July 2011
Hi,
I have a 2004 micra (petrol) I just bought and I have noticed that when I start it from cold it idles erratic but is fine once it warms up, and also I noticed engine light in the dash which had the error code: P0340.
If I delete the error code once the car is warm it does not seem to come back on
I looked through the service history and in 2009 it was recommended to change the throttle body and boost sensor for the problem of "erratic idle from cold"... Read more
When driving at motorway speeds of 70-75mph the temperature gauge goes right up into to red. When you back off down to 50-60 mph, it falls back to about the 2/3rds point.
The header tank is up to the max mark with coolant, and it does not appear to lose any fluid. It does not appear to overheat when sitting in traffic, so it seems puzzling. I thought it normally gets cooler at speed due to increase airflow?... Read more
After spending £350 with hitherto reliable and very well respected indepedant garage, including changing water pump, radiator and various thermostats to no avail. I was resigned to scrapping the car and getting something else. However, as financial pressures made this difficult I resolved to give it one last try, and took it to a Ford Service Centre .
They identified 4 faults, and fixed them. The car now runs perfectly....
I fancy a cheap car for going to the shops, local runs etc. Now, it must be fun to drive but doesn't have to be a sporty car but just handle well. I'm not bothered abour reliabilty record as I know at this price anything could go wrong. One other thing, economy could do with being about 40 plus to the gallon.
... Read more
I know the OP is ages ago, but just for the hell of it for me I'd be looking at the Suzuki Ignis 1.5 for that kind of money.
Buttons to buy, buttons to run, easy to mantain and fix, and great fun!
Car is :- MAzda 6 TS2 diesel 143 2006 @ 66,000 miles
My engine oil light keeps flickering on and off at low speeds like a ticking noise coming from the engine. I have being told that the big ends bottoms need fully replacing that has what Mazda have said to me.... Read more
Does the car even have a DPF if it's a 2006 engine? I guess it probably does because the earlier diesel was 136PS?
The problems normally associated with DPF problems on a Mazda is oil level rising due to diesel diluting the oil. The oil is spec'd to cope with this if you use the correct oil. But things can be wrong if the oil gets too high....
Hi, What is the forums advice about buying a used car of the type with a folding metal roof.
I am looking at early examples of the latest C70 (if you follow), since they are getting to be quite reasonably priced. But nervous of the roof mechanism being faulty
How can you check? sure you can take it for a test drive, but what are the signs the roof might leak. Wind noise? If it is raining you could feel around for water coming in, but if dry would you think it reasonable to ask the seller if you could put it through a carwash?
HJ review of the C70 says the mechanism is very very complicated and likely to go wrong, but then again reviews of the far simpler VW Eos, say that it is almost impossible to get one where the roof doesn't leak so a simpler mechanism seems no better.
Now that the C70 folding roof has been out a while, what is the experience of the industry on them.... Read more
Thanks SFD
I still love the XJS, and err between wanting to change it and absolutely NOT! NEVER!
right now it is on EBAY and a couple of other sites tentatively, at top dollar, no rush to sell, and won't do so for anything other than the right price,
A folding tin top would be top of the list, since it would IMMEDIATELY stop the grumbling from some around me and providing it seats 4, and goes well, should still put a smile on my face.
Contact me privately if you want an update on the XJS story, I am not putting much up on forums these days about it....
Im really frustrated that I cant put my finger on a strange noise my car makes.
Its very hard to describe but its like a high pitched whining or whistling noise.
This happens when crusing at any speed when the revs are constant, but doesnt happen all the time. If im driving and dip the clutch it will disapear but it doesnt sound like driveshafts or wheel bearings more like an airflow type problem
It can be quite loud and very annoying. The car runs fine with no loss of power. The turbo seems fine.
Im just wondering what possible causes there may be? I did have a leak on the inlet manifold a while ago but that was fixed. Any help will be appreciated to get rid of this. Im sorry this is a very poor description, if I could get an accurate sound recording on here I would.
Many thanks
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Apart from fit the mod and try it, not that I know of.
Please can someone advise as to the problem I have with my Vito van, the van has been working perfect until today when the ignition key stopes working. When I try to turn the key it will not move, the key is the new type electronic one.
I have a spare key but it has the same problem.
I have been told it could need a new ignition and I have also been told it is a problem with the steering lock unit, because the steering lock is off.
