July 2009
hi room, i would be grateful for any advise regarding moving stuff, i have a small hatchback and i need to move a bed
the longest parts are the rails 2 metres in all but they will stick out the back of the car, same goes for the mattress ...is it ok to have the items dangling out of the back and have the tailgate roped down or am i looking at some points on my licence? ive only got to go about 10 miles on minor roads and i dont want to splash out on hiring a van for half a day ...thanks...zoo Read more
Will keep this short. Front springs have snapped, discovered a small amount of coil on each cup.
I have booked into a fast fit centre I have used before and they did point out a couple of minor faults then (rusting exhaust and a 3mm tyre but weren't pushy and said they will need doing one day...).
Been quoted £175 inc the tracking just got a couple fo questions:-
1) I assume the horror stories on google are rear examples as surely these businesses would be out of business by now if they mess up say 1/10 jobs?
2) Does the tracking actually need doing after replacing the springs?
I actually jacked the car up myself this afternoon and had a good look at the front springs, if it wasn't for the trip to the moon (well 117 miles away) I would leave them till they got worse but if a spring napped at 70mph it could be fatal so I am not risking . I have checked the front shock absorbers and they are not leaking so if oil appears tomorrow I shall go mad. The front pads are also 200 miles old so if they comment on that I shall go mad, my discs are old but perfectly smooth, not warped and still got some thickness in them (they will probably need replacing within the next two years).
My main concern is they do something to make my car worse (e.g make a mistake like fitting the coils upside down) and then there will be no notice to get the car right before Friday when I need it for the holiday. Read more
I don't reckon that Rattle's mechanic is much good. >>
or the mechanic is figment of Rattle's self-confessed rich imagination, along with the car problems he has previously freely admitted to being so!
im about to change my knackered battery on my Chrysler - any tips before i get going? - ive heard some rumours that the electrics might go a bit cranky? Read more
Hi Merlin,
I followed your advice by buying a 05015420AB to replace the gel battery in my 06 Voyager 2.8d; but the electrics went completely dead when I switched the battery over. Put the gel battery in and the lights go on again! The new battery appears charged and I am sure that I have the polarity right, so I am clearly doing something stupid. Can you make any suggestions please?
The tyres on the CC3 are looking a bit, er, tired.
I don't want them super shiny, but I would like to get back to the ever so slightly glossy finish they were when new.
Any ideas what best to use?
Either a tyre product or something I might have in the house already.
I wondered about something like Mr Sheen or furniture polish, but I'm wary because I know some types of cleaner can rot your radials.
Thanks in advance. Read more
...Clean glass, door shuts, wheels and tyres makes a big difference to the first impression...
nick,
When I was in the motor trade we used the simpler phrase: "windows and wheels", meaning if they looked well, the car looked well.
As you say, dirty windows in particular are a complete turn-off to car buyers.
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Tesco have pineapples @ £1.89 each and 2 for £2. I still see people walking out with just 1. At that price 2 is a good deal even if one goes off in the fridge!
If you bought the 2, and one went off in the fridge, it would cost you 11p more than buying just the one.
I have a lot of knocking coming from the rear nearside suspension when driving on bumpy surfaces and the tire is wearing very badly at that side too - in particular nearest the outside, all other tires are fine.
The bushings seem fine and I think it could be down to one of three things - wheel bearing gone, shock absorber gone or the shock absorber mounts worn.
To access the top of the rear shock absorber i've removed the parcel shelf and plastic trim beside the seat (it's a 4 door saloon) but the bolt seems to be near impossible to reach - down a very small hole where an allen head and a nut can be felt, how can this be removed?? Read more
Glad you got it fixed.
Rear subframe bushes are a common fault on the 01-07 Mondeo. When the wear out it rattles like mad.
Make sure you get the tracking/geometry reset as you've had all the rear suspension off, or you will still get erratic tyre wear.
Ever since I have had my C4 (since October 2006) the oil needs topping up every few 1000 miles- in the first year the local dealer checked it out- found no leaks and topped it up . Since then its a regular litre every 3 months - but no sign of a leak. Is this normal for petrol C4s ? Read more
Not a lot of ground clearamce to look underneath but have had a good try and nothing there, maybe have another good look tomorrow but it is darn clean down there.
my corsa just does not want to excelerate when i put my foot down. Driving along at about 60, then put my food down and the car seems to choke up rather than go any faster. If i lift the throttle a bit then just ease the throttle down it will creep up in speed, but this is to slow to overtake. I have tried knockinig it down a gear but it just will not pull at anything like it should. changed the air filter, still no better? HELP PLEASE. Read more
but i like to take
the gamble with a pattern part as i feel the orignal parts dont seem to
last very long
Clearly they last longer than pattern parts!!
