January 2010
I p'exd my Zafira A last weekend for a Zaf B from a garage 50miles away. We had noticed a strange smell when we test drove it the previous week but assumed that was because it had not been valeted yet as it only arrived for sale the day before. When we collected the car the smell was still there and we drove home with the windows open. We had to get back for the kids or would have made a bigger issue at the time & if it was not 50miles I would have taken it back the next day. Have asked the garage and previous owner who both had not smelt anything. The carpets were damp so I think they had been cleaned. I cannot trace where it's coming from as sniffing all the carpets and upholstery has not found it. Maybe coming through the air vents. Have sprayed the whole car with Febreze, sprayed the air intake outside and done 'shake and vac' on the carpets. Smells like stale pee or vomit. Have spoken to several valeters who say they would have to know where and what it is before they could do anything. One suggested a de-odourising 'bomb' ? Next step is to look at the pollen filter/fan inside. Filter was changed last year. Last owner says some de-odourising was done on the air con when it was serviced by Vauxhall.
Any thoughts or help would be appreciated.
Cheers, Mike Read more
Kia Sedona - year 2000 2.9TDi.
I've never had a problem starting my Sedona until the temperatures got down below freezing this winter. I tried to start it - It turned over several times but never managed to fire. After trying to start it several times (maybe 25 to 30seconds in total), the battery became too flat to ever achieve anything. So, then we managed to start it by jump starting it. Once the other vehicle was running and the flat battery charged a bit, the car started immediately - no difficulty at all.
So, I went and had the battery tested. The "drop-test" revealed that the battery wasn't just OK; it was in a very good state of health. When the engine is running, the battery was charging at a level that the mechanic felt was good. I think it was 13.9V.
I kept having the same trouble. I discovered that when I went out to the car cold in a morning, the battery (engine still off) was 12.5V. It then failed to start. After I had got it started (by jumping) and run it for a while and then turned the engine off, the battery terminals then measured 13.5V.
NOW FOR THE CONFESSION. A friend took a look at what I was doing and realised that I was not allowing the glow plugs to warm the engine before I tried to start it. I didn't know that was how it worked. I apologise for being so uneducated. All I can say is - nobody ever told me.
After I started doing this properly I was able to get it to start again...but it still struggled. The engine still had to turn over several times before it would start - something I've not seen before this winter. It was still doing a good impression of an engine that would not start, and then finally starting.
ANYWAY, now it won't start even if I start it the proper way. (Of course it starts immediately when jump started.)
Bear in mind that I have owned the car through several winters and it has never needed me to warm the glow plugs at all, and it has always started.
I would just change the glow plugs to try that - glow plugs are fairly cheap.
Unfortunately I have now found out that it doesn't actually have glow plugs; it has an "Assisted Air Heater Assembly" and it will cost me 150 pounds to try changing that.
Can anyone suggest a diagnosis?
Thanks very much.
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The heater device sounds like what used to be called a "thermostart"-it dripped diesel onto a red-hot coil which started a small fire in the inlet manifold.Needed to be on for several seconds before you cranked.
I've been thinking about stunorthants26's thread on tyres, (www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=81968) and reflecting on the fact that Michelin apparently don't make any 155/65T13 tyres.
Clearly, some tyre sizes are a lot more common than others, and if your car uses one of the more common sizes, then you are going to have more choice when you come to replace your tyres.
So, since I have this insatiable thirst for obscure information, has anyone any idea where I might a list of the top 20 tyre sizes?
And presumably it changes over the course of time, and varies from country to country - so what about comparative lists for 5 or 10 years ago, and for, say, the USA, Germany, and France?
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205 55 16 h rated these are fitted to a wide range like ford vauxhall renault etc
Remember the day when 185/60/13 for the xr2
185/60/14 for the xr3i gti & sri these were extremly popular & 195/60 14 for the cavalier sierra, fleet cars.
These cars handled just fine but these days we have to have 16 17 18" wheels it's crazy.!
Does anybody know the recommended cambelt change interval (distance/time) for the current 2.2 TD4 (PSA/Ford) unit in the Freelander 2?
The owners manual is strangely silent on the matter...
Cheers Read more
You won't find it in the Owner's Manual but it should be shown in the Service Manual.
Looking at the service books of a couple of TTs, both with long life servicing ticked, service intervals typically between 20 and 25k and up to 2 years.
Is this right?
Should such cars be avoided?
Thanks. Read more
My A4 TDI is on longlife servicing and it has just done 16,000 miles since the last service. It is claiming to need a service in another 6,000 miles! I am going to take it in to Audi at 20k as I thnk that is long enough.
I have found that It uses more oil than other cars that I have owned. Has anyone else experianced this?...
