August 2011
Hi All,
I have a late 2010 Mazda 2, 1.6 diesel sport. After 8 months I've decided I realy don't like the way this car feels or drives. I've been making enquiries at various garages about a Ford Fiesta,Ttitanium. I took one out for a test drive and loved how it felt and handled.... Read more
The cam belt failed two weeks agoon our car when we were on our way back to the ferry in france -towed on and off and back home. The car, a citroen c4 grand picasso had only done 30000 miles and has a full service history, bought from citroen dealer at 2 years old. The car has been sitting in a citroen service centre since then whilst we negociate with the garage and citroen who asked us to pay for an "investigation" to be conducted on the car. The mechanic sent citroen the findings two days ago; Citroen then asked for photos and based on these ignored the findings of the investigation (that the belt should not have failed) and told us they would not be paying anything towards the repairs as a water pump had been fitted at 18000 miles and this could potentially have caused the belt to fray - this was very unclear and we asked for a written response and copies of the photos. The mechanic was somewhat dubious about this explanatoina and suggested that the belt would have broken earlier if the fault was with the pump. The pump was incidentally fitted by citroen before we bought the car. We have had to ok the work priced at £2400 as we need a car and the garage have said they will have to start charging for it being on the ramp. JUst wondering if you have any advice? Read more
Hi, just wondering how you got on in the end with Citroen. My grand C4 picasso is in a Citroen garage at the moment. I only went in as it had overheated twice and now they have said I need the head gasket replacing, the water pump and the cam belt, as well as all the extra's that go with that (including 10 hours labour). They say it will be £1500.
I am seeking some advice on whether its better to buy a petrol Octavia over a diesel. My main worry with the diesel is the usual dpf, dmf and injector problems. I do about 40k a year and get paid 20p a mile fuel plus a monthly payment. I can't afford the new CR diesel and so it would be a PD if I bought one.
Any advice would be appreciated. Read more
Oops - forgot to look at the date of original post!
At least the Hyundai comes with a 5 year warranty....
Hi. I bought my Celica around 3 months ago. It's a 1999 gen7 on a "v" plate and has done 90K miles.... Read more
Could one of the hoses be partly blocked ? Sometimes the inner lining can separate from the fabric reinforcement and form a restriction.
Hi, i've just joined and looking for some help:
We are looking at replacing our Focus St170 with a Grand Vitara 1.9ddis. The focus has done 58k and essentially been reliable although its still suffered with the usual issues for this model. We still love the car and i'm a die hard Ford fan but economically its no longer making sense with its general niggles and big bills looming such as the dmf and clutch. It doesn't really fit our lifestyle either now the kids are growing up - we regularly go to country shows and walk/cycle/camp - usually using our second car, my Jimny especially to tow a trailer with the bikes in as its just more suitable for rough fields and car parks but we're at our absolute maximum with 4 of us in it. ... Read more
>>The focus has done 58k and essentially been reliable although its still suffered with the usual issues for this model. We still love the car and i'm a die hard Ford fan but economically its no longer making sense with its general niggles and big bills looming such as the dmf and clutch.
Please give us more details, so no-one here buys it!...
The Central locking on the above car has packed in, I have checked all the fuses and they are all fine, The boot release bottom on the dashboard doe's not work either. any idea's as to if it electrical problem or any advise would be wecomed. Thanks Paul Read more
Hi, can you tell me the exact location for that central locking relay?
...
In my perpetually restless state of mind I am really considering the possibility of buying a 4 year old diesel Audi/BMW with around 60k on the clock. Both are one owner cars, tidy with full dealer service history but I have previously only ever bought low mileage cars.
The dealers party line is that '60k is nothing on one of these' but it's not just the engine is it? Alternator, suspension, clutch etc etc all accrue a mileage 'life' as well.... Read more
I have a friend who is a car dealer, owns a pitch with about 60 cars at any one time. He now never buys diesels over 3 years or 80k and they must have FSH, he generally found that faults with diesels outside of this was killing his profit.
