June 2009
Hi
Looking for any help/info on why the pulley tensioner wheel, on the auxiliary drivebelt, of my 2004 1.9d polo keeps shearing off. Does anyone know if it is possible to bypass this tension wheel until I can get it to the garage?
absolutely desperate and at my wits end with it!!
{typo in header corrected} Read more
This morning I've received two fake paypal emails. Nothing so unusual there you might think. However I use one-off email addresses and the two that have been targetted this morning have only been used to register with the HJ site.
That makes me suspect that the site has suffered a data loss. When the site was hacked a little while ago did the attackers get a list of subscribers email addresses?
Subject line changed slightly following an e-mailed suggestion Read more
I think that's enough speculation for now. Let's wait for an answer.
DD.
We have a rainwater butt and given the amount of rain these last few weeks it is full to overflowing. The tap is located a couple of inches off the bottom and the top of the water has a few floating bits on it. Drawing water off the tap should produce water free from obvious solid contaminents however small.
I have used the water to water the garden (why - it has rained a lot recently!) and to use for the fish tank. If there any reason not to use it for the washer bottle or even expansion tank and battery cells? Read more
The handbook of a Russian motorcycle I owned for many years stated the battery should be topped up with melted snow or rainwater, but not that collected from an iron roof. If it helps, it also said when washing the vehicle do not drive it into the river as irrepairable damage will be done to the cylinder heads.
Can anyone shed light on the best way to prime the diesel on a C-Max? I can't see any hand primer in the fuel lines.
Originally it had a leaking injector so replaced the injector seal.
So far I have tried cracking the injectors but only getting a dribble at best. I have filled the filter to the brim and then cracked injectors again, but nothing. Tried a squirt of starting spray, it runs while the spray lasts then stops. Am I right in thinking that these are not self priming? Will I have to fit a bulb primer in the return line and suck it through? Useful suggestion gratefully recieved. Read more
Situations like this,
and for me it's usually Transits,...
Picked up my new Alfa Mito (in Alfa Red) from a West Yorkshire dealer yesterday. As I'm downsizing have just gone for 1.4 non turbo version in lusso trim.
First impressions are very good - as I remember on the test drive. Car seems well put together and looks good outside. Interior looks great and of good quality. I'm downsizing from a bigger car and for a small car I'm impressed with the Alfa.
There wasn't much discounting to be done, getting "safeguard" and some petrol thrown in was the extent of it. Dealer easy to deal with and gave a comprehensive handover when I picked it up. Read more
I have an Alfa 156 and I am surprised how well put together it is. Owned it for 2 years now and its never broken down. Nice car
Might PX it for a Spider next year
The only thing wrong with it is I need a spare key which Alfa charge £210 for!
Edit, I have seen a Mercedes on fire. Had a VW Golf that was forever breaking down
I have recently purchased a 2003 Peugeot Partner 2.0 HDI (90), and having now filled the tank up twice, I'm beginning to think maybe the car isn't performing as well as it should be.
Economy on a long steady 70 to 80mph run came out at 38mpg.
The second tank has been steady local runs, which have come out at 35mpg.
Overall, this seems poor to me, not least because someone else I know with a Berlingo 2.0 HDI of the same era reckons they achieve over 50mpg on a long run.
Also, I'm surprised that the car seems to bog down in fifth gear and drop a few mile an hour up one of the local larger hills.
Another possible indicator to the problem is that the engine seems to shudder occasionally at around 1500rpm under light acceleration in the upper gears - I appreciate this might be down to a worn DMF.
I can hear the turbo quietly spool up under acceleration with the window open, the engine is nice and quiet be it hot or cold and I'm not aware of it pumping out clouds of black smoke under load etc, so any pointers would be good given I've been led to believe I should be achieving much better MPG than the above.
TIA for any advice. :-) Read more
Ok, will try filling it up again, but I guess I didn't make it clear enough in my last post that I filled the car up just after the car was hooked up to the diagnostics machine, which is when the problem first became apparent and was then compounded when the gauge, as I said, then moved as it should do, just with it being just over an eighth of a tank lower than it should have been.
Dontcha just love modern cars... ;-)
recently bought new i20 classic, on test drive doors locked automatically as i drove off which i was told was standard , but my car hasn't done this. Phoned dealer they don't seem to think that classic has this option and are getting back to me.
