March 2011
We have 2 cars, a newish Ford Focus and a 3 year old A4. Both cars are well cared for but even though only the Audi does a lot of motorway miles, both have perenially smeary windscreens.
I have tried everything I know to cure this as follows :-... Read more
Hi Guys,
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New 3 door 1.4VTi Sport from driverthedeal.com - £10,500.
Don't think the 1.4 petrol engine has any big issues - is normally reserved for diesel engines that pootle around too much....
CAN ANYONE CONFIRM ON HOW TO TIME UP THE CHAIN ON THIS VEHICLE AS I HAVE COME TO MY WITS END AS THERE IS NO TEQHNICAL DATA AVAILABLE AND SSANGYONG THEMSELVES ARE NOT WILLING TO COME FORWARD WITH THE INFOMATION. Read more
YOU ARE RIGHT WITH IT BEING A MERCEDES ENGINE,THE ONLY PROB IS THAT ALL AUXILLARYS INSIDE ARE DIFFERENT, SO IF I LOOK AT 2.7 MERCEDES IT COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. THANKS FOR THE REPLY. THIS IS GOING TO BE A HARD ONE FOR ME.
Folks,
Some advice would be appreciated. OK, so i have an intermittent problem with clutch, it went soft for a day or 2 and then went back to normal a couple of times, the last time it went soft started only engaging half way until it wouldnt almost engage.
I took car to local garage, mecanic could not find (external) leaks, so he bled it and car seemed good again.
Short lived however, 2 days later the clutch gone soft but then went back to normal. This seems to happened if i press de clutch for along period coming to trafic lights and it starts to get worse over time until it is almost impossible to engage gears.
So i rang the garage they told me that either the master or the slave cylinder has internal leaks but not sure which one. He said most common is the master going bad but could not guarantee that was the master, warning that could be slave.
I have a Y reg laguna 2 1.6 petrol, so if i have to change slave it is a lot of money for this model.
The car is parked on drive away and not sure if i want to risk to replace the master and then later realise that it could be the slave component.
So, what are your opinion? Does this sound like the symptoms of a bad slave or would i expect other symptoms too.
Please advise, thanks. Read more
If its the slave cylinder thats faulty you will be loosing fluid, if its the master cylinder probably not as the fluid is escaping past the seals back into the cylinder. If the disengagement point gets nearer the floor each time you use it, or if you keep your foot on the pedal - that points to the master cylinder.
Looking at getting a minibus for us to use. Both me & my husband are reg childminders, and currently have to use 2 cars, so thought about getting a minibus to make life easier. It would be a personal minibus, which we would also use weekends etc...
Then someone pointed out the legislation... Not sure where we stand. I have spoke to insurers we got a quote from, and they are happy to insure us based on all info I've given, and told me that business ins is fine for us, and they have that we are childminders etc.... Read more
If you want to operate a smaller vehicle, up to 8 passenger seats, then the Department for Transport's has some guidance which states you don't fall into the category of having to get a PHV licence http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/regional/taxis/rsa06privatehirevehicles?page=4#a1012. This would be much better for you as operating under an 'O' Licence is very expensive, apart from havin to obtain a Restricted 'O' Licence there are a lot of other things that you have to have in place, like a Class VI MoT for the vehicle, access to money for repairs - Google PSV437-01 (revised in 2009) for further information.
:-)
With the first version on the dpf on the 2.0 tdci engine does it suffer from the same problems as these new dpf, i mean the short drive and regeneration issue?
The version i have on my car needs the fluid topup every 37k Read more
Blimey, the price has come down. I had my DPF replaced at 92k, it cost £1100 ish.
I have noticed a weird burning smell over the last few days from the engine bay and thought the car was labouring when driving, (i.e no pick up in higher gears on the flat). Last night it was worse than ever and when I hit about 50 mph the steering wheel was vibrating quite noticeably and all in all made for a distressing 45 minutes of motoring. When I eventually arrived back home I felt a brief wave of heat as I opened the door and quickly located the source....that being the front offside wheel. It was seriously hot to the point of not being able to touch it.
I had all brakes replaced last year about 4 or 5k ago and other than being a bit squeeky, have given me no problems. My other thought was a wheel bearing seized, but I have had no evidence to believe it was 'on its way out', by way of a noise etc.... Read more
NEEDS A NEW CALIPER AND A BRAKE FLUID CHANGE, PISTON RUSTS INSIDE DUE TO THE FLUID BEING HYDROSCOPIC( MEANING IT ABSORBS WATER) THEN CANT RETURN IN TO THE CALIPER PASSED THE SEAL NEW CALIPER WILL FIX THIS PROBLEM, ABOUT £60 FROM LOCAL AUTOFACTORS.
Well 1200 miles ito a new B7 VW Passat 2.0Tdi SE I am astounded to find that I am acheiving an actual 61.4 mpg (based on fill up). For a fairly fast and quiet family car I am truly astounded. My old Volvo V50 2.0D with 42,000 miles struggled to reach 44 mpg with the same driving style. Just hope it lasts the pace. Read more
Thanks for this advice re the oil level. Driving was on a mix of motorway and light unobstructed country roads keeping within speed limits. I am conviced the stop start has a significant contribution to city driving too.
I'm having some trouble removing the fanbelt on my combo van. The chap in the garage said I just need to loosen the nut on the tensioner and it will come off. It sounded easy, but now i've got it home I loosen the nut and it does nothing! In-fact I can take it out completely and still the belt remains too tight to remove...What am I doing wrong?
PS Im not just loosening the wrong nut. Its definitely the tensioner as it moves when i pull the belt tight. Read more
put the bolt back in, do it up then try doing it up even more, this will swing the whole tensioner arm away from the belt it is called a self tensioner or automatic tensioner.
I know there are some knowledgable people out there on the subject of VW diesels, so some advice would be welcome. My Superb has covered over 120K miles in the last 5 years, virtually trouble free. It will soon be due a second cam belt change. I do not know what Skoda recommend but HJ recommends a fair few other parts are replaced at the same time. I am willing to err on the side of caution and follow best practice, even if it costs a bit more. I intend to keep this excellent vehicle for as long as possible and have always had it dealership maintained in every respect. This has meant a good relationship with the dealer and possibly some good will if required in the future. If the dealer says that the other parts are not normally changed with the cambelt should I insist on the work being done anyway? Your comments would be appreciated. Concrete. Read more
Hindsight is a wonderful thing when maintaining vehicles - but I have one overriding principle which is to go some way to avoid known trouble points.
The VAG water pumps were made with plastic impellers either to save weight (they went through a "funny phase" of doing this a few years ago) or to cheapen the manufacture of a part with a complex shape. Either way, these pumps have not distinguished themselves in service. It is absolutely unthinkable that any good Teuton would operate his machine with the incorrect coolant strength......
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Rain water quality does vary according to where you live - the clouds dispense consistent quality but the rain will wash pollutants out of the air so if you're in the prevailing wind shadow of a large town/city or a major industrial centre then the rain water quality won't be as good....