December 2008
There is often dicussion about how big engines last longer than smaller ones.
Anyone here ran a Yaris 1.3 to any great mileage?
My misses asked me the other day how long her engine can be expected to last and I couldnt say really as ive never owned a Toyota or Toyota engined car.
My parents owned a Yaris Verso but only did 40k in it before selling it on. Read more
My 53 plate Vectra is only used for my 40 mile motorway commute, I rarely use it for short trips. After the car had been standing for four days I went to start it only to get the dreaded clicking that accompanies winter temperatures. The car is on its original battery (a 66AH)
I left the battery on charge yesterday and the car fired up fine after 8 hours. As part of my test/process of elimination I went out this morning expecting it to either not turn or sound pretty sick - thus indicating that the battery can no longer hold charge and needs to be replaced.
However the car started OK.
Question is whether I can trust this battery to hold charge. Experience tells me that once a battery lets you down once that's pretty much it. Are there any definitive tests I can do to ascertain whether one of the plates is done etc?
Thoughts please
Thanks Read more
Do you mean avoid an old car thats had engine work or just avoid old cars.
I think its beyond doubt and has been done to death that bangernomics does work. Else why do it?
In my experience it has not been cheaper to get a newer car than an older one. Newer are usually "better" so to speak but never cheaper.
I Guess this has been asked before but is it a timing belt or chain on this specific model. I am getting different answers from people I expect would know. Reason for the question is that it needs changing but the cost will be considerably more if its a belt rather than a chain. Read more
Thanks for the responses. The clock reads 49,875 but I have only had the car for 4 months so I do not know its history... likely to have been lots of short journeys.... but just to be on the safe side I would rather do it now and know I am safe for the next 50,000 miles or 6 years whichever comes first.
SWMBO tells me her Modus diesel is putting up a "Change Oil Soon" message (or words to that effect) on the dash.
The standard-use-conditions service intervals are 12 months or 12,000 miles.
But according to the service record, the previous owner only had the car serviced (including oil and ALL filters) at a Renault dealer's in February, and 7,500 miles ago.
No doubt I'll get the oil changed anyway just to be sure,
but I was wondering:
Does this engine employ some kind of optical translucency (or other) sensing, to determine when the oil needs changing?
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Have only just seen this. I was told that the service reminder light is displayed up to 6-8 weeks before the expiry of the 12 months service interval, assuming the 12,000 miles has not laready been reacheded. That's exactly what has happened in my 2 years' ownership of my Modus. So I think the sign displaying in December is about right for a service due the following February. No doubt this is Renault's way of bringing forward the next service.
Took my '56 2.2 (150) D4-D Avensis for its 40k service on Saturday. When I dropped the keys off at the service desk they explained that they also had to do an ECU re-program, as recommended by the factory. I'm not delighted with the results.....
Symptom 1 - On the five or six occasions I have started the car since the service it has started extremely poorly. It initially ticks over, rough as a tractor, at about 800rpm with some accompanying white smoke. Within 2-3 seconds the revs rise to a more normal (cold idle) 1100rpm or so. It has never started like this in the past.
Symptom 2 - the MPG is now appalling, averaging 36.5 on the computer over 100+ miles since the service. Usually I see high-40s mpg, occasionally into the 50s, and I find the computer under-reads. Many of these miles have been with cruise on at around 60mph on the Mway, no different to my normal commute pattern. On the way home tonight I monitored the 'momentary' readout and it varied between 30 and 45mpg generally, rarely getting into the 50s. I'd probably usually expect to see 50-70mpg under those conditions.
One non-scientific observation - the car seemed livelier during a quick acceleration in 3rd , probably just because it has been serviced, but it definitely felt more powerful.
Has anyone else seen similar changes after a service? Toyota or non-Toyota, would still be interested to know. (Strangely, my car also suffered a 5-10% drop in MPG after the 20k service, only being back to normal after the 30k one).
One other thing, they added fuel cleaner to the tank. Are these different for petrol and diesel? Is it possible that something unwelcome has been added to the tank? Read more
Recently I took My Avensis 2.24D to have a 60,000 mile service. Before taking it in I had enjoyed great MPG figures of 55- 65MPG and up to 80MPG on some long runs.
The service people said they had a recall to upgrade the ECU to fix poor starting at Minus 20 degrees in Sweden. After the service the car struggled to do 40 MPG and so I contacted Toyota. They gave anothe reason for the modification "to reduce premature wear" They have refused to undo the modification which is now costing me £15-20 a month so I am deciding to take legal action as the car no longer meets the specification it was sold with (bought from New). The mod is not mandatory but if Toyota askes the dealer top do it he is obliged to do it. Hence I intend to claim damages. The lerning cycle does nothing to improve things.
I have a Ford Focus with a 1.8 zetec petrol engine. The Hayne's manual for this model says that 10w 40 engine oil can be used as well as the recommended 5w 30 oil - does this mean that only performance and fuel economy will be affected and no damage can be done to the engine through the use of the 10w 40 oil. Perhaps you know other people who have used this oil. I read somewhere that why 5w 30 is highly recommended for zetec engines is because of the narrow oil ways in the lubrication system although other people say it is because of the hydraulic tappets needing thinner oil. In Car mechanics magazine it says on this matter that "thicker oil will sludge up and create all sorts of problems later on", although what grade they mean by "thicker" I don't know.
What do you know about this ?
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Do not take any notice of the Haynes manual, they are very inaccurate with details these days.
In my Passat Haynes book they get the tyre pressures and the oil specs wrong.
