A friend of mine asked a question to me that I have no idea of answering so I thought I would ask on here to see what options are available to him.

He runs a private hire company with about 50 drivers and 25 cars most are Vauxhall astra 1.7 tdi?s, now with the economic down turn he wants to reduce his costs and one of his biggest costs is fuel (even with the price going down) as he hires his vehicles out to drivers he knows most don?t driver them the way they should i.e. going to 3 ? 5 revs before gear change, is their any effective method (legal) to reduce or limit the revs a vehicle goes to, a few people have told me you can get them governed , restricted etc but I have no idea how to etc, so I would look like a twit telling him to get so and so done if I don?t know what it is my self. Also what revs does a mot tester require the vehicle to be on when testing its emissions.

Thanks guys for any feedback. Read more

Haven't used the car for a couple of weeks over Christmas and now it won't start (been garaged but still cold I guess). Hope someone can point me in the right direction (I am pretty clueless about things under the bonnet, so treat me gently!).

There seems to be plenty of battery power and the ignition system comes on OK (dashboard lights all OK), but when the key is turned to fire the engine there is a horrible high pitched "grating" sound from somewhere under the bonnet (seems to be in front of the driver but it is difficult to tell) - my best description of the noise! The engine doesn't fire (not that I have persevered trying for more than a second or two with the noise).

Any idea what this could be? If so, is it easily fixable by a novice d-i-yer (without a lot of technical equipment/ramps etc)? Expensive?

Thanks.
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When the lights are off (daytime) everytime i press my brakes my headlights and dashboard come on for as long as i press the brakes.

At night when all the lights are on this doesn't happen but my brake lights don't work

Any help would be great Read more

I have a Mercedes 124 estate, 230 TE. Built in 1989.
The alternator has recently been replaced and seems to be functioning okay. However the battery loses charge when running with the lights on; and eventually the car fails to run. (Not very convenient during these short winter days!) With the lights off the battery seems to get enough charge. Using a clamp meter I have measured the alternator output at 25 amps when the engine idles. The battery is not 'seeing this' and only shows a flow of about 2 or 3 amps. This changes to 'minus' 10 amps when the lights are switched on. So it seems there is a 25 amp drain on the alternator; but only when the engine is running. Removing various fuses one by one doesn't make any difference. The traction control is in fault and I have removed the controller; this makes no difference to the current draw. The cruise control hasn't worked for the last 10 years. The battery is 3 years old, Bosch Silver, but seems okay. The ignition coil is as 'old as the hills', but doesn't seem to be drawing large currents.
Does anyone have some advice? Read more

The new Fiesta could suit my requirements well. My problem is that the Zetec version offers neither the option of the 1.6 petrol engine nor the driver's lumbar support adjustment while the Titanium comes with 16" wheels and 195/45 tyres which I suspect are ill-suited to the badly-maintained country lanes and secondary roads which make up most of my journeys.

It doesn't look as though the higher profile tyres of the Zetec (15" wheels, 195/50 tyres) are available as an option on the Titanium.

Comfort is the priority rather than the ultimate in road-holding. Any views, especially from anyone with experience of the new Fiesta? Perhaps I'm being over-nervous about the low-profile tyres?
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