January 2011

oberland

Hi all,

I have been given £2000 in a will !... Read more

bathtub tom

I have to support the views above.

I bought a KIA Pride for fifty quid four years ago. I hope it makes the next MOT.

alex ni

Just as fixed my Golf the wifes BMW 330d headlight washer fell off. The cover in the bumper is missing and the connection to the pipe has gone.

Is there anywhere cheap to order matching colour and parts or is it a dealer job.... Read more

Steven Quas

I believe this is a known BMW fault on some of their recent cars. I think the same thing happens on the E70 when it freezes and they have been replacing the parts under warranty. Search google for e70 headlight washers (I can't get the link to work) and there are a couple of relevant results (xdrivers and bimmerforums).

Another one under the title E90/E92 - Disappearing Headlight Washers on BMW Land...

supanipe

Can you please advise me of the pros & cons of using a diesel additive in my car. A friend has just had to have his VW Passat tank pump changed "because it was full of sludge".

... Read more

unthrottled

Well, on the cheapest swill I can find, I only get 40mpg. But if I add a bottle of redexsupermillerturboultraquattro I can get my consumption down to 7l/100km...

Additives won't cure sludge, and I don't think they cure much else either.

djmorton

I am trying to find the correct bolts for my Peugeot 306 HDI Meridian. The reason why is as follows:

I had my car serviced yesterday, all brakes and discs changed. Drove the car home and back to work this morning. On the drive to work I heard a knocking noise, one I knew, loose wheel nuts! Luckily I was literally at work so after arrving checked the wheel and found one bolt missing, and all remaining loose! So straight on the phone to the garage, they said bring it in. The garage is 0.5 mile away so tightened and checked all bolts on the car, the other wheels were fine. On the wheel with the missing bolt, two did up tight, but one just kept spinning.

So gently and slowly took and left car at garage and went to work.

On picking up the car I was informed that bolts on all my wheels are the wrong bolts and the threads are too short. They replaced the four on the loose wheel (as goodwill). The replacement bolts have much longer heads, but I've not looked at the threads yet as it's too dark tonight now. The original bolts have shorter heads with covers. The covers don't fit the new bolts

Now I can see three things that have could have happened

1. The garage didn't check the tightness on the bolts after putting the wheel back on, hence the loss and loosening of bolts

2. The replacement discs are thicker and therefore the bolts are now not long enough.

3. I've had the wrong length bolts on the car all along, despite it being serviced many times over the years and also having tyres changed. No one mentioned bolt length at any time before.

If it's 1 then the garage are just making excuses for their incompetance. If it's 2 & 3 then that is much more worrying as other wheels could easy come loose.

So I need to know the right ones to check the ones the garage have put on and that the ones I've got on already are right or not.

Can anyone help?

Thanks

Dan


Read more

Gibbster159

VW Bora 1.9 TDi, 54 plate. Had a squeking sound, like rubber being rubbed togther, in time with the revolutions of my wheels. Sounded like the right hand side. That was yesterday. Today its now turned into a cluckin sound with quite a bad pull to the left. Had a new wheel bearing put in about 3 months ago, left hand side. Any ideas? Read more

Peter.N.

Sounds like the CV joint.

arthtech

To overcome the problem of a low battery when the car has not been used for several weeks, I plan to fit a charging socket inside the boot so that I can recharge the battery regularly with a mains charger. Is it OK to charge the battery with a mains charger when the battery is still connected to the car - without damaging the alternator or other components in the car? Read more

elekie&a/c doctor

There are plenty of "smart" battery chargers on the market today that are perfectly suited for this job.I dont think there is any need to put a socket in the boot for this as it means you would need to fit corresponding plug to the charger lead and limits its use for other cars.Just use the croc clips supplied with charger.These devices charge at a very low rate so as not to harm the electrics.hth

Mspeejay

i just a bit confused what this message means,,

after i drive about just 1 mile and 1/2 I stop and bought something then i start the car again, then this message came up with the engine icon ) lights lit up too, and its there while im driving, i did try to stop the engine running and re start again , and the message came up again and so is the red light , ... Read more

Mspeejay

Thanks a lot Unthrottled .

hope i wont have any problems again, thank you ! x

AJP

Hi, I have fitted new matched shocks all round, new -50mm lowering springs which have had time to settle, used car all through the summer, adjustable panhard rod to centralise the rear axle, all tie bar, tca and rear trailing arm bushes were tightened on the ground, tyre pressures all equal, tracking been done, all original panels, no accident damage. I have run out of ideas now, i even swapped the front legs over and swapped the rear springs over but the passenger side still higher. Any ides anyone? Read more

AJP

Ah, i'm glad you said that because i forgot to mention, i have already done a similar test, i jacked the back up and lowered the rear of the car onto axle stands , the front was the same height on both sides, which did lead me to think the problem was at the rear, now if only i could figure out what could be causing a problem at the rear. Thanks for the reply by the way, it's got me hopefull, slightly. Then again, what if jacking the rear of the car up has just thrown enough weight to the front to compress the springs equally but if i managed to solve the problem at the rear, would the extra drop be enough to lower the front passenger side,if that makes any sense? it does in my head.

...

Phil1581

Once my 3 year C5 1.6 HDi is at working temperature a rattle develops under load and the exhaust blows.

At tickover there is no gas leakage from the exhaust. The rattle seems to come from the bulkead area drivers side.... Read more

unthrottled

The joys of crowded engine bays! Thanks for posting the result. I think the mechanic's analysis is fair. If it's hard to find, it can't be serious-like I said diesel exhaust contains so little carbon monoxide, there's no health risk. Might it be that you're hearing a bit of turbo whistle?

Dyna

Hi,

I got a parking ticket for standing in line for a parking spot immediately a head of white zigzag line. It's heavy traffic, I'm standing behind the car in the parking zone, while it is blinking to get out. When the traffic clears the parked car takes off and I drive in to the spot. During the whole period of standing which is about 1min the engine is running, full lights are on, I have my foot on the brake, and the engine is running and nobody leave the car.... Read more

Dyna

Hi

Thanks for answering. Nope I didn't know I was wrong I thought standing in wait for a car park would not be seen as stopping. As when you stop to let people on or off. I can see that it's wrong but then everyone standing in the middle of a street wait to pull in to a car park. I'm pretty sure you are not allowed to double park/stop either so to say. I think a traffic officer would probably use common sense when he/she see those situations. This was CCTV parking ticket not a traffic fine....