November 2009
I have never had this problem with any of my cars, so it has puzzled me
I recently took the old battery out of my 205 as it was dead, and replaced it with a brand new one, the problem came when I connected the negative lead to the battery... as soon as I did, a crackling sound came from the front left of the engine bay, then smoke started coming out of the part that is on the right hand side that had a belt around it and what looks to be a fan inside the casing
I have no idea what the part is called, but it is the only thing connected to the radiator with a belt on that side of the engine Bay
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Hi i was driving to work last night when my car made a pher noise then lost power.i have all my lights etc but my car will not turn over at all.we thought it may have run out of petrol but have stuck some in and nothing.
any ideas to what it may be?have tried jump leads and nothing
would be very grateful for any help or advice
thanks in advance Read more
i had a car once that made the pher noise
jack douglas was the previous owner-----------
i also saw a cowboy mechanic hammer the valves straight on renaults finest last month
it lasted a week before it got towed in again
this car needs the services of a mech that can confirm your belt has gone and wrecked the top of the engine,(very common at this age) and then you yes you the OP can decide whether repair or scrap is the way forward
i recommend a good s/h head all the shennanigans the belt runs on and then antifreeze etc
its going to cost in the region 0f 3 to 4 big ones depending where you live
might be better giving it to china of course and get the bus till reserves of cash put you back in the driving seat
good luck tally ho and dont forget to cash the road tax in and get a destruction certificate for the old beast so the dvla who now do tours apparently dont come chasing you with fines for cars you no longer love
message ends...........
Hi my 1998 2.0 16v automatic gls vectra b has a sport drive button on the top of the gear stick, until now it has worked fine and has always shown a small orange light on the dash indicating its in use, and you certainly know when your in sport mode as the gears do not change so quickly as in normal drive.
For some reason the indicator is not showing up on the dash no more and the sport drive seems totally inactive, ive looked for blown fuses but they are all fine. even my local mechanic didn't know and there seems to be no other posts here of this freak problem, any help would great. P.S it has never been thrashed about even though the cars 11 years old next month it only has 79,000 on the clock.
thanks Read more
I was driving along Burdon Lane earlier tonight (for the one or two that know it it's an unmarked and unlit NSL country road in an urban area, basically a death trap) and saw what I thought was two foxes in front of me but I quickly realised that they weren't darting into the bushes like they normally would.
I soon realised they were actually two Yorkshire Terriers, no collars, clearly abandoned alone in the cold. Stuck the hazards on and rang my brother who fetched the van up, I managed to catch one that was quite scared (she cowered when I got near) and we duly loaded her in the back, the other one however started to cause traffic chaos. With my car blocking one part of the road for safety other motorists all slowed to a crawl to make sure they didn't hit us or the dog.
Gave the Police a ring as I could see the situation wasn't the best one to be in and lo and behold, they actually attended, must have been a quiet night as at the peak they had 4 or 5 Police cars blocking off the road whilst chasing the one that got away! I would have left sooner except at one point the snappy one took residence under my warm engine block! :-)
Anyway, in the end my brother took the one that we caught home and about an hour later a pet taxi turned up to take her to the kennels after stopping to catch the one that was still on the loose.
Unfortunately one other dog had already been mown down by a car, but at least we saved the other two and possibly prevented a fatal RTC (when cars swerve on that road it often ends up with a trip to the undertakers).
Result! :-)
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No offence cheddar, but long before I was old enough to drive it had been represented to me that to risk an accident to a human being, or even a car, in order to avoid harming an animal was a fundamental mistake.
Last night during violent hailstorm alarm sounded briefly; thought it was something down the street. Went to car this morning anf ALL windows fully down and car interior soaked. No error message on display. No sign of forced entry. Car going in on Monday. Any ideas about problem. Had alarm problem 6 months ago. Dealer removed error message. Read more
Ford dealer said no fault codes, couldn't find any faults. Claimed we had probably activated the auto open when turning off alarm. This was not possible as remote was downstairs and we were in bed. Alarm turned off on without any action my us.
Where do we go from here? There is obviously evidence off this happenning (see HJs car by car report) but Ford are denying that it is happenning. (or at least being reported.)
Interesting program re the Stobart company on ITV4 just now which reminds me, I keep meaning to ask the truckers on here, what is the viewpoint of Stobart amongst the other truckers?
Are they the elite that they try and portray with their collar and tie drivers or are they much of a muchness? Read more
Ed Stobart said that leasing not only reduced his capital expenditure but in the case of accident/breakdown,one phone call got him an immediate replacement-also no time off the road for repairs/servicing and always an up to date fleet.Many other companies were in the market for ex "Eddie Stobart" contract vehicles.
Im having a problem with my mothers Fiesta Mk4. She told me there was no heating working and that the temperature gauge wasnt working.
I replaced the thermostat today and no joy plus indeed the temperature guage is off ie doesnt move at all.
There is enough water in the header tank and the engine seems to be working fine.
I am wondering if this could be the heater vavle or something else
I noticed that the heater dial is pretty loose ie non responsive plus also the interior fan doesnt work only on number 4. Likewise the radio doesnt work either so wondered if they were on the same circuit or some relay.
Any help appreciated
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Great :)
many thanks for the advice
Ill try all these.
Best wishes
Hi, Ive got vibration in my seat at speeds 1mph to 35-40mph. Also it feels like the car is sort of bouncing? i.e when on a smooth road it is sort of like you are driving over cats eyes......
Then as I pick up speed the vibration shifts to the steering wheel at about 50mph and becomes more aggressive, until 65-70mph when it sort of starts to level out allover the car and is not as bad?
Ive had wheel alignment done and one of my front wheels balanced, as well as a new bearing and cv boot? the garage said in the MOT my rear nearside tyre needs replacing, could this be the cause of this?
Also the front tyre I had replaced (the offside one) was all smooth around the outer edge?
Im going to the tyre place to have my other front tyre balanced on sat morning and the nearside rear replaced.
Cheers for any help!
Ian Read more
Could well be a faulty tyre, ply seperation causing to to be out of round.
Feel very annoyed with myself - got a NIP for "running" (?) a red light. Apparently I was 1.31 seconds into a red light. remember it well - came towards lights, in a 50 limit, clear road so doing 45 - 50 ish (careful!!! speed cameras also) and as I approached lights changed from green. One of those situations - shall I brake harshly or shall I go on - decided to go on - obviously a mistake. Probably the 1.31 seconds it took me to make the decision. Ironically, I am so often the one to be at the front of the queue that my wife mocks me about it and I have been known to stop at green lights because I assume they will always be red for me. Ironically 2 - a mate was done at the same lights exactly a week before - for running the lights by ..........1.31 seconds.
Last time I was done was in 1970 for doing 45 in a van limited to 40 on a deserted dual carriageway at 3am sometime in 1969.
Ah well - better pay upand take the points - no chance of my previously good record being taken into account.
Thanks for letting me get my annoyance (with myself for poor judgement) off my chest.
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If Rattle really is a techno geek he'll be able to hack into the system and shut it all down just like in the Italian Job remake.
;-)
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/north_west/8380094.stm
Ah real "doh!" moment. Read more
PS can you get cars with heated steering
wheels? My steering wheel is always freezing cold until the coolant warms up and can
point the blowers to it.
Um, gloves?
Browse
I would agree, there is a lot to be said for older cars, if it had been a modern one it could well have written it off.