March 2009
Just had my car in for an interim service at a trusted independent garage the alternator belt and the power steering belts were changed as there seemed to be a bit of a squealing noise coming out from that area it turns out the alternator tensioner has been diagnosed as the cause of the original noise . However local nissan main dealer dont keep them as a stock item and want £107 for the part including vat . Are alternator belt tensioners normally this expensive ? I was expecting something like £50 or £60! From past experience I know Nissan can be naughty on the price of certain parts. Read more
I have had a cheque from a customer and this has now bounced - this person has dissapeared off the face of th earth. Can you retry the cheque at the bank? And if it bounces again will the writer of the cheque be charged or myself? Read more
>> I should have mentioned it was the reporter that said it .. >>
Whoever said it they were correct.
There are still a lot of mains powered "non-quartz" clocks hung in offices hung on
the outside buildings schools etc.
I admitted in my original post that this would be correct for any clocks using the 50Hz as their timing reference, and perhaps there are more of them around than I thought.
However, to the average viewer I suspect they took the statement as meaning that frequency variations would affect most if not all of the non-battery powered clocks in their home, which isn't true.
I have recently purchased a new pre-face lift Octavia Estate and discovered that the front and rear passenger side foot wells are wet.
I have read reports of the MkI Octavia suffering water ingress but there does not appear to be any mention of the MkII suffereing from this. You would have thought that any early faults must have been rectified by the time I bought my car only a few weeks ago.
Any ideas or reports of Octavia MkII with the same issue would be much appreciated.
The car is booked into my local dealer for them to investigate but if they do not rectify the situation in a timely manner then I may have to reject the car. I'd rather not, I like it. Read more
If I bought a brand new car that had damp footwells, I might be wanting to reject it outright - or at least to demand new carpets.
The speedometer on the Seicento SX has stopped working today. I am assuming on a 51 plate the speedometer feed is electronic. The rear brake lights work which I think rules out the fuse - it's on the same circuit I think.
Can someone suggest anything obvious to check?
Thanks Read more
I suppose if you have the mechanical aptitude, thin enough arms, and the tools, replacing the sensor might be worth the gamble - provided it isn't an outrageous price, or is less than a visit to the dealers.
I had a look on BBA-Reman to see if the speedo features in their catalogue, either as a stock part or common fault, and it doesn't. Which is probably good news.
My perception of the selection of posts on FF I found was that the sensor seemed to be the most common problem.
I would appreciate some advice on a possible car purchase. My budget is just under £1000 cash, plus a P reg Megane for possible part exchange.
I've spotted a couple of cars online which I'm interested in, but looking at the online tax database has thrown up some questions.
Firstly, a Nissan Primera, from a dealer with RAC Approved status.
The tax status is as follows:
Date of Liability = 01 01 2010
Vehicle Status = SORN Not due
The car is MOT'd until Jan 2010
Should I be suspicious of the fact it's currently SORN'ed? Also, it probably won't have been driven since it's MOT in January this year.
Would I be able to test drive it on the dealer's trade plates without a tax disc?
Second car: Mazda 626, being sold by a different dealer.
This is showing on the database as being unlicensed, with a Date of Liability of 5 Nov 2008. I thought cars were only allowed to be either licensed or SORN'ed these days?
I'm more suspicious of this one!
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Thanks for all your replies, I may get to see it tomorrow and find out more about it.
In Swansea this morning saw a reasonable looking Triumph 1300 in traditional 1970's brown parked at the side of the road outside a Toyota dealer, what was surprising was that I then saw a Toledo (the car that followed the 1300) driving the other way about 20 seconds later, maybe there's less rust in South Wales. Read more
If it was driven properly, there were no problems.
Quite right. The Herald like all swing axle rear-drive cars needed the driver to keep his or her foot firmly in it in second or third gear to maintain negative camber at the back and make it squat down. In the case of the Herald (and, one is told, the Porsche 356) it oversteered anyway, but in an agreeable controllable way that the driver was expecting. In the case of my swing axle Skoda Estelle it stayed as if on rails (unless you lifted off suddenly in mid bend, then you had to act fast).
Around town i only get 23mpg, no lead foot, A/C off.
Just had it's MOT and emissions were fine.
Is this normal mpg around town?
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If one could generalise, fuel consumption has never been Ford's strongest point.
My xtrail comes with a full size 16" spare steel wheel, fitted with a 215/65 R16 98M Bridgestone TEMPORARY tyre, pressure 44psi.
Nissan say i cannot fit a different tyre to this rim.
I cannot tow with this wheel/tyre, and the speed limit is 50mph
I can buy a 16" steel spare wheel, fitted with a tyre of the same make as the rest of the
wheels. The tyre is dunlop SP20 215/65 R16 98H. (But of a different size.)
Is this tyre suitable.
The four alloys are 17" wheels, tyres are dunlop SP20 215/60 R17 96H.
I think it is, if so what pressure should i use it at? Alloys are 31psi Read more
Cheers Docter, i,ll do that
When I connect to the net at home, I'm identified by a variable IP address allocated to my ISP which is different every time I log on.
When I log on from work, we have a fixed IP address
What happens if I log on via my laptop through my mobile phone ?
Just curious
p.s. - any chance some well meaning Mod could bump this into the beginning of the next volume ?
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Good grief Rattle, I see what you mean!
Thanks,
JH
My engine warning light has been on for a couple of days, although the car seems to be running fine. I read about the diagnostic test can you can run by starting the engine while holding down the mileometer - this resulted in code Er 0541. I've googled this but can't turn anything up - could anyone tell me what the code means?
Thanks. Read more
hi
recently found this
P0541 is "Low voltage on the #1 intake air heater relay". It's set when the signal from the #1 intake air heater output does match the signal from the #1 intake air heater feedback. Possible causes are:
-Loose connection
-Intake air heater relay failed
-signal circuit open from relay to ECM
-signal circuit shorted to ground
-ECM
hope this helps


I'll get the Popcorn out - This should get interesting !