December 2008
I am halfway towards p/x'ing my 306 for a 207 SW at a Pug dealer in Cheshire, who was offering one at about a grand below current valuation (and about a grand below another example on his own forecourt - and two grand below others in the neighbourhood). There may be obscure reasons for this, but it seemed too good to miss.
No doubt in a few months that will also look expensive, but surely it can't be in garages' collective interest to push prices down that fast? Read more
Is it pointless using fully synt engine oil on a high mileage bmw 318 diesel?
The car has 100k plus and runs well.....I changed it when I bought it with some duckhams semi(Just to be safe)......and car seems ok.
Would castrol magnatec be ok?
The bmw site is confusing giving all this long life palaver.
Any advice appreciated. Read more
Depends on how long you want to keep the car. Started using Mobil SHC (previous to Mobil 1) in the 70s, and on tearing engines down at 100k (such as for head gaskets etc) it was remarkable how clean everything was, piston rings clean and tight, could even see the honing marks in the bores. I was convinced then and have run the family fleet on fully synth from whenever the cars got the first service. Extend the miles between oil services too. Currently 3 vehicles with over 800k miles between and never had an engine fault as such. It is costly, but you can obtain 5/40 fully synth or 5/30 at most factors for about £70 for 20 litres (4 x 5 litres). Before this in the 70s always used to change at 5k miles. Fully synth always changed between 10-12k. No hydraulic tappet problems, no cam wear problems, no big ends rumbling. Believe it works because it stays in grade, and also a fully synth has a thinner bottom end when cold 0 or 5 so it flows faster on a cold morning.
Any advice on fabric hoods? I have to leave my car out in all weathers and as this is my first convertible I don't how the weather will affect it. Read more
The BMW specialist who sold me my Z3 suggested some stuff you can get in Millets or other camping shops to protect tents. I haven't got round to it yet as the car is garaged but I will try to remember to have a look.
He also suggested rubbing Vaseline on the rubber seals to stop them getting too dry.
Hi, i have got a mk3 fiesta that i was told had a fuel pump problem, i have changed the fuel pump and sender unit, but still wont start, have had ecu diagnosis, and apparently faults couldnt be cleared and need new ecu, engine fires up, and cranks, but wont go that bit further,
Have beem trying 2 get the old ECU out, but cant unclip it.........any ideas please!!!
Subject title given a more meaningful title than 'please help me' - which is vague to say the least! Read more
Hiya
Mute point - but - the injector is connected to the fuel pump, pressurised and sealed. So the fuel you are pouring in is going with the air into the cylinders. Not physically possible to pour into the injectors....
Sounds like it is the throttle sensor then. Definatly unlikely to be the ECU if the car will start.
Hmmm. Best get your electrical guy out aqain maybe?
James
I have recently had a new thermostat fitted on my 2.0ltr 20v B6. At first the heater worked great and the temp gauge read constant 90 deg which is correct for this model, however now I am having a few issues which I need help with as I have a couple of long journeys ahead.
1) The heater only produces lukewarm air until the gauge has reached 90 deg and even when at that temp it doesn't blow that warm it only really blows hot when driving at 50mph plus. The heater temp seems to drop during town driving.
2) Occasionally the temp gauge drops down to cold and stays there for a period of time before returning to correct reading, the heater temp stays constant and blows hot.
I have no warnings coming on ie engine management and levels check ok, the thermostat is a complete unit incorporating the relevant sensors for temp gauge and engine management.
I have tried the heater unit in different mods ie AC, Econ, recirculate etc all set with temp on High and the heater motor set at about 50%, the problem is still there. The car runs perfectly well and the only thing missing from the system is the pollen filter which the garage removed because it was goosed, haven't got round to getting a new one, but can't see this being the problem. Read more
The hoses get warm and the heater seems to work ok now, still got an intermitat temp guage though, the unit fitted was agenuine VAG part and comes with sensors.
When driving yesterday I accelerated, the rev count went up but the car did not respond, this happened a few times. I've driven the car this morning to test it and it seems to be ok, does this sound like a cam belt problem or something else, any guidance would be greatly appreciated
I have looked at some of the advice given to other problems on the site and thought it might be best to explain the problem I am having further to see if anyone can suggest what it might be, I have assumed it's the cam belt but not certain? Read more
If the revs went up but no speed increase and then moments later the revs drop and you're speeding up... then it really does sound like a slipping clutch. If it is, who knows how much longer it will last.
