October 2009

marty1979

Morning all. My newly aquired Vectra Ls 1.8 petrol has just had a new thermostat, and now when it reaches normal operating temp the cooling fan kicks in as normal, but then it never shuts off. If I turn the car off and leave it for 30 min's and then re-start the car the fan is off, but as soon as the temp gauge reaches 85 degrees the fan kicks in and stays on until I switch the car off. I've checked all the relays and none appear to be sticking, next thing would be the switch in the rad, unless I'm missing something else? Any help is greatly appreciated. Read more

SpamCan61 {P}

Maybe one of the relays that controls the fans (there's about 5) is stuck on. From memory there's 3 in the main fusebox and a couple in one of the black boxes by the battery.

smed706

i have just changed the cam belt and also changed the glow plugs i have also changed 2 of the glow plug wiring terminal ends as they wre perished after refitting fuel pump, cam belt i did the usual check (turned engine over manually 3 turns) bled up the fuel system and turned engine over and it fired up and run lumpy at first but smooth itself out as it warmed up it had been ticking over for around 10 to 15 mins when it just cut out and since that the glow plug light now doesnt illuminate i only get battery ,oil pressure and temp warning light . also fuel stop solonoid doesnt click when turning ignition on . any thoughts or suggestions are most welcome thanks in advance . neil . Read more

codrum

Two days ago I was caught on my mobile while driving. I have to pay a fine and hand in my MOT, Insurance and licence to the police station. However when I found my MOT certificate this morning I saw that it was out of date by 10 days. In addition to this I have an Irish Drivers licence.

Am I looking at a major penalty and is there anything I can do to avoid that?

I am grateful for any help you can give. Read more

Dwight Van Driver

MOT out of date.

Get it tested and new certificate which should also be produced with the old within the 7 days.

St Patrick may well look in your favour with the old one only being 10/11days out.
Usually, but not gospel, CPS will not prosecute under 1 month out.

If they do max fine : £2,500 - No points. (Mags will not impose this but will decide when they have done an inquisition as to your pot of gold.)

Moble Phone offence/DLicence.

As a Eire Licence is concerned then this as classed as an EEC Licence and as such whilst in UK as resident you are entitled to drive until aged 70 or for three years after becoming resident, whichever is the longer period.

The problem it causes is that as yet ,points that feature with this offence cannot be put on the Licence, so a Conditional Offer/FPN (Pay £60 - 3 points) cannot take place - so a Court case will have to be arranged and you will get a summons. Amount of fine will be decided as mentioned above ^^^

In addition to any fine then bear in mind Prosecution will want their costs anywhere between 30 -60 notes and you will also have to pay a £15 Victims Support supplement.

Your points will be entered on a skelton record that will be created at DVLA so that they can keep a track of your misdoings.

Now behave yerself Patrick.....

dvd


nottsruss

My mondeo does approx 70k miles pa motorway miles , I seem to get excessive road/wheel noise from the rear , after replacing hub bearing assy , discs , pads its no better. The noise seemed better with new tyres , now after 20k noise is back.Mechanic examined and advised tyres have flat spots on inner edge only , wear fine across tyre.
Advised it could be shock abrsorbers but they are fine.
Iam now running a VW Touran and have exactly the same problem tyres are now wearing flat spots on outer edge...!! as a threepenny bit ( castellating) mechanic advises has seen similar problems , can any body through any light on this problem or rec good tyres for high mileage taxi cars. Read more

nottsruss

have resolved problem life is great with a quiet car...original tyres were Uniroyal rainsport not cheap ..but.. rotational with a 'v' tread pattern.Have just put on a set of Continentals not rotational ( can be fitted on any wheel) with an in line straight tread pattern , they are so quiet. Did lots of home work and these tyres are one of the best around.

the_bandit

Driving home yesterday morning after nightshift I encounter the worst example I have ever seen of a trucker performing what I call a rolling roadblock.

Travelling on a 2 lane motorway (I know it's the last part of the M73 North before it connects with the A80) I notice ahead a stream of red brake lights on. These were mainly in lane 1 with lane 2 affected to a lesser degree. I know (and so does everybody else using that road regularly) that 2 miles ahead the 2 lanes become only one whilst it connects onto the A80.

Keen to make progress I move into lane 2 and keep moving (approx 40mph) with lane 1 crawling at approx (20mph). I manage to progress another 200yards before I too am crawling 10-15 mph and now matching lane one for progress. In front of me are two cars and a cattle trucker.

