February 2010
Hi guys.........can anyone tell me if the clutch on a 52 reg 110bhp estate is cable or hydraulic? I went to look at a used one today with 90k on the clock & it drove nicely but the clutch pedal seemed to bite high up.......thought it might be a sign of wear?
cheers tonymuso
{No need to SHOUT! Post amended, but if anyone SHOUTS in either the subject header or main body of the post, it will be deleted - see the 'sticky' post at the top of the page} Read more
No panic yet, it talks of medium term changes, but the EU are reviewing taxation on passenger fuel........
LONDON (Reuters) -- The European Commission is reviewing the taxation structure of transport fuels in a move that could boost demand for gasoline at the expense of diesel, an EU official said on Wednesday.
The current taxation structure favors diesel over gasoline and this has prompted the auto industry to produce more diesel-powered cars.
Refiners in Europe are investing in upgrading capacity to maximize their diesel output to meet the rising demand for diesel.
On the other hand, a fall in gasoline use in the region and import demand from the United States have resulted in oversupply of the fuel, keeping overall plant utilization rates of European refiners low over the past year.
"The Commission is currently looking at taxation of gasoline and diesel," Marcus Lippold, directorate of energy and transport of the European Union, told a conference. "You could put a cap on dieselisation."
But he said that any decision on taxation would take 15 years to take effect because of the sluggish process of vehicle replacement.
"It would at best be a mid-term change," he said.
In the next few years, demand for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as a vehicle fuel could grow, because of its green credentials, he said.
Some European governments, including Germany, subsidise LPG prices at the pump and this has boosted consumption.
"LPG might be a good bridging fuel to get to decarbonisation in transport," he said.
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Although all crude oil is different, a barrel on average contains more petrol than diesel. Refineries are fractional distillation, once cracking and reforming comes in to play then costs increase substantially.
My Focus has started behaving rather strangely.
About a month ago I noticed a sound that can only be described as a whistle on acceleration. It is more apparent when accelerating harder than normal but if you dip the clutch and rev the engine it doesnt happen so only happens when the engine is under load. It revs quite happily when stationary and doesnt make the noise. Along with this there is a marked loss of performance, the car seems very gutless and when I tried to accelerate to overtake someone and had my foot flat on the floor the car all but stalled until I lifted my foot slightly. Going up steep hills round here is impossible but the car will tootle around town quite happily and idles fine. There have been no lights come on that we have noticed. Any ideas please?! Read more
I replaced the rear silencer myself about 8-10 weeks ago. I guess in theory it could be a rogue item. The whistling and lack of power didnt occur straight after replacing that , maybe a month or so after. I guess the easy first port of call would be to try and get the rear silencer off again and see what happens.
What is the difference between these two and which is better option while standing stationary in traffic?
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Agree. P is for Park, ie stopped, engine off. In traffic, either use the foot bake and leave it in drive or put it in neutral and use either foot brake or hand brake.
There is a school of thought that claims that shifting between drive and Neutral puts wear and tear on solenoids that offsets the marginal savings of shifting to neutral.
FYF
Hello..
I have an S reg ford fiesta, recently my heating died and I replaced the heater valve; which cured the problem.
Now, after about 3 weeks the heating is only blowing cold AGAIN. I've checked the valves connected, the 2 valves from the engine are hot, the two valves going into the car are cold - So the problem is halfway (Heater valve unit :/)
Unless, is there anything else that can be causing this? Or is it definitely a dead heater valve controller, again..
Thank you,
Phil. Read more
my mate removed the motor off the valve and pulled out a filter and cleaned it,it was full of antifreeze and then replaced the motor and now works fine again
I see in Telegraph Motoring 20/02/10 that HJ blames road humps for a stripped sump plug thread in a 54 Ka.
I would prefer to point the finger at the service 'gorillas' who give the sump plugs an extra tweak 'for luck'.
The modern Fords appear to have their plugs at the rear of the (soft) aluminium sump (out of the way of the road humps).
My Focus has come back from two different Ford agents after annual service with an overtightened plug 2 years running. I'm not going back!
Don't these guys have torque wrenches and/or a bit of mechanical sympathy? Fellow backroomeers what are your views? Read more
Nobody uses a torque wrench on a sump nut neither do they on a water pump etc only engine internal bolts and these fast fit places make me laugh those torque wrenches are set too high one setting for all cars seems to be the practice at the local outfit.
This is a continuation of a post I made earlier, but as (for reasons best known to themselves) the website designers have made it impossible to search for posts either by car type or by clicking on user-names, I can no longer find my original post so have had to make a new one!
Anyways... I have an Escort van which seems to be making a whirring noise, it sounds similar so if you have a flat tyre or drive on chunky mud and snow tyres.