Do get it checked out. I won't suggest some of the things I did to prove my clutch was slipping before because it might finish it off.
I bought a 2nd hand Renault Megane 2 months ago and it had a service history that included a replacement cam belt in Oct 2007. The car has been making a squealing noise when I start it up in the morning and yesterday felt as though I was losing power which I thought was the cam belt. Should the garage that fitted the cam bel last year fix this problem as the car has done less than 13k miles with thre new belt fitted? Read more
Thanks for your reply
'High-profile plans announced by Gordon Brown to ease the burden on motorists by making MOT tests less frequent have been quietly shelved, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.The about turn was performed two years after the then-Chancellor said that MOTs would move to every other year as part of a Government crack-down on bureaucracy and red-tape, and in order to reduce the cost on drivers.
In an embarrassing move, the proposals have been scrapped after officials calculated that making MOTs compulsory only every two years - rather than annually at present - would lead to a "significant increase" in deaths and injuries on the road."
www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/3724567/Two-year...l
Now isn't the bit about '"significant increase" in deaths and injuries on the road."' interesting. We are constantly told that speeding and drink driving are the biggest cause of deaths and injuries on our roads but suddenly the notion that dangerous vehicles will increase those figures is thrown in to the pot.
'Two years later, in a written ministerial statement slipped out this week by the Department for Transport, Jim Fitzpatrick, the Transport Minister, said that an analysis of the proposal had found a significant cost in human terms.
He said: "Our analysis suggests that a significant number of additional road traffic accidents would be likely if MOT test frequency was reduced.
"This is primarily because the annual MOT failure rate is already high (around 35 per cent) and if we were to reduce frequency, there is a very real risk that the number of unroadworthy cars would increase significantly. In turn, the number of road casualties would inevitably increase.'
Of course, no breakdown of the 35% failure rate is offered. Now judging by my own experiences of MOT failures, I wonder how many of those failures are down to incorrect number plates and their letter spacing, chips in the windscreen or emission readings, non of which would make a vehicle more likely to crash and kill people in my view.
The yearly MOT fee is like the TV licence fee, a tax in all but name. Who would want to throw away the opportunity to collect it every year ?
Read more
Until a few years ago the Irish were notorious for only testing vehicles once every
5 years!
They scrapped their MoT and introduced the NCT - the National Car Test. The NCT
is undertaken by a government agency rather than garages. I understand that it is more
rigorous than the UK MoT but is undertaken only every other year...
Wrong: Ireland never had an MoT test. The NCT was introduced in 2000 (see www.ncts.ie/faq.html#1), before which there was no testing regime at all.
What may be confusing you is that it was introduced in phases over several years, starting with the oldest cars and working up to the newer ones
I currently have a 2001 xsara, which I as driver adore, and is pretty much the right size for us, but the kids hate (feel sick in the back). It has done 150,000 miles, but is now starting to need some repairs.
So, what can I replace it with, for around £4000 - to £5000 at a push. Must be diesel, preferably hatchback. Dont care about the badge. daily commutes, family holidays.
I am currently looking at Mondeo's but I'm worried they might be a bit too large? Also considered Mazda 6, but there aren't many around here (north east yorks). Read more
Nice car - what colour - they have an ageless class about them Saabs.
Silver - it does look classy - not that that influenced me of course. It was purely a practical, hard-headed decision ;)
when i take key out of the ignition ot open the boot wiothout locking the car and then returnb to the car it sometimes fails to start for 10 mins or so and will then start! Electronic diagnostic experts fail to find anything wrong! any one else suffered same? or ideas of what problem may be? Read more
I would think this is very unlikely to be an immobiliser problem.These early model E46s did suffer with ignition switch faults which could be your intermitent non start.hth
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>You don't know how much he paid for the 207...< Indeed not. I believe it was a Peugeot lease car (13K miles), and probably the other one was too.
>If he gets a finance deal, or sells a warranty, then he's done well.< No, and No. But he seems happy anyway - and he gave me par p/x value too; in fact £300 more than Fords of Winsford offered. Unusual (in my limited experience) to get a better deal from a franchise than from FoW.
I am wondering how long that Pug dealer will last - many of the long-established ones have been sucked into big anonymous groups. Oddly enough I had an accountant's letter the other day about the Rochdale Renault dealer going into administration, where SWMBO's Clio came from years ago.