April 2009
As the title suggests, modifications you used to see on cars in days gone by ( the 70s were a particularly tasteful period!) and nowadays.
Windscreen sunstrips (usually with air bubbles in) with driver and passenger names on (Darren and Tracey were quite popular).
Chavtastic bodykits with silly wire mesh in. I've often been tempted to stuff some straw round the back of them and hook one of those plastic water bottles on you use for rabbit hutches.
Any others? Read more
...and £2,500 to replace the windscreen, £700 to replace the driver's side window
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/suffolk/8002072.stm
Super car costs make your wallet lighter :-( Read more
Surely he can get a 'screen cheaper from : www. exoticwrecks.com ?
My trusty petrol Berlingo has developed a road speed related noise which sounds like a noisy diff. It isn't engine speed or gear related. All works fine currently but the transmission becomes increasingly noisy towards 30 - 40 mph and then quietens. No vibration or harshness is apparent - just a build up of noise. I have drained & replaced the gearbox oil (there was plenty in there) with fully synthetic gear oil which has given it a smoother change (a cunning trick for old manual SAAB 9-3s/9-5s) but this hasn't made any difference to the noise it makes. It has only covered 19,000 miles and has been serviced regularly. Wheel bearings and CV joints are all tight (as you would expect at this mileage) and the tracking appears ok but hasn't been checked as it is still on soon to be replaced original tyres. Any suggestions welcome before it has some surgery.
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The other thing I thought of was to swap the front and back wheels around to see if it is just a resonant frequency and a characteristic of the car. The front tyres are 3/4 worn whereas the rear tyres have much mor tread and hence a larger circumference. It also seems to be quieter when laden. I heard that an old trick for quietening Hillman Imps was to put a bag of coal or rocks in the luggage bay to iron out droning.
Just looking at the possibility of buying an 06 Grand Vitara. Does the engine on these have a cam chain or cam belt, and how often should it be changed? Read more
In my lad's basic 1.9 diesel the RH engine mounting (at the back, cambelt end of engine) has always not had a bolt in it! (2 years now!) We investigated and found the old end of a sheared off bolt stuck in the mounting, couldn't get it out and are thinking about buying another mounting as the mounting itself looks a little distorted.
My question is: Is this mounting which seems to be common to all the basic Golf III range an item which is prone to failure?
Thanks
Percy Read more
I think the best place to ask is on a VAG forum. Good luck.
You know you're onto a loser when even BRAKE disagree with you
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/essex/8001310.stm
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I live in this area. I can tell you why; as a frequent weekend cyclist, I tend to cycle on the crown of the road rather than to the left. The bulk of these potholes are closer to the kerb than elsewhere. There is no way I am going to risk life and limb (and wheels)by keeping to the left.
Some of these potholes go down as far as hell itself! I think the suggestion is outrageous. Does the council want drivers to look ahead? or does it want you driving with your eyes on the tarmac a few yards in front of the bonnet?
The person who came up with this suggestion has a head full of mad dogs.
Just a notice to let you know that very shortly we are planning on moving the hj server to another host. There may be a short interuption in service while this happens.
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Stephen Khoo
www.khoosys.net Read more
Good to hear that.
It is in fact running on 100% CPU almost all the time. The load state is too much for one processor and it really needs to be bumped to 4. We'll go to 2 today and 4 next week.
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Stephen Khoo
www.khoosys.net
If you look to the right you'll see a link to a story about a specialist national police unit set up to counteract vehicle crime: "Stolen V5C etc".
{here's the link as it won't stay on the RH side of your screen forever:-
www.honestjohn.co.uk/news/item.htm?id=6023 }
The story says that the unit has recovered 1200 stolen cars since it was set up in December 2006. The Home Office website says that in 2005, the most recent year for which the data is easy to exctract, there were more than 200,000 cars stolen.
So 1200 recoveries seems a bit inconsequential and another fine example of attempted spin.
Or am I being unfair and, writing from deep within my armchair, failing to appreciate all the problems? Read more
DieselBoy said >> I would expect that most of the recovery figure claimed by AVCIS is from the VFU - this cannot be compared with the number of vehicles stolen throughout the whole of the UK. >>
But since, as he also says, the Vehicle Fraud Unit within AVCIS is funded by members of the Finance and Leasing association and recovers cars obtained on dodgy finance agreements, the stats are meaningless in terms of wider policing of stolen cars, and putting them in a press release just makes the whole thing more of an exercise in spin than it seemed at first.
Hi guys,
Does anyone know for sure if the injector nozzles have to be taken out @75.000 mile service?
I know the valve clearance has to be set, and I've seen other posts indicating that this means removing the injectors.
The reason for me asking is that I suspect a faulty injector, and I'm thinking to get them checked @the service, as it's probably much cheaper (if the remove them anyway).
BR
Bartman6 (Denmark) Read more
Morning All,
Having recently been brought up to speed on the new EU directives on Daytime running lights, on a trip to Blackburn yesterday I saw two '05 reg MK V Golfs like mine with what appeared to be running lights, in the section at the bottom of the headlight, below the dipped beam and next to the indicator.
I had always wondered what this section of th eheadlight was for, but is this a retro-fit option or somehting that came from the factory?
If Retro fit, it would be something i would be quite keen to install...................
Cheers,
Nick Read more
"I've never seen a VW vehicle with daytime running lights in the UK - perhaps you've seen one or, " The few new VW Phaetons I have seen recently have the bright big LEDs inside the light cluster similar to more expensive Audis.
Browse
Remember fitting a Hella radiator grill conversion for extra driving lights, good quality, came with good easy to follow instructions, and gave loads extra lighting. Also a Mk4 Cortina estate with Lucas square 8 driving lamps, (yes it's dark where I stay). Just now the Panda has the best lights I can remember, and runs on olde fashioned, H4 bulbs, just shows well designed old fashioned works as well if not better than the latest fashion thing.