September 2009
I have done nearly 90,000 miles without experiencing this problem before. In the last two weeks the car stalled twice while driving for some time and was jittery a few more times without stalling.
When taken to a garage the mechanics on both occasions said the fuel system had air in it and when they pumped it out the engine started without a problem.
One tried to convince me it is the prime pump in the reservoir that needs replacing, while the other says it is most likely the tandem pump. I also read in another thread in this forum that maybe it is the wiring loom to the injectors that needs changing.
Can anyone suggest how I can go about testing what is wrong with my car before I start paying for things that have nothing wrong with them?
Thank you Read more
I have a friend who has recently had some trouble with her 53 registration Nissan Micra 1.2se which has been diagnosed as having a stretched timing chain, Nissan are asking for £1200 to repair it. The bodywork on the car carries several battle scars and the car has been valued at £1500 as it currently is.
She is tempted to trade it in against something newer and has asked me for some suggestions. As she owns a horse the car needs to be able to take two or three large bails of sawdust in the boot/ with the rear seats down.
The only car she has seen so far that takes her fancy is the 2006 mk3 Renault clio, I heard some of mk3 clios use Nissan engines now, is this true? Are there any issues to worry about with these?
Also any other recommendations for suitable replacements would be appreciated. I was thinking along the lines of ford focus, Toyota yaris, vw golf, polo, Suzuki swift.
Thanks
slt Read more
..Most of the women I know (who drive powerful saloons and sports cars - yes they can even handle RWD 200 bhp ones !) would happily punch you on the nose for that iffy. :-)...
And I'd probably quite enjoy that - in a Max Moseley sort of way. :)
Hi
My cousin is thinking of giving me a Toyota Camry 2.0 petrol 1987 with MOT etc. He is retiring from driving.
It jumps out of 5th gear. Can anyone advice how easy this is to repair? I looked in the haynes manual, and looks like the cable needs changing, but I cannot be sure.
Can ayone advise me on this one? The car is great, it runs really well and it would be a great shame to scrap it.
With thanks
Greg Read more
Re my earlier post about my Carina E with the same problem..
First of all it would "pop" out of 5th gear maybe once or twice in a 100-mile motorway journey. Within 1000 miles it progressed to jumping from 5th into neutral every time I pressed the accelerator but would stay engaged at steady speed and on the overrun.
After another 1000 miles it would jump out of 5th immediately upon engagement, this was when I stretched the bungee strap around the centre console and used to hook it over the gear lever at 50-60mph to keep it in 5th - I had it down to quite a fine art fairly quickly!
The next stage was when the lever would be "forced" out of gear under hard acceleration - the bungee would not be strong enough to hold it in which made for some almighty graunching noises. Following in fairly short order was the stage where no amount of bungee-strength or holding the gear lever with my arm locked straight would keep 5th engaged.
After another couple of thousand miles of not going above 4th gear I sold the car on eBay.
In my book, the next best option in your case would be to find a matching gearbox in a scrapyard, as even a refurbished unit wouldn't really make financial sense. Not sure about the compatibility between Camry and Carina E, sorry.
The car has been using too much oil so I booked it into BMW main dealer and they replaced the crank case breather (£450) which I assumed that whatever they did would have fixed it.
The car prompted for a litre of oil once again after a couple of weeks. I booked it in again for more investigation.
THE PROBLEM is with wear in the 5th Cylinder apparently. They can't tell me what has happened or why.
They now quote £5,000 to replace the short engine. The dealer have approached BMW UK for good will and they refused. I also phoned them directly but they still refused on the grounds that I purchased it independently. It has however been serviced with BMW main dealer since new.
I will need to sell the car and buy one half its value just to pay the bill!
A local independent BMW specialist has advised me to go for a whole new second hand engine but the cost including what I need to pay the BMW servicing for the work so far is about the same cost.
Does anyone have any suggestions of how to proceed? Replace whole engine or just short engine. Any way at all I can get more out of BMW?
