December 2009
With the onset of winter weather clutch judder started on my 2008 model pre SEAT owned Altea XL 1.9Tdi at about 8K. The dealership will fit a new clutch on warranty after Christmas. Major work at this mileage is not a good start. I am dreading the problems which may follow this work, broken parts, missing fixings, rattles, exhaust leaks and OBD2 faults. I know from experience that even with a good technician on the job I will be very lucky if I get only one additional defect after the work. I had seriously thought of getting rid of this vehicle. Read more
pls help i think my xantia should be pulling and towing better than what it is at the moment.
its an estate 1.9 turbo diesel,120.000 miles on the clock and in the time ive owned its been serviced,timing belt and auxillary belt been done too.i dont abuse it and like to keep ontop with maintenance ect.
last night i was asked to tow my fathers mazda to his house(flat battery) about a 2 mile journey and my xantia seemed to stuggle to me?could only get into 3rd and 30 mph. i know these cars are renowned for towing caravans etc so was a little worried?
if any one could give me any advice it would be greatly appreciated!
oh and read on here regarding taking up slack on the accelorator cable as it joins the pump in the engine bay,i noticed when i had the accelorator pedal full depressed inside the engine i could still move the metal arm another half inch so ive altered this and now dont have as much play in the cable,probably be able to get 90 to 100mph now not my usual 75mph.
dont know if this would help with my towing problem?
oh and also when going uphill it similary doesnt have the power it should,seem to have to drop it down and rev alot harder?but hopefully adjusting the accelorator will help this?
sorry to waffle on just trying to give as much info as poss.
thanks and merry christmas!!! Read more
Probable turbo failure, if loss of power. One of the typical early symptoms of a turbocharger problem is a hazy blue smoke being emitted from the exhaust tailpipe whilst the engine is ticking over.
My sister, who is currently in Australia 'finding herself' and plans to spend atleast another two years travelling, has asked me to sell her Vitara. She doesnt want to leave the car standing around for another two years - its already sat for 7 months although battery has been kept charged and its been moved about and stored with handbrake off.
Firstly, what is it worth? It is a 2001 Y reg 1600 in black, 60k, service history up until she went away but its due a service ( not done as it was gonna sit there unused ), it has no MOT or tax at the moment although its in very good shape mechanically.
Is it worth getting it taxed and tested or sell as it is? Im 90% sure it will sail through its MOT as it usually does and the tax is 90 odd quid for 6 months, id also get it serviced if I did those things.
It has been registered to me now so I can sign it over and the sale wont look so dodgy :-)
Other question, is there a good time to sell a 4x4 or a better time than January in general? Read more
MoT car (much easier sold with a new ticket) - price it well above your minimum and then "give them" 6 mths RFL or split it with them paying half!!!
Hi All, I have had starting problems with my Voyager (2.5 VM engine). 3 days ago I replaced the glow plugs, started instantly. 24 hours later wouldn't start and flattened the battery.
Cracked injectors, lots of fuel. Jumped from other car span over and over for ages, plumes of smoke from exhaust, Unburnt diesel I guess, then for no reason eventually fired up.
If used within a few hours, will start OK, leave it for 4-6 hours, same again NON START.
No flashing lights on Dash, removed plug from exciter ring, alarm light flashes on, plug ring back in, alarm light off when key in - transponder side of things seems OK.
Am I looking too hard into this, and could I still have the original glow plug problem (Wrong set Fitted?)
Any Ideas please hep
Regards
Phil
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Glow plug relay could well be the problem also could be struggling to hold fuel pressure in the rail due to a bad injector.
Hi,
my coolant level drops from max to min when the car reaches operating temp and stays there unless you release the cap then returns to max also has stored pressure for 24hrs or more any ideas I have replaced the stat, temp senser, & coolant so i am stuck fans never keep in but car never over heats + rad stays cold
Help pls the coolant thing is the opposite to what it should be
thanks Read more
IF the system is not loosing coolant then it sounds like air in the system.
Take it to a garage where they have a vacuum coolant filler (lots of places use these now) and get them to refill the system for you. Make sure they use G12 or G12+ coolant.
THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO SLIDING AND RECOVERING ON ICE LIKE A PRO!!
So i've been googling like mad for a tutorial about how to handle a car once you've gone over the edge, past the limit of traction. How do you rein the car back in, once it's lost traction on ice?
Yeah, yeah grandpa, "just dont get into the situation", but what if you've no choice, what if THROUGH NO FAULT OF YOUR OWN (see #1 for an example) you've gone over the edge? What then, huh? How do you get it back?!
COULDN'T FIND A TUTORIAL, SO I PUT ONE TOGETHER WITH WHAT I LEARNED, HERE IT IS!!
