August 2009
My 3 year old Mazda 6 has now gone back into the garage to have the rear seat belt stalks changed again for the 5th time under warranty.I have 3 kids who use the back of the car all of the time and the lights to state if the seats have been fastened keep showing green when they are not. Mazda have been great and no problem changing them but does anybody else have the same problem. Read more
We are moving to Austria in mid-September on a permanent basis. Our UK car insurance expires on 5th October but my insurance company requires that, when I move abroad, I surrender my certificate and they will not insure me from 7 days after my move. This gives me a problem, as I can't insure my car in Austria until it is registered there....which will probably take about a month, i.e. until mid-October. They refuse to even continue the policy until the renewal date on 5th October, despite a 10 year claim-free period. Can anyone point me in the direction of somewhere I can insure my car on a UK registration with an EU address for a period of maximum 2 months?? Read more
Evening,
My cars rear suspension has been lowered slightly and is running on 205/45/16 low profile tyres. When the car left the factory it had 195/50/16 tyres on it.
I currently feel every lump and bump.
If i revert back to the original sized tyres will the ride comfort be better?
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Agree with rtj, the problem is more likely the lowered suspension using (probably) stiffer springs than the tyres.
preview.tinyurl.com/abs-report (link to PDF file).
Analysis of US accident data
Abtract
Statistical analyses based on data for calendar years 1995 to 2007 from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and the General Estimates System (GES) of the National Automotive Sampling System (NASS) estimate the long-term effectiveness of antilock brake systems (ABS) for passenger cars and LTVs (light trucks and vans) subsequent to the 1995 launch of public information programs on how to use ABS correctly. ABS has close to a zero net effect on fatal crash involvements. Fatal run-off-road crashes of passenger cars increased by a statistically significant 9 percent (90% confidence bounds: 3% to 15% increase), offset by a significant 13-percent reduction in fatal collisions with pedestrians (confidence bounds: 5% to 20%) and a significant 12-percent reduction in collisions with other vehicles on wet roads (confidence bounds: 3% to 20%). ABS is quite effective in nonfatal crashes, reducing the overall crash-involvement rate by 6 percent in passenger cars (confidence bounds: 4% to 8%) and by 8 percent in LTVs (confidence bounds: 3% to 11%). The combination of electronic stability control (ESC) and ABS will prevent a large proportion of fatal and nonfatal crashes.
Figures like this for the UK would be more useful, but it still make interesting reading (for the insomniacs amongst us?).
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I have a 307 2.0 HDI (110) 54 plate and after driving through a flooded road last week suffered an immediate loss of power. The engine will rev above 3000 revs but the turbo does not appear to be kicking in and providing the extra boost. Can't get into any local pug garages until next week. No warning lights/messages on dash either.
Any ideas? Read more
follow the vac pipe back from the turbo wastegate and replace that solinoid bout £34 from pug bout 95% of the time its that. hope that helps.
Last Saturday I had a go on a Honda 125. No problem with bike control but I did have issues with the gearchange. Basically I suffered a severe fracture to my left leg 18 months ago. Whilst pressing the gearchange is fine the hooking motion is a problem. When I owned a bike back in the early 70's it had a right hand gearchange. Is it just classics that have this or are any bikes made this way around as standard or an option?
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I would strongly suggest that you contact NABD (National Association for Bikers with a Disability) who have an excellent technical resource for this sort of thing.
Freddy is quite correct, it was US legislation which forced the change; even their own bikes weren't immune since Harley's Sportster was a right-foot change, it having been designed in the first place to compete with the influx of British bikes in the 1950's.
The Sportster solution was a temporary, almost Heath-Robinson fix for 1975/6 which involved the gear lever being mounted on the rear brake shaft, a cable-operated rear brake and a long curved gear lever which made slick shifts impossible. In 1977 they sorted out a better solution, but the old Ironhead gearboxes, never the strongest of things, suffered dreadfully as a result and left the bike with a reputation for destroying its own transmission which it's never shaken off.
Earlier Sporties BTW have a superb box. I have a 1972 which changes up and down better than any Bonnie I've ever ridden.
I was wondering if the Delta Integrale was becoming more valuable as time goes on ?
I know they are almost all LHD and are very hard to get parts for, but is it really work doung one of these up if it involves a few grand ? Read more
Depends on which model. The 8v ones are worth less than the 16v. The most valuable are the Evo2 which are the latest. There is quite a difference between ordinary ones and the pristine in terms of value. The special editions are always worth more but there are some fakes.
