It's most likely a bit of both, My boss has a 307 (younger than mine) and its constantly been in the garage, my dads fiance has a 407 which was a total wreck, also a friend of mine (who works for Citroen) bought a C2 diesel that while doing 70 had a bit of suspension/steering give up and shove her headlong into the central reservation. Twin this with various other reports of French automotive engineering prowess from other friends I think the term once bitten twice shy is apt. Definately going for something German or Japanese for the next motor.

Most probable cause is air leaking INTO the fuel system overnight.Get underneath at the tank and check all unions and examine any plastic pipe connectors.These can rub against the underneath and let air in. An easy way to test unions is to liberaly cover them all with a thick grease

Oops sorry if I caused offence there. I just meant that people don't always bother to complain/notice thicks not that your customers are thick. I sometimes do a job and a customer tells me 6 months later it didn't fix it, I just think I wish you had told me earlier as there is nothing worse than a customer potentialy not being happy.

I will get that throttle cable checked out tomorrow while he does the clutch cable (pedal is down to the floor which cannot be normal) if he still can't find anything I might just risk £60 and replace the MAF myself, I have taken out the MAF on my dads Fiesta so I can't see it being much different.

The reason the fan isn't cutting in is because the heat and pressure in the top hose is more than likely hot gasses rather than water. If the top hose is rock hard it's a sure sign the head gasket has gone. I'm starting to sound like a prophet of doom I know but I've had these kind of issues numerous times in my time as a car dealer.

gcck

Do write to your MP. Writing to my MP has been very interesting.

I'm amused by those comments from various people who are obviously perfect drivers and take the view that anyone caught speeding here or anywhere deserved it. We can't all be perfect drivers and I accept that I'm not one. But even though I was not perfect I hadn't been fined until this particular spot so I took a bit of interest in it just to see whether I could explain it to myself and as I have said compared with many other instances these signs are poor and I would contend inadequate. Now I could be wrong about that perhaps they are adequate but my point is that the best proof of whether they are adequate is that if they are there should not be a lot of fines in this area, so I would like to know whether there are.

Returning to the subject of writing to my MP. He is doing a very good job of appearing to take it seriously and first wrote to the Safety Camera Partnership Manager in May who palmed him off saying that it was the South Wales Police who would have to give that information. It has been necessary for him to go through the Freedom of Information Act to request this data and the first request appears to have been ignored so he sent a reminder to them which has now resulted in a refusal by the police to supply the information claiming exemption on three counts 1. Law Enforcement (no specific reason why) 2. Health and Safety (No specific reason why) 3. That giving this "detailed" information might enable arch criminals like myself to "identify patterns of enforcement activity".

Well my MP, to his credit without me needing to press has appealed forcefully against this refusal and so I hope that I will find out how many fines there are in this spot.

However, a second approach from another MP would add weight and I can't see really why anyone here who has an interest can't support that.

If you are interested in road safety and want to support the use of cameras remember that safety is only improved if people slow down. If, for some reason, lots of people are still speeding, would it not be sensible to ask why and if a lot of money has been generated could someone not spend a tiny fraction of it on more or better signs to see if that really improved safety by reducing the number of people speeding? The only objection I can see to that is that putting up better signs would reduce the "take" and hit the budget.

It is certainly interesting that the South Wales police seem so reluctant to disclose this information.

For anyone interested in writing to their MP you could make reference to the fact that Nick Ainger, MP for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire is following this up at the moment.