September 2010
Does anyone know why my Focus judders through the steering wheel when brakes are applied?
The front discs and pads are only nine months old and there are absolutely no signs of juddering during normal driving... Read more
4,000 miles and 3 months ago, I had my timing belt replaced (Subaru Legacy 2.0 RE 06 reg).
Last week, on holiday, in Northumberland, the car suddenly stopped on the A1 in a cambelt-failed sort of way. I called the AA, who sent a local garage.
He asked what was wrong, and I said "If I hadn't had it replaced recently, I'd have said the belt had snapped." He took off the cover, and said the belt was sloppy, and perhaps the timing belt had jumped, maybe it needed a replacement tensioner, and they'd fit one for me. So the local garage took it away. The invoice reads (complete with typos)
"Check for fault with car cut out, found the timing belt loose, dismantle as req, drain off coolant and remove radiator, unbolt and remove timing covers, found two bolts seized in timing cover, found timing bolt tensioner bolt snaped, removed timing belt and tensioner, drill out snaped peice of bolt, supply and fit new tensioner with new bolt, torque tensioner bolt to 35NM. Advise the threads are not good that holds the tensioner in, advise to be drilled out and retaped. Time up engine and refit old belt to test, found the engine to have been damaged when the tensioner bolt snaped, box up bolts etc and left in bits at the owners request. 5 hours £210. Timing belt kit £250. + VAT Total £540."
The garage said to me "we looked in the book after it wouldn't start up and it has an interference engine, so obviously the valves are bent; only the 8 valve engine is non-interference".
The AA then took me back to London yesterday. The view of the AA men who relayed me was that given the existence of a snapped tensioner, there was no point whatsoever in trying to replace the belt, and the garage had ripped me off.
Thoughts? Is it ever worthwhile replacing a belt/tensioner if the belt has "jumped" or if the tensioner is loose?
Thanks in advance.... Read more
My much loved mk4 Golf 150 is still doing its job at 130k miles. Have had the car virtually since new and experienced no reparis or replacements beyond routine 10k maintenance. My independent garage tell me that the DMF is beginning to go and may need replacing at some point in the future - to be fair they are not pushing me to have it done but have advised a wait and see. What symptoms should I notice if the DMF is on its way out? There's a bit of vibration when the car is pulling from lowish revs in 6th gear but apart from that it's going like a dream.
If the DMF does need replacing is this a job worth doing on a car of this age? If it does go what other jobs should be considered at the same time?... Read more
speaking only from received hearsay, isn't the DMF there to protect the engine from it's own torque and vibration as much as for driving refinement? Seem to remember reading somewhere that a lot of high-specific output diesels require the DMF to prevent damage to crankshaft & transmission?
Hello,
I have a 2001 Ford Mondeo. I recently noticed a small leak of fluid underneath the engine near the drivers side.... Read more
Is this mondeo an auto? if so they suffer with pipes from the auto box cooler splitting due to corrosion so this may be your problem
hi john............i have just replaced a new starter motor
and it starts 1st time every time.but the battrey light dosent go out.... Read more
If the battery lamp is staying on, the alternator is not charging. If it was ok before you fitted the starter, then unless you have had a sudden coincidental failure, (that would be bad luck, but not unknown) it's probably a wire off.
Look in the area you were working, ensure you have not missed an earth wire off a starter bolt, check the back of the alternator for wires pulled off etc.
Also, check the drivebelt is on and tight enough. There is sometimes a group of connectors on the main battery lead, you may have dislodged one.
Hello, these are the cars I am considering when my 55 plate Nissan goes in a few months time. ( There's nothing in the Nissan range I fancy and Nissan's quality isn't as good as 10 years ago),
The Jazz is top of my list as it has an exemplary reliability and the new model is falling into my price range ( about 7k). Is the Jazz as good as everyone says as its legendary reliability, tardis like interior, 50 plus mpg economy and punchy engines sway me towards it and, much as I like the stylish Civic, it's still out of my range.... Read more
Actually I'm 42, so the youthful, trendy image isn't so important LOL. The Mazda 3 is the trendiest of the bunch and the 1.6 petrol seems to have the right balance between economy and performance. I shall see when the new dealership opens what the prices are like.
Hi,
I have a 2002 MG TF 1.6L and on the way back from a holiday to Cornwall (approx 650 miles travelled over 5 days) I filled up the car at an ESSO petrol station. As I pulled off my engine warning light came on. All the oil/coolant/etc levels were fine and so was the coolant and oil temperatures for the whole journey. The car is driving fine and not misfiring etc.... Read more
I suspect it may throw up fault code 1522, this relates to cam sensor error but you will need to have a diagnostic check first as there are many possibilities!
Have you ever had a head gasket replacement ? this can be related to the above code & there is a technical fix...
This is on my shortlist for next spring when I change cars and am interested in a two year old Honda Jazz( new shape). Is there any advantage in buying a 1.4 over a 1.2 as there seems to be little benefit performance wise with the 1.4 and economy is similar? The only thing I could consider the 1.4 for is maybe it would have a little more overtaking power, although a top speed of 110 mph( about the same as my Nissan has now) would suggest the 1.2 is no slug. Read more
I think you'd have to work the 1.2 harder to get similar performance to the 1.4. So if you enjoy driving it won't save you much, and you'll wish you'd gone for the 1.4. But if you drive sedately and mainly around town, a 1.2 will probably do fine.
I have just had an oil and filter change on a Nissan Almera and the sump only holds 2.7 litres( this being the QG engine found on petrol models). Most cars tend to hold 4-5 litres, so I wonder why Nissan have gone for such a small sump as it does appear the car is using more oil, the mechanic at my family garage saying the level was down to midway( although there is no engine wear), until we checked and found the engine had an unusually small oil sump. Read more
A smaller sump capacity means faster warm up resulting in lower emissions and less engine wear. The diesel will have a more generous capacity for two reasons, firstly the engine oil of a diesel car gets contaminated with soot pretty quickly, plus the diesel will likely be turbo-charged dumping more heat into the oil requiring a reserve as a heat soak.
Sounds like a pain in terms of topping up but one should check their oil regularly anyway!
Hi all, I am now buying a 2004 Kia Picanto 1.1LX with only 12,000 miles on the clock.
The car is perfect in every way but I'm concerned about the cambelt as its the origional and though its only done 12,000 miles its still six years old and i'm concerned that the belt may be perrished or splitting and therefore very prone to snapping.... Read more
