February 2009
I was wondering if anyone could help with the following:-
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(Apologies....a bit of a rambling story......)
'95 Xantia.....when starting 1st thing a.m., it takes a long time for the suspension to rise.(approx 1 minute)
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What happens is that the "stop" light stays on for approx 20 secs, during/after which the brakes do not work at all. (depressing the brake indeed re-illuminates the "stop" lamp)
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I pump the brake several times, and then the rear decides it wants to raise to the correct height.
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I then test brakes...eventually they "bite" voilently (probably on third attempt after previous pumping having seemed to kick the rear of the car into life).
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All is then absolutely fine.....ride is good, system remains pressurised throughout, until it has been resting overnight.
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This situation appears dangerous, but we have just got used to it over the past year, carefully testing brakes before moving off completely.
All 4 x corners are springy (spheres replaces over past cople of years).
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centre one in engine bay also replaced......have nil persistent ticking from pump.
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I removed filters/reservoir today, hoping to find filters clogged....they were really quite clean, despite my not having changed the LHM for 7 years!! (just a few black "gritty" looking bits)
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All washed in petrol thoroughly today, blown dry with hair-drier....re-assembled, filled with hydraflush....exercised to limits repeatedly, depressurising at lowest setting.
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The only sphere I haven't replaced is the rear middle....looked a pig to get at.
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I will test tomorrow a.m., but I am already convinced that I have not fixed the problem, in light of the clean filters.
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I would be grateful if anyone had any suggestions as to what the cause could be.
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Many thanks, Steve
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A hypothetical question here for the techies. I remember back in the mid 90s a supercharged Mazda 626 Diesel that only had 70 bhp but quite high torque. So let's imagine a car with say 90 BHP from 2-2.5 litres but with say 280 lb ft of torque. What would it feel like on the road?
I'm not that technical but would be interesting to read your views. Read more
No, its the Coupe, but the engine is from the Sonata I believe.
my golf gl is misfiring. Iv put new spark plugs in and the leads are still fairly new, I've changed the dist cap and rotor arm .... what else can I check and change? Read more
Interesting. How did you troubleshoot it to a fuel pump? How easy are they to change on these?
James
Hey, just bought the above and found that the idle is 1500rpm. when ive looked at the throttle body there was tape covering the idle control vavle. took this off and give everything a good clean and even bout a new throttle body with ICV. now the car still idles at 1500rpm but once the acclerator is touched it revs on its own between 1500rpm - 2000rpm constantly. Only way to gain steady idle is to block air going through Idle control vavle even though this is new. any ideas? thanks. Read more
Does anyone know the true cost of Metalic paint and why car makers charge so much extra for it?
Im looking at possibly changing the Jag for a BMW 5 series and on the American BMW website the amount you get included at 'no cost' is quite surprising.
No cost options for automatic transmission and metalic paint are common.
I realise the USA is a differnt market and auto over there is pretty much standard but it still makes me think we get a a raw deal in the UK. Read more
As i said - dont worry about it. They make very few cars with flat
colours these days so when you order a car just tell them you dont want
a flat colour and you aint paying extra for metalic. They wont argue the point.
If you ever get a dealer to the bone on a deal they won't include metallic. If they do include it you're not getting the best deal yet. Same with getting flowers or "free gifts" and mats.
FYI...
On ITV's This Morning programme today they had an item about buying new and used cars in the credit crisis.
They had Quentin Wilson on and he went through several deals he had found - a 23K Citroen for 16K, a Peugeot and one of those VW Eco cars which is 14K list apparently but he found one from a dealer for about 10K.
Anyhow, he concluded that you should be aiming to get at least 20 to 25 percent off the price of any new car in a dealer at the current time!
Read more
>> Is that with or without trading in your old car?
>>
I believe it was if you walked in with a wad of notes - no
trade in.
So it won't apply to the vast majority of new car buyers.
Hi can anyone help me I have a E46 2ltr which has started intermittently cutting out & will not start for about 30 min. When it cuts out all warning lights light up. it went on diagnostic & came up with numerous errors including camshaft timing - too late, engine speed sensor - no signal, ECU - signal error, camshaft posisition sensor (intake) - speed signal error, camshaft timing - too early (both A & B). When reset the car will drive fine for about 1 hr then will do the same again. I've been told it could be the crankshaft sensor or camshaft sensors, does anyone know if this would cure the problem or if it could be something more serious? any help would be appreciated. Read more
This is probably a Valvtronic engine 318 which are known for problems with cam and crankshaft(engine speed) sensor causing cutting out and stalling.Get them both changed .The crank sensor is a pig to access and usually requires removal of the inlet manifold.hth
A friend has a 96 A4 estate and appears to have intermittant imobiliser probs.
Sometimes it won't start plays with key it then fires and run without probs. The AA man said he is almost certain its the key.
Local VAG specialist gets a fault code of intermittant fault! Has quoted £250 for replacement
Question can the Immobiliser be bypassed? & car run without one? Read more
Yeah thats the prob only the 1 key!! Car is banger teretotory so no probs re insurance
My petrol clio Alize (90+k miles) has just started making a high pitch noise (like an aircraft getting ready for take off) - noticable becuase I do a lot of local driving!. I took it into Renault today and on popping the hood they said it sounded like the auxillary belt but it may be the cam belt and quoted from £150 - £500! The service manager was quite blase about it like I had a spare £500! Any advice?
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I did have a new cam belt fitted sometime before 2005 but can't remember when - so fingers crossed it's the aux. Ta.v.much for the advice - now all I have to do is find a non dealer garage!
currently have a vectra 1.8 petrol which is misfiring from inlet manifold at about 2000 revs get past this its okay, it improves when warm. Currenly relplace MAF, canister purge valve , dis pack, removed egr valve and it is working checked for leaks checked pipes etc, cleaned throttle and hole resealed gasket with no avail, still same problem. i did the paperclip test and faults were 0443 tank vent valve which i replaced 0100 maf which i also replaced 0110, 1405 egr. blanked this no joy 0135 and 0130 o2 sensor, also replaced, i have also done the yellow wire earth mod no joy.
i have reset ecu but same faults occur.
This is really taking its toll on me and have tried everything any ideas ?
Ecu light is on and off at the mo but no new faults stored and car not driveable due to misfire
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That sounds pretty random, but glad it's fixed, thanks for the update.
Browse
Hi Stevie.
Completely knocked out to read your fault/description !
I have PRECISELY the same symptoms on my 1998 xantia 1.8i estate !
Can't tell you how concerned I've been regarding brakes etc.
So far, no help or advice from anyone that helped. What was the result for you when you changed the centre sphere? Did that solve everything? I've only changed the two rear ones, so far. I don't think any of the professionals I've talked to even believed me ! Or maybe they thought I was just being a fussy git. Reading your stuff was a REAL Hallelujah moment.