November 2008
Trying to replace the courtesy light bulb in a 1998 Fiat Punto 85 SX with manual sunroof. Haynes says to remove two screws from the front of the light console cover, then undo the screw from the sunroof crank, and remove the crank. Then theres a pictorial guide to the bulb arrangement once youve removed the console cover from the roof, but no actual indication of how you take the cover down. Even after removing the said screws, the rear of the console appears to remain firmly in place, and I dont want to break it by forcing it. As far as I can tell, unlike more basic models its not simply a case of prising off the bulb lens and replacing it.
Anyone any ideas?
Cheers. Read more
As well as being determined to railroad tolls through against public opinion as well as retrospective car tax; the government want to introduce compulsory car sharing lanes on 500 miles of motorway and A road,penalty for breach £100. The mileage will probably go up.
I will keep my thoughts to myself but what do you think? Read more
"economy thing..which had little dash board lights that lit up"
I had a Peugeot 505 with this Westpig also about 20 years ago. I think it went Green - Yellow - Red if I remember, depending on your right foot. Anyway, in your colleague's defence - it was very addictive.
Can anyone tell me what the camshaft sensor does, and if it is faulty/broken what will happen to the car?
Thank you. Read more
It's a phase sensor, which allows the ECU to determine which of the pairs of cylinders which move together in a 4 cylinder engine (1 and 4, 2 and 3) is actually being fired, and which is on overlap.
Without it, the ignition will function no differently (it's a so-called wasted spark system), but, the injection will revert to *ganged mode, where all injectors fire together every 180 degrees of the crank, as opposed to operating in sequential mode when each injector opens while the relevan inlet valve is open.
Failure of this sensor will usually put the engine management light on, but the car will probably remain quite driveable.
* ganged mode sounds much worse than it really is - many fuel injection systems did this and much worse until the mid 90's or so.
www.break.com/index/worlds-most-impressive-garage....l
My broadband is slow today so this isn't playing well but some of these seem to have British type Reg plates?
Anyone any idea where this is or who it belongs to?
{typo in header corrected} Read more
I suspect so
www.classicdriver.com/uk/magazine/3200.asp?id=10495
www.supercars.net/PitLane?viewThread=y&gID=2&fID=0...7
A few years ago when proceeding to the Sultans polo championship I found myself in a convoy of exotic vehicles.
I was reliably informed that the cars were for the Sultan to choose from for his return trip back to home.
www.bruneinews.net/story/294362
LUXURY CARS
531 Mercedes
367 Ferraris
362 Bentleys
185 BMWs
177 Jaguars
160 Porsches
130 Rolls-Royces
20 Lamborghinis
OTHER TRANSPORT
Two Boeings, including a 747-400 jumbo jet, one Airbus, six smaller planes, two helicopters
Many more non motoring info in the above link.
Makes your eyes water !!!!
Can anyone please explain why the rear screen heater top three elements do not continue right to the edge of the screen on the near side. They are therefore not electrically connected. They are not damaged; just incomplete. Am I missing something? Read more
Thanks also Pendlebury. Very grateful. J.J.
Having had the priveldge to drive two different newish (08 fabia and 03 octavia) skodas recently, I thought Id post my expericences on the here to gauge peoples thoughts/criticisms
Now you would image that nobody would touch a skoda with a bargepole but I have to admit to be impressed. Now the 08 fabia is OK. I have felt head over heels with the interior and exterior. Its OK and the two tone works well but I was impressed with the engine. 1.4 TDI goes very well indeed and sounds musclar and like a flat 6 porsche at the same time. The estate is a good size and rivals the golf very well for space
I was most impressed with the Octavia. 1.9 TDI 110 HP which is very smooth and powerful. The interior if the Octavis is excellent, quality materials and a still a nice smell for a 5 yo car. By far the better car of the two
As Im used to drive old hacks normally it was a nice change and cant understand why people shrugg skodas and the ilk off so easily
What are your thoughts?
slt Read more
We test drove an Octavia 4x4 TDi when we were due to change last year. Very impressive and would have been a very strong contender apart from the seats, too hard!
I think I may have gone through a speed camera at 35mph in a 30. My speedo was on about 35 so I am guessing I may have been doing 33 but I may have been going a little faster. There is this road Chester Road heading towards the Manchester United stadium, it is 40mph most the way but then becomes 30mph I have onlyu just noticed this and there is a speed camera there.
I am now worried I might have 3 points on my licence which will be annoying as I never knowingly exceed the limit.
This happened a week ago, I think I will be ok as the speed camera is near the junction I pulled out of, so I doubt I could have got upto even 30mph where the camera is. Anyway I just wanted to know if a speed aweareness course would be an option if I did get a ticket? Read more
Not too much of a topic creep, PU , as I am typing this about half a mile from the location of the OP's possible misfortune !
Ted
Sunday musing. Most mass produced cars have been FWD for years. The reasons seem to be mainly to do with manufacturing expediency. There are notable resistors such as BMW and Mercedes but by far the majority have followed this trend. Some would argue that FWD with its inherent tendency to understeer is generally safer in the hands of the less experienced or merely disinterested driver but surely there would be plenty of motorists who would still favour the purity of a RWD car?
No great secret that most performance competition spec cars are either RWD or 4WD with a power bias to the rear.
If your budget / lifestyle / needs etc limited you to mainstreamsville motors would you choose a RWD over a FWD if it were readily available ? I would in a heartbeat having been automotively weaned on them.
I mean, who would pull a wheelbarrow ? Read more
Lucky you. We've a horse (and a very muddy field, lane/yard etc), the barrow - with its pneumatic tire - is happier being pulled.
I think the pushing (because of the angle) tends to devote a % of the effort into the ground, hence making it harder - where the pulling devots the % to pulling up and pulling along - hence why it works
James
In most automatics, you can see in which gear you are in dashboard displays.
But I've not seen such display in any manual cars!
What's the reason?
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A couple of hire cars I had in Germany (I think they were both Golfs) had this. It took me a little while to work out what it was...... on the display was a number either by itself or with an up/down arrow - the arrow indicating whether you should change up/down gear. It must have been a slow week at VW......
We are currently looking to buy a new Ford Fiesta Zetec.
Having found a good deal at Archers of Ashby:
www.archersofashby.co.uk/New_Fiesta_Prices(discounted)/Fiesta_Zetec.htm
We asked our local Ford dealer if he could match it - he couldn't, the reason being (he said) that the Fiesta price is increasing by £500 December 1st and the options we want make the car a factory special, so we will have to pay the extra even if we order now.
I would be happy to go with Archers, except for the small print that says the price they quote only applies if the car is registered before 31st December (which it won't be).
I would have thought that once you have ordered the car and put down a deposit, the price would be fixed, or am I missing something?
Any thoughts? If nothing else, putting up car prices in the current economic climate seems like an 'interesting' business plan?
Cheers
Chris
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Chris123 wrote: "Decided to order from drivethedeal.com in the end."
Chris,
Be interested to hear how you get on with the new Fiesta, my uber-reliable Focus can't go on for ever.
Quite fancy a Titanium diesel Fiesta, although the starting price of around £12k is a bit off-putting.
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Hi Chris, thats possible--will check it out later when I get it back from having the emissions diagnosed, as per another thread.
There are two further screws which I didnt remove, in the sunroof crank recess--I assumed they were something to do with the sunroof mechanism but they may be the key to freeing the entire console.
Thanks for your response.