June 2011
are these gearbox's reliable? i have read a few horror stories about them, i am looking at getting a 1.6 vvt easytronic but not sure about a semi automatic,i have only driven manual boxes and will probably never use the auto part, does the gearbox need regular maintanence and is it a diy job as i like to do all the routine servicing myself.
I have a 52 plate Boxster 3.2s with 45k on the clock, i have owned it for 3 years, but do less tha 6k a year and by no means 'thrash' it! I started it and noticed that the radiator was blowing cold air, even when on hot. Stopping the car and checking the resevoir I noticed it was very low on water and under a lot of pressure. Took the car to my local garage and they said they'd look at it. about 3 weeks later I got a phone call saying the head gasket had gone, which I was expecting, but was surprised given the mileage of the engine.
We discussed costs and the way ahead and was told that they could replace the gaskets and do some engine work which would fix the problem for £2000. I agreed but stated that this was the upper limit of my budget and not to conduct any work above this. Eventually they phoned back saying that they were rebuilding the car and it should be ready at the end of the week. By this point it has been in the garage for nearly 3 months, the mechanic who was a specialist on these engines was away/sick a lot, and as they were supposedly doing the work cheaply, I didnt hassle, but did chase up each week, and tell them it was starting to get slightly ridiculous!
So went in to collect my car, only to find the engine on pieces on the workshop floor. Speaking to the garage they told me that the head gasket replacement hadnt fixed the problem and that they suspect it is something deeper in the engine. They gave a number of options such as continuing to investigate or replacing the engine for a reconditioned one (their preferred option). They quoted me £3500 for another engine with a 2 year warranty on it, they couldnt quote me for the investigative work as they didnt know how long it would take.... Given their speedy work so far, I would like to have the car back before its an antique!
So should I go for the reconditioned engine? Does that seem a reasonable price? They are expecting me to pay the original bill on top, is this reasonable considering they didnt fix what they told me was the problem?
Any advice would be gratefully received as im unfortunatly not made of money and starting to panic!! Read more
Do you have the original quote in writing? If not, there's probably not a lot you can do, try calling trading standards & a proper Porsche garage for a reconditioned engine quote to compare.
I know this is of no use to you but you should have gone to a branded porsche dealer in the first place. Anything complicated/expensive should not be put in the hands of people that take 3 months to diagnose the wrong fault. They may be lying to you and there's been nothing serious wrong with the car all along....
Hi, i bought a 1998 106 1.1 for a cheap run around a couple of weeks ago. it's got 83000 on the clock and got full service history. the problem i've got is that i noticed a creamy brown sludge in the radiator cap and the odd bit floating on the top. the lady we bought it off had the head gasket replaced and cylinder head skimmed at 78000 (2 years ago) and i have the paper work for this. the car doesn't seem to overheat and the heater works fine. there is no mayo on the oil cap or dipstick. i took the radiator cap off and started the car and the coolant level raised up but didn't bubble. the bottle does look very dirty on the inside, but i put that down to the previous blown head gasket. to add to this there is a oil leak and it's all over the sump. is it possible the head gasket could have blown again or could the sludge be from the previous hgf and they never flushed the system out properly. not too worried about the oil leak for now cos i done a 50mile trip and had no oil drips in my parking space after. if anyone could help, i would be very grateful Read more
unthrottled- i may try that.
Hi, im a member of various forums to which this is posted and im still having no luck
about 2 months ago now my cam belt went on me as i was pulling out of a junction.
i bought a new belt kit got the cam to tdc and the crank, fitted the belt and would not start, run or idle
so i bought a new head off of ebay and fitted it new headgasket and proceeded to time it up as normal, managed to get it to run using the throttle but still would not idle and the timing was out as it was backfiring up the intake, numerous days and hours spent adjusting timing and still no improvement
i went back to my old head, stripped it and to my astonishment none of my valves were bent, so i cleaned the head up and the valves, reseated them into the head and put everything back together.
another headgasket went on, got the head back on and it still does not want to know.
iv been shown various diagrams on the timing, firstly my cam sprocket is marked up with a blue notch with O and T either side which is ligning up with same thing on the rocker cover
the crank however does not have a notch on it so im using the markings inside the bellhousing, im using the small punch mark to the right of the diamond 6o BTDC mark.
as for my aux shaft sprocket, this is exactly the same as the cam sprocket, same O T marking and a small punch mark.
