April 2009
Ive just got hold of a nice tidy 520 with a single vanos 2.0 engine. The engine has ring failure on 2 pots after the previous ran it dry of oil. I have access to a few different engines, none of which are a direct replacement. Just wondering what units will drop straight in place?
There are options of 2.5 single vanos engines from e36 cars or a 2.0 single vanos engine from an e34. The 2.0 would be preferable as I think the fueling would be better suited to my ecu etc. Just not sure if it fits in directly with exhaust manifolds etc? The engine codes are very similar suggesting they are the same engine with minor modifications for the later car. Read more
i understand has closed, and not just for the night. Read more
Reading diddy1234's thread about engine development testing got me thinking.
Will a manufacturer ever build the perfect car?
When looking at the car by car break downs I relealised how many manufacturers including the seemingly perfect Japanese, suffer faults and recalls with seemingly simple components.
Example: Fords Focus had a recall because of a pin falling out that holds the pedals in place. To me this seems a very simple piece of metal work and yet a failure could have catastophic results.
It seems amazing in this day and age of high tech computer design and modern build methods that cars can still have recalls with tiny switches or engine sensors, brake components and other seemingly simple parts. If car makers had only invented the car a week ago I could understand teething problems but after more than 100 years of car making you'd think engineers would have found the way to build the ultimate car.
Maybe I'm too cynical and simplistic in my viewpoint here.
No doubt an engineer will put me right.
;-) Read more
1989 Vauxhall Cavalier 2.0 SRi
Factoring in reliability, comfort, economy, performance, practicality, cost, build quality, driver enjoyment and running costs for me at least I don't expect this car will ever be beaten.
I have recently brought this vehicle, but need to replace the electric window mechanism within the drivrs door.
Could anybody assist me with directions on how?
Also can I use second hand parts from a VW Polo(same age) as thy are similar?
It is a 3dr version.
Please Help
7209vk Read more
Hi,
I am looking at buying a nearly new (08/58) car probably either a Mazda5 or Toyota Verso. In both cases the best spec/mileage/options that I can find are at independent garages rather than franchise.
If I buy used from a non-approved retailer do I get the balance of the manufacturer's warranty (assuming for arguments sake that there is a full service history)? Neither Toyota nor Mazda list their mechancal warranties as being transferrable.
Is there some EU law or such that mandates what has to be provided to subsequent owners or is the warranty package part of the intial conrtact of sale on the car when new, which falls away when sold on?
Thanks
Graham Read more
Try going onto the manufacturers website and emailing them for a definite answer... the Skoda one was transfreable as well, though I got an email confirming this before I bought the car just to be on the safe side... the 3 years breakdown cover transfered with the car as well!
Our 2003 Charade has cut out three times in the last week while driving. Unfortunately I have not experienced this first hand - all three times it's happened when my OH was driving. The first two times it happened were at low speed - once going round a roundabout and once in a housing estate. The most recent time was at around 70mph on the motorway - no other cars around fortunately.
OH is not terribly technical, but she says the power just goes and the car rolls smoothly to a stop - no shuddering. The way she describes it it sounds like the ignition is just switched off. After stopping the car restarts easily and is fine until the next time.
I drove the car quite a bit over the weekend (between the 2nd and 3rd occurrences) and didn't notice anything abnormal.
We're going to take it to our local indie, but with it being a rare car and the problem being so intermittent, I'm not hopeful he'll be able to diagnose. Anyone suffered a similar problem, or have any ideas what the problem might be?
Thanks
Read more
Not had that with my Daihatsu (which is essentially a Charade, but from a time when carburetors roamed the earth, and computers were kept in air-conditioned rooms) but I have had something similar with a Mk1 Lada,
Not the same, though, since, although initially apparently random, it gradually emerged that it tended to happen on deceleration, and eventually became predictable enough that I regarded it as a primitive precursor of stop stop-start functionality....
Hi can anyone tell me how you remove the black plastic triangle on the inside of the drivers door mirror
thanks Read more
with great difficulty
i stick a glass on top if its broken
I used to change spark plugs nearly every service, but, for the last few years hardly ever bother. Whenever I check them they don't show the 'wear'that they used to years ago. Anyone got any opinions. Read more
Ive never tried spitfire plugs either, dont go in for all that stuff.
This is a long shot but I thought I would ask.
Is anyone or has anyone worked in engine development testing before ?
Are engines tested to destruction and if so is it to find weak points in an engine ?
Are they tested without coolant / oil to see what breaks ?
How do the car makers perform accelerated life testing (i.e put 1 million miles on an engine) ?
Like I have previously said, this is a long shot but I have always wondered what testing was carried out.
Or is the above irrelevant as we are all testers for the car makers (much like computer software) ? Read more
A retired Church of Scotland Minister used to live near my childhood home. He drove ( loosely speaking ) a battleship grey Vauxhall Viva. Not the slightly swoopy final model but its box shaped predecessor.
He never went far in it and in as much as my then untutored ears could tell, always drove it on full choke. Clearly not satisfied with that he also seemed to keep the throttle buried to the floor at all times and must have moved the thing with what can only have been a highly complex clutch slipping technique.
The poor car was regularly to be seen being loaded on to a trailer to be taken away for repair. It must have gone through numerous clutches and goodness knows what the other internals suffered.
Even then I decided that this otherwise charming man must have been using the wretched car as a safety valve for his dark side.
Some years later, a school friend was proudly describing his newly aquired car bought with money from a summer job. He went on to describe it as a bit of a find. A one owner Vauxhall Viva, a retired Minister, low mileage..........
I never did have the heart to tell him what I knew about his car......
:-)
Estate Model ...My power steering has been stopping and starting for a few days and has now completely gone.Would it be the electronic pump or is it best to have the electrics checked first.
Any help appreciated Read more
Get the charging system checked thoroughly first - without a good charge from the alternator, these electric power steering systems don't work.
Browse
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>ha ha ha beauty" its only closing down because it has poor sales and no cash to purchase new stock"
i might use that line one day ,its like when i was into hi fi and a customer said a pioneer amp at comet was cheaper than in my shop and i said why dont you buy it there then
the customer replied ah but they havent got any
i replied i give mine away when i havent got any