January 2009
Hi, i'm having probs with my old motor. its done 100k, not a great starter even though had new glow plugs fitted. it drives & pulls well but it idle's bad. it feels like its missing & blue smoke appears. the revs also rise & fall randomly.
Any help would be welcome.
Thanks,
Andy.
slt Read more
Look around for an independent bodyshop who will often be hundreds cheaper than a main dealer. As this is a paint job rather than a crash repair / panel replacement, the non genuine parts thing isn't an issue.
Bodyshops don't work cheap. To get the rear quarter and door repaired after a keying incident on our old Fiesta Zetec-S, cost £650 at an indie bodyshop seven years ago! I took it down there with a view to paying for it myself, and ended up sticking it through on the insurance after I got the quote.
Read more
let me know how you get on, with chips away we have a local chap to us at work I might get in to sort out a couple of little problems with mine....
.
with regards to keyed cars....
when i had my fiesta RS turbo, it was keyed twice in 9 months,,,so i sold it...
it was fitted with alarms, and everything else you could imagine to make it harder to pinch but that doesn't stop these kids damaging the paint.
in the end i used to take the car to a recommended spray company who used to let there sprayer use the place on saturday mornings and work on cash in had jobs!! cough cough.....no recept....etc....(this was 15 years ago)
the areas where then rubbed back to metal and built up and then the paint was baked.
it was said that if the kids that keyed the car really did a good job it can leave a dent in the metal.
after that car I bought a Golf and had no more problems...it just makes me angry that you work 5-7 days a week to pay your taxes/bills etc and run a "nice" car and someone doesn't like it.....
rant over
paul.
Wife drives a 9 year old volvo v40 and had the wheel valve caps pinched (all 4) last week at the supermarket....
Hi
My daughter has a problem starting her ford fiesta after doing about 20 to 30 miles, after she turns the engine off, the car will not start again for about 30 minutes. Did a service on the vehicle and also renewed the oil filter cap which was broken, cleaned all the hoses to the air filter etc. Checked the alternator and battery which all working fine, had to change the fan belt.
The car starts first time in the morning and runs well for a 13 year old motor with 73,000 miles on the clock, but got this intermittent fault not sure what?s causing it, ok on short trips. Read more
There is no distributor.
The coil should have a constant live feed. Its resistances will read roughly between 11kΩ and 16kΩ on the secondary side, and 0.5Ω on the primary side (between the middle and outer pins).
Make sure the plugs are gapped correctly (1mm) and as said get confirmation of fuel and spark first.
Have a look round the engine bay and make sure nobodies fitted any silly go-faster resistor boxes. Has the problem been there since she got it?
Hi Guys..
My P reg 1.9td Wont Turn Off? No Glow plug Lights.. No immobilizer lights
I had a problem where over night the battery went flat for no reason. the relay unit next to the pump reset switch was making lots of clicking sounds. I have managed to restart the car, however the car wont turn off?
I have been told it could be a bad earth to the engine?
Also when i reconnect the battery the glow plugs warm up(no light on the dash to say the pre heat is working) which also indicates a bad earth? i am going to clean the earth straps and connections to see if this helps.
All earth leads and connections nice and clean and covered in copper grease.
I seem to think after checking the earths they are all ok and make a good connection. i feel that the problem is the BLACK BOX at the back of the Battery box. see the pictures
schoolsrecycle.org/pankies.aspx
This was clicking like mad when i first had the problem. i think it may have burnt it self out? i am not sure what it does either.
I feel like a newbie. How I loved my Cortina, Escort and Imp
Thanks for any info that can help
Peter
Read more
Hi Chris
Thanks for the info. i will head for the scrap yard tomorrow.
Would this also solve the solenoid problem as well?
sq
Hi,
I bought a W reg Fiesta 1.8TD a few months ago. There are a few small issues I've noticed since buying it:
1) One of the front wheels stuck out and was much lower than the other. This was diagnosed by the garage as being a dodgy spring, so both front springs were changed. However one front wheel is still about 1cm lower in the arch than the other, although the suspension does feel much better. Is this normal?
2) When the clutch reaches the bite when stationary and you haven't given it much gas a squealing noise comes from the engine. Is this normal? The cam & alternator belt had been (apparently) changed just before I bought it.
3) When driving over 65mph sometimes a 'washing machine on spin' noise comes from the engine. Its not very loud, but noticeable. On investigation I discovered the engine had too much oil, so got some drained, and it didn't seem to make the noise for a few weeks, but now its back. What might this be?
Any info/comments very much appreciated!
Laurence Read more
Can only suggest that the squealing noise might indicate that the alternator belt tension isn't sufficient, and it's slipping when cold/damp when the car is first started. Same thing used to happen with my old Rover 214, but only when cold.
As for the front wheels, could be accident damage I guess. Can you check the suspension arms/subframes to see if any are bent. Any problems might show up if you took the car for a four wheel alignment, which would also make your tyres last longer and maybe improve the handling of the car.
