May 2009

Gaz3860

Well Ive had a Mazda 323 gsi for bout 6 months. Out of the blue it just stopped. Took it to the garage and told it may be an ECU rpoblem. What sholud I do next? Srcap or repair? Read more

jc2

Trade it in on a new car-it's ten years old.Seriously ECUs are ultra reliable-it's usually connectors that give problems.

moonshine {P}


I seem to recall that a few members of the BR experimented with adding ethanol to petrol to improve mpg. It now seems that Ford have been researching this and designed a "direct-injection ethanol engine". The engine runs on petrol but injects ethanol when maximum power is needed. The use of ethanol allows a higher compression ratio to be used.

See this weeks new scientist for the article. Read more

zookeeper

Now there's an idea vitamin C as a healthy fuel additive.
Image the advert the ultimate fuel now includes a powerful antioxidant to help prevent free
radical damage to your vehicles engine.



it used to be called leaded fuel
keith565

i've recently seen a bargain for oil, Havoline Energy Oil 5W-30, however, i'm not sure if it will be ok for the duratec engine, what are your thoughts. i have no idea about oils as my car has always had a service, but i've now decided to do the basics myself, thanks in advance. Read more

doctorchris

Havoline also produce an excellent 5W-30 oil that is ideal for Ford engines.
Best wishes from your Irish mate Hav OLine.

Lady Golfer

I currently have a 2001 VW Golf with 70k on the clock. I want to replace it with an economical car with a bigger boot and better access for my golf clubs and trolley. Read more

barney100

Any hatchback seems to do the job with folded down seats. Folks at my club get clubs and trolleys in Golfs, Polo's, dosent seem much of a problem...take your pick !

audiA6tdi

Looking at buying a new or nearly new BMW 5 series, either a 525d or 525i SE.
BMW main dealers are quite pricey but looking on autotrader etc there seems to be lots of 525i petrols for sale. Motorprovider had this cracking offer for a nearly new one at £22k. The website says the car has now been sold and at that price i can see why - but why so cheap?

Regarding the two cars has anyone here got one and can they offer any advice. The MPG between the petrol and diesel is 8MPG. How true this will be in real world driving im not sure.

I no the model is about to be replaced but im thinking that I will be able to get a good deal from the current run, instead of opting for a new model where no discount will be available.

thanks Read more

rtj70

Sorry you're right. I'd assumed 520d and 525i.

thomp1983

hi, my sisters rang last week to say she lost the ability to change gear on the motorway. the car has since been recovered i looked at it and found the clutch release arm to be seized i understand this is fairly common and this week have had the gearbox off and replaced it, i left the clutch as it appeared ok and has only covered 50k. now ive reassembled it all she still can't select gear with the engine running. the new release arm moves freely. ive had the slave cylinder apart and there are no signs of leaking there, although it only has 1 seal and the mg parts catalogue appears to show 2.

i have bleed the clutch system using a pressurised easy bleed system i get a good flow of fluid from the top union on the master cylinder aswell as from the slave cylinder, the pedal feels good too but still i can't select any gear when the engine is running. there does seem to be alot of flex in the slave cylinder mounting bracket but im not sure if this would cause an issue. im at a bit of a loss as to where to go next? do i replace the slave or master cylinders or do i look towards the release bearing or clutch components. the car showed no sign of clutch failure before this, i can be sure of this as i took it for a hard drive shortly before it broke down.

the only other point of note i can see is if you hold the clutch pedal down then open the slave cylinder bleed nipple to bleed it the pedal fails to return when the nipple is closed, if you pull the pedal back up manually then it operates fine after that until you open the nipple with it depressed again.

cheers
chris Read more

Peter D

Glad it's fixed. Regards Peter

Mr X

tinyurl.com/ktjfwy

Looking at the damage to road surfaces in my area today, it quickly became obvious how much of the damage has been caused by the various Utility Companies. Most of the ruts are due to those trenches they dig and fill in before topping off with a bit of thin tarmac.

Is there no way of grabbing these people by the shovel and insisting they reinstate the roads they damage? Read more

rtj70

pity we cant have more pictures posted btw... that one brightened up the forum!


At the moment a small minority cannot be trusted to post topics and replies let alone images. So this is not yet possible and unlikely to be ever.

The image is actually provided elsewhere. Nothing to do with this site so I've slowed down browsing members in this thread. Sorry.
Hector Brocklebank

I remember watching coverage of a big international motorshow a short while back where the designer of some concept car was being interviewed. He was stating that the car in question was aimed at the youth market and how difficult it was to satisify their demands as the latest generation 'are no longer in love with the motor-car'.

Is this statement indicitive of the general attitude todays youth have towards motoring? Was it true that in days gone by, more people had a genuine interest in motoring? I suppose with eco-mentalism being drilled into school kids from day 1, any notions of enthusiasm for cars and motoring will be quashed early on.

Read more

Number_Cruncher

>>But appliances are not interesting by definition...

Perhaps it's just that appliance enthusiasts are a bit rarer than car enthusiasts? (I'm quite sure they exist!, and doubtlessly have a well policed forum too!)

It could be argued that becoming at all interested in a hunk of metal, plastic, and glass places one well on the way to the Autisitic end of the personality spectrum. I'm not sure if it's particularly healthy or something to be encouraged.

To my dismay, Number_Nipper seems to prefer to upturn his push along brick truck, and play with the wheels - despite my attempting not to bias him toward such deviance.

1400ted


Watched an episode of Emmerdale tonight, ( it's the only fresh air I get now ! )

A brief scene showed the village bus arriving. It seemed to have a Daewoo grille on the front.

I know Navistar are developing new diesel engines for Daewoo 5 ton and 5.5 ton buses for use in Korea but are they actually running in servicec in the UK, perhaps under the Chrysler badge ?

Ted Read more

1400ted

Interesting....I thought it was a chrome grille...obviously not so.

Looked like a Wrightbus, comparing the two.

Ted

hefty45

Hi, my parking sensors are constantly buzzing when in reverse but nothing is obscuring the sensors, I wish to locate the control box to unplug each sensor in turn to located the faulty sensor. I have removed all the carpeting and the arch trims in the boot, but can only locate the buzzer. Does anybody know for sure if it is located behind the bumper? and would I have to remove the bumper for access? There are no details in a well known car repair manual, any advice would be appreciated. Thank you. Read more