All your help would be great as i really needed my car back on the road 7 weeks ago
its a 1993 mk3 golf gti 2e engine code Read more
cheers for the reply, yeah iv been keeping the rotar lined with that notch, iv just got to wait for my neighbour to get home so i can use his car to jump mine
i know that the compression was sweet as a nut because i ran one of them tests too...
I've got a 57-reg BMW 520d SE. It came with a "service inclusive" package so I've been getting it serviced for free by a main dealer, but once I've done 60,000 miles (currently on 55,000) I'm going to have to pay.
While I've been happy with the work done by the main dealer, they are rather expensive - £175 for an oil change. An Independent Specialist would be a lot cheaper, but are there any disadvantages? Will it make any difference to the price I'll get when I sell the car (I expect to keep it for at least 2 more years). Read more
What I would do is when a service is due if you have a few main dealer options locally shop around to get the best price (even main dealer prices vary a lot).
Then when the car is having its service and you get the inevitable call that the brake discs and pads need replacing then get these (and any other extras) done elsewhere....
Can anyone please help several months ago the unblock diesel filter warning came on followed by anti pollution fault resulting in the car going into 3000 rpm limp mode. I have checked that there is fuel additive still in its tank and also removed the particulate filter and checked it's condition which was quite clean I also have a reciept for this being changed 10000 miles ago. The strange thing is if I unplug the maf meter it still says anti pollution fault but no unblock diesel filter and also does not go into limp. I have had the fault codes read with a Bosch scanner at a local garage and this gave particulate filter as fault but I am reculctant to replace it as I don't think this is the problem due to it's condition, age and the fact that it works fine with the maf meter disconnected. Please help as I am pulling out my hair with this one and I want to change the car. Read more
Get the fault codes and place them on here ASAP..
Looking for small car - ultra light steering [these days, electrically assisted I believe] is a must for arthritic wrists. On a recent Fiat 500 testdrive, the 'city' steering bowled the missus over... Also needs to be an efficient auto-box.
Question is what others have similarly light steering, other than the 500, Panda? Honda Jazz, others?... Read more
Citreon C1. [Toyota. ] Different badge, super lite steering, gears and clucth with very good brakes! I can assure u its one of the lightest cars to drive as suffering from rhumtoid arthritus and PMR any effort using my shoukders is painfull but can drive C1 all day. Great fun nippy and very frugal. Typical japanesse with light touch controls
Several companies, such as dpfcleaning.co.uk and turnerautomotive.co.uk advertise on their websites that they can offer a more effective, cheaper and more long lasting method of cleaning out choked diesel particulate filters.
Does anyone have any experience of these methods? Are they effective and "safe" for the engine? Does the clear out last longer than the method usually used by main dealers?... Read more
Definately no need to remove particulate filter for cleaning go into www.tunap.com have used this on a few occasions Check it out Regards Mickeybo
I am hoping that someone could give me some guidance, I have noticed that when I try to acclerate, when the car gets to 3000 rpm, it starts to struggle to get past 3000 rpm, it is as though the car is not getting enough fuel.
Sometimes, when I try to put my foot down on the accelarator pedal there is what I would describe as a dead spot, when I release it slightly it starts to accelerate again.... Read more
The dual mass flywheel on my Shogun has failed. Would anyone recommend replacing it with a solid flywheel conversion ? Apparently the kits are supplied with an Exedy clutch plate equipped with larger springs to replacing the dampening effect of the DMF. Read more
DMF has lasted 112,000 miles. The car has been carefully driven BUT has towed a horse trailer. On balance it has lasted well and l think your advice is sound !! If the engine or gearbox failed the car would be scrap.
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All very fascinating, but it doesn't alter the fact that it is a conventional manual gearbox which uses electronic actuators to operate the clutch and to change gear. As I said earlier, all the more to go wrong. I have worked on and driven a few of these, and personally I wouldn't have one if I was given it.....