March 2009
Dear all
I apologise for what must seem a ridiculously easy question for you guys so answers very much appreciated. I left my lights on (over a number of days) and consequently now have a flat battery. Would like to remove said battery to charge it but cannot for the life of me get the damn thing out!! I've disconnected the terminals and removed the strap (technically I cut through the thing) but it still won't budge! There is a bolt and bracket (attached to the belt) on the left hand side of the battery attached to the plate that it's sitting on. The battery seems to be independent from this bracket but I could be wrong! In short, I can't see anything attaching the battery to the plate.
I'm certainly no mechanic but like to think of myself as a relatively intelligent, practically minded guy. A simple task that I was expecting to complete in about 10mins is proving beyond me!
If anyone is out there and can let me know what I'm doing wrong I'd be most grateful. There seems to be more to this battery changing than meets the eye!
Many thanks in anticipation
Stu
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hi, got a hyundai accent 1999. starts ok but very quickly starts to surge and hesitate making driving virtually impossible. took it to local garage who code read it and there scanner came up with fault codes 81 and 82 which relate to air/fuel. ran engine with machine attached and the air/fuel mixture was at 100%. anybody got any ideas where to start looking for the problem? Read more
There should be a descrption with the two codes-what was it.
Bad rattling noise when clutch depressed to start on the start button ,doesnt seem to do it when brake depressed Read more
only when starting for a few seconds. Its as if the engine oil has drained out. It does it hot or cold.
A chrome car
tinyurl.com/ckpeob
How do you keep it clean and smear free.
Will it have better fuel economy due to having such a smooth surface ? Read more
Chrome cars look fab! Coincidentally I saw a polished metal-finish Bentley Continental parked outside a Dubai hotel last week and it looked amazing. Shame it was night-time, I'd have loved to see it cruise past on a sunny day. It'd look like a spaceship!
I've been out visiting some private dealers today and am considering buying one of the following:
1. Ford Fiesta Ghia '97 R reg £1395
Am worried that such an old car will be a real money pit but it looks in good nick and has a nice spec for its age. Also attracted to the low purchase cost and maybe getting 2/3 years out of it.
2. Ford Fiesta 02 reg £3195
Over-priced but is has FSH from Ford garages and 44000 miles, one former owner. Am attracted by the FSH.
3. Nissan Almera 05 1.5SVE £3795
40k miles, very nice spec including the rear parking aid. Looks like one former owner. Garage had the "brain" sorted out at a Nissan dealer and they gave it a health check which was alll clear apart from the brakes which the garage say they will sort this out. Also seemed to have a pretty full service history. Bit worried this one is a bit too good to be true, seems a lot of car for the money. Would like the bigger engine for motorway driving.
Would be interested in any opinion or advice. Do any of the above sound viable? I can spend up to $4k but if I can spend less it will be a bonus. Car will mainly used by partner to ferry around our little one but will also be used for a 500 mile round trip about once every six/eight weeks. Read more
I would have said "agree to buy subject to a satisfactory/acceptable AA inspection" but I see I'm too late!
sorry did I say something??? Read more
As above I should have e-mailed you. Sorry
Hi there
I had two new front tyres fitted in January at the time of the MOT. I asked the garage to check the tracking and steering at the same time as the steering wheel was pointing to 10 o'clock when the wheels were straight. They did, so I put the new lighter feeling on the steering down to better tyres.
Then over the past couple of weeks it seemed as though the steering had grown a mind of its own, almost as if it wanted to carry on turning by itself - like driving on ice. So I took it back to the garage last week and asked them to check the steering etc. They said it was due to the suspension bushes which they replaced, and they also checked the front wheels which they said (and I have the invoice to prove this) were "okay".
However, yesterday on my way back home the front nearside tyre popped. When I got it off, it was down to the canvas on the inside edge. I mean you can see the wire, it's in a real state. The other one well on the way to being the same, there is no tread at all on the inside edge. Both still look like new on the outside edges. The nice man who helped me change the tyre took one look at the front wheels and said the tracking was visibly out.
So my query is this - what comeback do I have with this when I take the Polo back to the garage? Tyres don't wear out in 6 weeks, do they? I do about 1500 miles a month, and I'm not exactly Lewis Hamilton. Surely they should have noticed the state of the tyres?
Many thanks,
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While the garage seems to be the issue here - its important to monitor tyres yourself too. I often park on full lock so that I can observe the full tread circumference at the front and my eyes are always on the rears as I walk towards the car.
Surprising what you pick up visually, just from an overview like this - deep seated stones, nails and screws... had you been doing this, the wear trend would have been visible before the vehicle became a risk.
I suspect my clutch may be about to give up. It sometimes makes a noise when releasing the clutch, more noticeably when there's lock on (bigger load from steering pump?).
Can I check for wear somehow without taking the thing to bits?
What's the best way of testing by loading the thing?
Booting it in second *perhaps* shows slight jerkiness in the rev. counter reading as it goes up the scale - but this could be a rev. counter issue.
Booting it in second and applying the footbrake perhaps resulted in the symptoms of slip, but I was rather distracted by the proximity of a large tree to take exclusive notice.
Any other, preferably reasonably safe, ideas? Read more
Nice car, well built, robust, and very similar to a Prelude I have 1990, 135k. Try pulling away in third gear on your drive, with the handbrake on. It should stall if the clutch is fine, or will sit there and rev the engine going nowhere if not. The groan could be the engine rocking on mountings and the rubbers are dry (or salted over winter).
I am specifically thinking of Autotrader adverts here. Soon I may need a "new" car, so I've been looking to see what's about.
A remarkable number of advertisements say "XYZ for £XYX", but in the text of the advert we see "Pirice is £Z,XYZ" - with variations on a theme. Do the posters *really* think someone will pay an order of magnitude more for their car (I haven't seen any with "mistakes" the other way around)? That someone will see *this* car, and suddenly pay lots more than they originally thought? Is it a problem with Autotrader and these art really genuine errors? Seems daft to me, if not - people looking for a car in their price range won't look at these "erroneous" entries, and people searching in the correct price range won't see 'em. What do you think? Read more
I love some of the filler in the ads if you look around. 'Centre brake lights
above rear window'.
Err haven't they all got those?
Others are rear seat belts rear centre armrest heated rear window etc etc
You just know they're struggling to find a few positives!
Actually the Auto Trader software is at fault here.
When you list and advert you have to type in the car registration (which remains private), from which the software deduces the model, and a whole long list of irrelevant equipment, such as the ones listed. Of course, there is nothing to stop this pointless information being edited, but not everyone bothers ...
Hey Guys, this is my first post, I wonder if you can help me, my mate has a Vauxhall Tigra and as a problem with the front bumper, she is in need of a front bumper support bar/panal. She isnt too sure what its proper name is, but thats the name her mechnic gave her. Any idea where she can get this part or its proper name, so she can finally get her car on her the road.
Thank you :)
Chloe Read more
Is it any of the panels here? tinyurl.com/cjbtr8
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Be worth charging it in situ otherwise. Might be you may have killed it outright though.