April 2009
I bought this car from a main dealer just oveer 2 years ago. Not long after it seemed to have a judder at low speeds - Ford eventually after about 4 visits replaced the injectors. It has been fince since.
However, on a 200 mile journey 2 weeks ago it started to misfire/judder again (initially at low speeds but now at any speed) Plenty of smoke out of the exhast and no surge in power when I put my foot down.
I admit it does need a service.
The garage has replaced the air/oil filters and the judder stopped for a day as did the smoke but the power did not return. All symptons are now as bad as ever again after only 2 days.
The garage think it may be a hole in the "turbo pipe" sucking in air ..... What does anyone think? Read more
I posted a while back regarding the possible need for a small runaround and was looking at a Mk1 Focus hatchback or Fiesta. Having reconsidered budgets regarding purchase price and running costs I was thinking of the Ka.
I'd never previously considered a Ka but a friend has just bought an S Reg. I was amazed at just how simple and basic it looked. It was strangely refreshing to see bare metal and basic controls. It even looks vaguely repairable by a DIY mechanic compared to my Pug 406!
Does anyone have any additional real world experience of Ka's and their foibles?
thanks
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Had a bit of an argument about this, a friend wants to buy a MK5 but I told him I hadn't seen one in my hunt which was not rusting. The wheel arches on the MK5 (1999-2002 model) seem to be rotting quite badly.
That said my dads Ford which has a 1996 VIN is still solid underneath but one of the arches has gone.
Had a good look at the underneath of my Corsa when it was at Ted's and its pretty solid underneath, much better than my Fiesta but then it is 3.5 years newer.
I still see a lot of old Ka's on the road so they can't all be that bad.
Have got a Focus estate, 3 months outside of warranty that is having problems with the fuel system.
Started off as a faulty fuel injector. Ford delivered three new injectors to the dealer and they also proved to be faulty. I am now told that the Diesel Particulate Filter is blocked and that it needs replacing at a cost of over £1000. When the car went in for the new injector there was nothing discernibly wrong with the DPF. Ford won?t touch it because it?s out of warranty. I?m suggesting that the catastrophic failure is as a result of the faulty injectors that were fitted. Roll on the legal arguments.
In the meantime I?m assuming that the DPF is located as part of the exhaust system. Is it possible to fit a non DPF exhaust to the car to get it running again for less than it costs to replace the DPF?
Any help would be most appreciated. Read more
PSA do exchange DPFs - perhaps Ford too but you aren't being told? PSA are about £700 new and around £200 on exchange, I think.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8012926.stm
what a shame you cant leave your pride and joy in your own drive without somebody being jealus of it Read more
...That's a different kind of moral vacuity...
True, but the impact on the victim is much the same.
It will be no comfort to her that he didn't burgle her house while he was on the premises.
We own a 12 year old Mazda that has been in a number of bumps and scrapes and is on its last legs (the boot no longer opens for example). We have owned it for 6 years.
2 weeks ago we took delivery of a new A3 to replace the Saab (PCP), the theory being we would run the Mazda to its next MOT, then see if it passed and scrap it if not. We would then go to one car as we don't really need two at the moment.
Now it seems if we had waited we could have got at least a grand off the A3. Should have learnt from the stamp duty mess shouldn't I....
Anyway, with the VAT rate lower and £2k potentially up for grabs I wonder if we would be better off buying a cheap and cheerful Panda or Corsa, using the Mazda as the px with this discount and then keeping this little car as a run-around for the next 10 years... I would prefer to buy outright but with the Vauxhall finance deals even that seems pointless.
Question is, should I by a cheap and cheerful car just because it has got even cheaper, or should I just be angry at my bad timing? Read more
The £2k discount may not be available on the cheapest runabout anyway as the mfr
has to put in £1 000.
Apparently, the deal (as it currently stands) is that participating manufacturers have to offer scrappage on all models. This could obviously be something of a sticking point.
Hi,
I have a Renault Trafic 2.1 diesel Motorhome and the radiator has sprung a leak !!!
I have bought a replacement radiator - but the core depth is thinner than my existing one. The original radiator is 480 width 400 height and 45 depth - but the new one is 30mm depth.
Will this be a problem - it will fit but I'm a bit worried it won't be as efficient as it is thinner therefore less fins to absorb / cool the heat.
Any advice ? Do you think the new radiator will be okay ? I'd hate it to overheat and blow a gasket, (particulary when I'm driving down to Spain in it).
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Conventionally, coolant leaves the engine through the top hose to the radiator, gets cooled, and passes back to the engine by the bottom hose.
I suppose with cross-flow radiators there's no reason hot should go in the top - although I've never seen it do anything else.
If it's a cross-flow radiator then I would've thought there would be no noticeable temperature difference top to bottom, but there should be side to side.
I had a crash last week. Both me and the othe driver denied liability, although it was clearly his fault. Anyway, we are both insured by the same company [not broker, but insurer] How do they sort it out? Do they arm wrestle in the office to see which team takes the hit? Read more
Some details wouldn't go amiss...
SNIP
If you wish to advertise, then click on the following link
www.honestjohn.co.uk/advertise/ads.htm
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He parked in a car park but bought a ticket but left the sunroof slightly open, the wind must have blown the ticket of the dashboard. When he got to the car the ticket was on the drivers seat and not the windscreen. He has proof via CCTV and via the ticket that he bought one, is there any hope of an appeal?
It seems a bit unfair to get a fine for what is basically a genuine mistake.
The carpark is owned by NCP so is a private one. Read more
Failing to buy a tram ticket is covered by legislation -and you commit an offence by not doing so -that's the difference there.
Hi, my sons saxo has some wheel arch trim loose, some of the metal brackets have come away from the trim, can you use mastic or similar to stick them back on ?
I have got new plastic connectors.
Cheers Shug Read more
just go for it if you can make a neat job
silicon sam is my fav mate
be aware use a waterproof type mastic
(dont ask)


It was just a split in the Turbo pipe -- Took it to a diesel specialist -- no Idea how the 1st garage missed.
Working nicely again now.