June 2009
Hi, I'm new to this forum and would like some help. My 2002 Grand Espace Dci has suffered some of the usual EGR problems listed elsewhere on this forum, BUT my biggest problem is an annoying rattle when accelerating hard, or putting the engine under load so to speak.
You can sit with it on the drive and rev the engine as hard as you like and apart from the agricultural noises these renault diesels make - no rattle at all. yet set off up the road, or uphill and accelerate and it makes a terrible rattling sound.
It seems to be coming from the right hand side of the engine, disapears after you reach a reasonable speed (35 - 40mph) can't be heard when you get it moving in 3r, 4th or 5th gear, or when the engine is not labouring , accelerating or under load.
The noise does not go up direcly in proportion with engine revs, only to a point - ie not like a sticking hydraulic tappet might. It sounds almost like something loose somewhere?
I bought the car with 70,000 miles on it and a FSH. I change the oil and filters evey 7500 miles and use a good quality semi-synthetic oil.
I have had the drivebelt changed, and the belt tensioner assembly. Six months ago the bottom pulley broke (metalised rubber came away from the centre of the pulley), so this was replaced and everything checked out again at that time and another new drive belt fitted.
Cam belt was changd at 75,000 (mileage now 104,000)
As far as I can tell, the altenator, power steering pump and air con compresor are all original items and do not appear damaged in any way. Nor does there seem to be anything loose anywhere under the bonnet.
I am worried about this noise - usually rattling noises are the forerunner to expensive repairs. Is it likely to be cam belt or cam belt tensioner related? Anyone got any ideas? anyone had a similar experience?
Car, by the way runs fine, does about 38-39mpg, nothing else untoward (well except the obvious impending doom of replacing EGR valves almost every 12 months or so!) Read more
Just a hypothetical question. We all have read about drivers being pinged for no insuance when they were insured.
What would be the position if you were captured and had your car impounded...but....you were towing a caravan or a boat...or even a horse in a trailer.
Would they take the lot ? Or would you and your family be left at the roadside with your trailer, etc. Or would they do the sensible thing and just issue a HO/RT/! ( producer )
Just wondering.
Ted Read more
Hi all,
I need to renew the corroded front brake pipes on my 405 for the MOT. It has the Bendix Integral ABS braking system from which I'm told is pretty specialist stuff and not to be tampered with, but how easy would it be for me to renew the brake pipes and can anyone tell me how to do it with this system?
Any help appreciated
Thanks
J Read more
Watched in horror, as my cars tracking was adjusted using two pairs of 'MoleGrips' ..... remember when people worked on your car with proper tools and took some pride in their work. Read more
What about a Ball pane hammer? Does it hurt? Only if you miss!
MD
Surely a Ball pain hammer then? Well.. erm, on second thoughts, maybe not.
Just amazed what I witnessed tonight on the A56 in south Manchester. Drivers racing the lights on amber and going through when the lights are on red. Also drivers going through a filter on amber getting stuck when the lights are on red blocking the filter. What amazes me is I saw about four cars blatently go through on red in the space of about 4 minutes. However there is a twist. About 500 yards before the lights there are camera signs, then just before the lights there are big yellow boxes with Tuvelo or something similar written on them.
People seem to be in such a rush to get home they ignore the road around them, I assume these people take the same route each rush hour and skip the lights so how the hell can they still have a licence?
It is amazing how people can blatently skip lights when there is a red light camera installed on them, yet we have people on her getting worried because they went through on amber and there is a little box on the lights (e.g flow monitors).
With the advice on people on here I now have a policy that green can only mean amber which means stop. I now only go through on amber if there is an absolute point of no return or some twit is tailgating me.
This happened from Dane Road (first set of lights with camera) the second was at Chester Road.
My other pet hate is when the lights have just changed to amber and I have plenty of time to stop safely the driver behind is on their mobile and dosn't even notice I am stopping and thus nearly going into the back of me. Read more
This sounds so like Spain! Traffic light sequences here have always had a large changeover margin and ALL drivers are prone to shoot through red or amber regardless of whether there's anyone following. Bus drivers, police, fire engines, pizza delivery - everyone does it. Since I first had a locally registered car I've had to follow the "system" just to avoid rear end shunts. Likewise it's last-one-to-leave's-a-sissy when the lights are ABOUT to change to green.
