January 2009
We have an Automatic Rover 400. Acceleration is pathetic and engine revs seem higher than we would expect for any given speed. Kickdown works. Putting your foot down increases the revs but negligible acceleration. Fuel consumption as about 28mpg on a long run.
Any ideas for how to check if torque converter is faulty, it feels like the fluids are flowing too easily in it, the vanes not trapping the fluid well enough allowing the revs to increase but no acceleration.
Does the converter use the same fluid as the box or is it a sealed unit please. Can I put a heavier fluid in the box if it is unsealed?
Any ideas please, Vinnie. Read more
Hi
I have 2001 2.2 SRi Vectra, just to clarify that everything seems to be working fine however the engine light stays illuminated all the time. Having checked it with the dealer I bought it from they say that no fault code had been stored.
So is this a really bad thing that it isnt storing the code? If so what am I looking at price wise to get it fixed? The car itself drives perfectly fine, theres no knocking noise, no leaks, no loss of acceleration and the engine doesnt misfire so I am slightly confused (sorry Im not so mechanically minded)
Maybe it is something really simple but seeing as I am known to worry I would like your thoughts on the matter.
Any help would be great, thanks! Read more
Does anyone here know any good, reputable dealers in the hampshire area?
Cheers Read more
Just find a dealer that's owned by an individual or family, rather than by a chain. Picador is, or used to be. So are most Skoda dealers.
SWMBO's Minis have come from Wood in Odiham - good sales and service, and I think they are family-owned.
I tried to pull out of a junction, the engine was running but i had no drive. it was still in gear and they seem to change as normal.
I have spoken to a renault dealer and the seem to think its the clutch, another garage thinks it could be a drive shaft?
I had no problems up till now with the drive of gears.
I have noticed the the O/S tyre has worn would this happen if the drive shaft has been on its way out. steering wheel did wobble a bit at speeds between 70- 80.
if anyone has any ideas and could help i would be very thanksfull.
Read more
The Missus noticed this at 3.00 this afternoon, when she got out and locked the car. Was still running when I got home at 8 !!
The battery is almost flat and the only way to stop the fan was to disconnect the battery.
Have placed the battery on charge overnight and shown her how to disconnect the battery (clever screw thingies) but I need to find a solution tomorrow afternoon.
Not sure where to look.
Any help much appreciated. Read more
Its probable the relay for the fan has failed and the contacts have fused together. It was about 5 years since I saw this problem but I think the relay is a large affair between the fans. Simply unplug it to temporarily solve the problem.
Can anyone tell me how to reset the service light on a 2005 1.9dci renault espace Read more
My Mondeo has 31k on it, and will be 2 years old next month. I've just got it back from the local Ford dealer, where I'd left it with a 'rough idling when cold' problem. When I collected it, they told me it would need left back next week, to have the crankshaft pulley and timing chain tensioner replaced. I assume its ok to drive as normal until then... am I right..? I have noticed an odd unevenness to the way it runs, particularly obvious at a constant 2000rpm in 3rd. Any suggestions? Any observations? Read more
Ford had a special TSB (service advisory) over this part of the engine but it shouldn't really apply to the last of the Mk3s like yours but as it's under warranty let them do what they suggest. It won't cost you anything anyway.
As for the days off the road with the EGR I was in the same boat when mine went at 2.5 years and 25k miles. They were in very short supply. Wonder why!
I have the ?Engine Antipollution System Defective? warning on my cars display. The yellow Engine Diagnostics warning light is also illuminated and the car is now running in Limp Mode ie running very rough and underpowered.
I borrowed a fault code reader which said "P0301 Cylinder 1 misfire" which I assumed meant that the front right hand Injection Coil was defective. I replaced this today but the car is still the same as described above.
I am going to try to borrow the reader again but, in the meantime, wondered if anyone has any other suggestions on what the problem might be or things which could be checked.
Many thanks in anticipation of any replies Read more
I hope you have sorted out your issue but if you have not, i had the same issue on my Peugoet 406 Coupe 2.2 HDI and after a couple o expensive trips to the dealer i fond that the turbo pipe had a minute hole in it and this was throwing up the ?Engine Antipollution System Defective? warning, when they swapped it out (Oct 2007) it cost about £45 - if i recall correctly.
I had the same under power (limited to 3K RPM) and sounding rough running as you have described. Personally a daft error message for the error. Annoyed at dealer fopr charging me twice to clear the error message and then it came back on after a few miles but thankfully a cheap replacment part sorted it.