Can anyone help me out ????? Read more
I just bought an i30 and the handbook states that if you want the autolocking , ask the dealer to enable it, so I assume this feature can be enabled or disabled by a dealer.
My car is fitted with a Siemens CDR 2005 radio unit, unfortunately I have lost the radio handbook and cannot remember the sequence to re-programe it, I have the code and know how to enter it but cannot remember what buttons to press initially to start the sequence off to get to the code bit
Can anyone help
Many thanks. Read more
All is now OK, I have made a note for future reference.
Many thanks for your help.
Regards Wellman
Hi People,
I own a 2003 1.4tdci fiesta. It has had an intermittent electrical fault for quite q while, every time it does it and i think of taking it in it miraculously rights itself - until next time!
Basically there are three main problems that Im wondering weather thay are linked.
The front driverside indicator stops working (flashing double fast on the dash board as if a bulb was gone) even though the bulb is fine and all the other bulbs in the car are fine, including break bulbs. i have taken the front and back lights out, given them a clean, checked for moisture etc. i took the earth off the battery and gave it a clean and the problem ritghed itself. Then two, three maybe four weeks later it starts doing it again, very strange. I've rectified it in this way twice now and its started doing it again.
Then recently while going down the motorway one day the radio volume dropped down a level of its own accord which caught my attention, i then realised that the speedo and digital trip clock had cut out. about 10 miles further along the motorway it miraculously kicked in again and the radio increased back to its original volume.
Finally, if I go through a large puddle at anything over 15 miles an hour the car willl go into limp mode and come up with the EAC fail, its only apparent when the puddle is on the passenger side (also the side the battery is located on) it takes an hour or so rest for the car to work again, presumably as its dried itself out. Also very strange.
I do know that these cars suffer at time from a "bad earth" ???? Does anybody know if this sounds like a bad earth and if so could this be the reason for all three problems? If so Should I buy a new Earth cable for the battery?
Any help gratefully recieved. Sorry its a bit longwinded!
Charlie. Read more
The indicator light flashing fast would indicate that one light is not recieving any current, if the connections on the lamp are good, a bad earth is the most likely cause, if that earth is common to anything else it could cause other faults.
Hi,
I have recently re engined my Pug with an engine from a breakers. All seemed well, the engine starts easily, runs smoothly and feels like a tight low mileage engine, except it has developed a knocking noise and behaviour I don?t recognise and I would value second opinions.
Occasionally, perhaps once every other trip, a light metallic clicking noise will develop at about 2.5-3k revs. This sounds like a hydraulic tappet type noise but it then gets louder and starts to knock, which sounds like a big end knock. If I dip the clutch I can feel the vibration clearly on the pedal. The noise can be quite loud as I rev the engine with the clutch in. If I continue to drive normally the knocking stops after 30 seconds or so and I can continue to drive without a any problems. The crank shaft pulley appears to be in good order. Has anyone had a DMF behave like this?
Any opinion much appreciated.
Read more
Hi,
Here is a follow up in case this happens to you.
Having a fault on your car is one thing, but having a fault that you can't diagnose can drive you round the bend! I was just about to go for a new DMF when I decided to take the car out again to 'end it or mend it'. I rallied the car around Northumberland for two hours trying invoke the fault but the car ran perfectly. I was just starting to think that the problem had disappeared when I made sharp right turn and the engine started to rattle again. As usual this gradually developing into a knock, but this time it was bright sun shine and I saw a large plume of smoke behind the car. I depressed the clutch and switched off the engine but the engine ran on and the revs started to clime! I put the car into 4th gear and stalled the engine. I had to smile because I now new what the problem was.
My turbo was damaged and the compressor was leaking oil into the inlet manifold. I restarted the engine expecting the worst, but the engine started and drove home without incident. When I got home I opened the boost pipe at the entry to the inter cooler and drained a pint of oil!
Luckily the new engine came with a turbo. I didn't use it because I believed the turbo from the old engine was serviceable, so I fitted the old one. I now believe this turbo was damaged when the old engine failed.
Oh well, engine out again. Still better than changing the DMF just to find the fault was still there, now that would be depressing.
Just when you think you can recognize every knock and rattling noise a new one comes along, we live and learn:-)
Browse
I suggest you have the crank damper pulley checked for movement/play. Regards Peter