I was hoping for some help.

I have a Grand Voyager 3.3 auto which has been been off the road for 1 year. Car was occassionally started during this time, most recently 3 months ago. Put a new battery on with the aim of finally getting it MoT'd but cannot start it. All lights are on, immobiliser goes off but the engine doesn't even crank.

Strangely, when checking the usual fuses, the Fuel pump fuse blew when replacing it although the ignition was off and key removed. I am worried that this may be a fuel pump problem (Ugh at least £350 plus labour)...so was hoping to cover off all bases before spending unecessary ££.

Have read other forum posts on immobiliser issues etc but it doesn't seem to be related though I don't know what effect faulty relays would have on the problem.

Any help would be greatly appreciated as budget is V tight and I can't afford to buy another car Read more

I'm having a couple of problems with the C5, which may be related.

It's been in to the dealers recently after I complained of poor shifting on the autobox, especially between 2nd-3rd. It's worst when stone cold and improves when the car is warmed up.

They changed the hydraulic valve body, ATF and the gearbox wiring harness. After 2 weeks of messing with it, they claim it's OK now, well it isn't. :( Thankfully, I haven't paid for any of this work...

The other problem, which they ignored (despite bugging them about it!) is that when the car is started from cold, the engine surges up and down slightly. Enough to make the car shudder a little for 40 seconds or so and then it starts to settle down. It could be a misfire, but I'm not sure.

I wondering if the two sets of issues could be linked somehow? Other symptoms I've noticed are:
-the engine never seems to go into overrun (according to the computer display), even on long downhills with no throttle input from me
-the creep on the autobox is so strong when cold, that I can barely hold the car back on the brakes

As above, it's a C5 3.0 V6 petrol (35k miles) with the Aisin AM6 gearbox, a.k.a TF80SC, as also used by Ford, Volvo, Vauxhall etc. I know the gearbox should be very smooth, as I've driven other cars with this box and they were fine.

Any ideas to go back to the dealer with? There's no codes stored at all. Read more

as the title suggests this an opinion question.

if you had to choose, which of the 3 following vehicle types would you choose?

the ultra reliable, not so interesting car that does average mpg but if it breaks it costs a fortune to fix---japanese for example

the not so reliable, not so interesting car that does average mpg and is cheap to fix---
ford, pug, vauxhall

the unreliable, expensive to fix car that drinks fuel and costs a fortune to fix BUT drives like a gem and handles like a beauty--- something italian mabey Read more

From the front of the queue at a set of traffic lights I set off across my local dual carriage way. A truck in the filling station on my left shot out across my lane causing me to to stop in quite a hurry else I would have " T boned him"
I suspect he responded to a car facing me in the other lane that "flashed" him to come out and he did not check my way.

I thought I had hit the brakes reasonably hard but the ABS did not activate even on a damp road.

Tomorrow I will attempt a really hard crash stop or two to check that the ABS is working.

Perhaps this was a wake up call and I need to refresh crash stops or my next car should have brake assist? ( I am gentle on brakes)

Read more

My query is how long after getting lost in the post or because of a postal strike would a NIP form take to arrive in the post. Basically I would like to know from your experiences what sort of timescale to expect to receive the NIP form if the worst happened.

Thanks for information. Read more