Not sure about the engine noise. Could be something harmless like a noisy/worn alternator or power steering pump bearing, the slipping belt again, or even a worn turbo bearing. The latter would probably be accompanied by blue exhaust smoke though as the oil seals would probably be worn too.
My daughter's returning from her foreign travels and will no doubt expect her car to be available straight away. It's been sitting on a relatives drive for the last five months, in the open, with its' hard top on. It's only had two oil changes in its' five years. She wouldn't let me change the oil or brake fluid before it was parked up. I disconnected the battery, pumped the tyres to around 45PSI and sprayed around with WD40 as a rodent deterrent as recommended here.
I checked it around Christmas and put the battery on charge overnight. I didn't attempt to start it. The discs looked particularly corroded.
I thought I'd approach it with jump leads, disconnect the fuel pump and wind it on the starter until it had some oil pressure before I attempt to start it.
Any suggestions from the BR, apart from shooting her? Read more
My MGTF has been left parked up since the end of September - albeit in a garage and a trickle charger for the battery. Come April I expect to turn the key and drive off. I have done nothing different other than cover the hood, take the handbrake off and leave it in gear.
I did have to start it on Boxing day to get it out of the garage and it fired up first time with no problems.
Being outside may have killed the battery but other than that I doubt you will have any problems - there are many 1000s of new cars sat in fields and forecourts that are left for longer.
If she leaves it again, one of those chargers that plugs into the cigarette socket and uses daylight to re-charge the battery are fantastic for keeping the juice in - unfortunately they dont work in a garage though!!
I?m considering opting out of my company car scheme as the price of year old cars has never made opting out a real option for me.
I do 35-40k a year (25k business) and am considering buying a year old car. Vectra?s seem to be around the £7k -£7.5k mark of you go diesel, £6k for a petrol.
I get £500/month allowance if I opt out (£300net of tax) plus I?ll save another £225/month on company car tax. Net spend on car£525/month to break even.
The obvious expenses are Insurance (£50/month as I have no NCB), Road Tax, Tyres (I?m guessing 6 per year at £100/tyre) and maintenance (no idea on this one as I haven?t paid for years but I?ve budgeted £75/month)
Are there any expenses I?m missing out on?
I?d get a slightly better fuel rate from my company so that?s an upside as well.
Any other considerations I need to make, please advise.
I would run the car for 4 years (cars cannot be over 5 years old to qualify for a car allowance) so it would have circa 180-200k on clock.
Vectra diesel/petrol, any others to consider but don?t really want to pay over £8k for a year old car.
Thanks
Read more
If the main motivator here is to create a situation where you end up with more cash in your wallet each month then it may well be possible to achieve that by opting out. The downsides come when the unexpected happens as others have mentioned.
A more reliable method might be to ask your employers to provide you with a vehicle which attracts a lower BIK charge than the one you have currently.
Extreme example I know, but a pal of mine had an X5 provided by his employer. When it came to the time to replace it he asked them to get him a top of the range Mondeo diesel estate instead. He's quids in and actually rather likes the car.
I've just noticed on my wifes new insurance docs a couple of clauses under "Limitations as to use" that appear new.
The first disallows "The release of a seized motor vehicle other than the vehicle above".
and the second new one:-
"Use on the Nurburgring Nordschleife" as well as the usual no racing/pace-making stuff.
I'm in favour of the first, surprised by the specificity of the second, unless the insurance co. take my wife to be a girl-racer? Read more
not if it specifically excludes that piece of road.
and probably not if that piece of road is in Germany
I know I'm stupid but I wonder if anyone could help me.
I have managed to shut the key to my Focus in the bonnet (resting on the battery) and it is the only key that I have so I can't open the bonnet to retrieve it. Is there a way to open the bonnet without a key?
I'm really kicking myself, just thought I would check the oil, put the key down while I did so, shut the bonnet, then 2 seconds later realised what I had done!
Thanks Read more
"This user has requested their profile be hidden"
fredblogs - you'll have to change your forum settings if you want anyone to contact you about this.
I can't help you get the bonnet open without a key I'm afraid, but I've got a couple of suggestions - get yourself over to the ffoc or focusowners forums and try there too and also - I wonder if you could get under the car and reach up that far or use something that would reach (a short length of 2.5mm electric cable that you could bend into shape for example) to knock the key off ?
Hi All
Thanks for all your advice in the past and unsurprisingly I have a further question.
On just starting my 53 reg Mondeo I occasionally have a chugging noise which happens for a couple of minutes and then settles down. Performance seems fine and there doesnt seem to be a specific reason but with the current weather conditions it could be the cold.
NB: My car does have A/C but I dont tend to use it .
If you have any questions feel free to ask and thanks in advance Read more
It has happened to me on restarting after stopping at Mway services, so I don't think it's related to length of time the car has stood idle. Actually, that also rules out temperature-related issues too, which sort of deals with my idea about glowplugs :(
Browse
Sounds as though it could be sucking air into the fuel system somewhere, check around the fuel filter and primer and all the line connections.