October 2009
Hi back roomers,
I used to be a regular user of this forum and have been away for quite a while, it's nice to back !
My brother has a new Skoda Yeti 2.0 Tdi 4x4, it hasnt done a 1000 miles. When he selects reverse with the headlights on, the front foglights come on too, all by themselves. Then when u de-select reverse they go off but the right-hand one comes back on and stays on !
He's taking it back to the dealer tomorrow, whom are excellent it has to be said, but has anyone else experienced this too ?
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Interestingly I saw a competition launched by a motoring weekly and a well known oil company looking for new motoring journalist talent: prize a three month paid internship. Why do these magazines do such things when there are so many bright young journalists who can't get jobs: fall in circulation and advertising revenues being the oft quoted excuses? I used to do a bit of freelance writing but stopped after the editor of a nameless monthly journal wanted me to write gratis. I know of a lot of eager young students who fancy having a go at this but is it worth their while? Hope my old journalist friend Mike is on here with some words of wisdom.
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.....and cam-belts.
Hi All
New to the forum - hope someone can help me out!
I had my alternator drive belt changed today, need to do my power steering belt aswell but ordered the wrong belt so that is going to be done shortly. The question I have is does my car have an auto tensioner or should the mechanic have done the ruler trick to check the tension in the belt?
I have looked at my car as wasnt here when mechanic done the work and with the engine running it sounds noisier then normal but I am not sure if I am worrying for no reason as my wife says its exactly the same noise as always, I then looked down the engine and it looks like one of the pulleys wobbles but then I know all engines shake and it looks like it is just shaking with the engine.
I am worried and tried to look online around how it should be installed and I am sure its been done 100% corectly, I just drive a lot of miles and worried what would happen if it wasnt done correctly. I know I am probably worrying for no reason just wanted to know if my car has a tensioner auto, as if it does I probably know it would tension it self automatically.
On another note, I was told today that rear brake pads will need doing in 3-4 months, I only replaced front and rear pads and discs 12 months ago, why would they need doing so quickly, I have checked and they do appear to have worn down, I have done about 10k in last year?
Thanks,
Steve Read more
I would have thought that the alternator and pas pulleys are driven by the same belt.There is an auto tensioner for this.If there is a wobble on the pulley system then it could be a failing alternator pulley which has an overrun clutch system.Does the wobble get worse when the steering is put on full lock?hth
We have a problem with our Mondeo charging just lately.
The alternator went down so we put a new one on it from Vospers and the voltage was fluctuating, so brother sent it back......they put a new one on and the same again......voltage jumping all around - charging light goes on and off intermittently, then the other night brother was driving the car and all the dash lights went out - car was still running; seems to be worse the higher the revs
Sorry it's a bit of a vague diagnosis but I am relaying information from brother.....I didn't touch it Read more
IF this has happened after installing a new alternator I dont think you have any choice but take it to a car electrics specialist- cheaper than Ford.
I had a problem earlier in the year with mine and got the new alternator fitted at less than half the price of Ford on my MkIII v6 Mondeo.
A big hit on the Briskoda forum this so thought I'd start it here especially as I have not been around for a while. 1980s a big interest for me here especially with the revival but nobody seems to have preserved the cars: When was the last time you saw a Sierra, Montego, Vauxhall Cavalier etc.
Over to you! Read more
Hopefully not the one with the check jacket!!!
No spark at No. 4 lead from coil pack, when I lift off the plug lead at the coil pack end.
Swapped plug lead 4 with 1, runs even more rough, (i dont have a spare lead to go to No. 1.)
Put spare plug into No. 4 lead and held spare plug onto block, no spark (This sparked OK on No. 1 plug lead end).
Multi-metered (not a megger!) all plug leads, seem to be OK.
Is it the coil pack, or something else, as would just one of the coil pack outputs fail like this? Read more
Replaced coil pack, running fine now...
I had a wheel bearing replaced on offside rear 11 months ago, and it has to be replaced again this month (replacement covered by warranty so no charge). I am still experiencing a slight vibration through car when accelerating, especially 40 -50 mph and more noticeable when going up an incline. I have 4 new tyres (under 1000 miles) and all wheel balancing was checked yesterday. Car mileage is 66000.
Question. Could the wheel bearing failure have affected any other part of rear wheel assembly, i.e.brake disc, that may be causing this vibration. Any help would be appreciated. Read more
Thanks for advice, this was tried.
GOOD rural local garage (not SEAT/AUDI) has now done a lot more investigation and we have found
broken rear springs (probably when I drove too fast over very uneven level crossing in France, and I mean VERY VERY uneven)
badly worn joint on front offside drive shaft.
Should get car back tomorrow and hope it will now be alright.
I,ve just had a quote from a comparison site from a company called ESI.
I,ve not heard of them before and wondered if anyone could enlghten me.
Are they part of a biigger well known company? Read more
Hi - my golf starts and idles without any issue. A soon as it is put under load it misfires. Once it is warm it then keeps misfiring when it's idling. With the bonnet up i can hear a 'ticking' noise coming from the alternator which corresponds exactly with the misfire. I haven't seen anything relating to this in forums - am i making 2 plus 2 = 5?? Read more
thanks for the pointer Number_Cruncher - i never was any good at maths :-)
Hi
I have a VW Polo 1.4, petrol engine.
Have recently moved and commuting to work I do a 160 mile round trip journey which is costing a fortune in petrol - around £18/19 a day.
Please can anyone advise if it would be worth selling this and buying a diesel and how much I could expect my fuel bill to reduce if I did?
If it won't reduce by much then it's probably not worth the hassle or expense of changing the car.
I only drive automatic so would need to find an automatic diesel.
Any general tips on reducing my fuel bill would be gratefully received!
Thx in advance.
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... but if the OP can afford 20k miles of commute at c.40p a mile (fuel and depreciation) that's £8k of taxed income which suggests the salary must be worth it ... >>
Good point Nsar, but remember OP said:
1. "... Excuse dimness but don't know how to calculate miles per gallon (!). ..... " - Therefore can you assume OP can work out how much pretax or posttax salary is needed to pay for this expensive habit?
2. "... I do a 160 mile round trip journey which is costing a fortune in petrol - around £18/19 a day. ... " - which suggests that the salary is probably not there, and which is why the OP is looking to cut costs.
Browse
The next development will be fog lights that can only be switched on if it's actually foggy.
But BMW won't be the first manufacturer to launch the feature...:-)