November 2008
some urgent help needed here please.
My friends younger brother has a Mreg polo. We went to put a new stereo in for him yesterday but it did not go to well.
The wires were in a terrible state and we couldnt wire the new one into them properly. so we put his old one back in but now it does not work.
Anyway now the car will not start.
The battery is not flat (put a multimeter on and reading was fine) and all fuses are in tact. The only way for the car to start is for us to 'bump' it.
We are going out of our minds now - PLEASE HELP Read more
Have things improved for the motorised masses since Labour's ascent to power in 1997? Were things really any better in the 80's and 90's and where do you think we would be had the Conservatives remained in power? Do you think that the spread of gatso's, reduced road building programmes, intrusive traffic calming, prohibitive 'green' taxes, inefficient bus lanes, suffocating legislation (from the E.U. side of things) are all inevitable parts of modern life? Moreover, has public transit actually improved in line with the government's general discouragement of personal transport? Read more
One of the changes for the worse are the speed humps, as mentioned earlier. It's a pity they couldn't put the tarmac to better use and fill all the potholes in which neccesitates owning a four wheel drive with balloon tyres to cope with Third world road surfaces. Probably explains why magic carpet ride Citroens sell so well over here too ;-)
My mum has an 05 Polo (1.4 Tdi) which just a few weeks out of warranty exhibited a fault whereby the offside rear wheel locks up whilst in motion.
Aside from the fact that the garage replaced her front brakes ("I have a problem with my brakes") and almost replaced the rear brakes at considerable expense (the car has done less than 40K miles), they now think that it is an ABS fault.
The fault is intermittent but my mum is now very worried about driving the car - the fault so far has only happened at low speed but if it happened at motorway speeds the result would be an immediate loss of control so it is extremely dangerous. The fault goes away if the car is left for 10 minutes.
Does anybody have any thoughts on
1) Likely hood of goodwill by VW or the garage towards fixing the fault. My mum has it seems already spent a considerable amount of money on things that haven't fixed the fault.
2) The cause of the fault. The garage just seem to want to keep replacing very expensive components (1200 for the ABS unit) when it could just be a sensor malfunction.
Help appreciated Read more
Likely hood of goodwill by VW
Never known anyone get anything out of VW, but it's worth a call.
If new car sales are well down as appeaers to be the case then surely in the near future the choice of second hand cars will mirror this and presumably push up prices.Thats my take on it...anybody any other thoughts? Read more
being produced at the same rate?..... how do you explain the long waiting lists for cars a t the moment, if they were parked in a big warehouse then there would be virtually no wait yet my Alfa is 20weeks Audi A3 is being quoted for Jan 2012 build date and the X3 a 10 month waiting list.
Now maybe cars are rolling out of the factory but they are not right hand drive models for the UK market as there is little profit in the UK market at the moment.. so a reduction in cars for the uk market means limited supply a few years down the line and an increase in used prices.....
I want to know if is necessary to remove all the items suggested by the Haynes manual. In particular is says to remove the inlet manifold, is this really necessary and are there any other parts that do need to be removed. ?
Many Thanks Read more
Not done one one on a Xantia but I have on an XM. I thought the same until I came to actually move the box away from the engine, then I could see why they said remove a+b+c. You might get away with leaving some things in situ but the extra access you get by removing them makes a diabloical job into only a very difficult one.
Car manufacturers recommend replacing the seat belts after an accident but is this ever carried out? Could you insist on it being carried out when your car is being repaired? Obviously if the air bag has deployed it gets replaced but I wondered if seat belts are overlooked... Read more
a sensable motorcyclist replaces his helmet afetr an accident incase it has a weak point.
A pal of mine was killed when he hit a tree because his seatbelt snapped!& he went through the screen. the corener said had the belt not broken he would of survived. we will never know for sure but the car had been involved in an accident 9 months earlier. For me I would alway insist on replacing a belt that had restrained someone.
Or words to that effect. how many times have you heard other car owners boasting about the amazing MPG they are getting from their car. Their car, (which is the same as a million others of the same models), is somehow special which has been blessed with special powers like a super hero.
What is it with so many owners, is it one up-manship, self delusion, a macho thing. You can't argue with them even if you present them with road test specs, it make no difference, they won't have it.
I'm sure you are all mature enough to see the folly of these people and never assign special powers to your pride and joy.
Maybe if so many motorist didn't kid themselves about the wonders of their motor we might get really fuel efficient cars at last. Read more
>>My car is more economical than your car
To that statement I'd reply that it almost certainly is and you've made the mistake
of assuming that I give a damn.
>>
Or in the words of Catherine Tate, "Am I boverred"
I purchased my Peugeot back in April. Its done just over 100k but I believe I should be getting better fuel economy.
I travel 90 miles a day to work and back and my top speed is only 70 mph with lots of straight roads at around 60 mph. The tyres are pumped up to the correct pressure and I don't thrash it very often, just now and again. I seem to be only getting about 35-38 mpg. Although even when I have a very steady drive it still seems to drink fuel.
Any suggestions or is this acceptable but it does seem to be drinking fuel.
Mark
{52 changed to 2002 as 52 is the reg plate, not the 'year of manufacture' - which is what the fill in box requested} Read more
Er indoors has the same motor, 2003, 49k, her daily 5 mile trip to work and back and the odd shopping 10 miler gives mpg of around 38 (oh and she still cant work out how to get it into 5th!!!), if i take it on a run, 60ish no heavy footedness I can get high 40's or more, as soon as I boot it a bit and take it over 70 the mpg drops to below 40, really bopping it gives 35 or less.
So your mpg doesnt sound too out of the ordinary, I have done a bit of super eco driving and got well over 50 but twas a tad boring after a while.
Has the motor been serviced recently, I Forte Diesel treatment 'ers every 3k and that seems to help 'free' everything up.
Cheers
CBG
Hi all, does anyone know how much roughly it would cost to have the front bumper resprayed on my S60. Read more
I knew it was a mistake to look at this thread. Bad for the blood pressure.
What utter and complete garbage modern so-called bumpers are. Of course I knew about Focus ones already. But Volvo used to be exemplary in this area. No longer, alas.
I am not over-impressed by owners who think it worth spending several hundred pounds to remove evidence of a bumper scuff. Sure, it makes the car look embarrassing. But if all owners just let them look like that, and potential owners began to turn off the model because it looked tatty when still young, then hey presto! manufacturers might pay more attention and start fitting something a bit more practical than these false-eyelash-type ornamental end panels.
Hallo
Twingo 1.2L (Renault R4 engine) 1993
The car has done only 40,000 miles. It is in mint condition. The engine works perfectly well, but recently acidy fumes started to come from around the air filter, but not (!) from the exhaust. This happens when the engine has warmed up, but it does not seem to effect the working of the motor.
What can cause this and what repair is needed?
Many thanks for your help.
Petervm Read more
Having examined the engine in more detail, and having driven the car, it became clear that the smoke was not oil based but a water/coolant mixture. As the water level in the radiator dropped, it appears that the head gasket is blown. We are going to look at the breather hose as well, but I am now quite sure that the culprit is the head gasket.
Many thanks for your help.
Petervm
Browse
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If it cranks but won't start, then starts with a bump; I'd check that you are still getting a feed to the coil when it's cranking.
As TB says; ignition switch.