February 2009

Chad.R

SWMBO's Yaris seems to have developed an annoying fault: Once warmed up it seems to develop a stutter - almost like someone is pinching the fuel line or similar. This causes you to make fairly erratic progress down the road - "the car has hiccups" as my toddler son said.

It only seems to start once the engine has warmed up and isn't noticeable from a cold start.

Any ideas what it might be?

Thanks in advance. Read more

Chad.R

Just to round this one off.....

The diagnostics said it was a problem with the throttle position sensor, had that replaced and all is well now.

nicecupatea

Still trying to figure out a loss in power and resitance to rev under load.

Thinking perhaps an air leak on intake manifold which opens more under load... If I put some weight on the air intake pipe between filter box and throttle body I can hear an air leak between the throttle body and intake manifold. Does anyone know whether this means that the rubber gasket is split??? Or, would it be normal to expect a gap to open here when the throttle body is lifted slightly???

Any help greatly appreciated! Read more

Javalin

>Still trying to figure out a loss in power and resitance to rev under load.
have you compression tested it? Have you checked for good plugs, leads and dizzy arm & cap. HUGE difference on mine when its has good compression & spark!

J

Jules71

Have had intermittent power loss in my Expert van for several months now, originally started one day whilst driving in very wet conditions. Usually this van/engine combination has plenty of power upto about 90MPH and right through the gears. When the condition occurs it is only capable of about 70MPH and then only if you keep the revs high. It also becomes very sluggish through the gears.

The condition now appears to be there permanently.

Over several weeks I have replaced MAF and diaphragm. I have also replaced return pipe in fuel line as all these required replacement. Each time these seemed to cure/help the problem for a limited period of time.

I have had the fault codes read several times which helped with diagnosing the parts already replaced but yesterday the code displayed was:

Diagnose Code ( 000246 Relay A Of Turbocompressor Exhaust Valve

I have no idea what this means. Can anyone help??

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Hector Brocklebank

I came across a Nissan commercial on a local radio station the other day with a voice over that sounded remarkably like that of the man himself. Is it true then? Has Honest John resorted to plugging QashCards? Read more

John Setchell

Recently fitted one to my 18 year old Porsche Boxster. The difference is amazing - much more planted rear-end under heavy acceleration and cornering, and in wet or slippery conditions. I’m having to learn to drive it again to maximise new capabilities! Read more

DuncanSuperb

Me and Mrs D reckon that this spate of cold and horrid weather will surely be followed by an exceptionally warm, sunny and positively balmy Spring/Summer (absolutely NO scientific logic here but we do pride ourselves on our very british optimism and several glasses of something french helped too).

Anyway, it got us discussing the merits of soft-top motoring and to my surprise she is quite keen. We've never had a convertible and now the kids are old enough to get themselves in and out of a 2-door we think it might be fun to look around for something to replace Mrs D's runabout Focus. Budget would be no more than £5k although the whole idea is only really hyperthetical at this stage...

...so I've been having a look around. I assumed that a Golf would fit the bill but they seem to get slated in the C-by-C. As do Meganes, 306 and Astras. In fact I couldn't find anything that is on a par with the Focus that doesn't cost a banker's bonus.

Any thoughts? Is there anything else we could consider? What are the pitfalls?

Alternatively I'm willing to hear anyone's ideas on how to overcome the credit crunching, winter blues....


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Hector Brocklebank

I've got one more suggestion for you Duncan16, how about the Renault Megane CC? Early examples (2004) have now dipped below £5k and there is plently of choice.

I'd reccomend a highish mileage, ex-fleet example. Such cars spend their lives doing easy miles completely understressed on the motorway. You can also be sure of the car's history. Go to the 'convertibles' section on CarGiant's website. They sell mostly ex-fleet stock and there is a nice '04 Megane CC diesel with good spec for a shade over £5k.

The car itself is rated highly by HJ with a strong reliability record and few complaints. It's no sports car mind, handling is said to be a bit slushy but as a fair-weather, 4 seater cruiser it does make a lot of sense. The folding hard top also affords better security. A more modern design than the astra, too, it has a 5 star NCAP safety rating.

The castaway

Hi HELP !

My 2005 Compass Castaway Motorhome based on a peugeot boxer developed a fault on the return trip from France . Although the engine was running fine and the the engine temperature was normal the Gauge was reading red hot !

