November 2009
i am a full time working single mother of one. i was travelling down a motorway last week doing 68 mph (i know this as i was using my cruise control) when i approached a daf artic lorry doing approx 65 mph. i indicated to my right to overtake, then pulled into the right hand lane. on doing this the driver of the daf artic lorry seemed to speed up (we all know they hate being overtaken)during overtaking, the lorry had a blow out on his left hand front side and the tyre went underneath his lorry carriage and smashed straight into the front of my vehicle causing me to break harshly. i then had to carry on driving and speed up to the lorry driver to notify him of the serious damage to my vehicle caused by his tyre as he was unaware of the tyre blow out. when i finally caught his attention we pulled over and my passenger called the police. on the police attending both myself and the lorry driver swapped insurance details and gave negative breath tests and the lorry driver admitted liability to both myself and the police explaining this happens quite regular and i would have a new car in no time. both myself, my passenger and my 8 year old son were severly shaken by this accident however we didnt require an ambulance. i was informed by the lorry driver that i would need to ring both my insurance and his insurance company to sort the claim out. next morning waking very shaken and very stiff, after phoning in sick at work (ive been off for a week now) i rang both insurance companies and they basically said 'what you want us to do'? the lorry drivers insurance company said nothing they can do as it is an 'act of god'?? ive never heard any thing so ridiculous,i was really shocked at thier response, and my own insurance company said it was nothing to do with them as i am only 3rd party fire and theft due to my not being able to afford the £100 per month premium for fully comprehensive. this was when i decided to op for a no win no fee accident claim group. i was offered a hire car for 1 week (still got it til monday) and they would take my wrecked car to thier depo, evaluate the damage, contact the other drivers insurance company and sort it for me......fat chance as they are picking the hire car up off me on monday, and bringing me my wrecked car back......they have said nothing more will be done for me as this is in fact an 'act of god'......so i am in a predicament where i have a written off, undrivable car, lost 2 weeks pay as my doc has signed me off for another week and my employer doesnt pay me for being on the sick, and no way of repairing my vehicle as i'm a single parent with 1 full time income and mortgage to pay. surely there must be blame here??? how can they say 'act of god' when A: he was speeding and B: everywhere i have looked for reasons for blow outs it says poorly maintained vehicle. can anyone give me any advice as i'm stuck and not sure what i can possibly do next? Read more
I am still getting to grips with my Mondeo (09 reg) and one of the issues is the headlights. I have been doing quite a bit of driving at night recently and have been getting a few complaints abot dazzling people (one guys shouted "turn your lights down", one guy was waving when I stopped behind him and I have had a few flashes and honks that I reckon are related).
The only controls I have are the dial to switch between off-side lights-headlights, the ability to switch to full beam and the headlight levelling.
I have tried using side lights, but they are definitely too weak for driving in the city at night but then I get the complaints about the head lights. The lights are definitely not on full beam.
When I am driving I can see that my lights are lighting up signs that the lights of other cars aren't, so there is clearly something wrong, even though they don't seem brighter than other cars.
So tonight I started playing with the headlamp levelling. The manual says that with just the driver it should be on 0-0.5, however at that level I seem to be illuminating the signs that other aren't.
So I have now switched it to 4 which is the highest setting and which seems to set the lights much lower, I am guessing that it was just the height rather than the brightness. No complaints tonight as far as I could tell, so hopefully that fixes the problem, but I just wanted to see if anybody had any advice.
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I used to get this with mine. Was quite often getting flashed at night by other drivers.
I have just turned down the level on the dial two clicks and it seems fine. I did mean to mention it to the dealer when it went in for a service but forgot!
Hi
I shall try and be as brief and succinct as poss!
My o/s indicator at the back does not work at all. All other lights etc work on the car.
Garage has told me I need new ECU as they can detect a signal going to the ECU but there does not appear to be any output telling the indicator to flash.
Before I spend money on this, is there anything else it could be. A new ECU sounds a bit drastic to me when its only one light not working.
I have spoken with several garages and they all have different views on whethers its the ECU and I'm getting very frustrated!
I know nothing about this sort of thing and so please respond "idiots guide"!
Many thanks in advance.
Sorry forgot to say car is 3 and half years old and has done 40,000 miles. Read more
Hi Dave
I've had problems with signing in. Don't really know why but it said my account was activated but wouldn't recognise my password!?
My husband has set up a log in this afternoon with no problem(??) and so will be posting a message shortly.
My husband has done things with wires this afternoon (he did explain but still not sure what) and he came to the conclusion that it is the ECU. I will get him to put all this info on the other forum.
Thanks for your continued support.
Shell
when i drive my punto i get a swooshing noise coming from the passenger side,i thought it might be the water pump but theres no sqeeuking. theres no water leaks,the car is running fantastic with no running probems at all. when i say swooshing its like if you put water in a bottle and tilt it to the left and right(the water moves left and right). could there be a airlock somewere. ive turned the little black screw on the engine to let pressure out but none is coming out just water. im a bit puzzled,does anybody have the same problem that could enlighten me please.. Read more
i forgot rule number 5 and a typical fiat problem
the radiator fan motor seizes up
strangely i did one after i posted this morning
here is i removing a motor off a siecento i had in stock into the punto mk2 frame
tinyurl.com/ye69hl8
OK,
My local garage (non-Ford) has been trying to sort out a problem on my TDCi Focus - namely glow-plug light coming on/engine cutting out.
