August 2009
Anyone usefully adjusted the rear washers on a recent Octavia? The two jets seem deeply recessed behind two small holes near the pivot point. At present very little fluid gets as far as the wiper blade.
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I`ve thought of central locking on small two door cars like our 1.9D Mk2 Punto as being unnecessary rubbish for years. Forced to have it as it was standard spec (another reason for buying the van without it) on the car - and that was that, just had to tolerate it.
On it`s dozens of openings and closings a day it must have run up 30 years or more of typical use. Useless or what? - when there exists a far more elegant (simple) mechanical linkage on the van, which of course has the same doors.
I noticed the passenger door didn`t unlock itself a few days ago. It`s been OK since but it looks like a new central locking unit will be needed that side.
A chance to start to upgrade it to a more satisfactory type and I think I will look into stripping off a mechanical assembly from a breakers car and convert that side to manual.
Then, If the drivers side goes, that too.
What tripe - they will be electrifying handbrakes next......... - Read more
I want more evidence of failure before I go for it though.
My limited experience of these things:
Peugeot 505 - two rear door actuator failures (same door!?) in 8 years
Skoda Felicia - no actuator failures in nearly 10 years (RIP)
FIAT Punto - no actuator failures so far in coming up to 4 years.
Having said that about the FIAT, it does very occasionally have a rush of blood, which generally involves a random reset of the trip counter to zero, which seems to be more or less coincident with the "plip" refusing to work.
The only other "plip" failures have been in areas of high RF.
Well, after visiting many dealers, none offered me sensible deal and none called back as promised. So, I am now thinking about selling me jamjar privatly and using Drive the Deal to order a car.
A few Qs, would the supplying dealer hold the car once its delivered until I've sold mine?
If it took a while, could I insure both cars whilst I sell my old one?
I need the money I'm getting for my old car to pay for the new one, so ideally I'd either need a bridging loan or pay the dealer when I've sold my old one.
Just trying to get it all straight in my head, I could just keep my current jamjar, I thought the car business was going through hard times!
Cheers all. Read more
Indeed.
I'm getting a 17" spare to carry in the boot anyway, especially as I tow a 'van....the lack of it nearly put me off, off to ebay now to see if a nice neat bag is available for such a thing...
Saw one of these this morning with this "hard cover" and realised this was what BMW had used for its styling of the X6 rear!!
tinyurl.com/nvqcw7
The above link doesn't work. Not sure how long this one will?
www.mitsubishi-accessories.co.uk/images/accessorie...g
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I was expecting something like this:
tinyurl.com/doggyd
If you put a BMW badge on dog muck , they'd still be a bunch of idiots buying them !!!
it just shows, taste doesn't come with money
MVP
They don`t meed my needs at all. Problem is that I can remember reading mag`s decades back where there was great technical detail, such as clutch plate diameters - gearing and so on.
(and so avoid that HA van with its 6" clutch while competitors had 7".. (maybe. memory)
That said, I found the latest Car Mechanics a breath of fresh air under it`s new Editor - introducing engine management systems - in the last issue. In a way that is actually about DIY that is and not seemingly endlessly about `old Rovers`
But most other mag`s are just what I call `lightweight reviews` - might as well not bother.
So, I was in Smiths yesterday surveying and eclectically browsing - as you do, like a cow in an alpine meadow - a bit of this a bit of that. Nothing worth the money and still waiting for next months Car Mechanics.
Then I came across `Tornado` .. had to buy it despite the £7.99 (Yorkshire moths escaping from wallet) because of the glorious technical detail on this new steam engine..
If only car mag`s were like that.. OK only six of us would buy it, but... Read more
I used to be into tractors, but not any more...now I'm an ' extractor fan '
I'll get me coat
Ted
will the rearlight units off the 06 model,the chromestrip type, fit straight on the previous,non chrome strip type,on the mk111 mondeo? I quite fancy changing mine.
my car is an 05 ghiax. cheers anyone?. Read more
sorry rtj70 if I seemed abit rude I agree with you, now we know what the reflectors are for,thanks to Kith, I thought they were just for decoration.(hence my user name)
Hello All,
Any help would be much appreciated.