Useless.
I have rusty wheel arches on my car. I've sanded, treated, primed, painted, and laquered the repair.
Primer went on fine, as did the metallic colour coat. But my problem is with the laquer. I just cannot seem to get a smooth finish on it. It always sprays on 'speckled'. All the cans are from Halfords. And I sanded the paint coat with 1200 grit paper before laquer.
Can anyone recommend a different laquer manufacturer, or some advice on what I may be doing wrong? Or am i expecting too much? Read more
So general consensus is that its too cold and damp at the moment. Guess I'll have to live with the poor finish until it warms up, as if i dont get the bits of rust treated now it'll be a massive job come summer.
I have a 2001 Peugeot 806 hdi 16 valve engine with a lowly 41k on the clock.
Just recently (last few months) the engine management light came on and the car would not rev past 3000rpm.
The car then began to cut out (last few weeks) when taking your foot off the throttle whilst driving.
You cannot re-start the car straight away as you have to wait for the ecu to turn on the fuel lift pump (the one that sits in the tank) which can take 30 secs once the car has cut out. You can hear a relay switch on the right handside of the engine bay and then the fuel lift pump comes on and the car starts.
This was also accompanied by the car continuing to run on for a few seconds after the ignition had been turned off.
I understand from various threads that this seems to be a common fault on hdi engines and is the ecu trying to purge what it thinks is excess fuel pressure before shutting off the engine.
On cold days I had also noted that upon turning off the engine there is some sort of fan that continues to run for a few minutes longer on the lefthandside of the engine bay. The engine seems to have some sort of secondary "exhaust underneath the bonnet - drivers side"? where you can often see exhaust fumes coming out once the engine is turned off.
Not sure if this has any bearing on the current cutting out fault?....or if this is a normal characteristic of this engine?
Up until now the car has not missed a beat and has been happily running on a mix of biodiesel / svo and diesel.
A mechanic friend suggested that I check the fuel filter for blockages. The filter was clean and in good condition, but to be sure this was replaced.
The bottom of filter housing was also checked for any metal fragments, which apparently is the tell tell signs of failure of the high pressure pump or fuel lift pump.
Again this was clean and no signs of wear.
I have dropped the fuel tank and taken out the fuel lift pump and inspected it.
The pump was cleaned, the tank inspected (no dirt/gelling bio/metal fragments) and drained and again all looked ok.
On reinstalling the fuel lift pump and tank, the car was now cutting out more frequently, only running for half a minute before dying. The car has been filled with Shell Diesel 100% no bio/svo mix to rule these out.
There is plenty of fuel getting into the filter housing, so for the time being am ruling out a possible faulty fuel lift pump.
On checking various forums and threads, this seems to be a common complaint with many hdi engines...with a number of possible causes.
All Previous faults on the ecu were cleared and the diagnostics run again.
On running a second diagnostic on the car, two faults were coming up:-
Glow plug relay
Fuel pressure sensor
The engine management light continues to stay on.
I'm not sure why the glow plug relay fault is appearing as the car always starts great even in really cold weather?
I have disconnected the fuel pressure sensor (the one that sits upside down on the common rail with the red three pin connector) and by doing so the car no longer cuts out. But is now running badly with the timing all over the place...this is to be expected as the ecu would be running default settings.
Interestingly with the fuel pressure sensor disconnected the car no longer continues to run on when the ignition is turned off. Also the exhaust fan that would run for a few minutes after the car is switched off - is also not coming on ( not sure if this is correct or not?)
If i reconnect the pressure sensor the car will cut out again....only after a few seconds.
My mechanic friend has suggested I take the car to a diesel specialist as there are a number of issues which could be causing the car to cut out:-
1. Possible faulty fuel lift pump (pumping but not strong enough to reach threshold pressure)....ruled out for now
2. Fuel pressure regulator sticking/jammed/blocked
3. Faulty pressure sensor - poor connections/ weeping internal o rings
4. High pressure pump failure - again this has been ruled out for now as the car does run when the pressure sensor is disconnected.
My mechanics view is that it is unlikely to be either of the pumps as the car would just not run (even with the pressure sensor disconnected?)
So I am leaning towards replacing the pressure sensor and see what happens next.
Can anyone shed some light on what is going on here?
This is beginning to spoil what has been a positive experience with this car.
I have really enjoyed the soft ride, internal space / sliding rear doors and quiet powerful engine.
But if I can't get to the bottom of the engine problem...then the car will have to go and make way for another.
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Anyonw out there that could offer any opinions? or seen this before?
Cheers Tone
Hi, need help desperately, my 03 Citroen Picasso exclusive has a problem with the light/indicator stalk, when operating the indicators the lights come on, I am thinking the unit is at fault. How would I go about replacing this unit?
Any advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks. Read more
www.citroenpicasso.org.uk/picasso/index.php?showto...0
Go to post 50!
However there is something in the back of my mind that says there are different versions, but I am not sure when the change took place.
p
The front suspension on my Scenic is very noisy (almost graunching!) over undulating bumps, and particularly noticeable over speed humps. I have lubricated all bushes (that I can get to) but to no avail. Any ideas / help appreciated as I am now thinking I need to replace antiroll bar and drop link bushes? Read more
Hi harfmouse,
I have the same problem and being quite handy with a spanner I am gonna try and do it myself. Was just wondering if you have had a crack at doing this job yet ? Does the sub frame have to be dropped etc or can it be done in situ ?...
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Ok thanks saw it is the Yaris CBC and it didnt mention which engines.