Would love some advice on an overheat problem my automatic Focus is having.
Short summary of story so far :
Was advised engine was knackered (as in replacement engine required), but found a place who said they could repair it, 2 new pistons and piston rings. All was well for 3 weeks but then started running rough. Noticed that the temp guage was acting almost like the speedo, anything above 50mph it would hit the end of the red, then when I slowed down it would go back to the normal position. Took it back to the mechanic who checked a few things and said it was OK now, took it out for a test spin and the engine blew. He has since had the car for 6 weeks, replaced all 4 pistons and got a new block. He advised me to replace the oil and filter which I did this morning, then took it out for a test drive. As soon as I hit 50mph the same thing with the temp guage happened again. I drove it home extremely slowly.
I am not mechanically minded (the oil filter change is the top of my abilities!) but have looked online and found suggestions that it could be blocked coolant or dodgy thermostat.
Does anyone have an opinion on if it's something so simple or if this is indicative of impending engine blow up (again)!
If it is coolant blockage or thermostat could this cause the engine to blow again if not rectified straight away, wondering why the mechanic would not have checked it as I told him the symptoms right before it blew last time ?
Not sure if this matters but just let it get up to running temp on the drive then subjected it to sustained revs of 4-5K and the temp guage didn't budge off normal so assume this only occurs when actually driving.
Sent a text to the mechanic today saying I wanted a replacement engine or refund but not sure if this is the route to take if it is only likely to be a minor issue. Any thoughts appreciated.
Dave Read more
try this - my post from another thread.
I am posting this in the hope that I can save others from expense of going through what I have. If you want to just skip to last para the solution is there. Over the past month I have had the same probelms with my 2001 Focus 1.6 Zetec. I have owned the car from new and various members of the fmaily have used it so its taken 11 years for this issue to come out. The temp gauge would shoot to the red mostly when on a motorway or climbing a long hill but it gradually got worse to the extent that even on short journeys it was an issue.
Cut a long story short, change thermostat, then temp sender, then full flush of rad, then had water pump examined by camera, then garage found that head was an issue when tested at high tempertaure as gas was discoulouring test liquid they used. Head was warped probably due to overheating.
After rebuild no better so garage spend hrs on the interent to find solution (I had tried and not found one). like above everyone says they have an issue but no one says what the solution is!!! So thanks to my garage (an independent) here it is for those who feel there is no end to the problem.
Ford in 2001 issued a bulletin on overheating 1.4L and 1.6l Zetec engines. Bulletin TSB 005/2001 which was updated by bulletin no.5 dated 17th may 2001 (1 month after I bought the car). The fix involves new expansion tank and cap, new 74degree thermostat and new coolant hoses to splice into exisiting. Thanks to my indepedent garage they found this - when they spoke to Ford they knew nothing but went and investigated and parts were delivered in 24hrs once they had agreed it was the fix. Ford should be ashamed of themselves for not informing drivers better as there many many drivers out there who seem to have the issue but no one seems to know the fix. Hope this helps, my car to date has not overheated despite my best efforts in testing the garages work.
I have a home PC that is currently connected to the internet via a hard-wired Ethernet cable from my Orange "Livebox" into the LAN connection of the PC.
I need to move the PC a few meters and this will mean the cable run will be unsightly, so I need to put some sort of wireless controller where the PC is currently situated. The "Livebox" is in another location entirely some distance/rooms away and I do not intend to use the "wireless" capability of this unit.
I have an new unused Dell 1450 USB wireless adapter that I can fit to the desktop PC, but I want to know what sort of unit (hardware) I need to attach to the LAN cable where it currently terminates to transmit to the one I will fit to the PC?
What sort of cost will the unit be?
All help appreciated Read more
Please do try and identify the file and post its name here at least for
the sake of our education!
If someone told me where to look (in plain English!) then I would be happy to do so and report the file name. As it is, all I can find from my Webroot "AntiVirus with AntiSpyware" package is the virus name and the fact that there is no threat with that name in the Webroot Threat Research Centre database. I have informed Webroot (by email) of the incident and await their reply.
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