A friend of mine kindly changed the timing belt on my Focus Tddi W/2000 and basically screwed it up. Belt came loose on the motorway :(
The AA towed it to another (more reliable) friends garage, and he has stripped the head and replaced the 8 valves but now it will not start.
He has replaced the fuel filter and pipes but still no joy.
It would appear that the glow plugs were damaged and they have been replaced as well.
The car will start on easy-start and will tow off as well, however emitting white/gray smoke after towing.
He believes it may be a problem with the injectors.
Has anyone else had an issue with the injectors or glow plugs after a timing belt failure? Car worked perfectly before the timing belt issue.
As mentioned, any help would be appreciated, getting desperate now for the car back :)
Thanks
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I always thought it was the Honda Legend from 1990. Does anybody know of any earlier examples? Read more
I'd not try it. It does not take much to trigger one when fitted to a car - hence difficult to fault find.
Remember they transport new airbags to dealers in a metal container and a dealer does not keep an airbag in stock.
Hi, I drive a 1999 T reg Vauxhall Zafira which has developed yet another annoying fault. Whilst on a motorway drive two weeks ago, the light which shows the engine and a spark (the ignition light?) came on and stayed on for about 60 seconds. this continued throughout the journey which was about 120 miles each way. At the longest, the light was on for no longer than 3 mins.
The light does not seem to come on during normal urban driving.
We did another long motorway journey (again about 120 miles each way) and the light is coming on intermittently and again for no longer than a few mins.
The car has been recently service and passed the MOT three days ago. It had a new alternator fitted about three years ago and we had a new battery not long after that as the failing alternator had damaged the existing one.
We are getting sick of this car, two clutches and a gear box last year thanks to a bad recovery driver forcing the car into gear, alternator, two front sets of tyres, engine difficult to work on.
Anyone got any ideas? Is this a serious problem? It only seems to happen when my Husband drives the car.
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I'm probably not the best person to advise, I ran my previous Omega for about 3000 miles in 'limp home' mode...
I suppose the 'witty' answer is to go,but don't let hubby drive.
Seriously I'd get the codes read - either by an auto electrician or the 'paperclip trick' and see what the faults are. It might be a false alarm or something intermittant, if you go for it make sure you've got breakdown cover!
edit :thinking abitmore,does hubby tend todrive the car harder ( higher revs) than you, or vice versa? Maybe a problem that only appears at briefly at higher revs.
I currently have a E39 523 touring in Petrol...
Every garage I have spoken to has said Diesel great to 50K then expect big repair bills - you'll be lucky to get away with less than £5K before 120K+. They then contrast with the 2.5-3.0 straight 6 petrols ("which are bomb proof"). On those numbers any saving in mpg will be completely wiped out by repair bills.
On my sample of 1 I've had no major problems with my E39 - the worst being a water pump (and the only time it has left me by the roadside in 70K of driving it). most years it just goes in for the annual service, with no additional costs!
What are people's experiences of long term realiability of Diesel and petrol engines? Which would you buy?
I'd like and E61 530i or 530d - which is better on a 3 year old 50K as a buy? Read more
With proper servicing done regular using genuine filters and top quality oil both engines should do 300k, but it also depends on how they have been driven from new and you expect service history with a 3yr old car.
Id say if you do 18k + miles a year go for the diesel me i only do 9k so it's petrol for me, but servicing is the key especially oil changes with a diesel these 20,000mls seem too far & 12k seems a much better option if you want it to last.
But thats my opinion, i work on the railway our engines are guarateed to 400k but they only last that with regular oil changes & filters etc.
Browse
Mine too needed adjusting, (but why?).
You can carefully pull off the plastic moulding to get at the jets.
SQ