January 2010

piston power

Just heard on the local radio in leeds ford car stereo's are been nicked for some chip inside that works in sky digital boxes to get all channels?

The radio station reporter says this won't happen and asking folk to take there fronts off the radios.

Is this happening through the country?

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rtj70

It's a silly rumour and no foundation in fact. So thread closed. This myth crops up every now and then.

Let's face it, if you could be handed a load a "chips" what would you do with them! :-) The Sky boxes would have surface mount chips and a system board designed for a purpose. Where would these "chips" be plugged in?

Anyone believing this can be done then give me your account details for the bank and I will pass to a Nigerian.

Mike H

My son's Megane has a problem with the heated rear window, which fails to turn on sometimes/most of the time. Unfortunately, the car is in Cardiff along with the workshop manual and I'm in the middle of Austria so I can't look at the problem for him. I'm wondering whether it is the switch, or more likely to be a relay which is failing to activate? If the latter, is it easy to get to and fix?

TIA Read more

Mike H

Thanks for the comprehensive response, unfortunately the resolution of most of these is beyond my son! I would guess that, as the switch doesn't seem to be switching it on (as opposed to it being switched on and not working), it is probably a problem with the relay box. Presumably I could source another complete fuse/relay box from a breakers? I'll get my lad to check the other easier things like wiring & connectors.

Happy Blue!

I have my new XC90.

Details to be given shortly but my insurers think it is a 163bhp whereas it was advertised as a 185bhp. How do use the VIN to check which engine I have or is the insurance info simply wrong? Read more

gmac

Look on the timing cover label:

D5 = D5244T4 engine
2.4D = D5244T5 engine

bhoy wonder

tinyurl.com/ydzjxew

They estimate that it is going to cost £100 million to properly repair the roads. Can I add that this has been caused by GCC not replacing roads that should have been re-newed years ago. Read more

BobbyG

I second that- especially down Eglinton St, Ballater St, Pollokshaws Road, Shawlands etc!

Any week now I will be due to get my bike out of storage and start my commute on it, these potholes really do concern me!!

dale521

hiya all my first time here i have a 406 and it started white smoking slightly then started getting worse the alternator belt snapped change that carried on driving it had injectors cleaned carried on driving the smoking started getting worse with a great big cloud of white smoke behind me parked the car up at home gone back to it now it wontt start iv checked the pump in the tank when i turn ignition on pump runs for 10-15 secs when the car is turning im nt getting no pressure up the common rail had any one any ideas cheers Read more

RichardW

Suspect the snapped aux belt has got in behind the cambelt cover and the cambelt has jumped. Possibly broken some rockers, and may be that the cam shaft has now gone so far out of time that the ECU cannot make sense of the cam and crank sensors and is not allowing the pump to build pressure. White smoke was probably unburnt diesel. Check the timing of the camshaft, and look under the rocker cover for broken rockers. Fortunately on this engine cambelt failure only usually breaks the rockers, and the head doesn't need to come off.

FotheringtonThomas

From "The Daily Telegraph", again:

tinyurl.com/y9lda56

A 10-mile stretch of the A5 between Daventry and Rugby.


The most dangerous trunk roads are:

A5 Daventry - Rugby (A428)
A46 Alcester ? M40 J15
A65* Long Preston ? M6 J36
A52 Bingham ? Grantham
A49 Hereford - Ross-on-Wye
A49 Leominster - Shrewsbury
A5 Bletchley ? Daventry
A46 Bingham ? Newark
A5 M1 J9 ? Bletchley
A64 York ? Scarborough
A120 Braintree ? Marks Tey


The article unfortunately says that "Research has also found that two thirds of single carriageway trunk roads are unsafe at the posted speed limit". This is rather a daft thing to say.


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Number_Cruncher

>>Having a go at my driving skills matey?

Wouldn't dream of it!

No, I was thinking that if you had lived there during the 70s and 80s, you would undoubtedly have seen, heard, and been stuck behind my father's trucks on their way to and from the roadstone quarries in and around Skipton, Settle, Horton, and Ingleton. You would have avoided them at the weekend.

I well remember the Ministry of Transport lurking at the top of Buckhaw Brow waiting to pull trucks over that were blowing a bit of smoke.

AHawkins30

Hi

My 3.3l Grand LE cut out while driving and the alarm set light came on. Now whenever I try to start it there is no crank and it will not attempt to turn over. The alarm set light flashes and the car beeps 16 times and then the alarm set light stays on. I have tried the fixes in other posts supplied by MerlinTec but they don't seem to help it. I have checked the heater control unit at it seems ok but then checked the plug on the wiring harness for the 21 pin connection. The plastic casing around pin 21 shows signs of melting and appears to have melted almost through to pin 20. When I try to plug this back in the car makes a noise near the passenger side footwell almost like a small motor running. Can anyone help as Chrysler doesn't seem to want to know at all. If I replace the harness will solve the problem? Please help as car has been off the road for 8 weeks already.

Thanks

Anthony Read more

Robin Reliant

Just had the renewal notice through for myself and Mrs RR's all singing-all dancing AA cover, which came in at a hefty £141. A quick trawl through moneysupermarket.com threw up a load of cheaper options, which might or might not give the same level of service. One phonecall to the AA comparing their rates to some of the others resulted in an instant no haggle reduction to £85, a saving of £56 for one free phonecall.

So if you are with them or the RAC and you normally shrug your shoulders and let the direct debit go out every year, it's well worth asking for a cheaper price as they seem keen enough to retain your membership to negotiate.
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cheddar

Rodney you plonker! ;-)


Is that where it came from, mange tout!
oilrag

Biggest shock I had was taking a girl out on a first date - when I was a teenager. She put both feet onto the dashboard (wearing shoes) as though sitting upstairs, at the front of a bus.

Not used to being in a car, I was told.

They were only up there for a micro second though - before I scooped then off.

An interesting first encounter - on the physical contact side - we both agreed. Went out for about 6 months after - then moved on - as you did.

Have you had any unusual or annoying passenger behaviour? Read more

L'escargot

SHMBO regularly pointedly asks "What speed limit are we in?"

I regularly have to untangle the strap of her handbag (carried on her lap) from around the handbrake lever.

telecaster

I am c onsidering buying the 1.2 12v model, the car drives nice apart from a knocking ball joint and the anti roll bar bushes are shot.

Is there anything else I should watch?

The mileage is 90k and seems mechanically perfect( am I right in assuming this model has a camchain?).....

Any advice much appreciated. Read more

bell boy

i agree bigtee
lots of miles for a buzz box im sure something like a much nicer fiesta could be found with lots less miles unless hes been offered it for £800