After investigating in the engine bay and a bit of pushing i noticed a relay that was fitted with the prongs facing upwards and water had corroded the connections .When i tapped the relay the gauge flickered and returned to normal for a while .

Later the fault re occured again gauge read red hot engine normal and no other faults obvious .
My Peugeot dealer cant find this relay on his system and has no idea what it does or where to get a replacement from ........Any one help with what this relay actually does or had this problem before ??


Many thanks
Brian
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The castaway

It does look that way but the Motorhome wont fit on the Ferrari Dealerships Forecort ! What does the relay do though ?
Brian

Granite

First, I'll apologise in advance. I'm pretty clueless with cars, so this question might be fairly obvious to the rest of you. I'm trying to improve my knowledge, so bear with me!

The question is this: my trusty R reg 1.4 Corsa Breeze has finally given up the ghost. While technically still servicable for a month or so, it's got a fuel leak, the brakes are wearing badly and the estimate is that it'll take at least £500 to get it through its next MOT, and other factors (rusting bodywork) will mean it almost certainly won't get through next years. As such, it's clearly not worth the repair bill, fond though I am of it (it was my first and only car two years ago given as a present from a good friend).

The question is: What do I do with it now? Does the thing have any kind of residual value now? The engine's perfectly sound, the exhaust was replaced last year. While it's technically road legal, I can't see anyone taking it as a trade in, but as I said, I'm an idiot about these things. I imagine it's really just a big rolling piece of scrap, but I'm not sure, so I thought I'd get some expert opinions.

Thanks for your time! Read more

Rattle

If it has a fuel leak it is not road legal.

Now an R reg Corsa, I have been to so many garages this week I have a good idea what the trade will ask for your car and its £1350 on a forcourt if you're car has less than 80k, 12 months MOT as in good condition.

Realisticaly its only worth £700-£800 in a premium market where small rubbish is fetching silly amounts.

I once helped a freind sell a completly rotten Ka, it was so bad it needed extension welding, it was also accident damaged sold it for £650 without an MOT needin a new wing, wishbone, shock, slam panel and general cosmetic work.

I reckon if I could get £250 easily for my rotten Fiesta then you will easily get £400 for your Corsa, a trader could probably get it through an MOT for less than £100, so they spend £500 on the car, stick on their forcourt for £1100 and hope to get £900 for it.

This is in Manchester btw, smaller cars may not be as popular in other parts of the country I don't know.

Kool PT

Hi all,

Just picked up a P reg Fiesta 1.3 - glad to see that the few 'quirks' that I have experienced with the car mostly seem to be simple, common & cheap to fix! However I have a couple of issues that I'm not still not sure about.

The rocker switch for the cabin light has three settings. Moving to the left puts the light on, leaving it in the centre switches it off, and I presume moving it to the right should make it come on when the doors are opened - but this doesn't work.

The 2nd problem which may well be related is that if I leave my lights on after switching the engine off, I don't get any warning sound when opening the doors. The car is very basically spec'd (it is an LX model) so there may well not even be a buzzer to go off! However it does seem a little suspicious to me that both of them are problematic.

Would appreciate any info/experience of this.

Cheers,

Tom Banks Read more

Kool PT

thanks i just wasn't sure if you were talking about the light switch or the door switch.

i pulled the door switches out and lost the wires inside...on both doors! fumbled hopefully with a pair of tweezers then noticed a little black plastic plug further in the crack. popped these out with a flat headed screwdriver and was able to get my fingers behind the hole where the wire had retracted back inside. pushed them back through, held on tight and soaked the switch and the fastening in WD40. Screwed them back in to earth and they both work fine now.

And to answer my earlier question and sastisfy anyone's curiosity, the 'headlights on' warning tone DOES work now.

so it was simply a case of both sides having the exact same problem. cheers for the troubleshooting tips all.

Paul Robinson

I'm sure this must be on the site, but I did a search without success - what are the criteria to qualify to attend a workshop instead of a fixed penalty? Read more

ijws15

Have done one in Warwickshire (2006) - had 3 points at the time. I think the limit was three.

Criteria were 35 in 30 of 46 in 40. Any more and you get ticket.

You cannot do another course for three years.