Initially the curve of the road ahead prevented me from seeing what was in front of the trucker. After about half a mile of crawling, car number one behind truck gives up and pulls into lane one. At this point in time no official sign to indicate lane closure. After another half mile car number 2 also gives up and pulls into lane one. Still no signs for a lane closure ahead. So now there is me and the road turns such that I can see in front of the truck and what can I see.......

ABSOLUTELY NOTHING !!!!!

This guy is holding up a huge queue of not only cars behind me in lane 2 but has also resulted in excacerbating the queue in lane 1 as cars pull over too early. My attempts to flash my lights were in vain as I feared because this trucker was going nowhere!!

I manage another half mile behind this moron and then took an opportunity to pull into lane one. He progresses right up to the point where the cones force you to move over as another trucker who he was in cahoots with throughout this maneouvre allows him to pull over.

Aaarghhh!!!!

And then to top it all whilst moving through the roadworks which have a 40mph limit he speeds through it (approx 50mph-55mph)!!

I'm seeing this rolling roadblock move more often these days from truckers who think they can nominate themselves as traffic management experts when they should just mind their own business and do their job.

Normally I have the utmost respect for truck drivers (HGV) for whom driving is a professional business and skill and this moronic driving I witnessed just makes me question even more the antics I witness on the open road everyday.

Night shift rant over !!!

Your thoughts please........



Read more

ijws15

We had a driver convicted about 5 years ago for "dangerous vehicle" when he lost a trailer wheel which wrote off someone's much loved Nissan Figaro (no accounting for taste).

His main error was that he had not been doing daily checks and had been disciplined for not doing them.

What I still do not know was whether the nuts/studs failed or the hub itself - the wheel was never found, the trailer hirer's maintainer's records did not tell us what repair they had done and (surprisingly) no-one took a photo of the amazing three wheeled trailer. The driver swore blind that they were tight but off course he had not filled in the piece of paper on that day, or any of the previous 6 or so days. . . .

mantua66

Hello gent's need some advice big time.
I bought a car - a 1978 XJ6 to be precise, from a friend who's job it is to pick up cars to run in for scrap, all legal mind, they phone him and he disposes of them .... honest!
Stupidly though i did not get a bill of receipt for the car from my friend.

Now he was called in to dispose of the said XJ6 by some house clearance people / letting agency - it seems the occupier had defaulted and not paid his bills, done a disappearing act so all his possessions were disposed of including the car.
He was given the keys, was also given a hand to push the car out from the garage by the clearance people.
I was offered the car because it was just too good to be run in - its no Concourse valuable car, just a car that could be made into something descent - and i purchased it for £200.00.

I applied for a log book - which i received, Taxed and Mot'd it and all was fine until a week after doing this i get a knock on the door from "surly" CID.
Apparently the previous owner has decided to report it stolen and the Bill are accusing me of stealing it!
Previous owner is claiming he went on holiday, came back and the car was gone ..... hence why he did nothing about the letter you receive from the DVLA when a new log book is applied for in a different name.

I explained what had happened and have been given the option of giving the car back "or else"

If i don't they either arrest my friend (the scrap man) for stealing it off the guys doorstep (which never happened) or they arrest me for having a stolen car!
Personally i think they are bluffing and would have arrested me straight away and impounded the car immediately.

So i am stuck between a "rock and a hard place" .... any suggestions other than "you were an idiot for buying such a car?
The car is insured, Mot's and taxed AND in my name.

Thanks in advance. Read more

martint123

i gave him all the documents to prove the car was mine and legal .

What were they? Logbook/V5 is just registered keeper, not owner and ISTR you didn't get a receipt from the previous owner.

Anyone can apply for a logbook for a new keeper - the only safeguard is that they write to the previous keeper and it is up to them to stop it. This has been a problem with stolen motorcycles for some years and I still can't see why the DVLA still permit it.

Rattle

I feel sick. Just got back from a couple of pints with my mates and were talking about cars my mate reckons my car is always in the garage I thought it was reliable so I have added it all up.

I've done 2200 miles in my car since I got it in March but most of it is city miles so heavy wear and tear.

