April 2011
Hi - wonder if i can get some advice on the following.
I am being prosecuted for contravening a red light. The offence was 5.5 seconds into the red light at 20mph... Read more
I have a 2003 Corsa 1.0, that has destroyed its engine. When starting up the engine one morning, there was an unhealthy noise and a loud knock before the engine died and wouldn't restart. I took it to a local garage who had a quick look at the engine and saw that all of the spark plugs and valves were damaged and suggested the timing chain had slipped to cause the problem.
Eight months earlier it had had a lot of work done at a different garage, including amongst other things a new timing chain. Seeing as that would be under warranty, I took the car over to them, but unsurprisingly they have come back to me saying that the timing chain hadn't snapped and looked normal. Instead they say that it looks like one of the fingers off the camshaft appears to have broken off and jammed everything up, but it'll cost £400 in labour just to look into that by taking the head gasket off.... Read more
Corsa C camshaft failure Volume 1 starts here: http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=69027 Although camshaft snapping seems to be confined to 2005 model year Corsa C's. I did see here that Vauxhall had recently issued a recall notice to check camshaft bolt tightness on Corsas so perhaps they've now acknowledged the problem. http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/?t=88126 and here tinyurl.com/65wylgp
I have a 4.5 yr old Leon FR TDI which I have owned since new and has covered 49k. FSH, cambelt + water pump changed@40k last year. It has given no trouble except a rogue engine management light on a couple of occasions which always extinguishes itself and has been checked by my independent VW specialist and only found as high exhaust temp.
I have been scared by stories of injector failure, here and elsewhere, in the 2.0 PD 170 engine which is in this car. My intention was to keep the car to 6 yrs old and replace in Sep 2012. As a family we run two cars, and pay for them over 3 yrs, the idea being we are only ever paying for one car at a time. However, the scares over injector failure and making me wonder whether I should change sooner.... Read more
Thanks MLJ and Avant for your input
MLJ - you are right of course - nothing might happen to the Leon. I guess I do fancy a change and I'm trying to justify it! However, there are increasing numbers of stories of injector failures on the 2.0 170 PD including in the Leon over on Seatcupra.net. This added to the warnings of oil pump failure on all 2.0PDs as documented here by 659....
Hello all. Have been away a while but am back with a problem new car.
After 8 years of driving Lexuses (IS200 / IS250) last year I ordered 325i (3.0 litre).
Although in many ways a better drive than the Lexuses I'm really struggling with just how noisy it is at idle and low revs - especially (but not only) when cold. It sounds like a diesel and I HATE the sound of diesel engines.
It went to the dealer a few months ago after the amber engine warning light came on and they replaced the ignition coil and spark plugs. It was OK for a while but has since got noisier and noisier. I took it back to my local dealer a week ago and they said the coil was OK but gave it a software upgrade which has made no difference. Not sure if this is relevant, but as well as being noisy the fuel consumption is pretty poor - I realise any 3.0 litre petrol 6 pot will have a bit of a drink problem but this averages less than 20 mpg around town (my 6 cyl IS250 was more like 25).
Any advice on the noisy idle? Surely a fairly expensive 6 cylinder petrol engine should be quiet? It's a company car so I can't even get rid.... Read more
Hi, I have a 2008 3.0 litre 325i M sport coupe with 19inch RFTs, I'm averaging only between 17-18mpg, driving mainly to work and back (2.5 miles each journey). Quite a lot of start./stop, and short cuts through neighbourhood roads. I'm wondering is this normal? However, on a long run in a motorway, the car's average mpg is between 38 to 40mpg.
I'm thinking of checking the car out a local dealer, as it is still under the approved car warranty. What would you advise?...
Hi have 307 sw estate and anti pollution fault coming on when i ever start the car but nothing seems wrong with on loss or restriction of power
code check done... Read more
Usual top analysis Andy! Hadn't though of that myself!
I am considfering buying an Avensis estate (or possibly a honda accord)
it will be an automatic model, so would come with the 2.0 vvti engine ( I've not seen any 1.8auto estates advetised anywhere)... Read more
With any auto with a few miles on the clock I'd have the transmission serviced by a specialist such as Stephens Engineering, if it was sound when you bought it, a service should mean it'll last the life of the car - this includes the many so called "sealed for life" 'boxes which usually means "sealed for death" if you don't get them serviced. Don't trust your dealer to service the autobox - they won't know what they're doing.
