November 2008
Hi
Started my 52 reg Xsara in gear yesterday, car jolted forward and the imoboliser light came on
got out of the car and tried to reset the locks
Now the light stays on and putting the key in the igination does not clear it
can any one help Read more
Hi I have a misfire now after the alternator/power steering drive belt snapped and chewed up! the car will start everytime but its missing and white smoke from the back.
AA guy said it could be that the belt that broke has somehow caused the cambelt to jump a tooth and altered the timing??
Just wondered if anyone can help in terms of how do I go about checking the timing is correct and the best way of solving it?
Also (being greedy now!!) when the car was running it ran great loads of power good economy BUT there seemed to be what sounded like a cam rattle that would only be there between 1200 - 3000rpm and only while driving and not when stationary??? any ideas
Thanks for your time Read more
Thanks for your reply. Great to have someone who knows what their talking about!
It's time for a 'new' car and am persuaded to go Japanese, for reliability. (An earlier post will show one route I'm considering is a quiet, 'serene-at-seventy' sort of car.)
Or for a more mainstream choice a little homework has pointed me in the way of the Honda Civic. I'd like an automatic. My budget will probably fetch me a 2001 to 2003 example. It'll be used mostly for daily 50-mile m'way round-trips at 70: no speed-merchant, I. Which engine-size is likely to be the quietest (or is there little in it)? Sorry if this seems petty but I have damaged hearing and a noisy car worsens it markedly.
However, my main question stems from an observation borne of many years' bemused-but-not-bitter experience: everything I buy goes wrong immediately thereafter. So please do your Civic duty and warn me what to expect in the way of instantaneous calamity. For instance, I've never owned a car with a catholic converser (as a dear, aged aunt so vividly dubbed it): when do those tend to fail on the Civic and how much do they cost to replace?
All ominous prognostications will be most welcome. (They're going to happen, anyway).
Yours cheerily,
AF. Read more
Make sure the heater works on all 4 speed settings (common failure can leave only high speed working).
Rear suspension parts invariably wear out by this mileage as it has double wishbones - if there are recent receipts for repairs it should be ok, otherwise might be worth getting an MOT tester to look at the links/joints.
Rear exhaust section rots like a fiend just in front of the final silencer.
It should start, run, stop, and change gear with almost no evidence of being a 9yr old car.
At the beginning of August 08, my Ford dealer topped up my coolant level (the orange antifreeze) to the maximum mark.
Since then the level has gone down to about 3/4 full.
I am obviously concerned that I may have a leak and if not how else could the level go down ?
(I have driven about 1700 miles since it was topped up).
Thanks ! Read more
Don't forget that if Ford refilled the system then there will be a slight settleing of the level as any trapped air gets pushed out. As long as it doesn't go below MIN don't panic...
Just getting warmed up from the perishing cold outside today, and yesterday and a bit to do tomorrow.
I did post on technical but i'll give a brief outline here.
My sons 01 Seat toledo 110 tdi started playing up the other day, the temperature would rise and the heater would blow cold.
Well we grabbed a new thermostat to rule that out, it wasn't that, next we thought it could be that daft plastic water pump problem, but no neither of those it started to leak water inside from the heater matrix ...aaarrggh, wish it had been the water pump.
Anyway, he got a heater matrix and new radiator (very slight seepage so do that as well) from one of the 2 very usual good sources and he set about the job on Friday and i joined him in the afternoon, and today, and final reassembly tomorrow.
Sorry to go on so long....to get to the heater matrix he had to virtually dismantle the whole interior, upper and lower dash board, all instruments and heater/climate controls, glovebox, passenger airbag, all panels, lower steering column and loosen the massive cross member that goes across the dash which forms a strong structure for everything to bolt to. EDIT, and of course remove the centre consol to enable dash removal.
Wipers off, bulkhead underbonnet extras off to get to the various mounting points, separate the 2 systems, aircon and heating and eventually remove the cowling that held the matrix.
To get to the radiator, the whole front of the car had to come off, bumper, front panel, headlights etc, as the rad is clamped between the fans and the aircon radiator.
To say the job has been hell is the understatement of the year, and i dread to think how much this would have cost at the dealership, probably scrapping the car.
I promise i haven't in the least exaggerated things, i'm just dumbstruck at quite how difficult a relatively simple job as this could be, a rad change was so simple a few years ago apart from BL FWD's when one had to be a contortionist.
The PD engine may be a fine motor, but he's no longer sure he would replace with another.
Are all cars now so difficult to work on, we wondered for example how quickly we could have done the same jobs on his Subaru or my old MB W124.
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My TR7 failed its 25th MoT - no braking n/s rear and iffy light switch.
Hammer and pan scourer [plastic not metal] to seized drum brake pistons. Side/headlight switch easily removed and dismantled. [beautifully designed - I wonder by whom] Corrosion removed and copper terminals cleaned - good as new. Partial retest passed.
