February 2010
Hi there I was wondering if anyone has had been aware of excessive headlight flicker when starting the car from cold, It seems to surge especially when changing gear.
We have been to the garage they have replaced the altenator but this has made no difference, we are in the last month of our warranty and the garage have now drawn a blank and have suggested we buy a new battery but they are unsure if this will make a difference, Any suggestions?
I also have this posted in the discussion section as I am new to the site and hadnt realised there was a seperate section for technical matters so if anyone could tell me how to delete a post from there that would also be great Thanks. Read more
Whilst doing a house insurance quote with LV "heart" ! it asked me how many motering convictions I had.
Now why would it ask me that?
just in case I have a few points, Im more liable to drive fast onto driveway, crashing into house?
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Whilst doing a house insurance quote with LV "heart" ! it asked me how many
motering convictions I had.
Assuming you are getting your quote online, try it with and without the convictions to see if it does actually make any difference.
My heated screens come on automatically on starting the car when temperature is below 4 degrees. Is this correct? I thought they only came on like this at 0 degrees but i have just had front end repaired (snow problem!) & wondered if the sensor or wiring had been upset. Read more
Another thanks - even better.
While my X type was being reapired following my prang I had a Mondeo estate courtesy car.
Things I liked:
It's huge! Plenty of legroom in the rear and lots of boot space. Good left foot rest due to large footwell.
Being a Zetec it had 16 inch wheels with sensible profile tyres so it rides over road bumps very well.
For one of the cheaper models it is well appointed. Electric windows all round, cruise control, dual climate, heated screen, fuel computer, bluetooth, stereo controls on steering wheel, voice control for many functions, electric drivers seat height adjust.
Very good on the motorway. Definately its natural home.
A bright yellow dipstick - reading the oil level is easy.
Things I didn't like:
It's huge! Not the best turning circle and I missed parking sensors.
It's sluggish from a standing start. Lots of lag before it starts going.
Engine is very noisy when cold and it changed at about 3,000 revs before it warmed through and it sounded awful. Once warm if you want to press on the 3k changes remain and it is noisy with a top end diesel rattle.
Engine noise in cabin on tickover is intrusive.
Auto box hunts at around 30mph (3-4th change) and 40mph (4-5th change). Tiresome in urban traffic.
Seats were comfy, but too soft in the lumbar region even with adjustment. I couldn't adjust the seat to get the head restarint just behind my head.
Light for boot space is in the roof - this means the luggage cover has to be open for it to be any use.
Cruise control has to be turned on before you can use it and it turns off every time you stop the car.
Cruise buttons are on both sides of the steering wheel - 6 seems to be too many buttons.
Never learned how the stereo worked off the steering wheel as buttons didn't seem to do what they should. I could adjust volume, but changing channels or the radio band/cd proved impossible.
Bluetooth didn't automatically pair the phone every time it found it.
Not everything has been moved for RHD - in particular the heated screen and rear window buttons are a long way from the driver. In LHD they would be perfect. Handbrake is set for RHD and it wouldn't be much of an issue to swap the window heater switches wth the traction off switch which is the same, but nearer the driver.
Tiptronic is pull for up and push for down the box which isn't how the majority are - it's a Mondeo not a touring car!
Most of these could be lived with, but I don't think I'd ever be happy with a seat I couldn't sort out, the engine noise and the hunting gearbox.
Car had only done 2,500 when I took it. I did lmost thousand miles in three weeks.
Average for busy urban trips was 25mpg
On motorway trips it was doing around 40mpg.
The new Mondeo does what the Cortina and the Sierra did very well - plenty of accommodation for a sensible price, but corners have to be cut to achieve the price point - sound insulation being one obvious area.
It will be cheap to buy, service and fix. Exactly what a Ford should be. Read more
>>While my X type was being repaired following my prang I had a Mondeo estate courtesy car.