There's tons of alluring titles for articles on the web, but you dive into them only to find they mention things like "pack a warm blanket", "take a thermos flask". No! The title of the article was "How To Drive On Ice" not how to prepare for winter driving! Argh, i know that bit already! Teach me the driving technique already!
So anyway, after much frantic searching, many hours reading (80% at least wasted / duplicate info), i have learned and compiled the perfect "how to drive like a pro, on ice" article.
HERE IT IS!!! 10 Steps To Ice Driving Nirvana!
1. Just don't get into a loss of control situation in the first place. There's no going back.
2. There's no going back. Just don't get into a loss of control situation in the first place.
3. Just don't get into a loss of control situation in the first place. There's no going back.
4. There's no going back. Just don't get into a loss of control situation in the first place.
5. Just don't get into a loss of control situation in the first place. There's no going back.
6. There's no going back. Just don't get into a loss of control situation in the first place.
7. Just don't get into a loss of control situation in the first place. There's no going back.
8. There's no going back. Just don't get into a loss of control situation in the first place.
9. Just don't get into a loss of control situation in the first place. There's no going back.
10. There's no going back. Just don't get into a loss of control situation in the first place.
Damn!! Turns out, there's a reason there's no step by step how to recover a slide down an icy hill, blindly into a junction. It's because there is no way to recover. It all revolves around not getting into the slide in the first place.
Whether it's fitting tyres with ice studs, or even just deciding to park up and not drive down that steep hill which could be icy, the key to each solution is always the same, its about never losing traction on ice in the first place.
Double Damn, wish someone had written a short article that says YOU CANT and saved me a ton of wasted searching / reading time.
I wrote this in the style of that non-existant document i really wanted to find. I'm gutted it doesn't exist so i thought i'd let off some steam in a way that may (or may not) help others :-(
Happy Holidays!
Footnotes
#1 There's no such situation that's no fault of your own, you're in charge of the vehicle, YOU are 100% responsible for what it does. You're responsible for choosing to tackle that bit of road in the first place, it's your fault you're too much of an ass to do the right thing.
P.S. pack a warm blanket, take a thermos flask! \\o/
P.P.S. snow (and to a lesser extent slush) is different, but for that you really, really, cant beat just going to a big car park and teaching yourself.
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>>... could I "add window open a crack" too?
Of course you can. I was waiting for that comment. Also very useful in thick fog where sheer terror brings every sense into play and eyes out on stalks.
Dear Backroom Agony Aunt, I am at my wits end after being let into a well-kept family secret and I need your advice.
I have been told, by 'someone who thought you ought to know' that my son's new mother-in-law owns a Mazda Bongo Friendee.
I questioned my son closely when he told me he planned to marry, but apparently he thought it better that this fact was kept from me.
Luckily, I am happily settled in France, 500 miles from any potential face-to-face embarrassment, so I don't feel the need to emigrate. But how will I keep a straight face if I ever see it? And what will I do if my friends find out?
Any down-to-earth advice would be very welcome.
Yours sincerely
'Credibility at the Crossroads'
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There was a dreaded "Bongo Friendee" or whatever it is called parked outside my frigging house today!
Kill it, kill it with fire, but not too close to my house if you please.
soon
now that ford are selling volvo to a geely good company
are so
bless you Read more
Tata have been good for JLR so perhaps Geely should be given the benefit of the doubt ?
I have to admit that I haven't seriously considered a Volvo since about 2003 when I realised the Ford Mondeo Estate was a cheaper (purchase and lifetime costs), roomier and better handling alternative to the V70 I was considering. Since then I don't think their products have stood favourable comparison to BMW, Audi or even their cheaper Ford brethren - certainly not worth a price premium. Possibly an argument against the overall component sharing strategy of Ford ?
I guess this means I personally won't consider Volvo in the future either, although by putting a 1.6D in the V70 they'd lost the plot imho anyhow.....
Hi all,
Hope someone can help, I've seen the drivers side indicator has stopped working and tried changing the bulb with one I had spare with no luck. All the other bulbs are working and I'm currently trying to identify which fuse to try replacing but is there anything else that would cause just the drivers side to fail?
Thanks Read more
try another bulb
be sure the pin on the bottom of the bulb (i assume you mean the one in the bumper) is the same as the one you took out
Hi,
I have a land rover series 3 but I want to put coil suspension on it to remove the leaf spring also so I can have better ground clearance is this possible? Read more
Talk to Paddock - maybe parabolics might do it. As the guys says, you're always limited by the diffs front and rear.
Browse
What are the symptoms of your clutch judder?
My Altea XL seems to judder when pulling away in first , most noticeably from cold but most of the other time there is no problem?