They're not that hard to get parts for. I have one. Some things are NLA but there are a lot of engineering firms and specialists that are filling the gaps.
If you do it up to make money don't bother. If you do it up because you love the car and want to keep it tip top then do.
Gas leak near the Runnymede Hotel apparently
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8222521.stm Read more
Look the Runnymede hotel up on Google Earth and you can see how close it is to the M25.>>
It is close, yes, but couldn't the anti-clockwise carriageway have been kept open even if the clockwise was shut down?
I don't understand the difficulty in shutting off a gas main. How can engineers dig down and repair if the gas isn't or can't be turned off?
If you shut the M25 there is no way you can "ease congestion". Traffic that should be on the motorway pours onto local roads and causes gridlock.
I'm trying to think of a polite way of putting this, but I get an impression of self-righteousness in the "this is the way we handle it" approach to road closure and, in effect, the rest of you just have to put up with it.
Bought a 1997 1.9 Peugeot 306 diesel last week for knocking about in, grand little runner and is frugal on the fuel, however this morning after fitting a new stereo (turned out to be broken) it won't start.
I refitted the new stereo to no avail, I disconnected the battery in an attempt to reset the immobiliser to no avail, I checked all the fuses and they're all fine, for some reason the fuel gauge reads empty despite the fact I filled it last night!
I was told that there was a small square button beside the steering wheel, but mine doesn't seem to have one. It has a piranha alarm fitted, but the previous owner set it to off and I haven't touched it.
The car will turn over but wont start. I assume because it isn't getting any fuel -- but what could be causing this problem? I've thrown 20 litres into the tank and still nothing!
Any help on the matter would be gratefully appreciated. Read more
Thanks for the advice guys.
Got it running in the end.
Four fuses were blown, so changed them over and also had to reset the ECU by:
-Disconnecting battery
-Turning on ignition to 2nd status
-Reconnecting battery
Runs fine now. Will bear this in mind when fitting another radio!
I'm looking around for a small automatic. Had a brief look at a couple of cars and a chat with the salesman without making an offer yet. When I've asked if the price is open to negotation I've been told something like "not really\not much - small autos are hard to find so are more expensive". However they're being offered for quite a lot more than what my Parkers book says they should be, and ones been there for over a week.
I need to buy something within the next couple of days - of course I'm going to make a lower offer to start with, just wondering what my chances of success are!
Any opinions anyone ? Cheers Read more
you will only get a good reduction on a £2000 car if its either overpriced or a sticking dog
Browse
I'm afraid I don't agree with all of this. We've run RHD vehicles in Continental Europe and LHD vehicles here in the UK. Our experience was that, aside from running around the car to pay at motorway and bridge tolls, car park exit barriers and so forth it really hasn't been any bother.
Overtaking can be more dangerous, it's true, especially on straight, tree-lined roads. Ironically with winding roads I find that this is far less of an issue. If you've got a reasonably powerful car you'll be ok but in general I think I ask myself the question that most of us should ask ourselves anyway: "Do I really need to overtake at all?"
On the other hand, getting in and out of the vehicle on a busy city street is far safer - the driver is always directly stepping onto the pavement. As forgetting to drive on the right...streuth...I often forget to drive on the left when leaving the Avis place at Heathrow.
There are a very small number of occasions when the handedness of the car has been an issue. As you mention when procuring the odd spare part (wiper arms and door mirror glass, in particular). This, though, is very rare indeed. Headlamps should be perfectly correct, though, because you certainly should be exchanging the RHD headlamp assemblies for LHD units. This can be quite costly (£360 quid plus re-alignment in my case) but you may be able to avoid it if you've got bi-xenons (which is just as well given their cost and complexity).
I've not had any real issues with being pulled over by police as a tourist (or simply just travelling around) unless my car was full or heavily loaded. Border and customs agencies in particular have taken an interest on such occasions but this had everything to do with the load rather than the country of origin of the registration plate. In Mike's case he's going to register the vehicle in Austria so it wouldn't be "foreign" any more. I agree with you that vandals target vehicles with foreign plates and have had an older car totalled in this manner - engine ripped out and all.
The biggest hassle of all was getting the car registered. In the UK this was painless and quick. In Portugal it took nearly 10 months and many days of effort (including a visit to the British Embassy in Lisbon) before everything was finalized.
I hope Austria's better.