June 2009
Hi my in laws have a C3 and it has started beeping every so often. There are no warning lights coming on with it.
I have tried to replicate it and took it a run round the block. Nearly every time I pressed the brakes, it beeped. But not everytime.
When I was sitting in the driveway and elected reverse it beeped.
I have checked and all bulbs are working.
Anyone any ideas?? Read more
We would like to take our 2 adult mountain bikes when we go on holiday to the Dales next month, but i am not sure what is the best way to carry them.
If i go for a rear carrier it would have to be a high lift one as i don't have towbar electrics to plug a trailer board in, and to be honest i really dont like the way they seem to fit, with a bar resting on the rear window and straps under the back bumper etc. Has anyone had problems with them causing damage to their car ?
The other option is roof bars and mount cycles carriers on them, but this would work out much more expensive and the bars dont look that easy to fit to my Cee'd, but would it be the better choice ?
Any advice would be gratefully received.
Added in make/model as it seemed appropriate to the question. Rob Read more
No doubt those with greater knowledge will point out some compelling reasons why they do, but on a motorcycle I never used the back brake at all except when it was very slippy and I used it instead of the front, the same applies when I am riding on a bicycle. Many racers on both powered and unpowered two wheelers are of the same mind, the theory being that the rear brake is pretty useless as when you apply the front the rear wheel goes light, locks easily and contributes nothing to the stopping power.
The same dynamics must apply to cars, so what have I missed?
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>>Do modern braking systems know when the car is travelling backwards ?
Without an electrical signal from the reversing light switch, the ABS controller doesn't know - the wheel sensors only produce a waveform, the frequency of which is proprtional to speed in either direction of rotation.
Ford Fusion, does anyone know where the Odour filter is fitted? How can it be accessed?
Thanks
{amendment to header to give it its more common name} Read more
I remember those! I had Odour Eaters in my shoes, and they didn't work!
Hi All,
Anyone got any pointers for spotting the difference between the pre and post 2006 facelift models (estate preferred)? The HJ review speaks mentions something about the headlights but looking through Autotrader adverts I can't spot any difference difference.
Any tips please?
Regards.
FTF Read more
Ok, thanks all.
Bear in mind I am trying to do this from photographs. I have read somewhere that there is something about the rear brake light too. On the post facelift it goes right across, but its not always possible to tell from a photo.
Anyone got any tips for getting hold of a good second hand model? Like is it best to take the price hike of a Merc dealership or go for a non franchise dealership and get a warranty?
Thanks again for the help.
FTF
Recently bough an 01 Civic 1.4 "Max", seemed a decent car but it quickly developed gearbox problems (noise in neutral, goes when dipping clutch), was mis-diagnosed as a clutch which was replaced at our expense then the gearbox was repaired under extended warranty (they found swarf in the box and I believe did the usual bearings). Not good. I noticed today I could hear a little noise in neutral which goes when dipping the clutch, as before, I really hope the problem isn't reappearing after only a few hundred miles.
Next issue, aircon. It was flat when bought, then regassed cheaply at Kwikfit, within a week or two it was flat again. Took it for diagnosis and the guy could find nothing wrong (not the compressor) so has regassed it again. I have a nasty feeling it'll go flat again.. :(
Next problem (could do with some help on this), I noticed the headlight adjusters were making noises today, almost as if they were sticking as I could see no visible movement. The noise was present with the key in the ignition but engine off and could be triggered by tapping on the headlights/general vibration. I notice this has been mentioned as a problem on the Type R forums and in the article on here. Has anyone found a solution?
General niggles: The rear visibility is poor and the front impossible to judge. There are already signs of rust in various places. Rust which isn't present on my nice galvanised French car (oh the irony). Read more
Aircon I've finally diagnosed as a failed condensor, dye visible all over the fan under UV light. Will have to see if it's the common fault or just wear and tear.
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Gearbox is still whirring away despite supposedly being fixed..
i am having problems with the light cluster on the nearside.
the side lights work, as do the main beams. however the dipped headlight will not work. i have changed the bulb and this has had no effect.
the dipped headlight on the offside works.
has anyone got any ideas on what i should do? Read more
reason for this happening is that next to ur fuses are a bunch of connectors one of them connectors has a wire that leads to ur dip lights this wire will have burnt a few of its strands in turn your lights fail try and switch ur lights on as normal go into ur fuse box push the wires around in all the connectors to find the right ones there u will see the lights come on..but hey try and get a connector very hard indeed go to a scrap yard an ask ur better off
Hi ? My wife owns a Saab 9-5 auto which she bought just over 3 years ago when it was 4years old. Bought from a Saab main dealer who had looked after it from new. Has now done 68,000 miles.
It has been relatively trouble free although not cheap to run. It has always been serviced regularly in line with Saabs recommendations as we are aware of the sludge problem. (The timing chain etc was changed under warranty at the time she bought the car)
Two months ago she had a problem starting the car and said it kept stalling so she booked it in to the dealers. They fitted a new oxygen sensor. Problem was still there.