Pretty much order of jobs I have done:-
1) Oil change, new plugs, new air filter, sump tightened, clutch cable adjusted, car greesed. £90
2) Two new rear springs £50 (Ted very kindly did this for me, I just bought the springs)
3) Two new rear tyres (old ones were perfectly legal but side walls had small cracks so replaced them to be sure) £60 for a pair of Barums
4) Two new front brake pads £45 inc labour
5) New front wiper blades £15 inc fitting
6) Two new front springs £156 got ripped off but it was an emergency
7) New catback exhaust £100
8) New MAF sensor (did this myself) £86 for a genuine Bosch
9) Resprayed wheel trims (cosmetic) £6 for the primer and finsih
10) Resprayed wiper arms (cosmetic) £1 paint from £1 land
11) New coolant and brake fluid £25 inc labour
12) New front tyre £45 (emegency)
13) New rear shock absorbers
14) New ball joint
15) New CV boot £156 fir 13, 14 and 15.
16) Some body work treatment done by me just treated a tiny rust spot etc. Free had all the bits in and the Arden blue touch up came with my car.

Jobs to do soon:-
1) Get tracking done
2) Replace another front tryre

Jobs I will do if the car lasts a bit longer
1) See if camshaft bolts need tightening (tip from Bellboy)
2) Fix rear washer
3) Replace coil pack (its original and on 82850 miles)
4) Change gearbox oil

Of course more things will go wrong I kind of wish I had bought a merc 190! but I cannot fault the performance of the 1.2 16v its perfect for the city and I get between 36 and 50mpg depending on the kind of driving I do. Its all dirt cheap to insure (for me) and I get all the luxeries apart from aircon.

Earlier this year before I bought it it had a new bearing and new hand brake cables for the MOT.

I paid £1150 for the car, a V reg 1.2 16V club with most the options, CD player, electric windows and mirrors, rear head rests etc etc its more like a C in terms of spec. I have spent about £600 in repairs for all the above but most of that includes labour.

So thats a total of £829 for repairs. Excuse me I am just going to be sick.

I am now just waiting for the gearbox to fail and a camshaft to snap and that will complete my luck with cars.

I admit some of the above may not have been essential the front springs had snapped but only partial if I left it I doubt it would have caused any problems but I would rather not found out. The tyres all needed replacing. I could have probably got away with a cheaper MAF but my Bosh one did the job first time so no stress.

Moral of the story never buy a supermini with 80k something miles unless it comes with a million receipts.

On the plus side I here of tails of people spending £300 on tyres etc and I now have a pretty much brand new suspension, new tyres and everything works apart from the rare washer.

Could somebody please tell me I have had too much to drink (only 3 pints) and that I have added it all up wrong? I feel a bit sick. Read more

pda

Arr, leave him alone!:)

Pat

discodaddy

Hello, hope someone can help

instrument panel has stopped working, will not work and then suddenly come back on..petrol reading. temp...speed..

any ideas

many thanks Read more

discodaddy

thanks for reply
had a look can not see anything that refers to the problem i have

thanks

sportster

Hello
I would be most grateful if someone could help me with the following, I have problems with an 80K miles 1.9DTI when starting up. It just does not want to start. When it eventually fires it will run OK, but on long journeys I have noted an intermittent loss of power and the heater plug light comes on for a couple of seconds, it then goes out and all is well for a number of miles.
The error codes I have are P100D and P1028. We replaced the crankcase sensor today, thinking this was the problem but the codes still show and the car is still difficult to start......Doh!

Thanks in anticipation. Read more

sportster

Just to update, it was diagnosed on a Solus Pro, which gave the error codes, unfortunately Snap On don't give the Manufacture specific Enhanced OBD II codes.........Double Doh!

pendulum

Hello

My dad owns a Corsa (4 years old) which he bought in Portugal, and it's still in Portugal. It's all legal there (registered there, insured, taxed, mechanical test etc). He wishes to drive it back to the UK.

If he was foreign, he could drive it in the UK for 6 months without a problem, but because he's English we understand he can't even drive it home from the port because an English citizen can't drive a foreign plated car in England.

We genuinely just need to complete one journey in the car to get it from the port to our house, where it'll then be garaged until we get the chance to change over the lights, complete any other modifications necessary, and then go through the process for registering it in the UK.

Is our only option a tow truck? That's very expensive. Does anyone know if its likely we'll be physically stopped from driving it at the port or what punishment we risk if we do drive it home. Or if there is a procedure we can go through to maybe allow us to drive this car temporarily in the UK?

Many thanks Read more

ijws15

Surely the key word is RESIDENT

If he can demonstrate residence in Portugal (i.e. and address, which he must have for the portugese authorities to have the car registered to) then he should be OK.

Otherwise he is being discriminated against by nationality.

How do all these Poles etc who are resident here drive Polish registered cars then = or is it just not policed.