June 2009
Hi all,
I feel the need to let of some steam about my drive up the A1 from north east England to Scotland yesterday.
I could moan about the ridiculously long stretches of bendy single carriageway which mean that when you find yourself behind someone doing 45mph you are stuck behind them for the rest of the stretch, but I won't because I recognise that that's just how the road is.
I could moan about the high numbers of caravans slowing down the flow of traffic, but again I won't because it was Sunday and people are entitled to transport caravans if they want to.
What I will moan about is the 3 different occasions where I was driving along the single carriageway at 60mph with no one behind me, and people decided to enter the road from a side junction in front of me, causing me to have to step on the brakes and slow down to 35mph. These people all then slowly accelerated up to around 50-55mph and started cruising at that speed.
Why do they think it's ok to pull out and cause someone to have to almost halve their speed? Why do they feel the need to pull out and squeeze into the small gap in front of me when there's no one behind me? And if they're in such a rush that they feel they have to do this, why do they then motor along at 50? Are they so selfish that they want to get in front of me just on the off chance that I'm cruising at 45 and going to prevent them from going at 50 if I'm in front of them?
Am I right in thinking this is bad driving on their part or am I just being grumpy?
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Washing and polishing car in the fine sunshine today for first time since purchase (3 months) and had a really good nosey at the paintwork. All fine except on bonnet and lower wheel arch where they are are covered in little black dots. I can feel them if I run my finder over them but they would shift even with hard rubbing.
What would be best for shifting them, claybar or bug and tar remover?
s596.photobucket.com/albums/tt49/timorridge/ Read more
Looks like tar to me. I use plain old white spirit, then either wash or polish it after. Works quick, just use a soft cloth, not tissue or anything.
We have a BMW 320D compact in the family, good car, had it's share of problems earlier.
Turbo went at 45K, replaced by BMW under warranty, whilst doing so they apparently replaced the risky inlet manifold, so hopefully she'll carry on for a while, now done about 115K miles, gets regular maintenance and goes like hell.
Anyway my question.
Behind the bulkhead on the nearside is a clear plastic rectangular container with what appears to be clear liquid in it, the container is approximately battery sized, and the fluid level has been reducing steadily over the years.
I have an idea that this is something to do with emissions, someone please put me out of my misery and tell me exactly what it is and whether it needs topping up if so how and who by, and most imortantly is it a diy job.....thats probably too much to hope for and i have a nasty feeling a big bill is forthcoming. Read more
Thanks for the link Tom, but still no nearer finding out.
May have to visit BM to find out i suppose.
BB's battery suggestion is a good one...you're such a wag bb, as the one nestling in the boot (now 8 years old) seems fine at the moment..;)
I've just put a deposit on a car, but I didn't check when the cam belt needed doing. It needs doing now (age rather than miles). As part of the deal they said they would do a service, but the belt change is pricey £500. What are the chances of them doing it is part of the schecduled servicing, however I don't know to ask and the salesman didn't ask. Is it reasonable to expect them to do it? Read more
Been there. 20/20 hindsight would be great. If dealer won't budge, you'll struggle to force them. As others have mentioned, cam belt changes are not usually part of the scheduled service, probably something to do with keeping the 'menu' prices on the board behind the service desk low. Playing devils' advocate, at this end of the market, the dealer's margins might be quite low, and an un-agreed for service item might make too much of a dent.
My father has a 1.6 petrol Meriva 08 Automatic. I have not driven another auto in this model & the dealer doesn't have another auto to drive but I have to ask do they really drive that badly ? its all or nothing when you go to pull away & does so with a jerk and is so indecisive when changing gear! even when driving on light throttle it won't change unless you lift off the throttle & then it jerks in!. I have had auto's & so my Dad but he just thought he was getting old with this one but I'm thinking surley they can't be this bad. He has done 6000 miles with it now, & its never improved.He had a 1.6 astra auto before & the gear change was faultless. Read more
I honestly don't know Pizza, but what I do know is that they don't appeal to me - its classed as a mini MPV, like the Fiord Fusion I suppose, and this is what Top Gear says about e ~
A bad case of answering the question nobody asked, the Fusion is nothing more than a Fiesta with a high ride height. It might be easier to get into if you?re old, but we haven?t met any old people who wanted one either.
