February 2009
My wife travels about 3.5K miles a year only. Mostly reasonably local travel. The car has always received full servicing at the main dealer. It is about time I did a bit for her. Apart from the oil and filter changes is there anything that I should be wary of? The car runs well, no odd noises etc ? Read more
I have just had my 206 1.4HDi serviced at 60000 miles including an auxillary belt change as there was a rattle from the offside of the engine. The technician was going to change the belt tensioner and idler but said he checked them with a stethascope and the rattle was not coming from either.
The rattle now seems worse and the technician said i need to take the car to the main dealer as the noise is coming from inside the engine.
Has anyone had any experience of this problem. I am hoping to avoid a costly main dealer bill.
Thanks Read more
Anybody got any ideas???
Under load I can not rev the engine beyond about 4500rpm... I have recently changed the battery and spark plugs. The HT leads aren't too old, neither is the coil. I thought about adjusting the timing but the dizzy body seems to have fused itself to the block....
If anyone has any ideas what could be causing this I would really appreciate some insight!!!
Cheers all. Read more
Thanks for all the suggestions. It turned out to be a damaged CAT confusing the lambda sensor!
tinyurl.com/d86v7j
A driver is hiring a racetrack to prove his car can't do the speed the police claim he was doing.
This just doesn't make sense! I am sure the car could do that speed, and more so, I am sure there are ways and means of proving that the car can't do it NOW, if you know what I mean? Read more
I'm not really exaggerating AE, honestly. Or hardly.
A good example in proper tune would go over a hundred on a motorway downslope and hold a hundred or a bit more on the flat until it came to a serious upslope. Like a 1.2 Punto without the refinement or gross understeer. A heavy load in the car lowered it a bit, especially at the front, and noticeably improved the aerodynamics, although what in the context one must laughingly call acceleration, er, suffered still further. It wasn't quite delivering full power in top at that speed - a whisker over 4,000 rpm - and continued to gather speed with a willing whoop and holler when you floored it down a slight incline. But a really steep motorway hill, with a bad head wind, could spoil the fun a bit sometimes.
It's all in the driving really, and I suppose flat-out motoring in a cheap rear-engined Czech car isn't everyone's cup of tea. Perhaps it wouldn't even be mine now. But it used to be... you're quite sensible about most things but here I am afraid you have been influenced by the tiresome Carrott, and perhaps by a brush with a dead-rough Estelle or two. There were certainly lots about, but even the rough ones I had went better than most people would have expected. Made a hell of a lot of Surrey Beemers and Audis look silly, and uphill too.
Momentum, AE, momentum...
Hi, my van has the engine management light on which the computer came up with glow plug relay (which i know about and am replacing tomorrow) and the diesel pump is throwing up a fault code, this is seaping/leaking slightly so i am going to get this fixed, i have had a quote of £200 for it fixing however i am just wondering how much the diesel pump is new and where from if anyone knows?
Also another thing is the starter relay i have on order to go with the glow plugs, where is this located?
Thanks in advance. Read more
Driving home, I've just listened to a succession of listeners calling in to local radio and lambasting the council for not doing enough gritting. A spokesperson for one of the motoring organisations was interviewed, and read from a list of insurance claims - slid into ditch, lost control, skidded on ice, etc. and roundly condemned the highways department for not making the roads safe.
Never mind that it's not actually possible to salt all the county's roads simultaneously, that a sprinkling of salt spread in advance and redistributed to the edge of the road by traffic has little effect on four inches of snow, it's the council's fault!
Now, if the council can keep the road clear, fine, but I think it's my responsibility either to deal with the conditions or stay at home. Here in the Vale of Aylesbury, many of the rural roads are either untreated or down the priority list anyway. Chances are if I go off the road I'll be in a deep ditch, so I'll make darn sure if I can that I stay on it. If I don't, it's my mistake. This morning the roads were very difficult, and I was pretty sure there would be an accident and a big hold up on the A41 - there was - I avoided the road, but had I gone on it I would have been at great pains to try and make sure it wasn't I who bounced off the armco.
No doubt many of these aggrieved callers will have little or no experience of snowy conditions, but have set off without either taking due care, or making any efforts to find out how best to deal with such weather. When it went wrong they blamed anybody but themselves.
