November 2008
As posted by myself last month, a friend of mine desperately needs to change her Rav4. She has bought a large 2 horse trailer and the Rav 4 is not up to the job. She is buying a LR Defender type (probably a new County Station Wagon)and has been offered £6k in p/ex today.
I have just driven the Rav4, and it looks fine to me. Spec is 2.0TD, 55plate, 59k miles, 1 owner from new with main dealer FSH, 5 door XTR with heated leather seats, and recently fitted Witter tow bar (not yet used!!). She has offered it to me at the p/ex price of £6k, and in addition will have a 62k service (with new cambelt)and 2 new tyres fitted if I buy it from her.
My finances allow me to puchase it without borrowing, something I would never do anyway!.
My own dearly loved immaculate Mazda 626 I could probably sell privately, and running costs should be comparable.
I have 24 hours to decide before she p/exs it at the LR dealer, and before anyone suggests it, she will not be swayed from a Defender!
Opinions please on whether to go for it....
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The Flash Rinse Cartridges seem to have gone in most shops. A few years back they were on TV all the time.
Any idea who still sells them? Read more
They are still advertised on ebay. I bought a box of 18 for about £20.
At current rate i seem to get about 15 rinses/cartridge. That's 270 washes at about 15/year. That's 18 years. I'm nearly 60. I may not bother to buy any more.
I use autoglym shampoo instead of the flash. It's ok.
I have a 2005 Peugeot 407 1.6HDi SE. I would like to know how to set the radio to use an MP3 player. It has 2 aux imputs that can be used. Apparently, acording to the handbook, it can be done by taking it to a PEUGEOT dealer. Read more
Cheers Steve. Do you know a relevant forum I can get in contact with?
When I purchased my BMW 1.7 tds there was a rattling/tinny sound from the aux belt tensioner area.
I fitted a new battery and the noise disappeared.....till yesterday that is.
Also on start up the alternator warning light will flicker for a few seconds and then go out.....this does not happen when the car is driving.
I am wondering if the alternator is faulty and is putting the belt and tensioner under stress.....the new battery cured it for a couple of days and after a couple of days (as the battery lost power) the problem reappeared?
I hope this makes sense , or am I barking up the wrong tree.
I am no auto electrician but how do I check for faulty alternator with a small multimeter.
All help appreciated. Read more
might, I say, might be a bit early for freewheeling alternator pulley. Have replaced a few aux belt tensioners where the bearing had spat all its lubricant out and was squealing.
Look for 14.4 (ideal) volts at the battery, more than 0.5v in either direction indicates an alternator problem.
Does anyone know if the D5 is single or twin cam engine and how many valves , thanks Read more
Thanks OB.
Went to Landrover off road experience today. It consists of 90 minutes off road driving. I find every moment enjoyable. I had absolutely no previous off road driving experience. Yet I faced no problem as such. The car was Diesel Freelander auto. The terrain had mud and ruts, wet marshland, logs, steep up/down hills etc. The instructor drove a part of the track initially and then asked me to drive the rest. On few stretches, the car tilted side wise ~30 degree and it was scary. Yet I managed to pass without much drama. While going uphill, even if you press the brake, the car won't roll backward. While coming downhill, if you just take your feet of any of the pedals, the hill decent control simply driving the car slowly downward (you just control the steering). I went to ditches and came out successfully. There were some large mirrors besides the track, so I could even see on them how a wheel leaves the ground :)
I learnt some important concepts
* If the car is a capable one, even novice drivers can do off-roading to a good extent
* It seemed to me that 4x4 with auto transmission is better than manual - as the car will perform most difficult tasks without driver's intervention
* As long as electronic gizmos like torque distribution/ ESP/DSC/EBD work properly - they really help driving in otherwise difficult terrains
Best of all, this Landrover experience doesn't cost a penny! It is completely FREE. They run it all year around. So if you have not experienced it before, then please enroll yourself. Highly recommended.
There is also a paid version which lasts longer and there you can learn some classroom training as well.
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Went on one for the Range Rover-all the other people that day went out in the R/R so I asked if I could go out in a Defender-I was the only person-just me and the instructor-excellent day.
Duplicate post removed to prevent repetition of replies. Any replies here have been moved to the post over in Techincal Matters.
DD. Read more
Well, it looks as though speeding convictions for 20+MPH over are going to result in 6 points. Read more
Teabelly - 'A class 1 or properly trained police driver is perfectly capable of exceeding a posted limit safely.' Really? what part of the training provides this safety net?? Do you have direct experience of class 1 training?
Is there an engineering reason why auto boxes go from park to reverse?
Why not go to drive, particularly since on modern autos you can sideways or otherwise shift into tiptronic, sport or whatever?
Is there any reason why it couldn't be reverse on the other side of neutral?
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To be clear, in this thread, I'm only going to talk about conventional torque convertor automatics - mainly because I know very little of the detail of DSG type gearboxes.
The only difference mechanically, electrically, and hydraulically between P and N is that in P, the parking pawl is engaged.
Unlike a manual gearbox, most automatics when the engine isn't running are effctively in neutral wherever the lever is, because there's no hydraulic pressure with which to engage a gear.
A very small number of automatics do have an output shaft driven secondary pump which allow them to be push started, and in these, there is a real use for the N position - typically, the car is got up to speed in N, and then, D is selected.
For example, early W124s do have the secondary pump, but, my later one doesn't. I can imagine MB saved quite a bit by deleting it, because there's not only the pump itself, but the extra valves within the valve block to isolate one pump from the other, and to route the fluid to be able to allow bump starting. The hydraulic diagram for the whole gearbox is way more complex than any automotive electrical wiring diagram I've ever seen!
The starter motor on my car (2002 2.0 HDI SE) is operating intermittently. The symptoms are:
- starts from cold in the morning
- intermittently does not operate thereafter. The key operates all functions, but the starter motor does not turn. Trying again and again, it then may work.
There are no messages. Both key fobs show same symptoms. The central locking/immobiliser is working correctly (no low batt warning/error messages).
On a recent problem, the starter motor was running (not engaged to engine), without the key in place. The mechanic has diagnosed a fault in the ignition switch, although this is not proved. This is expensive to replace.
Any ideas? Read more
I've a feeling that the relay for the starter is an engine fusebox function fed from fuse 16. It should be possible to plug it in and check that the go signal is being received from the key-switch.
Water getting into that fusebox would be my first thought.
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I am not a diesel lover but that sounds like a good deal to me. Even if you had to pay out for a new DMF in future in theory you should still only be up to what you would pay for it privately elsewhere and, of course, you might never have to.
Even a diesel hater like me would be tempted by that deal. Is your friend one of these horsey type females who wanders around in tight jodphurs, tight sweaters and tight riding boots? The best ones are the ones who do so but who don't smell of manure!
:-)