August 2009

Forum worst engine ever

bell boy on 14 August 2009

ford 899cc as fitted to the fiesta mk3 to get under the road tax legislation at the time
these engines were worn out at 50,000 just like viva engines
they were so bad they were embarrasing on test drives Read more

alfatrike on 17 August 2009

ah, the agila i used had one of those. a mobile greenhouse with a noise generator.

Question Vauxhall Combo van (2002 - ) - 2004 Central Locking Problem

icky123 on 13 August 2009

hi
i have a central lockin problem with my 54 plate vauxhall combo.when i press the lock button on the key fob the van lockas as normal,but if i pull the door handle to open it the van opens without me pressing the unlock button,therefore it locks but doesnt stay locked...i am not sure what the problem is and i know vauxhall charge a fortune to repair it,i have been told by a somewhat alram 'specialist' i will need to get it reprogrammed by vauxhall.and i know this involves using the tech2 reprogramming software etc...can anyone help me regarding this problem please.

{moves to a stand alone post, to avoid confusion with the car make/model (Vaux Vectra-B) that you originally tagged your question onto} Read more

icky123 on 18 August 2009

thanks for the reply topbloke..the same problem occurs when i lock it manually from the keys it just 'cycles'...i could remove the fuse and use it,but the problem is i work for a courier company and they are 'funny' regarding vans with problems,as not lng ago an employee didnt lock his van correctly and it resulted it in being stolen,so id rather eradicate the prolem fully....regards

Forum Mazda MX5 (2005 - ) - Tyres

nicholas40 on 13 August 2009

I recently bought a mark3 launch edition MX5 and had the Mazda dealer put new tyres on the back.He used a make I hadn't heard of - 'Federal' - and now I appear to have now grip in the wet with the back end sliding allover the place with minimal provocation.
I am going to ask him to substitute them - any ideas what I should ask for ? Read more

nicholas40 on 24 August 2009

Thanks to all who replied to my previous enquiry asking for suggestions for replacement tyres for my mark 3 MX5 - I finally ended up with 4 Bridgestone RE 050A which have The moral of the story is - 'don't put up with cheap tyres,at best they spoil your fun and at worst(as in my case) I think they were actually dangerous.'

P.S I also as suggested had a 4 wheel alignment check which said evreything was spot on.

{moved to original thread, as related to it}

Question Ford KA, KA2, KA3 (1996 - 2008) - 02 1.3 Advice on changing wishbone please

Wurzel83 on 12 August 2009

Hi

My Girlfriends car is comming up for MOT and I would not be suprised if it need another wishbone replacing due to worn bushes.

It needed one last year but I ckickened out half way through the job thinking I might not be able to put it back tgether again! Basically, I found that because the bushes were forcing the arm upwards, I could not lower the balljoint enough to remove it from the wheel hub clamp.

I considered completely removing the nuts holding the bushes to the subframe in order to change the angle of the arm and free up the ball joint. I decided against ths because I know the bushes are quite stiff and didnt know if I could get them back in line with the bolt holes upon fitting the new arm.

Is it a case of levelling off the arms in line with the rest of the car ie. create flat tyre on ne side and jack up the other - this way the arm will be at less of an angle relative to the subframe and the bushes may be able to slot into place easier?

Or is there some technique or tool for pushing down on the arm using a bar to releae the ball joint?

Im assuming I just need the folloing tools:

24" breaker bar
Good quality socket set with deep sockets
Set of spanners
Jack / Axl stand

Any advice would be great as its MODt on Saturday.

Thanks Read more

zookeeper on 12 August 2009

i seem to remember similar doing a fiesta wishbone, i think i used 2 jacks to level things out with a bit of jiggling and the ball joint et all slid in nicely thankyou

Forum Ford Mondeo III (2000 - 2007) - Clutch and gearbox faults

Martin Devon on 11 August 2009

Whilst working away today busy building a Porch for a Mate I was approached by a neighbour. Nothing unusual there. Bit of small talk which soon got around to cars. I told him about my new small one and how it now suited me and he told me about his long one which now doesn't go. Well he was quite old. However, the true tale is of his 24k 3.5 yr old TDCi Mondy. Went in to local garage 'ere in north Devon for, he said, a worn clutch. They then reported a gearbox fault, couldn't select third or something and apparently it is now going to cost him £2,100.00 to sort. I nearly fell over in the mortar at this. I told him I would consult my very best friends on the net thing and report back on Thursday. The cost shocked me. How about yous?

Best reg's to all............MD Read more

David Horn on 12 August 2009

Uh, if it went in there for a worn clutch and comes out unable to select gears, isn't it pretty obvious that the garage in question might have tweaked something while they were working on it?

