April 2011
i noticed excessive smoke coming from the exhaust mostly betwwen 1750 and 2250 rpm, after a couple of days the car started developing a misfire and holding back whilst also belching clouds of blackish smoke. This worsened over a couple of days to the point that i was struggling to keep the car at a certtain speed without it slowing down and belching a cloud of smoke before accelerating again. i checked the exhaust and found a hole in the center pipe (the one with the flexi section). i replaced this section (with much difficulty and angle grinding) with some success the smoke has now stopped but the misfire and holding back whist vastly improved is still present.
Not really sure what the issue now is. i did notice when i had the exhaust off of the car that it was extremly sooty inside, not sure if this is normal or now effecting the performance?... Read more
My Nissan Almera (52 plate, n16 engine), has developed a noise, sort of like a whistly, woo-woo noise, sounds like it is coming from the front of the car, not sure where, as I can only hear it while driving.
It happens when I am going approx 20-40 mph.... Read more
The change of noise on cornering would suggest a wheel bearing but braking doesn't usually shut it up but its possible. If its a bearing the noise generally increases when you but a load on it i.e. the left side when cornering right.
I have a 2009 GWM 2.2i petrol driven double cab. it has done 23000 km and is driven only by myself and is well cared for. I have a problem with the engine overheating. under nornal conditions there is no problem except that the overflow to the overflow tank does not all return to the radiator. Recently on a trip the temp started to rise qnd eventually boil, it was a cool morning and the road flat. The temp gauge would rise to boiling and return to normal in about 30 seconds I have had to vehicle into the agents but could find no faults. The fan resistor appears to have failed as sealing compound has melted out.Replaced fan unit with resistor but resistor still gets very hot. Cannot touch it. Have replaced thermostat and radiator cap. Any suggestions. Read more
Check your coolant is the correct mixture strength as it raises the boiling point . If you have been topping up with plain water because of loss it may be weak. I have had an engine with a weak mixture boil before the thermostat had chance to open.
Sumpnut
hi just bought a vectra c 2.0 dti on a 53 plate and when i accelarated through the gears there was a lot of brown / grey smoke and could hardly see bhind me also bfore this i have put £10 of diesel in and am only getting 50 miles for it , i know this is not good , hope somebody can help thanks Read more
Glow plugs shouldn't be operational with air temperatures above 10 centigrade. They cycle off under heavy load anyway. Certainly shouldn't affect fuel economy. If it's smoking under load and hard to start, then the fuel rail pressure is definitely suspect. I would suggest changing the fuel filter and checking to see if there's any gunk in the fuel pump inlet.
You need a hell of a pressure drop across an air filter to cause problems. The air filter seldom clogs up to such an extent that it seriously impedes air flow-in spite of what K 'n' Chav salesmen might say. Never traced a fault back to an air filter yet.
Hi folks, my tub of P21s polish is almost finished, (great polish) but it's now up to £40 a small tub !!! It's good but not that good. Done some searching in t'internet and there are some recipies. Looking at the P21 it's a mixture of carnauba wax and beeswax. Both are very hard waxes, but the shop bought is a very soft wax, I think there is some Lanoilin in there to soften it. The recipies on line mostly mention a mixture or carnauba and beeswax with the addition of proper turpentine. Anyone tried this? Anyone got any ideas? I feel some experiments on me. The waxes aren't that expensive to buy, the trick will be in the percentages of mixtures.
I have used "Pledge" on large areas of GRP for a short lived but dramatic improvement. Part of the bovine excrement that was expected of us :(
I had previously scoured websites to understand how many other VW owners had a similar issue - the ESP light on the dashboard illuminated and would not go off was the symptom. After research it appeared to be a common fault with VW's between the age of 2004-2008 mainly.
So I took it to my local garage (non-VW dealer) and they ran diagnostics which showed a 'brake pressure sensor' error. They told me this meant the ABS pump was faulty and the cost (wait for it) would be in the region of £1400-£1700. Now that is big money for something that technically should not fail, although having looked around it appears hundred of these ABS units do fail. My next steps should give hope to anyone who has currently got this problem - I hope it helps!... Read more
No need to apologise. We are all on here to get common issues sorted out by hook or by crook, sorry , by car dealer (ooh! b****y!)
Your comments are welcomed, and I agree with you, maybe the time has come for me to broaden my car manufacture horizons to lands further afield. The Golf could well be on borrowed time in any case....
Hey people, The subject is based on what I and old posts seem to describe the noise as but all the posts seem old and unanswered so i've brought it up not only because my car is doing it but to try solve it too.
Anyway, my screeching seems to kick in at around 60 (but not always) and once it has done it, it may happen at as low as 33 (so far). It makes motorway driving hell as its a horrible noise and makes me paranoid lol. I've taken it to my usual garage, but typically it didn't make the noise for him and he hit 70.... Read more
did you ever figure this out?? my daughter has the same screeching noise at over 50mph on her 206; 1.9 diesel - and she's at the point of insanity with mechanics who keep telling her they can't find a problem.
four mechanics in three garages have looked at it, and it's been in the garage for two days now and we've been told again that they can't find anything wrong. we've told them to keep the car until they find something, and have mentioned some of the things that we've found on the web from this and other websites - it is obviously a problem that you, and a number of other people have described in detail and it sounds like the same problem. ...
I’d like some advice on the “real world” expected fuel consumption of semi automatic cars, when operating as automatics.
I need to give a bit of background first, so please bear with me.... Read more
The term semi-automatic has traditionally been used to mean a manual car with an automatic clutch (whether torque converter or centrifugal.) I think the OP is referring to robotised manuals which are more fuel efficient than traditional autos. Of course all cars that are sold as automatics are not forced to hold certain gears during the fuel consumption tests as not all cars had this facility, so the official MPG figures for autos are (often wildly) optimistic, during particular test conditions, the auto will be allowed to slip into top and cruise whilst the equivalent manual will be force to scream along in third. The ignorant press of course often spout nonsense such as “the automatic BMW is now more fuel efficient than the manual” which it is not. Time we updated the way cars are tested for fuel efficiency.
Hi - my daughter's car has no power - central lockiing does not work, no lights on dashboard and engine will not turn over. Tried to jump start it and nothing happened - also tried to charge the battery, but the charger says the battery is fully charged. We obviously can't get it to a garage for a mechanic to take a look - any ideas?? Read more
Sand Paper is a big No No. The grains of sand get embedded in the lead terminal and reduce the contact area. Use a peice of Scotchbright.
OP, do you have a meter to measure the battery voltage and other tests....
I have recently bought this ford focus and there seem to be a couple of problems.
1 - Creaks when moving slowly and turning - im assuming it is the sway bar links?... Read more
Thanks ddr
Im not sure what you mean by disconnecting the MAF will verify?
The plan is to take off that hose and seal the split whilst I try to find a replacement. While im at it, im going to have a look for other splits because I wouldnt have thought that split I found would produce the hissing air leak sound?
Ive checked the air filter and gave it a clean but it will need replacing. had a look at the valve but it all looked fairly clean, I did however notice a split in the intake pipe whilst I know this will need replacing Ive tempoarilly attacked it with duct tape and it seems to have made a difference, Ive only run it for 15 miles but the smoke and misfire have both gone. ill run it for longer tomorrow and see how it goes.