The fault codes are p1200 - injector/wiring/ecu, and p0251, wiring/injector pump/ecu.
They have tested the Turbo - OK, injectors, again OK, and pump, ok. Also wiring & hoses OK, but a bit warn - done 190k.
So, any ideas anyone! What has happened now since being in the garage was what looked like an oil leak (under engine), but checking the dip-stick all OK, so seems to be when engine on. Could they have not re-connected something related to the injectors properly, or would the engine then just die? Back to garage on Monday but am thinking of going to Ford!
Only other thing I can find is the possibility of a faulty sensor on the throttle switch?
Help! Read more
Hi
Any more feedback regarding this?...
First frost of the season at the caravan in (dead) leafy North Yorkshire, and very chilly it is, too.
This set me wondering about the windscreen washer reservoir and what to put in it.
Could go to Halfords and get the old 'three for two', but I wondered if anyone had any alternative home recipes?
Needs to clean the screen and not freeze. Read more
you will be telling me next you never got airfix glue squirted up your nose
My Mazda garage confirmed that the engine malfunction light was due to the EGR valve and wanted to charge me £400+ for a new valve. The car isn't driving badly but does have idle problems occasionally and can stall at low revs.
I have read elsewhere on this site that the EGR valve can be cleaned and that there is EGR valve cleaner available which I have located at my local motor factors. My problem is how do I find where to spray this cleaner as the guys in the motor factors had no idea and I don't know where the air intake hose is located. The car is a diesel. Can anyone help? Read more
Hi Mate
I had a 04plate Mazda 6 and had similar problem to yours. My car would stall at traffic lights and check engine light would turn on every now and then.
you can read about my experience on
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=73571&...1
and
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?f=4&t=78...7
under the name "Kaimal"
The mazda main dealer asked me to get the EGR valve replaced and he said, this would fix the car. But after i got the EGR valve replaced with 2 weeks the car would not even start. Then mazda main dealer told me the fuel pump could be causing the problem and I should take my car to Feather diesel. Read more on my thread above.
Hope you have better luck than me, with Mazda 6.
Regards
Kaimal
My car was working fine, then I tried to unlock the car using the key fob and nothing happened. No noise coming from car when pressed key fob and no lights flashing on car in response to pressing on key fob.
Replaced batterys in car key fobs and car responding to key fob but not correctly. Car will not open when using key fob. Have to open drivers door using key and all other doors remain locked. Pressing unlock button on key fob will open boot however, just not any of the doors.
Have tried re-synching keys, have replaced fuse for central locking. I have no idea what is wrong??
When I press the unlock button on the key fob the car makes an unlocking noise and the lights flash 3-4 times in quick succession but without the doors actually being unlocked.
Have taken it to a citroen dealer to have keys re-programmed via computer but apparently this did not work either.
If you are in the car and press the lock button on the key fob it locks you in the car and you can't get out. The only way to get out is to open the drivers door from the outside using the key!!
Any ideas into what is causing this problem greatly appreciated.
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Hi there.
We have an 02 1.4 HDI C3 and had a similar problem.
We where in Tesco's car part and she would not lock, pressed button but nothing happened.
In a panic we drove to dealer, where she worked perfectly, key was checked and all was fine.
I think it totally bizarre that you not manually lock or unlock the car, what if the key fob fails, who would design such a Stupid system!
So you can only lock or unlock car with key fob, so what happens if transmitter or receiver fail.
Would I buy another C3, NO!!!!!
Far too unreliable.
OK, this may sound insignificant, but both my daughters have learnt to drive recently and both insist that, when applying the handbrake, you should push in the release button at the end so it pulls up silently (This is what their instructor has told them) My wife and I both pull on the handbrake without doing this so you can hear the sound of the ratchet (this causes unnecessary wear apparently) What is the right way to do it? Read more
i would be pretty upset (not to mention very unlucky) if it happened to me
I can't say I really noticed on any of the occasions it has happened to me AE.
Hi all,
My partner has a problem with her car, infact I drove it to the garage this morning cos she didn't trust herself incase it broke down.
Once the engine is on, you have to keep accelatating otherwise the car stalls. There's hardly any power in the car when driving, had to drive in 2nd gear at 35mph otherwise if you put it in a higher gear, there just wasn't enough power and the car would stall again.
If at traffic lights or in traffic, you constantly need to keep revving again otherwise it stalls. Had it in a local garage and they honestly don't know what's wrong with it and can't diagnose it and advised us to take it to another garage to run diagnostics on it.
Anyone any clues to what this could be and how much are we looking at?
It's a Fiat Punto, 52 plate, manual 1.1.
Any help would be muchly appreciated.
Chris. Read more
hi sorry t just join in conversation i have a punto an it keeps just cuttin out totally dont no wats wrong with it is this wat was happening to urs ?? wat was it that was wrong ?? zoe
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The Association of Chief Police Officers guidelines regarding prosecutions for exceeding the speed limit are as follows. www.carinsuranceonline.org.uk/totallosswriteoff.ht...l