Engine: 2497cc, 215bhp
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Hi there,
My partner and I are expecting twins in April. Currently we own a '96 Fiesta which will obviously not be big enough. Being young (in our early 20s) we can't afford to insure huge cars with massive engines, and nor do we have a huge amount of money to buy a brand new small car.
Can anyone recommend a used car that would be of a decent size and reliability, with a small engine, low insurance group, and that would not be too expensive to buy 2nd hand (ie up to £1500)?
Many thanks. Read more
Look at the Primera/Mazda 626 options. Trade off the higher insurance costs against the lower initial price to buy and reliability. My 2.0 petrol 626 returns 39mpg in mixed driving conditions.
Can anyone help with understanding a Ford Service History. I'm looking at a Mondeo's service history, and in the latest stamped entry there is a line
"open service actions completed"
It has been ticked "no".
What does this mean? I can't pursue the service history with the garage in question since it has gone bust.
cheers Read more
To me that would mean that, when the car was serviced, some items were not done and/or faults were found that were not rectified at the time. Thus, "Open" service actions and a box ticked to say that they have NOT been cleared ie work is outstanding.
I think that Ford themselves might have the records on some central database. When my Pegeot dealer ceased trading, it was one of a number run by Midland Co-op, the records were maintained at HQ. Good luck!
Our Jazz just passed (of course!) its 6yr MOT.
I noticed the HC reading on the emissions increased from 6 last year to 95 this year. Other reading were perfect - 0 for CO and 1 for lambda.
Limit for HC is 200 and I realise this is PPM, but the numbers mean nothing to me - can someone explain likely reason for the increase?
{Guessing the year is 2003 and not 20? } Read more
tinyurl.com/njy8me Look at page 9 which illustrates "combustion chaos" in a normal petrol engine. Obviously there are degrees of misfire. Every partial combustion event means fuel is unburned: it doesn't take much to raise ppm from 8 to 28:) As 1% is 10,000ppm, the issue here is probably more about testing repeatablity than an actual problem.
Auto Gearbox normally works perfectly, but after a lot of stop-start driving in traffic, it refuses to change up, sticking in 1st or 2nd. After an hour or so, it works normally when restarted. Nothing shows on the diagnostics.
VW can't help. We changed a gearbox multifunction switch, which seemed to solve the problem, but now it has started again.
I am concerned as my wife does Meals- on Wheels, and has to do regular stop- start driving, and the fault is obviously dangerous. Read more
Many thanks - dynamic dave.
The answer is I don't know - you can't tell from the service book records, and our VW dealer who used to service the car has gone bust.
Anyway, I am going to change the oil this PM.
It's worth a try.
My wife's fuel sipping Gold TDi is due for a replacement, and we want tobe green (and economical) and I really fancy a hybrid... but why are they choices such ugly cars...
Look at the Prius - YUK!!!
Honda do the Insight , which looks almost the same as the Prius... or they do a Civic, but not the nice wedge shaped one... just an ugly four door one..
Why cant someone produce a funky, good looking economical hybrid.. do people who want to be green have to be punished by making them drive cars that look awful!!!
rant rant Read more
I saw a new reg Prius two or three days ago. It looked pretty reasonable - but then I haven't any strong adverse views on hybrids to cloud my judgement:)
I drove the car to work yesterday without any problems. When I started the car after finishing work, few seconds later the ABS light came on. It permanently remains lit now. Is it something to worry about and what could possibly cause this? Is there any quick fix I could try myself before taking it to a mechanic? Read more
Thanks DD - I'll have a look at the weekend. I had all 4 tyres replaced last week and I'm wondering if its got something to do with that. This problem only started the day before yesterday though.
I know this message is old, but i am havingthe same problem. cannot get an explanation from anyone. if you have found an answer could you email me at chpanter@gmail.com? it would be GREATLY appreciated!!