I own a Citroen Berlingo and when I use the central locking it locks then unlocks itself right away, tried locking manually which works for a few minutes then it unlocks itself again.
Anyone come across this before and forund a solution?... Read more
Ye Auld Blingo problem...mines been like that for years, it does it for a week, then stops doing it for months before starting off again for another week, been to the main dealers who cant find the problem. mine does it in cities rather than urban, maybe its microwave interference...dunno
I've purchased tyres online on a few occasions, but always gone 'fully fitted'. There is about a £15 price difference between 'delivered' and 'fully fitted' and I assumed that tyre places would charge about the same if I turned up with my own tyres for fitting. What's the cheapest way to get your own tyres fitted to make the 'delivered' option worthwhile? Kwik Fit type places or back street cash in hand establishments. How much should I aim for for fitting, balance, valve and disposal? Read more
mytyres.co.uk used to be cheap and to buy and fit myself saved £25.00 per tyre but prices have crept up and there's not much saving anymore.
Shop around is all you can do & id rather fit my own while i still can this machine is old but still works.:-)
I'm no mechanic but I've had a go at taking the cylinder head off for a possible repair.
Woulld anyone be good enough to advise whether it's worth me spending £200 for a skim and parts etc, or is it for the scrapper.... Read more
Classic diesel runaway-engine begins to run on its own oil-probably from a leaking oil seal in the turbo. The only way to 'kill a runaway' is to stuff a rag/shirt into the air intake to starve it of air-you'll know for next time!
I need a bit of advice, dealers are all closed over the holidays. I have an excellent car with 123K miles. Serviced to schedule by main dealer. Mainly motorway miles. Today just a few miles from home the display gave an audible warning and flahed up Engine! Workshop! and the glowplug light started to flash. I arrived home and resolved to contact my dealer. Later, when it was darker I noticed the brake lights were stuck on. After some pedal waggling they went off. Presumably a faulty micro switch. I wondered if the two are connected or just a coincidence. Could a faulty brake light switch cause the display to issue a warning? Also if the dealer cannot fit me in immediately and the glow plugs are not working is it alright to run the car? I need to work on Wednesday and do a long trip of some 300 miles, would faulty glow plugs cause any damage if the car was used? Knowledgable comments would be welcome. PS the car starts fine and the oil, water etc are fine and the engine sounds fine. Thanks Concrete Read more
Thanks again 659. You have put my mind at rest. There is VW dealer across the road from my Skoda dealer so if needed I will source the part myself. All the lights work and the brake lights do come on when the pedal is depressed. But they seem to stay afterwards until the pedal is pulled right back up deliberately. So I should not fall foul of the law or cause a problem with other motorists. Many thanks. Concrete
Browse
Hello Blackfoot, sorry for your situation but you are just going to have to stand up and take the flak. Something similar happened to me in Sheffield a while ago. Late at night following my sat-nav trying to find my hotel. It seems the sat-nav takes over and we blindly follow the instruction instead of observing signs and signals. Anyway, the photograph proved I was guilty, even though no other traffic was around and no danger was caused. I went to court and said my piece and got a minimal fine. I put down in writing my case in 'bullet points' and refined them and rehea***d them until they sounded short and succinct and genuine. I didn't ramble on or deviate from the subject. I said I was lost in an unfamiliar city. It was dark and raining and visibilty was poor. I was following my sat-nav which I trusted, but it led me to take a incorrect turn. I was driving deliberately slowly because of the situation. I committed the offence before realising it. I have an excellent driving record of 42 years and I am really sorry to have taken the courts time with this inadvertant breach of the law and it will not happen again. This was accepted and I was thanked for attending to explain. Unfortunately it was an absolute offence so some sort of punishment had to be given. I think that had the magistrate had some discretion I might well have been discharged with a slap on the wrist. So, get it right, dress smartly,and follow the first rule of speaking- stand up, speak up then shut up. Best of luck. Concrete