150 total fitted. The Kumos just under a £100. I want to support my local garage but not at the price of half the lifespan. My local garage can't get the Viedersteins. Help?! Read more
A guy on www.fiatforum.com/panda-new/ has just had 4 of the Quatracs fitted to his Panda
And i got my local place to slip 4 of em onto my daughters 106 for even less, and they're the cats whiskers, stick like the proverbial in the wet.
Just as an aside, but with good quality tyres being so cheap for sensible sizes, why would someone fit ditchfinder rubbish to such a car, thats why 4 went on if you hadn't guessed, i checked and some of the tyres fitted were below £20 with tyretest reviews in the abysmal categories.
Last week whilst driving steadily along a country lane the gearbox on my Seat Leon gave up... the transmission specialist's report noted that the Cross Pin in the differential broke, which in turn smashed the crown wheel and pinion plug casing.... nice.
Complicated stuff, but the easy bit to note is that one call to the AA and three days and £1,100 later the car seems back to it's pre-broken down state.
I note that the internet is trawling with 1999-2000 VAG cars with reports of failing gearboxes; are there other people out there with newer cars suffering a similar fate? Honest John notes gearbox failures in his what-to-look-out-for section on the Leon; I'd be interested to know just how widespread this problem is.
Thanks for reading! Read more
the VAG 1.6 gearbox between 98 and 05 is a very poor one and always a good seller for breakers. If you buy secondhand just be sure to spin it manually by hand in all gears and ensure its nice and smooth before parting with your cash.
My wife's Focus Zeetec doesn't have a factory fitted front heated windscreen. Recently a replacement screen was fitted (the original was chipped) but the installer had only a heated type at hand - and fitted this. I've bought the fascia switch to control a front heated screen. Could my local garage easily connect up the electrics to make the new, heated screen operate, or should I forget it ? Read more
Mike
Have a look in the engine-bay box for fuse position 4 - does it have terminals fitted?
Ditto relay position 3. If that is wired, then you only need to connect the fusebox to the screen and wire the switch.
Since the new C5 employs Hydractive 3 Plus (as does the C6), do you think the whole thing will last ?
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Hope disconnecting the alarm hasn't disconnected your insurance policy boxterboy.....backache isn't pleasant but insurance company induced headache is much worse! :-(
Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon announces in today's Sunday Telegraph that speed traps could be replaced with "fairer" cameras.
Thereby demonstrating beyond any doubt that we are firmly established in the hell described by George Orwell in his seminal work 1984.
Mr Hoon is of course referring to average speed cameras.
The government is very lucky that millions of motorists contributing £40b to the economy and receiving £4b of road spend in return have not found an effective way of defending their interests.
The day the UK Transport Party is formed is one that would very much concern our rulers. Read more
From a rival Sunday broadsheet yesterday:
"The only road approved by Geoff Hoon, the transport secretary, under a £400m highway improvement scheme is adjacent to his constituency, it has emerged. A new £100m section of the A46 will run alongside Hoon?s Ashfield constituency. The remaining £300m will be spent on projects such as extra speed cameras."
Non-clickable - tinyurl.com/6jtyjt
Got to get the priorities right eh?
Kevin...
My son has a Corsa C, 1.2, 16 valve, 52k miles with full service history.
He recently had to take it to a main dealer for some minor work and was advised thet the timing chain needs changing as it is noisy, he said thanks but I will consult dad first.
How likely are these chains likely to fail?
Could they stretch or wear?
I imagine the results of one failing are catastrophic leading to major work & expense.
I thought the advantages of timing chains over belts was no maintenance. Read more
what don't help is that they only fit a single chain not a duplex one but agree the chains are very long if left they either work there way through the case or they snap the cam exhaust one
The rules have changed a little at this beginning of this month, although I'm not sure if it's had any effect on the market.
I've bought a car that has plates on that are best described as show plates. They're in a legal font, although the 3D effect looks odd, but have a space between the first two letters and numbers and a manufacturer logo on them. They're not quite my cup of tea and I don't want to get stopped (or fined) by the police.
I'm after just a pair of legal plates, with the blue Euro GB bit at the side and preferably in decent 3D (legal) font. The supplier name should be on there, but preferably as discreet as possible.
I did need to get some plates two years ago and used an eBay supplier, which was handy because of not having the documents to hand because it was a new purchase with a plate change going through. They have all the features of being legal, and were from a DVLA-registered supplier, but are technically show plates because of the lack of documents needed (I don't have this issue this time).
The plates weren't bad. The 3D font was fine. They were of the Signam type, which involves the numbers being added to the adhesive side of a reflective sheet, then stuck onto a piece of clear acrylic. The trimming wasn't perfect, though partly remedied with a stanley knife, but one of the cars I was replacing the plates for had this style, made by Jepson, and had delaminated badly.
One of the other plates that was replaced (and is still knocking about in the garage) had a manufacturer name of HHSP. The construction of this plate was different, with the acrylic coloured white or yellow and the reflective part stuck on top instead of underneath. This type had a darker blue background behind the GB section that went to the edge of the plate. It seemed a better made plate than all the others.
What are people's recommendations on where to get plates from? I'm not after the very cheapest, as a trawl of eBay still shows a number of inexpensive plates. I would like some that are of reasonable quality. Read more
Main dealer - had thought of that and not a bad idea for the OE look.
Pressed alu - not personally keen, it reminds me of the raised letter plates that died out around the early 80s.
Errr... what's this thread all about? What's wrong exactly with paying the man in the motor factors his £8.50 and being done with it?
Is that really all it costs for a good pair of plates that will last more than a year? The internet sellers asking £20+ per pair must be making a killing, even though much cheaper than Halfords.
I wish I knew a decent motor factors. As with many similar places, they're generally shut when I'm not at work. What ole cruiser had was ideally what I'm after.
I've no issues with a tiny line of text on the bottom of a number plate, provided it is discreet. Bigger writing for a dealer isn't too bad. I'm happy with the dealer tax disc in the windscreen. What I wouldn't want is the name of the supplier in big writing on the plate when legally it doesn't need to be that size. With mail order/internet, you don't always know what that writing will be.
Something made a light noise in the gear lever as I was manoeuvering my focus the other day and now the gear change feels sloppy. It looks like a tension spring has broken or come off. The car can still be driven ok but second to third gear changes require a good aim; also fourth to third etc. Is this a big job or what. Your advice please - thank you. Read more
They probably broke something whilst doing the job - bits of plastic with small lugs and clips on them don't last long in mechanics' hands.
Browse
Ignore the catalogues - they are often wrong. Check what gets announced when it comes through to verify V5 status.
A surprising number of ex-fleet cars have no V5 and an even larger number have no second key and no history.