I am no mechanic (HJ recently and Car magazine back in the seventies is all) but I had a listen one morning when she was leaving and it sounded rough and the exhaust was smoking. I thought turbo and told her so.
Car went to dealers again who kept it for four days. They found nothing wrong, said the car was fine. Wife obviously relieved at the inexpensive conclusion.
Three weeks later she goes up to Buxton (we are in London) to bring daughter and the contents of her flat back from uni. Turbo blows on the A6. Clouds of smoke and almost complete loss of power. Luckily this happens near a lay-by so she can pull off the road. Calls AA. They are brilliant. Tow her to Buxton. Help fill the car with flat contents, tow her to Leicester and truck the car back to London. Thanks guys.
AA come back next day and take the car to dealers. New turbo, new catalytic converter total cost £2500.00. Wife mentions the fact they had said given it the OK. ?Nothing to do with us. We ran the diagnostics and they checked out.? Asked what could cause the turbo to blow. ?Turbos go all the time love?.
Given that we are talking about a main dealer who has been around at least 25 years and that most Saab cars are turbo charged I am amazed they did not spot this but they refuse to accept any liability.
I could write several pages on this but I will spare you. I cannot see how she has any come back. I told her to write to the dealer?s MD and copy to the group MD, Saab customer relations and trading standards. At the least that will release some of the pent-up aggression.
What do you think? Bad luck? Incompetance? Negligence? Are service technicians over dependent on diagnostics?
The only positive thought on this is that it did not happen in the outside lane of the M1!
Thanks for your time, DougB.
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I don't think there's much you can do. There is no specific diagnostic for a failing turbo. There are symptoms e.g. blue smoke in the exhaust (particularly on a cold start), sluggish pickup. But a failing head gasket will cause "smoke" - but white "smoke", as it's water vapour. Sluggish pickup could be poor petrol, old spark plugs etc.
Unfortunately, most turbos do go without warning. The turbo in my old 9-5 had done 177,000 miles without replacement, and started to smoke...about 7 years and 100,000 miles ago and didn't get worse. After thinking long and hard, I had a replacement fitted and I hadn't realised how slow the old turbo was to spool up - it's almost a different car.
One thing to beware of - if it let go in a big way, it can cause bits of shattered impeller to go into the intercooler. If they didn't remove and clean the intercooler, then there is a risk of some of these bits being sucked into the new turbo - and you can guess what that means. Ask them whether they did that.
Lastly, for specific Saab help and advice, go to www.saabscene.com/forum/index.php where you will find a whole bunch of friendly waiting to help!.
on the old m62 today doing 70 mph in a fiat siecento 3rd lane no problem ,electric steering wooly as they are, when all of a sudden i lost all power,thinking cambelt gone out of fuel etc then realised my foot had come off the accelerator pedal as its only the size of half a crown
anyone else ever had that dread feeling in a car only to find it was a false alarm?
{Typo in header corrected} Read more
Mine was just 7 years ago. On my Suzi triple at about 40mph, going through a village near Chelford (Cheshire) on the way towards Jodrell Bank. I rounded a tree-lined blind corner to find a 10-ton lorry stationary across the entire road, it had reversed out of a farm track.
I can only remember two things.
1) Thinking "oh deary me, I wonder how I shall go about avoiding hitting the rather solid-looking rear end of that lorry when it's only a matter of yards away ... "
2) Realising that I'd come to a stop on the narrow pavement next to the road, and BEHIND the lorry's back end.
My 'internal robot' had evidently taken over, spotted a low part of the kerb just before lorry and steered the bike toward it while braking.
It was one of those when you start physically shaking afterwards. I now approach blind corners with even more caution.
Hello,
I've been having a recurring problem with our 05 1.6 Petrol Focus.
The problem initially happened about 12 months ago, when the car intermittently failed to start.
After a long diagnosis period with a ford dealer it turned out that the fuel pump was failing to engage due to an apparently broken fuel pump. We ended up getting this replaced.
About 4000 miles later, the car exhibitted the same symptoms so I took the car back to the ford dealer. They just said that the replacement part was faulty and replaced the part free of charge (although I still had to pay for it to be fitted).
Recently, (again after about 4000 miles) the problem is back again.
I'm reluctant to take the car back (to the same place, at least) since this is starting to cost me a fortune and the cynical side of me thinks that I will only end up getting the fuel pump changed again.
The symptoms are, in order of appearence:
At first, when attempting to move at a constant speed in 4th or 5th the car will start accelarating/decelerating, as if the fuel delivery is not constant. You can only feel this happenning at 40mph+.
The fuel pump will stop engaging intermittently when you turn the ignition key.
This continues to get worse until the fuel pump never engages.
I cannot believe that the fuel pump is the underlying problem again!
Anyone got any ideas on what the problem might be, or the best way to get the underlying cause diagnosed?
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did you ever find out what the problem was as mines just done the same? Third time in just over a year.
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Browse
Jono,
A couple of folding bikes for the adults would ease your carriage problems.
Something like a Brompton would do the reservoir run with the youngsters, although it's not suitable for anything rougher than a well laid cinder path.