The pitch of the noise gets higher as the speed increases.
A few people suggested it was a wheel bearing, however I have done about 800miles with it making that noise so I thought that if it was a bearing it would have gone pop by now. Would that be right?
Also I've recently discovered that the noise stops when I turn right!
I am wondering if, given this explanation, anyone can tell me exactly what is wrong?
Thanks for reading. Read more
stopping when you turn right sounds even more like a wheel bearing, the right hand one, as you take the weight off it when you turn right. Bearings can last many thousands of miles in that condition.
My daughter bought a W reg (2000) Bravo last August from a dealer for £950. Last week it broke down on the motorway and was towed to our local garage. The AA man said and garage confirm that the cylinder head gasket has blown.
It's not been a happy car. 2 weeks after my daughter bought the car it needed a new starter motor and a couple of weeks after that a whole new exhaust. Then there was a problem with the wash wipe and windscreen wipers. More recently something went wrong with the electrics and she had no passenger cabin heating.
The car has done 95,000 miles. Question is whether to mend it or scrap it. Garage quote £480 for cylinder head replacement but say that they wonder whether there may be further damage that won't be seen until they start work. But they say that it would take several hours labour to find out, at a cost of up to £200.
What to do? Read more
I think that, if the car has been bought less than 6 months ago it is for the dealer to prove that the faults were NOT present when sold! Check your calendar PDQ!
My pal has called and wants me to give him a lift back from the garage tomorrow as he is dropping the wifes car in for a check over.
He said that the engine is cutting out when pulling up to junctions. He then called me and said that he thinks the HG is going as he is getting the 'mayoniase' on the oil filler cap. I said that is usual of a stop/start short trip car (which it is) and even mine gets that when I'm not using it on the motorway. I said I would have a nosey this evening to see if anything obvious (and to have a pint with him!) but wondered if you could give any points to a failed HG (exhaust steam, funny coloured coolant and maybe sniff?? the coolant)
He called again to say has just used the car to pick her up from work and whilst not cutting out in that trip it felt sluggish and described a missfire type problem so I've no idea what is going on. Its going in tomorrow to a local garage but was going to have a peek anyway.
I think it has around 60,000 miles and it is a 1.2 petrol engine.
Any ideas?
Subject line bug fixed - stab taken at make and model
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Start the car from cold with the cap off the coolant header tank, then watch for air bubbles forming as the engine heats up - not too closely as it may spit if the head gasket has gone. If no bubbles after 5 minutes, probably not HGF. Certainly dioesn't sound like a head gasket problem from symptoms described. Sounds more like a sticky idle air control valve to me.
First, some background.
My Primera (2000/X, 260,000 miles) has had, in the last 20,000 miles on the front near-side corner:
1 CV joint replacement due to ABS ring wear-out;
1 wheel bearing;
1 lower wishbone and drop-link from where I kerbed the car in inclement weather;
New brake discs and pads, and tyre.
Between the bearing replacement, and the wishbone etc the car started to make a clonking noise under braking. I've posted about this issue before.
It's worst at low speed, and at very low speed becomes a groaning, almost like a low-pitched door creak. Recently it has become worse, and you can *feel* the knock at low speeds. But it only happens under braking.
The brakes have been overhauled, and cleaned up -- twice. Once by the garage and once by me. Neither I, nor the garage can see anything wrong with the calipers, discs or pads.
I am going to get this looked at by another third party shortly, but I'd really like to get a better idea of what's going on here.
The suspension parts seem fine, and some were replaced with no difference. Other than the caliper, I can't see what could be wrong with the brakes. Can't see it being anything to do with the CV joint, the wheel/tyre (tyre replaced and rotated since) or the steering.
It could I guess be that bearing -- but can this manifest itself as an issue only under braking? It's as quiet as a mouse up until the car has travelled for around 10-20 miles -- i.e. when warmed up. I've also noticed a thrum at about 70, but not the usual bearing noise.
I'd hate to have to get rid of the car over one annoying issue, after the service it has given me!!
Any help greatly appreciated. Read more
Any 'groaning' or 'whining' noises at road speed are almost always caused by bearings, for the 'clonk' on breaking though, check the tightness of the subframe bolts.
Browse
Hi,
Not sure if this helps but i have a 406 Pug with the same engine. Mine is a hydraulic clutch and in the 4 years since I bought it the pedal has been high. I was concerned about it but its been fine. It also seems a light clutch but as I said its working fine. You can check and see if you have a pipe coming out of the side of the brake master cylinder - that will be the pipe for the clutch - it uses the fluid from the brake reservoir.
Hope this helps
Robin the Technician