Question Vauxhall Astra G Petrol (1998 - 2004) - 01 1.6 How much antifreeze?

Adam75 on 11 August 2009

Hi

I?m just about to service my 2001 1.6 Astra Petrol, does anyone know how much antifreeze or antifreeze mix (50/50 water mix) I need to add?

Thanks
Adam
Read more

Wurzel83 on 12 August 2009

Ranges from 25 to 50% antifreeze depending on whether you driving in the north pole or Calafornia. The user manual will advise. I normally mix about 33% AF to 67% water but a stronger mixture wont do it any harm.

Doube check that the antifreeze isnt allready diluted / premixed.

Forum Volkswagen Golf V (2004 - 2008) - Best diesel engine 1.9 or 2.0 ?

maximusimo on 10 August 2009

Folks,

my girlfriend is looking to get a new car, well new to her. Ideally a diesel from 2004 on. I was told by a friend to stay away from 2.0 ones and that 1.9's are better. I cant remember his reasoning but there was some common fault with them. I was just wondering if there was any substance to this statement and if there is anything that should be looked out for when viewing cars?

Thanks in advance. Read more

b308 on 13 August 2009

But hey if a 105PS is adequate for you then knock yourself out! Personally I

can't really see the point when the 115 (or better still the 130) gives much

better performance for near identical economy.....

They don't have that engine in either of the cars I have (had) and quite frankly I have never needed more power than I get in the 100bhp versions, even when having to get a move on.

The fact that you are comparing power to weight ratios (on ordinary family cars!!) means I can only conclude (as I said before) that you drive your cars a lot harder than I do, and I'll stick to my previous view of you if you think that version of that engine is underpowered... ;-)

Question Toyota Yaris (1999 - 2005) - 04 1.3 Any known problems?

piston power on 8 August 2009

My brother is getting one of these the petrol model unsure of engine size i have put 1.3 but i don't know what it is but petrol.

Do these have any issues?

Do they have a timing belt? at what mileage is replacement? Read more

piston power on 10 August 2009

Thanks for the replys i found out this is a 1.0 vvti it has 25k and a 54 plate it seems a nice car but has a oil leak from left hand side around oil pressure switch i think just under head looks like it may have leaked at some time told him to keep an eye on it.

Question Vauxhall Corsa D (2006 - ) - 08 1.2 disabled airbags on courtesy car?

plymman on 6 August 2009

My wife has been given a 3 door corsa as a courtesy car and we need to fit a baby seat for our 2 year old so need to know the passenger airbag is disabled (she's too pregnant to be leaning in and out of the back). The guy that dropped it off said the airbag 'is probably disabled' and hasn't left a handbook. There is an airbag switch on the central dash that has an orange light illuminated on both sides. Does this mean both airbags are disabled? If not how can I disable the passenger bag and enable the driver's bag?

Thanks Read more

plymman on 7 August 2009

Thanks for all your responses, all now confirmed.

Forum Can a third party's insurer write off my car

thegoldfisherkeeper on 6 August 2009

Hi, hope someone can help.

My husbands car was reversed into by someone who then drove off without leaving their details, we have managed to trace him and came to an agreement that they would pay for the repairs and we would not involve insurance. Being the honest people they are they have now gone back on this and have involved their insurance company.

The real fear for us is that we do not want the car to be written off as the value of the repairs will outweigh the value of the car. There are therefore a few questions:

1.If we do not involve our insurance company but allow theirs to inspect the vehicle do they have the power to write off our car?

2. Do we have to correspond with their insurance company at all, are we legal obliged to give them information?

3. If they can and decide to write off our car can we accept a cheque instead, and will this prevent the category being changed on DVLA.

4.If the value of the cheque does not cover the repairs I assume we could sue for the rest?

5. Do we have to inform our insurance company? I assume not

6. Is there anything stopping us from issuing a small claims for the repairs and they can then claim this themselves against their own insurance?

Any other thoughts on how we should best proceed would be appreciated?

Thanks

Caroline Read more

Theophilus on 18 September 2021

I suggested to Avant a few years ago it might be wise to lock old threads (people could still link to them) but he wasn't enthusiastic. It would have to be done by the IT Team, it's not something Moderators can do, we can only lock individual threads.

Another option for the IT Team to consider (if they ever do review the format of the site) would be for the index of threads on the landing page to detail the date a thread was first posted in addition to the date of the last posting - we would then have the option of ignoring ancient topics, at present it isn't clear unless one actually opens the thread.