February 2009
HI
I'm travelling to Seattle in September and looking at hiring a car and spending a few days exploring. I've never driven in the USA and I'm a little nrevous to be honest, does anybody have any advice and or experience of driving across the pond.
Thanks in advance.
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is it possable to change the autobox oil on my vectra ? if so then how do i do it ? Read more
I pulled into the motorway services about 7:30am today with the idea of grabbing some sleep. I picked a quiet spot away from the buildings. Within a few minutes a new BMW X5 parked alongside with the same idea. Surprisingly he just laid back with his diesel still running & fell asleep.
I can understand the need to keep an engine running in the Artic but not on the outskirts of Birmingham when the weather is mild. It was very tempting to knock on his window and wake him up to tell him his engine was running but I thought better of it preferring to continue my journey.
Is leaving an engine running while taking a nap acceptable and common? To me it seems wrong. Read more
Many BMW's, and surely the X5, have residual heating anyway which, with the press of a button, keeps the car warm for an hour or so after the engine is turned off.
Some Merc's have it too, and I know from comments on the Merc forums, that many owners don't realise they have that capability.
what is the proceedure to remove the alternator on my 1997 corsa 1.2. I'vw looked at it and dont know where to start. Read more
Is it me, or are the news items getting sillier?
Mazdas are 'perfect as company cars'. That's fair enough, the 6 is a lolvely looking car, and it's probably great as long as it's not you paying for frequent oil changes because the diesel particulate filter fills the sump with diesel.
But we are then told that this diesel estate car costs half what a large, heavy, thirsty 4x4 does per mile, while not mentioning that it is completely unable to tow the same weight, go offroad, or do anything much that would make the comparison more relevant. WHY??
in other shock news, the Mazda MX5 has less carrying capacity than an 80,000 tonne cargo ship, but is considerably easier to park on your drive. Readers may want to consider a new MX5 if a quick blast down some country lanes is more their cup of tea than international container shipping.
Honestly, who writes this drivel, and why do they insult our intelligence by publishing it?? Read more
"The Severn Bridge has reopened after being closed for 3 days due to high winds
much to the relief of drivers who have had to make the detour via............"
Ermm did they mean "To the relief of drivers who DON'T have to make the
detour.....) ?
No, they said it right ~ " .......... to the relief of drivers who have had to make the detour via............" whilst the bridge was closed.
I took my ford escort 1990 eclips to the garage to let them diagnose a rumbling / knocking noise I have coming from the front of the car when driving. The noise has got louder over the past recent five months.
The noise is less evident when going up quite a steep hill where I live. Also when steer the car on a bend to the right its not as load until I straighten up the car again.
The garage test drove the escort then put it on thre ramp and jacked up the front so that they where able to spin the front wheels when in gear accelerating.
They told me it was ethier one of the two front ball joints or the noise was coming from the gearbox. They said it was one of those situations where it could be any of those faults.
For the garage to do the ball joints alone would be £150.00 and no quote was given to repair the gear box. Clearly it would not be cost effective to repair if it is the gear box.
I was not charge by the garage for their time on this ocassion. Has any one any other ideas besides what the garage told me ? Read more
Must agree at that mileage it can be lots of worn things but you need a second opinion.
Auctions have plenty of cheap cars at the moment with the country on it's knees you may pick up a bargain.!
What a fascinating looking car.
It looks enormous in the video parked next to that Jag - looks like loads more head room in it than the Jag. Later on in the vid it is near a Passat or Audi A4 (?) and looks to dwarf it also in height.
HJ, do you know if the steering wheel is extendable or not? Read more
Soul looks interesting and a definite change from the usual crop of hatchbacks.
Have a look at the Honda Element on the Honda USA web site www.honda.com. These were everywhere last time I was in New York and I think it's a great pity Honda never imported them to the UK.
alfalfa
What is it nowadays with drivers and their indicators. It?s a case of I won?t bother indicating and pull out or force my way in. Or my indicator is on and here I come ready or not.
Don?t even ask about indicator use on roundabouts nowadays as nobody seems to bother.
Had a bad day today ;o ) Read more
Most drivers are lost in their own little world and can't be bothered to let anyone else know their intentions, hence their lack of indicator usage, plus why they can't be bothered to use the handbrake when waiting at traffic lights.
I wonder how many people would opt for indicators were they to be made optional extras, which they may as well be for the majority of drivers such is there lack of use or knowledge on how to use them correctly.
I, for one, will continue to buck the trend and use indicators at every roundabout and every turn and in good time to ensure I inform those around me of my intentions.
What's more, drivers actually seem to respond well when indicators are used, one wonders why so many don't mirror this good practice, after all it only requires the movement of one finger.
I know this is a bit cheeky but....
Is anyone here an active member of fordgalaxy.org.uk? If so, I wonder if you could help me get in touch with one of the admins or mods......
I am a member of the forum, but recently changed my email address and am now locked out of the site until I validate the email address. BUT...It appears that the email features of the site aren't working so I can not re-validate my account. I have been trying to access for a while now but had no luck.....I have also tried creating a new account with different email address in the hope of getting in to contact an admin to resolve the issue but have had no luck, I have also emailed the address on the site to report problems with the forum but it links to the wrong email address and I haven't had any reply.
I know this is a unconventional way of making contact, but if anyone here is a member of the fordgalaxy.org.uk forum, please can you contact them on behalf, let them know that there is a problem with the automated email on the site and ask them to re-enable account (username: purct)?
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If someone could e-mail one of the mods here with a resolution and we'll forward it on to the OP. No need for a lengthy debate. So the the thread is locked.
Hi all.
I have recently purchased an 06 Focus with 80k on the clock. Everything runs sweet on it and I know Ford say 100k for a belt change but as I have always erred on the side of caution I'm wanting to get the cambelt changed in the next 10k miles (before a trip to france in summer)
Have always done my own belts on past cars (lastest was a 406 HDI) but I think this one, without the aid of a haynes book may be a little bit tricky, so think I'll send it to the local indy.
Was wondering if anyone has any experience of these engines with this mileage, should I have any other bits changed while the belt is off? e.g water pump etc.
Thanks Read more
Is it not the same engine that is in the Jaguar 2.0d if so its a chain and not a belt.
Browse
>very high percentage of other drivers carry a pistol in their glovebox,
Enough scaremongering thanks.
Very, very, very few law-abiding folk carry guns in the glovebox. You need a Concealed Weapons Permit to do so.
>turn right on red is common in many places, very good idea but you need to know if it applies in your state
The State Drivers Handbook should tell you if/where is is allowed.
>british accent goes a long way
Yeah, unless you sound like you're reading the R4 Shipping Forecast they'll ask you which part of Australia you're from ;-(
One more tip vxr53 - the 2009 Washington State Visitors Guide is published on March 5th. Available online and in print from StayInWashington.com. Anything worth seeing will be in the guide and as an added bonus the 2009 edition highlights "25 Road Trips".
Nevada (travelnevada.com), and most other states have very good Visitors Guides too.
Kevin...