I once saw a family of four in a Corsa obediently stop on a red and almost get rear ended by a fully laden local bus, whose driver indignantly blasted the horn and shouted obscenities. The family were all wearing seatbelts, which should have alerted the bus driver that they were, predictably, tourists!
Sad story from Wales about a unlicenced and uninsured driver responsible for the death of a little lad.
tinyurl.com/nxsk5u
Should you have to show you've a licence when you buy a car? There could be a space in the V5 to be completed with the purchaser's licence details if the car is used or passed straight on to DVLA by the dealer if the car is new.
Read more
Who ,polices it though? Buy a car from a private seller - are they to check the validity of the licence?
The only real solution would be to insist that to register a vehicle transfer you have to present yourself at a DVLA office with your licence. What about company/lease/pool cars?
Hi All,
Have an intermittent fault on a Mondeo mk3 where the ABS lights come on during driving. Regular stuff is checked, so possibly sensor, bearing, or something similar - would be handy to know which wheel to direct my attention to.
I tried to use an old OBD2 scanner on it, however I *think* I need a PWM scanner. is this likely correct? anyone recommend me a cheap scanner?
thanks, dave. Read more
Any ideas as to why the wipers juder across the screen & some times stop half way on the way back down?. They also dont park properley sometimes. This seems to happen when I use them on intermitant. Read more
it will need a new motor, and possibly a linkage ask them to check it for tight spots/partial seizure , Regards TB
Hi all,
This might seem a clear problem, but recently my battery light occasionally lights up on my dashboard for a few seconds at a time and then goes out. It tends to be on motorways I notice it more when cruising.
I had my alternator changed in March so I would hope it isnt that. Should I just get my battery checked out?
Thanks again Read more
It turned out the alternator was to blame, but I got it changed under warranty. Cheers
I have another slight problem you might have an idea on - I'll post it under a new topic, thanks
Sorry about the rambling nature of this post - it's arisen from a conversation with a friend who drives but knows nothing at all about car engines and transmissions, but who is also used to riding a multi-geared pushbike.
Thinking about things, I seemed to have tied my own brain in knots. Perhaps Number Cruncher will come along and define it all in black and white!
A car will accelerate in top gear if it is already doing say 30 mph.
A cyclist can accelerate in top gear if he's already doing say 10mph.
But a cyclist will struggle to set off from rest in top gear, even if the pedal crank is at its most favourable angle (horizontal).
I can understand a petrol/diesel car will struggle to set off in top gear because of insufficient torque developed at the low revs that would be forced upon it by the gearing. But given a sufficiently thick clutch plate or sufficiently-cooled fluid clutch, would it set off provided the engine revs can be held at the speed of maximum torque?
It's all about starting torque, because typical electric cars will set off from rest with no gearing at all.
Does the human leg also develop less force when pushing against a static pedal than when it is already rotating?
The mass of the vehicle is the same, so if the force/torque is the same, in the same gear would a car or bicycle not add 10mph to its speed in the same amount of time starting from 30 mph as from zero mph?
F = m a suggests it would, but subjectively it doesn't feel as though it would.
Is this purely due to the outside factors like torque not being able to be developed at low speeds / slippage in the clutch etc? Or is starting from rest a special case?
I presume that a (theoretical) motor with utterly constant torque from zero (no clutch) to 6000 rpm would give a vehicle a constant rate of acceleration (assuming there was no wheelspin) until wind resistance became an ever-increasing restriction?
Momentum actually plays no part?
So is it that the bottom line is indeed that a cyclist's leg cannot develop as much force when pushing against a static pedal as when everything is in motion?
Read more
I can vouch for the veracity of Lud's tale. My GMC pick-up will pull away from a stand in top, on a level road and unladen.
Many older American vehicles will do this trick, to a greater or lesser degree. Large-capacity vee engines have the characteristics of high torque at low revs.
Browse
...like a lot of outdated law...
I think the death penalty for arson in Her Majesty's dockyard was only abolished a few years ago.