May 2009
hi,please help.damn astra working sweet as a nut,parks on my drive for an hour ,goes to start up won't turn over.starter o.k.,fuses o.k.,can't hear fuel pump in situ had it out to check works fine.any ideas many thanks.ps its got petrol in tank. Read more
Talking to my inside informant at vosa this week and he was telling me about the new powers vosa were given from the beginning of this month in relation to hgv"s,
these consist of fixed penalty fines and points up to a maximum fine of 900 pounds, above this and it has to go to court
Vosa are also allowed to make a british driving licence up for any foreign driver who obviously doesnt hold such a thing and vosa have access to full back up of fingerprint technology and all the facilities that the police use to confirm whether the driver they now stop should be driving if hes been caught before.
The interesting thing is the telegrapgh mentioned most of this in their motoring section yesterday but i trawled both vosa and the dvla last friday and there is absolutely nothing on either of their sites about it.
10/10 again to the dt
0/10 vosa website Read more
Mr X - The Police do not need reasonable cause to stop a vehicle. No reason whatsoever is required but having no reason whatsoever doesn't make for an easy start to the conversation!
My daughter has asked me to remove the dual controls from her car as she is no longer working as a driving instructor. Before I say "yes" and get her to bring the car, does anyone know how easy or difficult the job is, or if any special tools are likely to be needed?
Many thanks Read more
Daughter brought car round. It looked easy to disconnect, not so easy to remove entirely. Insurance company insisted on removal.
So took car to local independant. After removal he said it was difficult and would never do one again. (The control manufacturer is Bestway - for those of you who may know the easy and the difficult ones). I an not always good at making correct decisions but I think I got this one right.
In answer to SA she had 5 years as an instructor and took the opportunity of a house move to look for something more involving, and now is a Road Safety Officer with the local county council. The history of getting this job is somewhere on this site. She loves it.
Hi Guys,
My 406 estate passenger front window has stopped working. Neither of the switches (drivers and passengers) makes a difference. I thought it might be just stuck in the channel possibly due to lack of use but to no avail. All the others work fine. Is there a common fault I could look for prior to taking door pad etc off. Is it fused separately?
As always any advice and guidance is greatly appreciated. Read more
same problem here, 1999 v reg 406 2.0l hdi, front passenger window inop, fuse box layout not same as in manual, any suggestions where the passenger window fuse is???
cheers,
Karl
Hi wondered if anyone had experienced the same problem as with my 2.2 diesel espace.
Turns over freely but does not attempt to fire! I've checked the glow plugs both power to and function cleaned egr (on off chance) squirt of easy start and starts and runs perfectly will not retart once stopped! Their is compustion leakage from no1 injector but this does not want to budge. I have been warned that these can turn in to a major job so don't want to persue if their is another fault, i'm booked in to see if their are any faults stored but any ideas would be appreciated as the costs with this vehicle keep mounting. Read more
Just remembered a similar fault on a Citroen Picasso. The vehicle had either run out or had almost run out of fuel. More fuel was fetched using a container that had once held truck-cleaner (detergent) and this was a very bad mistake. It seemed that the traces of detergent left in the container reduced the lubricity of the fuel which is extremely marginal in any case, and the high pressure pump was ruined.
Fortunately a vehicle dismantler had a similar engine which had blown-up (big ends gone and a rod through the block) They don't normally sell the pumps separately but as the engine was scrap, this time they made an exception. £150 and the car was a runner again! With Common Rail, Hdi and all that stuff the fuel is really critical and some drivers add a trace of two-stroke oil which is legal to burn as fuel, in order to help the pump. If one does do this it is advisable to use blue two stroke oil and not the red to avoid any misunderstandings! The good news about Common Rail is that pump replacement is straightforward as the timing is done by the computer....
Since I have had the CRV, I have noticed that when I am not in an excellent radio signal area, and have the heated rear window on, I loose signal. As soon as I get into a good signal area, it doesnt seem to make any difference. I have taken it back to the Dealer, who found the aerial base loose and tightened it up, but unfortunately this has made no difference. The problem is the dealer is in a good signal area, their comment was if we cant see the problem we cant fix it mmm. I was wondering if there is a signal booster in the aerial base, and when switching on the heated rear window it looses power, I would welcome any thoughts.
