October 2009
Hi All,
Assuming no incidents etc can anyone give me an idea what the delays are likely to be travelling north around 6:30 to 7:00pm this Friday please?
Ta.
FTF Read more
Seen this so many times on ebay when they claim in the advert that a new timing belt has been fitted. One of them is highly amussing its a Metro Vandan Pla with a 1275cc engine. I feel like emailing them asking how is it possible to fit a timing belt to a push rod engine which had a small chain?
I've seen this all the time, my friend nearly bought a Micra from a dealer and he made a point to tell her that he had just fitted a new cam belt on it. She canceled the deal when I found out from HJ's car by car that the engine in that Micra was actually a chain driven one.
If you bought a car from one of these miss leaders I wonder if they could force them to fit a new chain to it? Read more
At a local Vauhall dealer two seperate salesman confidently told me that their 2006 1.6
petrol Astra didn't need a cambelt service as they 'were sure it had a chain'
The salesmen are there to sell the car. Most of them have no idea what goes on under the bonnet with the oily bits. That job is left to the mechanics - sorry, technicians as they like to be called these days.
I'm planning on changing the alloys on my new Titanium X from the OEM 18" ones down to 16" because I find the car on the firm side with a fair bit of road noise. While researching options online one or two people have said that I'll have to get the ECU re-programmed so that it knows the car has different wheels.
This is puzzling me because I intend to make the rolling radius the same by fitting higher profile tyres to the smaller rims and I can't figure out how the car will know any difference. Presumably the only signal being fed to the ECU is from the ABS sensors so their 'target' on the hubs will be unchanged.
I can understand why a correction would need to be made if the rolling radius changed because the speedo would be out but I'm a bit baffled about the rest.
Basically, all I'm planning on doing is putting Zetec wheels and tyres on a Titanium X!
Can someone with a bit more knowledge than me explain why the ESP/ABS needs to be recalibrated - if indeed this information I've got is correct?
Also - am I right in thinking this will make the car more comfortable?
Graeme Read more
>>Laziness, using an on-line calculator:
Interesting calculator - thanks for posting the link.
I'm always a bit concerned when the formulae being used aren't listed.
Now, before I state my case, as a 52 year old, I will admit to my earlier sins.
I regularly cycled in the great City of Birmingham between 1975 and 1980 and some would have described me as an urban cycle terrorist. In fact, I was not, but I did have a fairly aggressive attitude. I never cycled on pavements and always obeyed traffic lights and road signs. However, I was very fit then and could out-accelerate many vehicles up to 15-20 mph in those days, which upset folk. I also indulged in inebrietated cycling. Great fun as your licence was not at great risk and the alcohol relieved the pain in your muscles, so you went even faster!
Today, I ventured into the lesser City of Sunderland on my son's mountain bike. It wasn't raining when I set off but was chucking it down when I came home. I didn't see another cyclist, even though it was coming home from school time.
I might as well have been invisible. So many drivers pulled out in front of me. However, the biggest worry was the drivers at traffic lights who turned left when the lights changed but had not been signalling.
Now, years ago, I would have pulled up on their nearside and, had I done this today, I would have been knocked off my cycle. Fortunately, my policy is now to distrust everyone and sit behind their vehicles to see what they might do.
For a while now, I've wondered why scooter riders just sit in the queue rather than ride to the front and take advantage of their narrow vehicles. I think I know now why they do this.
Use 2 wheels to save the environment? No, use 4 wheels and save your life. Read more
I grew up in the Netherlands and was riding a bicycle on the road and cycle paths at age of six.I used to cycle for over ten years to work and back about 15 miles everyday in the uk.We need in this country proper cycle paths first no silly lines on the road.Better awareness by care drivers and cyclist it means spending money.I must admit cycling in this country is a suicide mission.My daugther years ago got her a bicycle spend time with her on the road cycling ,made no difference some idiot in our cul de sac driving to fast did nearly kill her.This year went cycling with my brother me 60 he is 56 enjoyed our bike ride in Assen ,plenty of cycle paths .
I hope someone out there can help me! I want to fit footwell lights into my 2006 Focus 1.6 tdci. I have purchased the bulb holders and bulbs and i want to wire them into my courtesy light so that they work in conjuncton with it. I have removed the courtesy light and there are 2 connections, 1 with 2 wires in it and the other with 1 wire. Can anyone please advise me as to which wires to tap into for the footwell lights to work??
Any help with be gratefully received, PLEASE !
Cheers in advance guys
Stevie Read more
Mike, that link worked a treat and now i have working footwell lights so many thanks.
Stevie
SQ
Hi All
I have a tdci variant and have recently had an issue starting it. About 2 months ago the starter motor broke up and I had it replaced. Since then I have experienced intermittent starting problems. I get all the usual lights on the dash but when I turn the key to turn the starter nothing happens, there's no strange noises or anything. It's as if the starter is not doing anything!
I took the starter to a company to have it bench tested who said that it was working correctly and just gave it me back. Next day it happened again!
It is really annoying because it can go weeks behaving normally and then over 2 days it can be a nightmare. Sometimes if I keep trying it will eventually turn and start but other times it hasn't and I have had to try and bump start it.
Looking for ideas/pointers as to what it could be?