I have a Ford Fiesta 1.25 Zetec 1999/2000 model Mk 5. Just last week the airbag light came on and now stays on all the time. It doesn't flash; it comes on as usual when I start the car, then goes out as usual then comes back and stays on. Took it to a mechanic mate tonight who did a diagnostic check and it came up as a fault in the airbag module. He also found a voltage drop of almost 4 volts between the battery and the module which he thinks could be causing the airbag module to think it has a fault. I think the battery voltage with the engine running was 14.2 and the voltage at the module was 10.4 or thereabouts. Could this voltage drop be due to a bad earth or a bad connection and if so can anyone suggest where to look? I have already disconnected and reconnected the two yellow connectors under the seats with no effect. I have also disconnected the two plugs from the airbag module behind the centre console and re-connected with no effect. Disconnected battery negative lead and left it off for a while and re-connected but the light is still on! Just had it on another computer and it came up with a module fault and gave the code B1342 but the mechanic says he's not sure if it is the module as they seldom go wrong and the computer sometimes lies. Many thanks for any suggestions. Read more
+1
Another one here with the exact same problem....
I know it's bit of a funny question, but would I be right when i say that very single diesel engined car should have a glow plug/pre-heat symbol on the dash ?.
I ask because although the car starts up perfectly fine, I cannot see any visible illumination of glow plug activity on the dash, looking in the central fuse box (behind the glove compartment), I cannot see a signal reference on the fuse and relay diagram for the glow plug, sadly the manual is'nt much use.
Not having a full spec of the car does'nt help, it's a Fusion 2 1.4 tdci with luxury pack 1 (whatever that is ?.)
so 2 questions;
1) surely one of the fuses in the central fuse box relates to the glow plug ?. or could it be the bulb behind the driver display ?.
2), where is the best place (preferably free and online) that i can see a spec sheet for the car ?.
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The question; has been answered, thankfully we had a very cold nice last night and the car was frozen this morning and low and behold, the glow plug light was visible for a fraction of a second.
So for all you Ford mech's and drivers of 1.4tdci's out there; when the temp's at around zero & warmer you probably won't see the glow plug light even during the light check phase, you should however see it if the temp is below freezing.
Have 3 problems with the 2003 Micra.
PS light is coming on, no power steering, all the time
NATS light is coming on, intermittant, can resolve by removing & replacing a fuse
Tailgate locks itself & won't unlock, intermittant & currently behaving itself.
Had the AA out, they ran some diagnostics on it, cleared the NATS light by removing & replacing a fuse, couldn't do anything about the PS. Said they were getting fault code U1001 out of the ECU.
Had a poke around, no sign of any obvious loose connections or chafed wires. Bit worried as another thread on this forum suggests up £600 for a new PS motor.
Also slighty odd that a car that has given trouble free reliable service for 3 yrs has now developed 3 problems since being serviced at the local main dealer 3 weeks ago. 4 if you count the wiper mechanism that broke and had to be replaced when we had the first lot of snow.
Any ideas out there anyone?
cheers,
Neil Read more
well let me explain a little if i can, my 55 plate micra, PS light came on, and yes the main s******s wanted £2500 to do it, i got a recon motor for £500, in it went and then the nats light came on every few miles and stayed on, this is a seperate issue, maybe batteries too old in fobs , you can get the batteries but if you take too long putting them in, oops the immobiliser locks you out, back to main s******s with it,
so nats can be stopped (sometimes) by taking out the fuse in the car, or taking the battery off over night, if that does not work take keys to main dealers, and have them programmed...
help my toyota rav4 2002 is stuck on the drive with the alarm set. The remote will not unlock it. Have tried changing the battery in the remote but still not working. I can get into the car by using the key but the allarm just keeps going off. Any ideas
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Try the following, which is for a system malfunction or when adding or replacing a key.
toyotaownersclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=42...5
Although it's for a Corolla, I've seen the same or similar info for the Rav4 but lost the link to it. If this doesn't work, then try looking around the toyotaownersclub forum and you might find the right info.
I am going to look at an '04 BMW for sale privately circa £10k. For 30+ years I have always bought my cars privately, normally from friends/colleagues/BR etc and have never had a problem or done an Hpi check. However, I have never spent this much money without knowing the person!
I shall of course make sure that the mileage on the MOT certificates makes sense, the service history is in place, check receipts (if any) etc. Apart from spending £20 on an Hpi check, is there anything else I may have forgotten?
Many thanks Read more
I really wouldn't want to take the chance of handing over £10K on a private sale - it's too big a risk.
Private sales = <£1000 cars to me.
I agree - with the exception of older cars which may only be available by this route. Until about 1990 I used to buy privately more than from the trade, and managed to sell in the same way. But as the glut of used cars increased, so did the associated hassle, and apart from the 'older cars' mentioned, I don't do it now. The more recent problems of cloning, stolen V5s, etc, are only part of it.
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This one was quite easy, compared to some of the things I locate. I put something like "zafira-b" pollen filter in google images and it was the 1st picture on the page.