SWMBO X reg Yaris 1.3SR is now due for renewal - so I spent this last week looking around and being a long term Mazda man - we ( I ) decided on Mazda 3 auto - ran down autotrader etc and gleaned prices of 06-07 -08 cars and prices - fine -- today we went to local Ford/Mazda dealer to look and in showroom was a unregistered 1.4 Fiesta Ghia petrol on offer for £9999 (pre facelift)- £3k off list (Yea) this car has everything but auto and heated seats but doing the sums it seems more practical to go for manual than auto and it's cheaper to run than Mazda. Not being a Ford man what are the 1.4 engines like for reliability in fact what is the whole car like to own -- We only cover about 7k miles a year so diesel really doesn't make economic sense unless I could get one for same price - I asked and salesman said no diesels left -- As a cash buyer with no partX would I be able to bargain on price that is asked - I know it can't hurt to ask but realistically would a main Ford dealer move on sticker price. - if I wait till next weekend would the salesmen be jumping. Read more
£200 would go a long way towards the towbar which we unfortunately need for small trailer -- anyway it's getting worse -- once you start looking at cars - something I haven't done for over five years you see all different ones you fancy - The Corsa SXi or something was tempting but "towbar"
Lud
I would love a dream - any dream as it would mean I managed to get a nights sleep- something that has eluded me for years.
Saw one yesterday and had a good look around. The IQ is smaller than the Aygo - it still seats 4, but the boot will just about fit a phone book - stood on it's end.
The yes/no are what our mid spec Aygo has compared to the IQ - our Aygo also has 5 doors.
Full spec:
1. 15" alloy wheels - No
2. privacy glass - No
3. heated, electric door mirrors - No
4. colour keyed door mirrors - Yes
5. side turn indicators on outer door mirrors - No
6. colour keyed bumpers - Yes
7. LED stop lamp - No
8. manual air con - Yes
9. radio, cd, 6 speakers incl MP3 readability & aux in - Yes
10. leather steering wheel with audio switches - No
11. leather gear shift knob - No
12. tilt and power steering - No tilt but PAS
13. 9 airbags - no 4
14. ABS with brake assist - ABS yes
15. EBD(electronic brake force distribution) - No
16. VSC/TRC - No
17. power door lock - Yes
18. keyless entry - No
19. power windows - Yes
20. toneau cover - Yes
On the premium addition
1. automatic air condition - No
2. smart entry (boot and doors) - No
3. push start - No
4. rain sensors - No
5. dusk sensors - No
6. electric retractable, heated door mirrors - No
7. electrochromatic rear view mirror - No
8. front fog lamps - No
9. high gloss 15" alloys - No
10. darkned bi-halogen headlamps - No
11. chrome rear light clusters - No
What really scared me were the rear seats - no boot therefore no crumple zone and the rear seats didn't look to be constructed in a manner which makes you safer in a rear end smash (unlike the smart seats) - rear seats almost touch the rear window. I was fobbed off with an answer that the car has NCAP 5* - it may have but that doesn't test rear end shunts.
Entry IQ is £9,500, premium £10,500.
Our Aygo was £7000.
Worth it? You decide!
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Nope. It would not help much in that instance. but they do call it a "curtain shield".
Hi guys can anybody tell me what a category 4 right off is.
cheers slack Read more
Hi everybody,can you tell me does the category d rightoff have to be noted on the log book.
cheers slack
We bought a 2nd hand Prius in May 08 (07 model). Consistently got 52mpg. Last month or so 48mpg. Same drivers, same drives. Is this purely down to temp (i.e. heater on more), time of year ( i.e. lights on more)? Read more
Thanks Bagpuss for your post - I think I must have mis-understood you and read a little too much into your reply and assumed a certain tone that was never there (my fault).
I have to agree with you above though and you make the point well.
I think allot of academics have tried to cash in on a very successful company and I have also seen so many examples of how companies have taken certain practices and tried to implement them without understanding how to do it properly.
In fact I have talked to Toyota's competitors who have visited their factories and even they say that Toyota don't mind showing anybody round because they know not many will really understand how they do things.
Everyone talks about the Toyota Production System and I have visited many companies that will show me a book or intranet system with their equivalents, but as you know when you ask Toyota to show them their Production System, they will tell you that none of it is written down - it is just how they do things, which supports your view of academics cashing in.
Me and the misses just popped into the dealer, just being nosey. Anyhow, had a look at an i10, she likes it. Anyway, salesman was very helpful, said he would get some quick figures for finance and to me, they sounded a bit too good to be true.
They have a demo 1.2 Comfort auto, in silver on a 58 plate with 1000 miles on it.
The figures were: £169 pm for 36 months with £182 final payment and £2000 for my misses Picanto. Now, I couldnt for the life of me work out how he did it for that money but I asked him twice and he said they were correct.
We are test driving it on Monday and he is going to go through the workings with me but Im a bit baffled. Read more
We tried the Getz, liked it but compared to the Sirion/Myvi, it feels very old hat inside and in the end, it couldnt compete as it was equal on some fronts, but behind on everything else.
The dealer was offering finance at 5.1% which seemed ok, not sure what the standard is at the moment.
The Myvi is, with the curent deal they have on, about £2500 cheaper than the Sirion normally, but we have a pre-reg one on offer to us for £8500 so that brings it within £1k of it.
I am seeing the Perodua dealer tomorrow so I will post up where I get with that one as the salesman promised he would beat any deal offered to me finance wise, confident of it too he was.
I did speak to the Perodua salesman about the Perodua website which he agreed was a joke but he has the up to date info - there is a better one which my misses found, more up to date.
The ride on teh i10 was much worse than the Picanto - in teh i10 you feel every ripple in the road whereas the Picanto you felt the sharper bumps but it is fairly smooth most of the time, but not in the same league as the Sirion. I did wonder if the Myvi, with its steel wheels and perhaps taller tyres will ride even better than the Sirion given the detrimental effect alloys and low profile tyres usually have on ride quality.
Another worthy note on the i10 is that it sufferes terribly with tyre roar, maybe different tyres will be better.
Browse
Need to conatct the dealer which I did and was told I would have to have it towed to them