I found the bleating embarrassing - what happened to self-reliance and taking responsibility? Not one caller even suggested that the 'victims' should have taken more care.
Is it me? Read more
in bedfordshire on the saturdayof that icy morning at 8.45 i was told to turn round by a breakdown truck driver , he said dont go that way cars are skidding all over the road. so i went home . 2 hours latter i tried again road seemed ok but it ook it steady, came to sharp bend and two cars had just crashed. a council worker was now throwing grit on the road , and coming towards me is a police car lights flashong and a gritting lorry. this road often floods over slightly and this probably caused the ice. my thoughts are that shouldnt happen the council should have better drainage in place.
this same bend a couple of years back , i just missed a crash and police had just placed a road closed sign up. i phoned the local radio , it took an hour and a quarter for them to mention it. .f you phone the police to warn of a dangerous road , idont think they would be very interested imo
We keep being told speed cameras are safety cameras in places which warrant safer driving. And that they are not revenue raising.
Well if that's the case, why don't the government introduce countdown markers leading up to them, thus preventing sudden breaking, and making drivers aware that the cameras are being approached.
Seems fair and logical. Read more
Cameras are being introduced gradually in Spain and the authorities seem keen to avoid criticism of revenue-raising being the prime motivation.
It was only very recently that the Traffic division of the Guardia Civil were no longer required to patrol in pairs (as is still the case in Scotland), as a car-mounted camera is now sufficient corroborative evidence. The need to stop a speeding offender within 1 km of the offence has also gone, so postal prosecutions are now common. But all of this after public consultation and a long detailed advertising campaign.
A famous road tunnel outside Bilbao flashed 24,000 cars in the first three months, but prosecutions didn't start until after this trial period: in fact, firm but polite warning letters were sent out, and word got round and now everyone knows to slow down. The tunnel now sees 15 minor bumps a week instead of 19 - conclude from that what you will!
Where a new camera is installed, warning signs go up (masked in black a long time ahead) and then the camera becomes operative. There is no shortage of speed limit reminder signs, either, so anyone getting caught really deserves it. Rural Navarra is probably the most strict area, as there are no fixed speed cameras, only mobile radars, which the police can put up more or less anywhere they like.
My prediction is that Spain will soon have roads as safe as Britain's, but without millions being extorted from motorists along the way.
Hi
When I put the wipers to intermittent they only complete 2/3 of a cycle
I have changed the timer relay but this didn't fix it
Any clues what to try next before taking to the dealer?
ta
Huw Read more
I have this issue too
...
Any help on the following matter would be greatly appreciated.
The problem started on the first long trip after the recent cold front and whilst doing 70 mph the EPC light came on. I thought nothing of it at first as it has come on before and just needed to restart my car and have had no further problems. But then my Exhaust omissions light came on and I lost power as the car put itself into it's get you home mode.
I managed to travel the extra 50 miles to where I was going but struggled to get the car going from standing as a weary rattle could be heard when the car went over 3000 revs.
Luckily a mate of mine had a diagnostics and plugged the car in and it came up with misfires on cylinders 1,2,3,4 and suggested to just replace the spark plugs.
I did so and set off for home only for the same problem the happen again but only much quicker and more violently. I managed to do 70 for about 10 mins but the car again put itself into safe mode but this time could not make it over 20mph.
A hour and half wait and 3 hour journey by AA Van followed and now am unsure whether to take it to a dealer or an independent. Suggestions please??
Thanks Steve
Read more
I'd go for a dealer personally. The'd likely know the common causes for these codes.
Its obviously something common to the ignition system to affect all cylinders - crank sensor, coil maybe?
James
Somebody mentioned that the Vauxhall Corsa petrol was 'ultra economical' (I think he said the 1.5 litre petrol).
Can someone advice me how good these cars really are on petrol.
Also, what is the cheapest and most economical car to buy and run. I have heard of protons and hyundai which both depreciate like stones, but are their diesels very reliable as well and easy to maintain myself?
Greg Read more
Buy something with 6 months MOT and tax for about £300. If it passes it's next MOT then tax it for another year. If not throw it away and look for another one. Can't get any cheaper than that.
Browse
Petrol or diesel? Mazda's handbooks are usually quite comprehensive regarding servicing detail.