December 2009
The car has been a non starter four times this past week and towed twice in one week to a garage with no fault being diagnosed (no fault codes are displayed). Please forgive my ignorance of the technicalities of cars being of the female species..... The car turns over however does not start. Has been problematic since the colder weather and is the same recurring problem last year whcih cost me over £400 in fault finding but no fault ascertained. More recently I have had glow plugs tested to be informed all OK, checks for air in the fuel system and the battery replaced. The breakdown guys believe it to be the low pressure pump in the fuel tank however garage says otherwise. How is it the breakdown mechanics can spray ether into the air intake pipe and it fires up? It gets towed to a garage and they then have no trouble starting the car. The car returns home for the problem to reoccur within a couple of days. Only yesterday having got it back did I experience the loss of power when driving home and despite the accelerator being depressed to the floor there was very little power even when changing up through the gears. So surprise surprise it was a non starter this morning. This car has put a dent of £2.5 K in my bank balance since owning it from Aug 2007 and I am now thinking it is time to cut my losses however am unable to trade it in due to existing problem. Any advice regarding likely fault would be greatly appreciated. Read more
Hi,
The alarm on my vectra keeps going off unless i press the interior sensor button.Any ideas?
Regards
Dave Read more
Another thought. Is this an estate car?
A common fault is the glass break wire for the rear windows can fail and keep setting the alarm off. Most people this has happened to over on Vectra-c.com just pull the relevant fuse in the boot fuse box to disable the glass break sensor or short the wires together if the car is no longer under warranty.
Hi, my golf 4 TDI has a problem ...... started it the other day and it ran rough, gunned the throttle and it picked up so drove it for about 10 miles. had some intermitent misfire then suddenly died and could not restart. towed it back in gear to see if it would fire nothing ..... had to leave it!! tried today and it fired once but no joy looked at fuel comming out of fuel filter and it seems to be drawing fuel but still no ignition any ideas!! Read more
Hi finaly managed to get a fault on the Vag-com it says no fault code found but this is what come off the computer!
Adress 01: Engine
Controller: 038 906 018 BC
Component: 1,91 R4 EDC 0000SG 2128
Coding: 00028
No fault code found
Right i put the controller number into Google and it comes up with the ecu now will this require a reset or is it kaput? If i get a new one what will i have to do to to get it to run with my car?
wessex
Hi, Im looking to go down the route of buying at an auction next spring (BCA perhaps). Does anyone know where I could access information about pricing. For example it is suggested currently that auction prices were up 10% on last year. From that then I take it someone has the information. Looking to see if I can find out the general price ranges for what cars go for - or even how much below forecourt prices at least. Looking to spend between 7-11k so would need to be worth my while taking the risk. I suppose Im looking for some kind of 'Parkers / Glasses guide ' that would apply to auction pricing. Anyone point me in the right direction????
Cheers Read more
It can be a number of things
Traders who after having a proper look around the car, having a quite word with their mates on site and cancel the purchase without any financial penalty (most likely)...
My sister got a brand new Aygo Blue in mid Sept under the scrappage deal.
She has complained for a few weeks that its windows are misting up a lot but I thought that was just the usual issue re using air con.
But she now tells me her carpets are soaking, front and back.
I have just googled and it would appear this is a major issue with Aygos and, as far as I can see, Toyota don't have a fix for it.
I just have visions now of this car going in and out of the dealer for the next 6 months trying to fix something that Toyota don't seem to have a fix for. And her losing faith in her wee car.
Would this be grounds for rejecting the car? Can she get money back even though it is scrappage or does she need to accept another Aygo? Read more
My father was bought a 2009 model Aygo from a Toyota main dealer in Woodford, Essex. Awaiting delivery of his order he was loaned a 2009 model Aygo courtesy car. This car leaked leaving puddles in the rear footwells. The dealer was asked (in writing) to guarantee that the actual Aygo purchased did not suffer from the same fault.
A few days after delivery of the new car it rained and you guessed it....the rear footwells became damp. Regretfully the dealer refused to accept the car back and then shamefully denied that there ever was a leak effectively calling my father a liar. The sales manager and the service manager basically said that unless they could claim from Toyota they were not interested in helping even though the car was only a few days old. This is clearly against the sales of goods act, but they seemed unconcerned about our threat of taking this further....