I could probably write a list of 100 little features which I've found on some cars I've owned or travelled in over the years, which are now almost forgotten. Nothing earth-shatteringly revolutionary or particularly hi-tech; just a few little features which for some reason made the daily ritual of driving that little bit more agreeable...
Half a dozen to start the ball rolling...
1. Little green tell tale light on the end of the indicator (Leyland 1100/1300)
2. Felt-lined coin tray right where you can reach it (1970s Honda Accord)
3. Full size gloveboxes for both driver and passenger (Morris Minor)
4. Vinyl loops instead of grab handles for rear passengers of 2-door cars (VW Beetle and Golf up to Series III)
5. Opening/swivelling quarter lights.
6. Cubby hole above rear view mirror (1998 Vectra). Best place to keep spare glasses/sunglasses, really! Read more
Folding pic-nic tables in the mkII Jag.
Real walnut veneer in anything cheaper than a Roller.
Petrol at 10 bob a gallon.
My Guzzi 850T3 - Suppose that is quite a big thing, really.......
Rubber pistons?
I'm told the camshaft is plastic in the Honda lawnmower I'm probably going to buy for the caravan in leafy North Yorkshire.
They don't give any bother, according to the lawnmower man.
The engine is 135cc and the plastic shaft is over the head of a single cylinder.
It only produces about 3bhp - the large capacity for the output is used to reduce noise.
Presumably, the engine is running at lowish revs with a low compression ratio and the camshaft is fairly short as it only has one cylinder to look after.
I can't imagine a plastic camshaft would work in a more stressed/highly tuned application such as a motorcycle - can it?
And has anyone come across engine - or other components - made of unusual materials?
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Even the old Briggs & Strattons are 'force air cooled'! They put vanes on the
flywheel and enclose it in a metal casing. Voila force air cooling and some spare
forced air to work the engine governor linkage via a hinged flap.
And some more spare to suck grass cuttings into the cooling space and choke it up!
when drivin the car starts to feel like it is miss firing, then then speed gauge drops to zero, the the mileage stops clocking up and the fuel gauge sometimes fluctuates. Occassionally the digital readouts go to a series of dashes and the rev counter also drops off. The car will settle down until i need to change gear and accelerate. Turning the ignition off then on will reset everthing but only for a matter of minutes then it all starts again. The car never actually stops. The EML never comes on and the cumputer plug in showed no faults. Have anyone else had similar issues, any ideas how to fix. Read more
Thanks I got it sorted. Turned out to be the coil pack, the EML eventually stayed on and showed a coil fault. Changed the coil pack and all faults cleared. This explains the miss firing but it must have also been shorting some how to cause the instrument issues.
The 1.9 diesel unit offered by VW amongst others must be used in more different cars than most engines. It seems to power anything from Polos to Audi estates. Any other contenders for 'King engine' title. Read more
"Ford Kent engine and its varients, used from 1959 to 2002 and the block itself even later".
Thats a bit like my broom, It's about twenty years old but it's had ten new heads and six new handles!
I am on a tight budget but my Citroen C5 (2001) V6 3.0 Litre (I think) is in desperate need of service and some repair. I have not had it serviced for at least 15,000 miles and the baffles are gone in the exhaust. It also needs new tyres all round. It sailed through the MOT in January of this year and I want to keep it until the end of this year so need to give it some TLC. The on-board computer displays weird messages and clearly needs fixing or re-booting or something.
Can you please suggest a private individual in the Stratford Upon Avon area (because I will not be able to afford the many hundreds of pounds that a dealership will charge) who would be able to do all of what my car needs and be able to do it while I am away for a week from the 22nd of this month?
I really would appreciate any help or suggestions you might have - thank you.
Posted on behalf of an e-mailed request Read more
not the sort of car for budget motoring, imho.
Why not get the manual and get spannering?
Browse
yeah, right in front of the towny tourist who JUST WANTS HIS PAPER, COULD YOU PLEASE JUST GET ON WITH IT....(despite me growing up in a rural area)