April 2009
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
L200 2.5TDI type K74 engine 4D56
About to give the pickup a ?Lubrication Service?. The owners? manual states that the sump holds 5.3 ltrs, filter 0.8 ltrs and cooler 0.4 ltrs. How do I empty the oil cooler? Past services seem to have been carried out yearly instead of every 4500mls/6 months as specified in the book. Should I use a flushing additive before draining and if so, which one? Thinking of using Millers XFE diesel 10/40 oil. Also when should the fuel filter and air filter be replaced?
Many thanks,
Martin Read more
Well Focusseed your reading it !
Hi, I'm new on the site so be gentle ;)
I was driving home last night when my engine died, revs just dropped to zero and cut out. After pulling over, i tried to start the ignition, but it just turns over and doesn?t catch.
I called the AA and he did a quick check, and the engine is getting fuel but he wasn?t sure if it was the pump not giving enough pressure. The ford garage i got dragged to worried me saying it could be the cambelt (its only done 75k). Does that sound likely? Would the engine turn over as usual if the cambelt had gone?
If it is the fuel pump is it likely to be expensive to repair?
Please ask if you need more info.
Read more
I have a ford focus tddi mine just stopped found out it was the ecu on pump little chip in block on top of pump you can send them away for repair shows what do on utube
Hi the thermostat housing seal is still leaking so am going to replace housing and gasket and seal with silicon sealant and tighten the two housing nuts to the right torque. However I have a couple of questions, I thought I would replace the thermostat so have got a new one which is 195F. Is this ok for my car and engine (fiesta flight 1.3 endura e 01). Also it came with a rubber sealing ring but the thermostat in the car at the moment has no ring, is it ok to leave off then and if not where does it go? And finally the new stat doesn't have holes in it so could this be a problem with air locks? Going to try and replace the stat and housing without bleeding the whole system as have only recently bled and replaced the coolant. Any help would be greatly appreciated thanks Read more
Order parts for a 1.3???????
>>> fraid so
parts ive had to order in the last twelve months and took 2 days to arrive
ka bumper clips
fiesta bumper number late lights
theres other bits but my minds gone blank
this is from a dealer that covers a very wide area and passes my cave every day 3 times
speaking to another trader today and he tells me the local renault dealer to him has dropped parts deliveries altogether
vauxhall dealer i had to order bits the other day they took 2 days to arrive and i went to collect them rather than wait another dayfor delivery
you cant even go in a dealership these days and ask for a common part they need a reg number, even though something common was fitted for 7 years,i once resorted to going into their sales fleet and coming back with one of their registration marks
its all run by computers and just in time these days,well i dont like spotty yoofs who wouldnt know a flitch from a witch give me back the time served parts man every time,unfortunately they have all been made redundant to cut down on minimum wages etc
countries falling to bits
Where is the ecu located in the vectra b. I have an intermittent earth fault with the volume controls on the radio. ( they start to work in a different order). Does any one know if the radio and the ecu use the same earth path. thanks for any help. Read more
Sounds like the clockspring is on the way out to me.
Hi,
Tried to change the front brake discs on my Picasso today only to find them siezed on the hub. Tried tapping them with a plastic faced mallet, as suggested in Haynes manual, without any effect. The discs need changing ready for MOT later this week but I can't risk damaging them thus preventing me from driving to a garage to get them changed if I can't complete the job myself. Being strapped for cash I could really do with avoiding the garage route. I have changed discs on various vehicels before and never had this problem. Does anybody know of a solution? Read more
Many thanks for the suggestion, 659 - have just had to change discs on a Picasso where one disc was seized to the hub. Tried tapping with a claw hammer, then upgraded to a club hammer with a block of wood, turning the disc a fraction of a turn each time. No sign of any movement, so was contemplating upgrading to a sledgehammer! Had just got to thinking about getting the angle grinder out (last had to do this on a Mondeo 15 yrs ago), when I found this post.
Chocked car and had it ticking over in first - dabbed the brake and stalled the engine. Used a few more revs and left foot braked - disc came loose on second attempt with no drama and no risk of flying away. Much better than slicing the disc with an angle grinder!...
We have a 2005 HDi which we have owned from new, mileage now 32,000, and the air con has been used most of the time. Today it was really hot so I turned the temp dial to cold but it didn't seem to be working.
The light above the switch comes on but it just blows out normal temp air. When we got back I turned it off and on but I couldn't hear the compressor start like it used to. Also the revs didn't drop which they always used to do.
Any ideas? Read more
Halfords now sell do it yourself re-gas cannisters. About £30.
Apart from the liquid needed for some earlier filters on PSA cars (FAP filter needing Eolys).... nothing more than diesel needed.
If the temperature is high enough it burns off the DPF filter. If not more DIESEL is added so it burns it he exhaust to burn off the particulate matter on the DPF.
This is verging on technical so may be moved there if that is how the thread goes. Read more
Fair point, but I'm not sure if the Eolys fluid is compatible with the latest generation catalyst-coated DPFs.
They are fussy about the type of engine oil (it has to be an ashless type, to avoid the risk of blocking / contaminating the DPF), I wonder if the fluid wouldn't contaminate the DPF.
The dose information I got from Rhodia (the company that makes Eolys) is:
DPX 42 (the old stuff for 1st generation PSA engines with DPF): 31ml for 50L diesel
Eloys 176 (the 2nd generation stuff): 8ml for 50L diesel
The Eolys 176 is hugely expensive.
Back box of Panda is almost rotted through, looking at the forums Fiat have asked their exhaust supplier to up their quality. Simple system cat is built into manifold. From there back almost a straight pipe to rear axle simple bend then small silencer at back. Not complicated. Fiat want £284 plus fitting, aftermarket system £143, in the end going to a local company specialising in custom made stainless system, for £190. Fiat must be at it, and the aftermarket not much better. Read more
I Have A 55 Reg Punto That I Have Only Had For 4 Months. The Exhaust Started Blowing About A Week Ago And Compltely Fell Off Today. Is This Common In Fiats?? Does Anyone Know How Much Roughly It Would Cost For A Stainless Steel Exhaust And How Much It Would Cost To Fit??
Hi,
We've got a 2nd hand Corsa a while back and had to use the spare for the first time. All tyres on the car are 155/80 13 but the spare is a 165/65 14.... I presume we just have the wrong while as the spare or is this correct ? Read more
if car was in an accident though it could be used as a contributary reason as two different tyres on same axle with different profiles and different slip angle characteristics
its bad enough explaining to customers that the spare is always a steel rim and when the size is wrong as well it just makes the job harder
bring back 550x12"s
Browse
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.