Can someone recommend an independent Mercedes specialist or mobile auto electrician in the north west, nearer to Warrington the better
Cheers Rennie
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Hi, could someone help me with unscrambling the car allowance Vs company car debate!. Heres my situation.
My salary is 50k and I currently opt for a car allowance of 5k, get a monthly travel allowance for petrol of £230 gross paid into my salary and claim the tax relief on an annual basis on business mileage approx £1500 per annum.... Read more
Hello Sequin123, at 23K miles per annum you can claim £7750 in mileage. Also your tax code would be 747. It is a no brainer. Keep out of the company scheme. If you have paid for the car, keep it a further couple of years to build up some cash. You can average £645 per month in mileage and all you need do is service once a year, put in the diesel and possibly replace a couple of tyres. Factor in tax and insurance and if you have a decent motor it should not cost you more then £320 per month. You do not need to be a genius to work out you are over £300 per month better off. Stick that into a regular savings account with the best rate of interest you can find and watch it grow. I opted out as soon as I could. My car is now 6 and has 128K and goes like a dream. The garage tell me it should do starship mileage if I look after it. It was paid for years ago and is now a cash cow. Also my income tax is less beacuse of I enjoy the full tax code. When the car gives up, then I start all over again. Think about it. Good luck. Concrete
Hi to all, I'm at my wits end - I've got a 2002 Peugeot Expert van, and it's not playing ball.
It drives sweet as a nut, and in my line of work, it's regularly left running for 8 -10 hours at a time, which it's fine with, but when used on a motorway run it's blowing it's coolant out of the expansion bottle over the course of the journey. There's no sign of the van running hot, it's had it's thermostat replaced as a precaution, it's had the bottle cap replaced twice (second one stopped holding a vaccum within a day). ... Read more
Typical head gasket symptoms I'm afraid. If its done over 150k miles its a strong possibility. Driving it gently sometimes doesn't produce enough pressure to expel the coolant but as soon as you boot it the internal pressure increases dramatically and you start loosing water.
If its not to bad you can sometimes improve it by leaving the filler cap loose so that pressure doesn't build up but that also has the effect of lowering the boiling point so you can't thrash it....
Hi, my car was overheating and I took it to the garage and they found some major problem (with head gasket) with it. They charged me £1365 (including all other parts normally replaced when head gasket is replaced and labour. warranty company agreed to pay only £450 for head gasket alone ). I paid it and took the car from the garage in the morning and in the night I got the engine warning lights in my car again. I was planning to take it back to the garage next day morning. but my car was stolen in the night and recovered in the morning and I took it back to the garage again. Now they think something else is also wrong with my car (engine block). They thought the problem was with head gasket which they had replaced and thought the problem will go away after that and didn’t check if something else is also wrong (I am not sure if they have actually test driven my car). When I ask them, they are saying no garage strips the whole engine down to see if there are any other problems, because it costs them lot of money. Now I am not sure whether the garage is at fault or not and what options do I have to solve this problem. If I go to warranty company again, I am not sure what they are going to say. I have a maximum limit on the warranty pay, so I will have to shell out even more if I decide to go ahead with this repair. I can make a complaint about the garage (for that I need to check if they are at fault), but I don’t want to get into a lengthy legal battle if there is an easier alternate solution. Is it not possible to check what the problems are before carrying out the repair? is it a trail and error method? like fix something, drive and if it problem occurs again, check it again. surely there must be a better way to diagnose the problem? This issue is causing lot of stress to me, Please help. Thanks in advance. Read more
finally some good news for me after a long stressful time. they found something wrong with the "heat exchanger" which they replaced with a second hand part (they warned me new one costs £200) and also they charged me £50 extra for that (so luckily no problem with engine block which would have cost me lot more). in total they took three weeks to fix the overheating problem (replacement of head gasket, other parts and now the heat exchanger). I collected my car now. when I told them to absorb the cost of this part since they charged me main dealer price, they were very angry saying main dealer price would be much more than that and said they spent a long time diagnosing the fault and had to use the service of some engineering firm few times which cost them a lot and said they did me a favour by not charging more this time. but they said its all fixed now and the problem shouldn't come again and can drive long distances without worrying about breakdown. Thanks a lot for all your replies
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The reason for thinking the thottle body was when looking through the service the nissan dealer recommended changing the thottle body back in 2009 for a similar if not the same problem.
What should I do?