June 2011
Hello.
Back in September, I regretfully agreed to keep my previous motor (ford focus 03) for my niece to purchase when she passed her test; An event I was assured would take 'a few weeks'. Fast forward till now and the car is still sitting on my driveway, SORN'ed and 3 Months past MOT.
I have been starting it up every few days as advised by a friend to keep the battery working, however as it has been without tax or insurance I have not moved the car.
As it is now more than obvious that my niece will not be taking the car off my hands anytime soon, I have resolved myself to cut my losses and sell it.
Today I tried to reverse it down the drive a touch and into a position more suitable for a good clean-out and the thing wouldn't budge. It all starts up ok, so I assume that there is some issue with the brakes being 'stuck'.
Does anyone have any advice as to the best course of action, ideally one that wouldn't cost as much as I am likely to get for the car (81.3k miles).
I know this is pretty much a 'how long is a piece of string' type question, but any advice would be most appreciated.
Thanks in advance. Read more
My brother in law asked me for help with his 1999 Peugeot roof problem as I know marginally more about cars than he does! Alas he lives 200 miles away as well.
The roof mechanism died half way down and has not worked again. Fortunately it closed again manually. I did a fair bit of research on the internet and discovered just how complicated these things are with pumps, hydraulic rams, sensors and circuit boards.... Read more
www.honestjohn.co.uk/news/legal--motoring-advice/2.../
You must now keep your vehicle continuously insured.... Read more
I used to insure my classic car all year. One fire - uninsured- and you are much poorer.
False economy in my view.
I would just like to express my extreme dislike at that b***** Nissan Cashcow advert that comes up on this site. The number of times it has opened Nissan's website even though I don't think I clicked on it is getting ridiculous. Scrolly-out adverts are evil and must be stopped!!!!!!!
Rant over. Read more
I still like the old whistling ad. Forgotten the tune again tho
offered the chance to change my alloys from 225/40zr/18's to jaguar spec 245/45zr/17. Concerned over the additional width more than anything else as the actual circumference difference is within the accepted tolerance of +-2.5%. Additionally I take it that my insurance firm will also have a fit ?! Read more
I don't know very much about changing your alloys but I do have a mate whose insurance company refused to pay out after he totalled his car, as he had swapped his wheels out (he had a Mondeo ST220 but I shouldn't think it makes much difference what the car is).
It might be worth asking this question in the legal section here too.
Hi,
I've just purchased a 3 yr old 1.8 TDCi ford focus from a main dealer. On getting it home I realised it was leaking diesel all over my driveway. A quick trip back to the dealer and they identified that one of the injector pipes had come loose and they reattached it.... Read more
After 37000 miles, mostly motorway, ENGINE SYSTEM FAILURE warning was displayed accompanied with a loss of engine power. Recycling the ignition temporarily cleared the fault and restored the power. A visit to the Ford Main dealer cost me nearly £500 for a diagnostic (£200) and a new EGR Valve. Now after a further 19000 miles the same symptoms have occurred. Not wishing to pay £200 for the diagnosis, I had already bought an OBDII reader. It confirmed EGR problems. I removed the valve myself hoping to clean it out and save myself £500. On dismantling the valve I found that the two roller bearing races in the operating mechanism had completely disintegrated. Should a new EGR valve last longer than 19000 miles? Read more
£300 to fit a new one sounds like a rip off. A new one for my Jag 2.2 diesel was about £100 and took about 20 minutes to fit - my first one lasted about 23,000 miles. Knowing the trips I was doing would cause problems again I sold it and went back to a petrol.
For the inconvenience caused when they do go (limp mode etc) it's almost worth treating them as a service item and fitting a new one every couple of years to prevent problems....
1995 Citroen Xantia 1.9TD SX. I don't think it is hydroactive but perhaps someone would know?
I have read the threads but no one seems to have experianced my problem. I know about hard suspension but mine does the usual thing when depressing the wings, goes down about 3 inches and returns with only one small overbounce but, on the road, is very bouncy but a soft bounce or perhaps call it a wallow. I have had a GSA, several BX's and a CX but none behaved like this. Any ideas? ... Read more
If it's bouncy over bumps then the spheres need recharging or replacing, eventually your spring medium (nitrogen) leaks past the membrane and escapes into the atmosphere via the LHM tank. Replacement is very straight-forward, depresurise the system screw off old spheres with a strap wrench, screw new ones on, start the car - done - about 10 mins and £40 per corner although the rears are harder to get to but it's the fronts that are probably gone. Try replacing the springs and dampers on a conventional car so quickly and cheaply!
Would be grateful for some advice regarding wheel balancing. Just bought some tyres off the internet & got some prices to have all four tyres fitted at local garages. The best price I was given, the guy told me it included balancing the front wheels, am now just wondering should all four wheels be balanced when 4 new tyres are fitted or only neccessary for front wheels? The car is a 2003 Peugeot 406. Thanks in advance.
What if you decide to swap the fronts and rears?
Hi,
When I start the engine on the rev counter goes up to 2.5 instead of the usual just below 1. When driving, when I go into neutral it goes up over three on the counter. ... Read more
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Wiki, for once, is spot on:
"Although drum brakes are often the better choice for rear brake applications in all but the highest performance applications, vehicle manufactures are increasingly installing disc brake system at the rear wheels. This is due to the popularity rise of disc brakes after the introduction front ventilated disc brakes. Front ventilated disc brakes performed much better than the front drum brakes they replaced. The difference in front drum and disc brake performance caused car buyers to purchase cars that also had rear disc brakes. Additionally rear disc brakes are often associated with high performance race cars which has increase their popularity in street cars. Rear disc brakes in most applications are not ventilated and offer no performance advantage over drum brakes. Even when rear discs are ventilated, it is likely that the rear brakes will never benefit from the ventilation unless subjected to very high performance racing style driving."...