November 2009
My daughters brake pedal has plenty of travel in it, i have adjusted the rear brakes, checked the pads, they are ok, the servo is working ok, must be the master cylinder??? is this a common fault on these cars or could it be something else? thankyou. Read more
My freinds son's polo has a head gasket gone, I dont think he cooked it, should i get the head skimmed or just replace the gasket, any idea roughly how much a skim is??? thankyou Read more
nice one thankyou
My 2.6 Trooper (automatic) only changes into overdrive at high speed (70 and above) and randomly changes down again - v. annoying and v. bad for petrol consumption. It only has 20K(!) on the clock, by the way. Has anybody come across this before? Read more
Both the cars in my household have V6 petrol engines with automatic transmission. One is a 2000 Jag S type with 3 litre engine and the other is a 1999 MB W202 with 2.4 litre engine.
At the moment I'm still paying the old-style VED because both cars are pre-2001. But both are well over 100,000 miles now and around 10 years old, so I'll need to start thinking about replacements in the next few years. With the new VED bands, plus the fact that petrol prices are unlikely to go down, I'm thinking the days of the affordable petrol V6 may be over.
I've heard people say that modern 4-cylinder engines are as smooth as old V6's, but I doubt that myself. I've also heard lots of people say that modern diesels are really good and that they have "come a long way", but I've been hearing that for years.
So is there anything that can match the refinement of a petrol V6, or is it possible to get a V6 with a reasonable VED band - say band I or lower?
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There was a 2-page spread in TG magazine two or three years ago about engine-
and platform- sharing in the VAG group with suggestions for theoretical models made by combining
different powertrains and model ranges. They couldn't think of a reason not to put the
2.0TSI in the Phaeton.
Yes, I saw that, I think I read of the potential for a 2.2 CDi twin-turbo S Class in Car Magazine around May this year, could have been journalistic musings cf TG but it seemed plausible to me given the output from this (and similar) 4 pot turbo diesels rivals 6 cylinder engines of 5 years ago ?
Having said that, 6 cylinder diesels (like my 330d with the latest incarnation of that engine) have also moved on somewhat with astonishing (imho) power, refinement and economy.
But back to the OP, if you look at the economy and performance of modern BMW 6 cylinder petrols I think there'll be plenty of options for people who like big engines for some time to come.
1.9 turbo diesel starts o.k when the engine is cold but struggles to start when the engine is warm/hot Read more
Could be a faulty fuel solonoid, sticking, but if the car has a key pad, not very easy to access as its has anti theft armouring over it, you could try giving the pump a thump with the ignition on, that might free it - until the next time.
Took SWMBO's Focus in for its first service; the only fault it had developed was the lights-on sounder had stopped sounding.
They fixed it - said it needed a reset.
Is that something I can do if the fault recurs? If so, how?
Cheers. Read more
Sorrry to have to post again on the same car.
How do you remove the dist cap , are the screws just spring loaded or something. Dont want to do any damage, so just making sure 1st. thanks.
{Please refrain from posting solely in CAPS in the subject header as it's classed as shouting. This is the 3rd post of yours in 2 days that has been edited} Read more
Yes,these are spring loaded hooks.Press and turn 90o anti-clock.hth
I'm not sure whether I'm imagining this but I drove my wife's low mileage (14K miles) 07 2.2 CTDi Civic the other day and when accelerating from low speed / revs with some left lock (e.g. when turning into a side street) there seemed to be a juddering 'sensation'.
N.B. this wasn't on anything like full lock, merely off the straight ahead was enough.
It didn't occur in the straight ahead or with right lock applied (e.g. on roundabouts). I drive a RWD car these days so maybe I've forgotten what a high torque FWD car feels like but I don't think I'm imagining this.
I'm pretty sure it wasn't on the clutch 'take up' either, the traction control wasn't intervening (relatively gentle acceleration) and I wasn't braking. Also the road surfaces were reasonably smooth.
The car has been largely trouble free and is still under warrantee so I've booked it in to the dealer but would appreciate any thoughts on what might cause such symptoms. - CV joint, Driveshaft perhaps ?
P.S. it tracks straight and the front tyre wear is even, I guess they're about half worn (haven't measured them though), they're 225x17 Michelins but not runflat or anything like that. Read more
Just bought this car yesterday. Got it valeted this morning, put a years tax on it went to petrol station, filled it up. Went to turn ignition and nothing! Tried tapping it with a hammer, all sorts, nothing. It is in park so I cant move it. Waiting on a tow truck. I phoned Chrysler they want £200 to replace ignition barrel. Apparently its a Chrysler only part and if I was to buy it on its own they dont supply keys!! They say it has to go to be re-programmed. Am I stuffed or is there anything else I can do. My boyfriend is sitting in the car right now while I frantically look at options on tinternet. Read more
I just put the car into Chrysler - got it fixed for £152. Thanks for your replies.
Hej!
I have problem on Xantia 1,8 16v, 1996.
Abs light goes regulary off when you start car, and after about 2 minutes, it turnes on, even if you dont move the car!
Have you any idea what it can be? If it is sensors (not good resistance), then it would not pass the test, and turn lamp off. If it is something other with sensors (do not work, or signal uregular/not high enough), why it turn lamp on when car is not moving?
Thanks
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I had ABS light on intermittently with car moving or stationary. I checked the resistance on all four sensors. Three were similar but one from front left kept giving different bizarre readings. Ordered new front sensor. When replacing it found brake pads were worn right down on this wheel. On removing problematic sensor found the face o the sensor has three metal plates the central one being magnetic. The face was covered in what looked like iron filings (presumably from the badly worn brake discs). On cleaning off all the metallic muck the sensor then gave consistent correct resistance readings so I think the problem was the iron muck build up on the sensor face. As I had a new sensor I fitted that just to be on the safe side and new disk pads. Now ABS is Ok. Lesson, just try cleaning the sensor face first if it is mucky.


We had this problem back in August as it failed its MOT on "Insufficiant Reserve movement in brake pedal"
Manual adjustment is a common requirement on a KA however Master Cylinder failure isnt.
1. When you say you have adjusted the rear brakes did this involve manually tweeking the ratchet so that the drum was a snug fit over the shoes? Did you remove the lip from the inside of the drum?
2. Have you bled the front and rear brakes? To do this you would have but a 8mm tube onto the bleed nipples and released the bleed screw while someone pressed the pedal.
3. Is the brake fluid topped up to the required level?