Many Thanks for your help Read more
Wouldn't recommend dude. If it is the DMF most likely the whole clutch assembly will have undergone massive damage which is not always clearly visible. Most likely to fail would be the thrust bearing which will might have collected an enormous amount of clutch dust...bear in mind that having to rip apart the whole thing once more to change the clutch assembly (depends even how close to actual replacement this is ta the moment) costs more than a penny or two, so while there I'd go for the full monty and put my mind to rest...if this can ever be with these engines...
My dad's 1.8 TDCi 115 '04 focus went through this problem at just 25,000 kms...luckily the warranty was just about to expire and our local dealer replaced it...When I enquired what damage had been caused I was told that the clutch was down to the springs on one side...logically it neded replacing. The service advisor even mentioned something about the exhaust manifold being replaced...never really understood that one... The bill, had the warranty expired, would have amounted to some colossal £2.5k...but in my country spares as well as new cars are nowhere near as cheap as UK cars...in fact we get many UK imports at reasonable prices compared to the equivalent new ones...economies of scale! We have total monopoly here...we cannot afford more than one certified dealer for each make of car!
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8315947.stm
BYD says that its new E6 electric car due out before the end of the year will do 250 miles (400km) on a single charge.
This is a very big number. The Tesla electric sports car does almost as much, but has little room for anything else in the car but the battery.
The E6 is roomy with space for five passengers and a good-sized boot. The battery tucks under the back seat.
It needs 7-8 hours with a domestic plug to charge the car but BYD - it stands for Build Your Dreams - says a specially developed fast charging point with a lead the diameter of a fire hose will fill up the car in just one hour.
You can get half a charge in only 10 minutes.
If these claims are accurate and if BYD can persuade either the Chinese government or a Chinese city to install a network of the fast chargers, then this large hatchback could be the vehicle that makes the breakthrough for electric cars.
[see link for more] Read more
A surprising range of cars aswell.Its going to be scarey for Euro manufactures when the Chinese really start to export to Europe.
Will I need to fit an oil cooler to Signum 1.9CTD automatic to tow caravan? Read more
what does handbook say
page 43 subsection c paragraph 3
Our Focus estate has 106k on the clock & just had all the cylinder valves replaced... the shocks & clutch are pretty worn so we think prob time to replace. Budget around £9k.
we're now down to 1 reliable income, plus what i bring in as a consultant, so need something reliable with low running costs, that will fit a large lab-size dog in the boot & 4 people.
However other concern is that we're moving to the peak district next year, probably to a village. In the winter we wonder if we could do with 4x4 for those early starts on unsalted country roads. We dont plan any off roading.
So - Would a 4X4 car be a good idea (we know we dont need an SUV - & cant afford one with a cheap running cost/fuel efficiency).
OR as driving skills is probably most important, should we just invest in advance driver training & some winter tyres?! A car with ESP?
If we want a fuel efficient ish car with 4X4 for £9k, we're tempted by Octavia Estate 4x4 - pretty good reviews & fuel efficiency. Like the Subaru Outback 2l more, but cant find a 2nd hand 2l version in our price bracket & 2.5l is just too hungry for us. What Car recommends for a car with 4x4 the Imprezza, or alternatively Ford Kuga or Landrover freelander - imperzza as a performance car is not economical enough, Kuga's are too new for our price bracket & landrover is not economical enough.
thoughts much appreciated! Read more
Yes the early AWD system had a set up that meant that the transmission would
wind itself up if the tyres weren't kept within 1mm of wear (IIRC)... this was
replaced in around 2004 so the '06 XC70 should be ok.
No, this is a different problem. The winding up issue was indeed solved with a revised system, but the problem mentioned here is actually down to the connection between the driveshaft and the haldex clutch, and fails through relatively little wear and tear. Nothing to do with tyre wear at all.
The exact nature of the fault is still under debate on the VOC.
Trust me, all Volvos with AWD since circa 2001 are affected, although some people are suggesting more recent cars have more robust components. Exactly when the revised parts were introduced isn't certain.
driving down a single track road with passing spaces I had just passed a blind bend & in the narrowist part of the road met a Saxo coming the other way. As I had just passed a passing space I was quite happy to reverse back but as I selected reverse I realised that the young girl hadn't even eased off! I threw it into drive & scrambled up the bank as far as i could but due to the adverse bank the rear wheel arch was still well in the road. Well the inevitable happened but she hit the back door first & continued down the rear wing at speed & didn't manage to stop untill 30-40ft behind my vehicles. Her first comment was about 4x4 drivers! This girl had attitude with capital A. There was no way she could of ever got through & I still don't know how she passed even with the damage. now my good old insurance company bless them want me to accept knock for knock as there are no witnesses for me but the saxo driver had a passenger!. Well i was stationary & I thought that counts for something but apparently not. I have been back & taken photos of car in the lane & am astounded she even attempted to pass let alone at speed. i am spitting feathers because why should I have to pay out my excess ( I do have protected no claims ) for someone elses stupidity. Anyone had sucess with anything similar. Read more
If you Insurer insists settling 50/50 but you believe you have a good case sue the driver for your excess under the small claims procedure.
Browse
Thanks all for the replies.
Options have changed a little as I am now going to be picking a daughter up from Bristol Templemeads so it will be M32/M4/M5 now, like it or not. Hopefully I will be joining the M5 nothbound after the worst of it!
Regards.
FTF