Feel free to give me a shout to discuss further.
Abid
My "fleet" (2008 Octavia 1.8 TSi Ambiente HB & 2008 Nissan Qashqai 1.6 Visia) are both due their first service.
I have previously entrusted most mechanical work to a well trusted friend of the family, but this time I find both cars need the main dealer to reset the service indicators.
Anyway I rang round and was as always amazed by the variation in price quoted for what amounts to little more than an oil change.
In the end I was quoted £99 (inc VAT) for the Octaiva. I then managed to get this down to £57 by taking my own oil (I got a cracking deal on Castrol SLX II longlife VW505/507 at Cost-co last year). They also greased all the hinges/locks, checked tyre pressures, inspected the car underneath and also checked for stored error codes in the ECU (none found), so not bad for the price paid.
The Qashqai however is another matter. My local Nissan main dealer, who is situated less than a mile from the Skoda place quoted me £190 I asked what this involved and was told an "oil and filter change". The service guy told me the book time is 1.3 hours for the service, so I can only imagine what their hourly rate must be. I've Emailed 5 other main dealers for a quote and as of yet have had 1 reply !! This is a much more reasonable £120, so up to now it looks like they get the business.
As far as the cars go I'm pleased with the Octavia. The new 1.8 TSi (as seen in various new Audi's and VW's) is a marked improvement over the old 1.8T 20V in terms of performance and fuel economy. It is also chain cam, so no more 4 yearly cambelt changes. The car looks very plain in Ambiente trim (15" alloys, no exterior chrome, no spots etc) but is fairly quick (139 mph, 0-60 7.8 seconds). The six speed box is slicker than the 5 speeder in my old Mk1 Octavia's and is geared at just under 30 mph/1000 revs in top, so makes it a relaxed cruiser on the motorway.
The Qashqai I'm less enamoured with. It is obviously much slower than the Octavia due to its 45 BHP deficit, but also manages to be marginally more thirsty to boot (? power / weight). It has developed numerous rattles in the cabin and a knocking from somwhere in the rear over the last few months, which I hope the dealers can rectify. I do however like the way it looks and find the chunky tyres let you mount kerbs with no thoughts of damaging the alloys.
I've looked around at other cars, but think I'm finally loosing interest in swopping every few months. I could be tempted with the facelifted Octavia vRS in June/July though. Read more
further to my last post the manual actually states 95 RON minimum, although makes no mention of the need for higher octane fuel.
Hi, this is my first post and I'm looking for some advice before I decide on my next company car. I'm about to give back a Jag X type sport premium 2.2D. I need something bigger with the new car as we now have a large dog, plus I need something which can take the knocks on the unmetalled roads around where we live (the Jag's 18" wheels and LP tyres have been knocked into pieces).
My company has deals with Ford (inc. Jag, Volvo and LR) and VW/Audi. I had an A4 Avant before the Jag and was very pleased with it, so I'm favouring either an Allroad or the new Q5, both 3.0 TDI.
Any views on either of these two, or suggestions of viable alternatives from the Ford or VW stables?
Thanks in advance.
Don Read more
Just a thought. And feel free to ignore. You have a budget of about 30k for the car. Will your company give you a cash alternative, and then you can buy a virtually new Forrester privately - for about half list price...
If your company is buying the car, then it won't make any difference (i.e. they'll take the depreciation hit when they sell it in 3 years), but if it's leasing it, then the cost of leasing, in view of the shocking residuals at the moment, is likely to be higher than expected.
If you can bear (and I know you may not) to run a fractionally older car, then you will get a fantastic deal and be well in profit if the cash alternative is sensible. (It always seems a shame to me to take a brand new car and make it suffer unmetalled roads and dogs.)
Browse
Assuming that your car has a conventional automatic gearbox;
>>Does the converter use the same fluid as the box or is it a sealed unit please.
It will be the same fluid
>>Can I put a heavier fluid in the box if it is unsealed?
No.
You need to do, or have done for you a stall test. This will tell you if there's any slipping in the gearbox (note, despite the name, this is nothing to do with the tick over speed, or the engine stalling). Also, check the colour and smell of the transmission fluid - if it's brown and burnt, then you've got slip and wear problems.
Typically, torque convertors don't fail in a way to give more slip - it's much more likely to be a gearbox problem.