Did the 3rd party Ins Co cough up? or was it taken as 50/50 and you pay your excess +lose some NCB?
hi all hope some one can help me i hope my car is up for m,o,t and the emissions are at 4.5 and i can not get them down under 3.5 for my m,o,t i have fitted a new co control screw with a new one from the main dealer and it did not do any thing fitted new plugs plug leads air filter full filter new cam shalft and tappets all new!! check cam belt timeing the engine had new big end bearings piston rings fitted and seems to be runnig great its just the emissions is driveing me mad!!! i did get told ecu can go faulty that stops you from resetting the emissions is this true?.
can any one help me please and let me no!!
many thanks
ian Read more
The Efi system fitted to these is fairly crude ,but you should still be able to adjust the co to less than 3%.Start by checking the vacuum pipe that runs from the inlet manifold to the Map sensor on the bulkhead.Some models have a plastic restrictor in the pipe,if yours does ,then make sure it is fitted the correct way round(should have "eng" to engine side).Also check the throttle switch adjustment.There should be a faint click as the throttle linkage comes to the rest position(idle).At the battery neg terminal there are a bunch of small brown wires.Make sure these are clean and tight to earth.As for a faulty Ecu,I would say unlikely,but the map sensor may be suspect.hth
Today, after driving about 60 miles on the motorway, I heard a odd 'wind rushing' noise from the car - as if the window was open, although all were closed. Anyway, it turned out that the surround above the front windscreen is a bit loose - presumably a goodly bit of high-speed driving and wind did the rest! I pushed it back in, and all quiet again.
What is the best way to secure it the windscreen surround - obviously, I am worried about putting any old glue on, in case it perishes the rubber. Should I just take it to a windscreen repair place? Read more
Windscreens are an integral part of the safety of the cars structure and you should
have this looked at asap.
From the sounds of it, it is just the rubber trim that fits around the edge of the window and doesn't form any other function than being a piece of rubber trim, therefore it won't affect the cars structure.
The same thing happened on one of our Focus pool cars at work. At around 65 to 70mph it sounded like a whisting kettle. IIRC, Autowindscreens (or one of the other windscreen companies) just clipped it back in with some kind of insertion tool. I would imagine a windscreen company would do the same for beer tokens.
I called into my local, trusted, garage today and found the proprietor doing a general service on a P reg. Honda (quite ancient). He had replaced both of the front coil springs, one of which was broken at one end and the other broken at both ends. He said that although he replaces springs frequently, it is generally on European cars, particularly French.
The proprietor pointed out that the springs most commonly broke where the coils were rusty. He thought that the breakage was initiated by corrosion and that manufacturers are beginning to attempt to provide better protection.
Can NC comment on this and say whether a liberal coating of Waxoyl would help ?
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the rust is probably already in the steel seeing as most are made in eastern europe and thats where all recycled scrap goes so i wouldnt bother unless it makes you feel better
now wrapping them up in a hession type material covered in grease might be a good idea
Bought a nice low mileage Carina off of a friends dad, and I have a question about the coolant expansion tank.
The coolant level in this was just over full, however when I unscrewed the actual radiator cap I noticed that the coolant level in the radiator was well below the fins, so I topped this up.
Now, the only experience I have is with the old fashioned radiator with no expansion tank, so I thought I'd mug up on how the more modern systems work.
When I took the cap off of the expansion tank, the pipe going into this is only about an inch and a bit long. No way does it reach the top of the fluid in the tank even at the full mark. I seem to think that at one time there was a rubber hose attached to this short little pipe going right down to the base of the expansion tank. If not how can the fluid get back into the main radiator?
Can someone confirm my thoughts on this? Thanks. Read more
All fixed now, I had a fish about in the tank and found the rubber tube at the bottom!
It had slipped off the small tube, and was loose when I put it back so now I have jubilee clipped it on.
So much for Toyota servicing. My friends dad had this main dealer serviced every year, goodness knows how long this tube has been missing.
I need to get some new front pads for our Focus. There is the option of pads with wear indicators or without. Would my car (1.6 Zetec manual) need the ones with wear indicators ?
The only other way to check is to take the wheels of and check before I order them, so can anyone advise please ? Read more
hi all, my cavalier sri 16v has had a problem for the past few days now, when the car is stone cold it will tick at the top end now i have replaced the manifold gasket but this is a engine tick but only when cold, the car is regulary serviced and has bean well looked after so i wouldnt of thought it could be wear n tear alough the car has 117k miles, any suggestions, lee. Read more
Possibly a lazy hydraulic tappet - try a oil & filter change &/or some Forte top end treatment
www.motorspeed.co.uk/store_main.asp?int_product_id...4
Possibly a worn cam of course.
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Do they flicker on and off, or is it that the brightness fluctuates from time to time? Brightness fluctuation seems to be common on modern cars.