I have a 1999 V-Reg Toyota Corolla 1.3 which I have owned for 3 years and has now done 92k. It has been perfectly reliable and I'm very happy with it, but in the last couple of months, it has lost power in the higher gears. It doesn't seem to be continuously deteriorating, rather a noticable change.

Previously for example, I would approach a big roundaboat slowing to 30mph in 4th gear. Then I would accelerate gently if there is a gap. Now, when I try to accelarate in the same situation, the car seems to loose power and lurch foward several times. I can either change down into third, or after a few seconds of lurching, the car gets a grip and gains speed. This has upset a few drivers when I've pulled out safely and then dawdled in front of them. I get the same problem trying to pull away from 20mph in 3rd gear which previously was fine.

So it seems the car is now less forgiving and has a smaller range of speeds in which it is comfortable in each gear. I have changed my driving style and drop down gears much more frequently when I need acceleration but I am wondering if this problem needs fixing (urgently or at some point) and what are the likely possible explanations (and how much each of these would cost to investigate and fix). I would really appreciate your advice. Read more

1997 Fiesta 1.25 Zetec
Power Steering
No air con

What is the fan belt routing?
Amazingly Haynes dont cover this (How do they keep going?)

There are six pulleys clockwise from top front:
Generator
PS
Crankshaft
Water pump
Tensioner
Idler

I can see the logical route, with exceptions:
Does water pump use the smooth side of the belt
Idler at top, does the belt go over or under?

Thanks in advance

mw Read more

Just wondering whether dealers offer potential customers unaccompanied test drives nowadays?

I'm a private buyer, looking to buy new/nearly new, have a short list of three or four makes/models. I don't intend to rob a bank or trash a car but would really rather try the car out for half an hour or so without having to make small talk with the sales exec.

The last new car I bought a few years ago, i was able to borrow a demo for a couple of hours by myself because the garage staff knew me personally and just handed me the key, but unfortunately, they don't have one of the franchises I'm toying with this time.

I realise that if solo drives are available I'd probably have to fill a form out etc, but don't mind that! Read more

Went up to the Lake District yesterday to leave my son with my parent's for a week, and they were filling me in on their new (ie. mk2) Ka. On the whole they like it, but there are a couple of niggles:

1. Difficulty with the petrol filler cap. They find it quite difficult to get it on and/or off (sorry can't remember exactly what they said), and when they mentioned it to the chap at the local Ford dealer, he had a go and failed. Dad points out that not being able to get petrol into it does wonders for the running costs though :-)

2. No external lock on the passenger door. My parents opted not to have central locking (no I don't know why either), but there's no key hole in the passenger door, so mum has to wait for dad to open his door and open her door from the inside (I guess on the previous Micra they had 2 keys). Bit of a nuisance if it's raining, which is not that unusual in the Lakes. I told them that it's because the car designers would have assumed every car would be sold with central locking and it's their fault for being Luddites, but mum said that the Ford chap had told her that quite a few customers have mentioned this. And is there a safety issue?

Just wondering if anyone else has come across these.

Cheers
F Read more

I've had this problem on my Ford Ka Style for a couple of years now, but enough's enough and I'd like to get it sorted before the bad weather sets in.

The problem is in the shape of the rear window and flexibility (or lack) of the rear wiper blade; when the wiper's switched on it's too inflexible to stay in contact with the whole of the (very domed) rear window and so ends ups only wiping an arc about 6 inches high at the top of the window.

This has happened with cheapo halfords blades, pricier branded blades, and the one fitted by the garage a couple of services ago - all marked as suitable for the Ka.

Does anyone have any tips? Is there anything I can adjust on the average wiper blade, or do I need to hunt down some kind of special, extra-flexible one? It'd be really nice to be able to see out my back window this winter! Read more