June 2009
My Ford Streetka (2003, 30k miles) loses power whilst I am driving regardless of whether I am in slow-moving traffic or on a motorway - very disconcerting and dangerous. Ford replaced the lambda sensor twice whilst under warantee, but as no dashboard warning light comes on, my local garage are unable to diagnose the problem. Sometimes helps if I change down to a lower gear, but then seems to over-rev as it recovers. Often have to pull over and switch off the engine for a few minutes. Any ideas? Read more
Here is a quote from another recent post on here . .
"Bikers ride to the limits because we love the adrenalin rush, and a momentary doubt about the basic state of the bike is not what you need to inspire confidence when knee touches floor on a bend!"
Is it really appropriate for anyone to ride or drive to the limit on a public road?
Doesn't this approach show a callous disregard to other road on behalf of the poster when they may be hurt by a slight misjudgment which puts the poster the wrong side of the limit and sliding/spinning into someone else who was minding thier own business?
Surely track days are for getting an adrenaline rush, not the public road.
typo fixed in the subject line....sorry it was going on my wick again ! Read more
When i start the car from cold and drive i get very low power. Can normally clear this by dipping the clutch and giving it a good rev. Any suggestions ?? Read more
Does anybody know if you can use the red key as a normal day to day key as my blue key has fell to bits. Any help gratefully recieved Read more
yes you can, but a new blue key isn't expensive, some key cutting places can now do these as well as Fiat dealers. If you lose or damage the red key it's expensive.
Last week I had the pleasure of the cam chain snapping on my Honda Accord CTDi and wrecking my engine.
I've been getting a few quotes for a replacement engine, and wondered if there is any way of checking up on the claimed mileage? Or is it ultimately a case of pot luck and hoping that the Shiny engine that has 'only done 10k' is actually a steam cleaned 100k+ job. Read more
Well thats top quality service from honda think i'll just go get one! lol.
A small excerpt for you to enjoy:
"I just hate motorists. I want to make everything bad for them. I want to see less parking, higher petrol prices, more speed cameras and road charging to fund the eventual elimination of roads."
The 'full' article:
tinyurl.com/p8yjbc (Links to an anti-car article in the Nov 2005 Guardian)
To be honest, people like this reassure me because in proving they are so mind-bogglingly stupid and detached from the real world, they immediatley discredit their own argument.
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I had not spotted the date and did not read the article. So well spotted.
Because it was an article that was written tongue in cheek I think I'll lock this and wait for Hector to respond.
... and change the main thread title.
Ladies and gents,
I have a 1996 Mk 3 Golf that is very reluctant to start ( from cold) unless I have the accelerator depressed ( needs about 1300 rpm showing on the guage ) . It will also tend to cut out at road junctions when the engine is cold if allowed to idle normally.
It means that I have to depress the accelerator and ride the clutch until the engine is warmed up. When the engine is warm the car idles normally .
I have already cleaned the inside of the throttle body, but to no avail.
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
S.
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good result.
Hi all,
Having a bit of a situation with my new 850 T5.
Bought it a couple of weeks ago, primarily to do some workhorsing when we move house, but also because I like them. Test drive was good, no lights on. Picked the car up, ABS light on; thought little of it (should have rung alarm bells). Anyway, took the car to local trusted indy for a service & check over. Calls me with a list of problems. Couple of small bits- tracking out, tyre, check strap, but major concern is brakes. Needs
- front discs & pads, in a few months
- rear calipers, discs & pads very soon
Both of these aren't a huge thing, as I can source the parts on fleabay cheaply. Bigger concern is the ABS. The diagnostic threw out a list of problems (not seen this yet), including sensors and pump. Again, I can get parts on ebay for reasonable money, but it's all adding up. Indy reckons I should get shot, as it's looking like a money pit, but I do like it. Another concern is that the lambda light does not come on on start-up, so may have been disabled. Could be more woes?
Anyway, thoughts?
I'm cross mostly at myself for not checking more carefully. I'm wondering about the dealer (home-based). I assume I have no come back as the car is roadworthy. It's odd that the ABS light was out when I test drove, and back on when I picked it up. Wondering if he disconnected it?
Suspect we'll just use it until september (when MOT runs out) and then flog on ebay for whatever we can get. Other ideas very welcome!
:-(
Cheers,
Alex. Read more
Cheers Boxster. This is more or less my view on things. The Volvo owners' forum has been most helpful- reckon it's all sortable. Mrs wanted me to look into this, as the doomsaying indy is not optimistic.
Cheers again
Alex.
This morning on my way to work - whilst stopped in traffic - I went to move off to find the engine had cut off. the battery and oil lights were on as if i has stalled it.
at first i thought i must have stalled it but i didn't feel it the car judder as you would if it had stalled. luckily the car started fine and i drove on.
a minute later further down the traffic laden road - i was in 2nd gear and the same happened again - no judder or stutter - it just silently lost power and the battery and oil light came on - i started the engine whilst i was moving and finished my journey to work fine.
i suspect it must be something electrical as the car has been driving fine and starts back up without a problem?
any ideas of how serious this is as i'm meant to be driving a long journey tmrw...?
thanks Read more
Did you manage to get to the bottom of it...I've had the same problem for about 5 months but have just been carrying on as usual as my local garages dont have a clue.
I recently bought my 97 P reg 306 d t about 4 months ago for £400 and it has now covererd 130,000 miles.
There are 2 things that worry me about it.
1. When I first bought it it ran fine but a month down the line it developed a starting problem and it became increasing hard to start as i found i was waiting for the glow plug light to go off, then turning the key and sometimes tapping the acceerator pedal to get it going. When it fired up loads of white smoke bit of a cough and splutter and away we was starting fine everytime for the rest of the day.
Spoke to a few people and they said the glow plugs may need changeing from what i had said. (I still havn't changed them as of yet as the weather is pretty damn warm. I do have a set handy though.)
2. More recently it has become increasingly harder to start and when it finally does same description as above. Now, When the engine gets to about 80 - 85 degrees and I am stationary the car begins to struggle and loose power and in the last few days has began cutting out completely when stationary. The problem only occurs when the engine is warmed up. It is becoming a serious problem for me as i am finding myself left foot braking as I come up to a junction slipping it into neutral coasting untill I get down to a speed i can slip it into 1st gear whack the clutch in pull the hand brake on and hold the rev's so the engine doesn't cut out on me and hold all the traffic up while I take ages to start the engine up.
Needless to say It's becoming quite an inconvenience to me now and any help, ANY hep would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance
Eddy Read more
Hi
I had a similar problem to this. As Peter said it might be air getting into the fue system. There is a plastic pipe between the fuel filter housing and the pump, over time this can get brittle and fracture. Replace this and bleed the system, making sure the bleed nipple is tightened enough.
Also when was the last oil and filter change done?
Check the air filter to! Because these are at the bottom of the car they can sometimes corrode through and allow moisture in which could be an explanation for the amount of smoke...or the head gasket is on its way. To check this take the radiator cap off and start the engine, use the throttle control on the pump to give it a few revs and wait a couple of mins for the water to circulate. Look to see if any air bubbles are coming up in the rad, if so you may have a gasket problem.
Hope this helps!
Browse
"If you ride 10/10th's on a public road on a bike, eventually you're coming to grief "
I'd say sooner rather than later, instead of eventually.