Vectra's are pretty solid cars imo, I had a 3.0 V6 diesel Sri and it was one of the only cars I kept for over 3 years, had it remapped to 220 bhp and it just purred. The Mazda 6 I had was good but got rid as got bored, mondeo before interior was just falling to bits and just isn't as well put together as Mazda/vectra. Now have Ovtavia Vrs and that just puts the rest to shame with the solid/quality comparison of the interior etc.
Hi
Apologise my first post is to ask for help.
My Wife’s beetle has been smoking from the exhaust for a while now, not all the time but when in slow moving traffic or low in gear. Big puffs of blue spoke that really stinks, so I took it to a mechanic ( a new local one) who thought that the wrong oil had been put into the car when the last service was completed - I've had to top the oil up twice now since that service in February!
The Mechanic flushed the oil and replaced the oil filter and topped up with the correct oil. He phone my wife and told her to collect the car when she arrived the car was still smoking really bad so the mechanic put the car on the diagnostic machine and it retuned and error code which related to the spark plugs so he replaced the spark plugs and said that there was oil in the spark plugs and he thought that the engine seal had broken. The mechanic said the car needed and engine rebuild at a cost of £600 - £700! But he wasn’t sure this was the problem although he did consult 4 other mechanics close by and they all agreed it was the engine seal. I think he was referring to the piston seal? he said one of the 3 seals that keeps the oil seperate from another part of the engine could have blow due to the wrong oil being used or the engine being over filled with oil.
The engine management light does come on every now and then but normally goes off. This light first come on after my last mechanic who I now know to be a compete Muppet serviced the car and changed the timing belt and tension kit - on doing this he left the wires to the injection system touching the engine and they melted. This was the first time the engine management light had come on.
He repaired the wires but the light still come on every now.
Do i really need and engine rebuild?
1.6 beetle
year 2001 Read more
So did you get to the bottom of this matter with your engine as I have a similar problem with my 1.6 beetle ,which has just had the valve stem seals done and is still smoking even though I was told the the rings were ok as they put thin oil on top of the pistons when it was apart and no oil passed the rings ....
Hello i hope someone can help, My central locking has developed a fault it locks then unlocks using the remote & the key all the doors are shut at the time. Has any one got any ideas? thanks Read more
Ok i will give that a go. Many thanks
Hello all
I have a 2006 ford focus 1.8 tdci, just recently the air con has stopped working.
i took it to a garage to have it re gassed and was told gas levels were ok.
Since then i have checked fuses all ok, Relay is energising, high and low pressure switchs are ok but the compressor isnt kicking in.
Yesterday disconnenected the Compressor plug and accross the 2 Pins i have 14v.
What are the two pins i tested is one a earth for the compressor? is there a separate earth that could be bad, im lost, would like it to be something else other then the compressor
many thanks
Read more
Smads. Just to advise you that a voltmeter measures potential difference and not presence of current. Checking voltage at the plug with it disconnected merely proves that as in this case there is a difference of 14 volts between the two points. It does NOT prove that current can flow, and so this is not a reliable test. A voltmeter is an excellent diagnostic tool for finding circuit faults, but checks must be done under load. Re-connect the plug and check again, especially if the coil resistance is good as you say it is. You may find that you may not have 14 volts at all with the plug connected, and so you may have a poor connection in the supply cable or a poor earth connection. Use your voltmeter to check each in turn.....
Browse
I've tried one of those Fiestas (work hired it for me) - I hammered it to Sellafield and I had it up to...a fair lick...on the M6 back down into Lancashire. They've got some serious go! It was a petrol model and, importantly, it had comfy seats for the long journey. it was utterly useless up big hills though. I have a Mazda, for which I traded in a Ford, and the only thing I'd exchange would be the Ford gearbox; I do miss it.