Hi all,
Popped 150% of the minimum dose in the master van about 120 miles ago and I am currently concerned about the drastic change in the power delivery. Perhaps those with greater knowledge can advise. (all of you)
The van was chipped several years ago which smoothed the power delivery out. The torque curve starts or started at 1750 and started to drop off again at about 2200 - 2300 and the motor would pull 4th from 30 mph even when 50% loaded even up a slight incline. Now what has happened is that the torque curve starts at just below 2100 and is so sudden and steep it is quite shocking, but it peaks a very short time after. However the engine revs much more freely than it ever used to do. Whereas that original 1750 rpm start was brilliant there is virtually nothing now below 2000 rpm and if below that figure and on an incline then a change down is needed. Never been known before.
The blurb on the bottle states that the full effect of the additive will be felt after a 200 mile 'cleaning period'. But I never thought that this could alter the engine characteristics so much.
Any thoughts/advice please.
Best regards...........Martin Read more
My car's Owners Guide specifically warns against using fuel additives.
Hi All,
Last night, 40mph, jumped right out in front of me. Killed the poor thing outright and I really feel bad about it, but it has also cracked the bottom of the bumper/spoiler on my 1 year old SAAB Aero.
Going to nip down a local body shop and hoping they will do a repair for not too much, but if it needs a whole new bumper I suspect it will be an insurance job even with my excess of £400.
Just wondering, should I be a good boy and inform my insurance company, or wait till I have seen the body shop?
Regards.
FTF
Read more
Lots of dead badgers round us..The live ones steal peanuts from the bird feeders : stainless steel ones are essential : wire ones get chewed up.
Not as bad as deer. Or sheep. Or cows. All of which appear on country roads from time to time.
Hi All,
I have a 2005 E90 320i - I have had a small oil leak where I can see oil collect on the metal plate that sticks out under the cylinder head, I can also see oil at the back of the cylinder, when I run a tissue around the back.
I have had the profile gasket replaced, and the problem went away for about a week , but now its back!? - Small collection of oil on the metal plate an oil on tissue when run around the back of the cylinder head.
Its very hard to pin point exactly where its from, but checking from the top to bottom it seems to start at the cylinder head.
My problem is - I called BMW in Europe and UK and they tell me they never really have to sell or replace the complete cylinder head (plastic housing). My mechanic has suggested it could be warped but to be honest the oil leak seems lower down and this part is about £250 without labour!
Anyone able to help or had the same problem.
Thanks in advance
Smithie
{Correct year entered into header} Read more
I thought the same, never mind. Hopefully others with this problem can read about this and be helped out.
Regards
I've only recently discovered Honestjohn and been reading the car by car section, which is very impressive and accurate.
Just something to add regards the PAssat (2005 on model). We are seeing vast numbers of these with failure of the electronic steering lock/immobiliser on cars just out of warranty (those in warranty get taken to the dealer). They become difficult to start and finally the lock wont deactivate. The snag is that the ECU is built into the column and thief-proofed, so it means a new column with ECU and new convenience ECU!! We are talking about £1000 job here and we (i.e. independents) cant do it - we have to take the cars to the dealer. So this has the makings of another ESP/ABS fiasco. My mole at out local VW agent tells me that basically they are ALL failing sooner or later - so if you have one of these cars, or are thinking of buying one then beware!
I have no idea what the fault is (i.e. what component is failing) so would be very interested if anyone has more info. I think VW dealers been told to keep quiet about this. Read more
"I decided to go into vw ireland and they quoted me €360 to repair this issue"
Was that through some garage in the South of Ireland?...
Recently I put the car away on the drive for the night and locked it. It rained heavily and then froze a bit. By the morning the windows were all fully open and the car was dry. The keys sit on a hook at night so the opening button could not have been pressed.
My garage has not found anything wrong with the ECU and is making further enquiries.
It has done it before on very cold days, but then the windows only opened a bit.
Could it be the driver's door window seals letting water onto the door lock unit, as I notice these seals do not wipe the glass very well and could be worn.
I do not use my local Skoda garage as I was disgusted with the way they misdiagnosed a fault with my radio amplifier, but that is another story. Nick.E Read more
Many thanks for that..I will book it in and get the door looked at. Will let you know if any problems. N.
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Hi Paul, problem still not resolved. I have had no car for 3 weeks now and I am getting desperate as I need the car for work. I have been informed it is not the camshaft sensor or the starter motor as previous threads have suggested. There is not fault code readings so the mechanic suspects it is something of minor cost (having spent a fortune on fault finding and replacing or checking parts that were fine!). I have had all my injectors removed and tested and apparently one was faulty and replaced to the cost of £250.00 incl of labour. I see someone has kindly posted and suggested to check the diesel filter first so I have now passed this information on to my mechanic. I will keep you updated with any progress.
Regards
Vanda