On a second note the gearchange 1 to 2nd is still appauling after 10K miles. Again the dealership hasnt tried to fix it, saying there all the same and blaming the linkage, but it feels more like a syncro fault to me. I have read on other forums that this is a common problem, and so far there does not seem to be a fix, again if anyone out there knows whats worked please tell.
Regards
Roger Read more
I noticed my signal drifted on road to Cornwall Rog but think that is normal when travelling such distances. Never used heated rear window on this journey. Your dead right about the 1st n 2nd gearing though, been mentioned here a bit if you note.
There is currently a thread here in the Back Room, asking for advice from someone who has accumulated 12 points and is anxious to avoid a ban.
On the basis that we are all responsible citizens a) what do Backroomers think should be the punishment for speeding and b) what should the current speed limits be anyway?
It is noteworthy that in all the European countries that I have driven through, the urban speed limit has mostly been 30 mph, or its kph equivalent, so there does seem a consensus view on that one.
My own views, for what they are worth would be to avoid giving the impression that speeding fines are a tax on speed and use more constructive methods, such as driving awareness courses, or make the guilty driver take an extended test and only resort to bans when the message is obviously being ignored.
As for speed limits, leave them as they are except for motorways, which should be 80 mph day and night except on unlit sections at night or in poor visibility (similar to in France).
Over to all you BR's .............
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I think that a lot of tailgating starts with people keeping the same distance behind the car ahead as they do in the city. Remember the 2-second rule on the motorway and you'll be off to a good start!
hi all,can someone help. ive got a rover 25 and its got a ticking noise,since i got a oil change there has been a constant ticking noise coming from the engine. what ive noticed is that the ticking noise is mainly noticable when in low gears,as i get to the high gears it basically fades. the car runs perfect with no loss of power and is used daily. could it have a tappet stuck? if someone knows what it is,then would it damage the car if i do a long journey. thanks for looking and all help appreciated. Read more
Hi, I recently had a minor impact to the front drivers side wing/door from someone reversing off their drive, didn't see me parked. It was very slow speed crunch and made a few dents and scrapes. Car went to crash repair garage. A few days after I got it back I noticed a rattle coming from front drivers side wheel. Because it started following the repair I took it back to same garage. They could not find fault in quick inspection so sent car to Ford for diagnosis. Ford could not take it in for 6 days so I continued driving. When they got it Ford reported back that the drivers side front shock absorber was "smashed". Not just worn or damaged, but completly broken. Car is under 3 years old, I have not hit any bumps at excessive speed. I don't know anything about shock absorbers or what might break them, does anyone have any idea what sort of things might have caused this damage? Could it (as the garage are suggesting) have been caused by original impact? The car that hit me was a big BMW 4X4, but speed was very slow. Also I am concerned that having driven the car for a total of 10 days before diagnosis further damage may have been caused because shock abosrber was broken. Any advice welcome, worried! Read more
Thanks both of you, your comments are reassuring. I will make sure suspension gets thoroughly checked over when it is repaired. At the moment they are waiting for go-ahead from the insurance company, as this repair should go on the original claim if it was caused by the same impact.
Hi - can anyone help with a good online UK Ford spares supplier. I am having trouble finding a thermal temperature transmitter (that sends to the dashboard temperature gauge) for a 1990 Ford Escort Bonus 1.3 petrol. 1990 seems to have been a changover year so not easy to compare what is fitted to what is listed. Mine has a single post fitting but 1990 also seems to have a spade type fitting. Need to get the right one so it operates at the correct temperature range.
Many thanks Read more
I would think, knowing Ford that the sender would be the same apart from the connector, I have just fitted an Escort diesel engine into a P100 pick up. the senders are as yours, one post and one flat blade, the latter works perfectly with the P100 gauge.
hi folks,car now fixed.it was connection on fuel pump,rusted and just a mess really.thanks everybody for your help.