April 2009
Looking for some advice, please. The indicators on my wife's A4 are playing up - they sometimes work but at other times they make no sound inside the car and the little green lights on the dash don't come on. Is it a relay switch or something simple I might be able to fix myself. Or is it a garage job?
Thanks
Pat Read more
As drivers we take in a massive amount of information on each and every journey. Most of it is in the subconcious, checking road conditions, other cars and the driving habits of other drivers. We are able to reach conclusions about the likely actions of other road users simply from watching their use of the road and traffic.
By acceptig the DRLs which are mandatory on the Mk 6 Golf does this mean that in future I will be grouped with the dithery old git meandering along the middle lane of the motorway in his Volvo? Read more
When I had one a couple of months back, it was very easy to turn off and on. Push one way on full beam with ignition on to turn off, push the other to turn them on.
As usual, confusion reigns supreme with the so-called experts at the dealerships!
A friend of mine asks, " Would he be allowed to have his Diesel car remapped, where its a motability car."
He wishes your opinion, before approaching Motability.
Thanks Read more
The link does work but covers adapting a vehicle for your life. Not sure the document covers chipping/re-mapping a diesel.
I will email the working full (non tiny URL) link.
As this thread seems to be unable to offer much more advice - you're really going to have to ask the Motability people - and people seem to want to have a go at each other, I am locking this thread.
Rob (Moderator)
Hi all,
I have a problem with my vauxhall movano. mileage 67000
My van has just had work done to the gearbox, new clutch assembly, new slave cylinder. new master cylinder & new gearbox bearings. on replacing all components i started to turn van over & it started only for about 5 seconds & died, tried again a few times but would not fire. sprayed some easy start into air assembly & it started.
Checked seals to diesel filter all fine, fuel filter has just been replaced checked for problems it to was fine, disconnected hose from fuel filter to diesel injection pump & turned van over to check for fuel, this to was working so pump in tank working.
disconnected fuel union nut at fuel accumulator turned van over but no fuel delivery, could this mean injection pump goosed or is there something else i might have missed before i change pump as its not cheap.
IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE I COULD TRY OR TEST.
van was running fine when it was parked up before work started on gearbox,
Cheers Read more
A friend has one of these -a 53 plate, same engine. His problem was traced to a faulty immobiliser receiver in the ignition keyway - apparently a common and a fault which came an went.
Filling up the Rio last night and caught the edge of the fuel flap cover whilst hanging up the diesel pump, off it pings across the forecourt, other drivers looking on and obviously impressed with my car's build quality, me slightly embarassed picks it up and calmly slings it in the boot. I'm sure that I have done similiar on previous cars & they held together. I hate to think what a new cover costs c/w paint so I drilled several holes along the hinge mechanism & lock-wired the thing back together. It is functional again and looks normal on the outside. A successful bodge then.
{header given a less vague title} Read more
Update, just out of curosity I priced a new flap from Kia - a not unreasonable £10.47 + VAT. The expensive element is painting it which costs an additional £45 + VAT. Not really worth it as my bodge seems to be holding up fine. I have even hidden the lockwired hinge by dousing the wire with touch-up paint. , now when the flap is open you would have a hard job to tell that it has been 'fixed' :)
I recently acquired a Audi 2.0Tdi . My mechanic informs me that I should have went for the 1.9Tdi model instead as the engine was far more reliable. Anybody have any experiences to back up this claim? Read more
An 06 140 won't have a DPF.
Nor does my 07 A4 2.0 TDI 140
I have a 2004 DCi Sport X Trail which has had so many problems I can not mention them all! The latest is that the car will not start in the morning and when it does the engine is hunting, this happens every time the engine is idle, so at traffic lights it will rev for no reason. Taken to Nissan dealer and they do not know what the problem is!! Any ideas ? Read more
Dear X-Trail owner,
I have exactly the problem you have described and I too have taken it to a Nissan dealer to no avail; i have been told it is not glo plugs and is not a fuel problem....
I want to go for an automatic gearbox when I buy my next car, but I read a lot about them giving problems. Are any cars renowned for trouble-free auto boxes? I am looking at the new C5. According to HJ's report on the previous C5, the auto gave all sorts of problems. What about the Avensis or Accord autos? Read more
Generally speaking, on non-turbo cars, the box will last the life of the car. You can more or less ensure that this will happen by ensuring that oil and filters are changed every 60-80k intervals.
On high hp, high torque cars box life is unpredictable. I know of a number of BMW 530Ds that have passed 200k miles with no maintenance whatsoever. I also know a large number of 330Ds and 530Ds that have had their boxes 'go' between 80-120k miles. Regular oil changes are very rare in the UK, while very common at 60k intervals in North America.
I am appauld at what I have read about the tecnical problems with the peugeot 307. I just bought a 2001 1.6 LX. 35,500 on the clock. After having the middle and back boxs replaced the anti-pollution fault has come on. I have filled up with v-tec Shell recommended in other forums. I've driven about 25 miles. Is that enough or does it take longer? Any other ideas? Read more
Thanks for your advice. I tried everything mentioned to no avail. So i paid £50 for dealer to check. They tried to sell me the cat. Plus lambda sensor etc. £500. I said no thank you and will keep driving. I was told by my local garage that the lambda sensor was the reason for the fault.
{shouting eliminated once more}
I bought a new 320D SE Auto Saloon in April 2007, drove it off the forcourt on to 20,000 miles of motoring perfection.
It has had a litre of oil at around 1,000 miles and not burnt a drop since, I have put in screen wash and checked the tyre pressures now and again - and that's it.
I had the first service last month at the supplying main dealer for a fairly reasonable £230.
I was however told that I needed four new run-flat tyres (it was interesting that front and back had worn at the same rate) and was offered fresh Continentals at £480 fitted. I held on that and found some Hankook run-flats online for £230 and had them fitted and balanced locally for £60, a total saving of £190 and can report that the ride quality is a whole lot better with no detectable loss of grip.
So in summary owning a 3 Series has been a joy and I intend keeping it for another 80K at least. Read more
I had a "52 plate" 320TD Compact auto once. It was a lovely car, plenty of torque and very rapid. However, it developed a horrid tinny rattle underneath when pulling away from stand-still. Turned out that the exhaust had cracked around the area of the cat' converter. This was caused (according to the BMW "technician") by the engine trying to turn on it's own axis via the power of 150bhp. This resulted in it almost completely destroying the engine mountings, hence the damage to the exhaust.
Browse
My Skoda Octavia (same switch I think) needed the indicator stalk replacing after suffering the same problem. The dealer replaced the hazard switch/relay twice but to no avail.
After around 90,000 miles the indicator switch gets filled up with gunk (dust, skin, grime etc) which makes the electrical contacts less effective. A squirt of WD40 right into the innards of the stalk switch, followed by vigourously working the stalk up and down, will fix the problem temporarily, but replacement is the only real answer.
If the hazard switch works correctly then it can't be the relay, can it? It must be the stalk which switches the relay on and off. It took the Skoda dealer 2 years to realise this.
Which makes my Skoda problem all the more surprising, as it was a taxi.... ;-)