December 2011
Recently, the engine management light illuminated on the dash, and upon checking the car I found that the coolant tank had lost a lot of its liquid and there were some crusty bits of coolant found at the bottom where the hose was. Engine oil was all fine, there was no white stuff in the engine oil and the car drove with no problems.
Took it into the garage and they confirmed it was a problem with the tank as it had a small crack in the bottom. I asked about the engine management light and they said the 'overheating sensor' has been set off will need to be replaced.... Read more
As the wiper blades on my Astra H estate are getting noisier, I made some enquiries regarding replacements. They seemed to vary from around £30 a pair to the £41 asked by my local vauxhall main dealer - a bit steep, I thought, for a couple of glorified strips of rubber.
I came across 'ALCA super-flat wiper blades' on e-bay for £16.99 a pair, and wonder if anyone has any experience of them - I'd never heard of them before. Do they do the job, are they easy to fit etc? Any comments will be gratefully received.... Read more
I bought some from here www.carcare4me.co.uk and got to say there just as good as the Bosch ones that I usually buy at a cheaper price, bargain!
I have had a Octavia Diesel since February 2010. It is now beginning to have a rumbling gearbox, but it has always had a tendency to have a stutter on the power delivery, and tends to lose power slightly intermittently (as if the brakes have been lightly applied), and fuel consumption has gradually dropped.
I was thinking of removing the DPF and turning off the pressure sensors etc. Anyone any experience of this, and the supply of a DPF "can" so I can refit the original if necessary.
Would it still pass the MOT with the DPF removed? Read more
time but you will without doubt invalidate the warranty
Yes as soon as you interfere with the ECM, the manufacturer can duck out of any engine, clutch, or grearbox claim....
Hoping someone here can help. I had a new flywheel and clutch in my VW Golf Plus (55 plate) just over 12 months ago at 40k miles. The work was done at the main dealer and cost over £1k. I am now having problems with reverse gear - every time I reverse the gear slips out, particularly noticeable on any slight incline but happening more and more.
I have booked the car in and the main dealer said that if it's a problem related to the flywheel replacement then I don't have to pay the inspection fee and if it's non-related I do. The advice I'm after is basically this - can anyone with a more mechanical mind than I have (not hard!) make a guess at whether this can be anything but a related problem?... Read more
It is a gear linkage problem that they did not get right or have come loose since they re-fitted the gear box. Regards Peter
When i am slowing down and lighty press the brake pedal i was hearing a grinding noise at first but know its started to make a knocking noise. It only happens when at around 10MPH. The front brakes and pads have been recently changed. Anyone any ideas? Read more
What was the diagnosis of this problem?
The same thing is happening to my brothers car and it is proving dificult to diagnose. ...
Never any problems, now suddenly occasionally won't start, but left for a few minutes will. It's in the garage so not exceptionally cold or damp.
Battery's ok, fuel pump's pumping I can hear it. The engine management light stays on then the "Stop " light flashes, other electrics work.... Read more
New starter motor has cured it. £80 off ebay including postage. I took the old one apart, the motor looks ok so I guess the solenoid's had it. Annoying that they're not available separately.
I have read a few reports of rainwater and road spray entering the air intake and wetting the air filter on a Fiat Panda. Mine is a multi-jet diesel 2007. The air inlet is behind the radiator grill to the right of the nearside headlight. The entrance is protected only by the perforated rad grill so inevitably rain and spray enter. WORSE. If the car is parked 'looking uphill', rain water runs down the bonnet and drips into the air intake. WORSE STILL, there is a raised bar running horizontally across the radiator grill - if the car is parked looking uphill, snow, sleet, hail and ice will collect on and above the bar and on the grill. When the accumulation melts, the melt***er runs straight into the air intake, thence to the air filter and air filter box and from there to the engine - potentially disastrous. ALWAYS PARK ON THE FLAT. ANtone know of a modification - a few simple ideas come to mind - to solve this problem. Car retrurns 66 mpg+ with single occupant, driven carefully and in neutral wherever possible Read more
Get yourself an electric 500e. None of these water issues. Mines been just superb for coming up to four years now. Make a cracking used car for someone.
Hi,
I got a Nissan micra 53 which only has 40000 miles. Recently, I found the gears (1st, 2nd and 3rd) were hard to change when I started the car, sometimes the reversal gear too. But, this situation became better once I drove for a while. I was woundering the fluid has some problems. My car are normally parked outside during the cold night so that I would guess the fluid becomes thick and thin once the car has been warmed up.... Read more
I would have the gearbox oil changed for a synthetic oil. I have dione this hundreds of times for customers where gear change is difficult cold. Its a great cure and make gear changing much smoother.
You say reverse is difficult sometimes, does it crunch ? if so its a clutch related issue.If reverse wont select but doesnt crunch just let the cluctch up and back down again to spin the gears up in the box as reverse doesnt have a synchro and sometimes the gears just butt up head on hence the difficulty....
Having agonised over a new (2nd hand new that is) car for a few months I have to make a choice this week betrween a 59 plate Focus 1.8 TDci and a 58 plate Volvo S40 2.0D S.
I like the way they both drive, the Focus probably having the edge in terms of excitement (let's face it you'd never call a Volvo exciting would you?) but the S40 feels like a solid motor that you could run forever. Both have approx 28k miles and are immaculate.... Read more
Had two focus's from new
1.8TDCi paid £1952 repair bill for fault garage were NEVER able to find sold car back to Ford dealer who sold it to auctio...
The engine on my 2002 espace 2.2dci started misfiring and engine become very noisy. The knocking noise is very loud and there is a complete loss of power. Took it to a local garage who looked at it but couldn't resolve problem. Took it to Renault who looked at it and couldnt diagnose problem.(fleeced me out of nearly £400) Want a further 10hrs labour to remove head and inspect it. Told them not to bother and drove it home. Engine still starts fine doesn't seem to misfire now but is noisy and low on power. On journey home on 2 occasions the engine note changed significantly and car took off. However on both occasions the the heart beat signal came on immediately and engine reverted back to same problem. Any ideas. Had can from new fully serviced and only 68k miles. Seems a shame that we should scrap car. Rest of car in tip top condition Read more
Spoke to a very helpful Renault technician today. He spent the best part of 9hours inspecting the car and stripping bits off it. The computer check revealed no faults, there are no rubber flap valves in the manifold like some. The egr valve is in working condition. The big ends are fine and there is no play in the crank. I think there are some thrust washers? Bearings?in the bottom end. He said there is some sort of butter fly style valve in the head that can sometimes jam but you need to take the injectors off and the rocker cover off to get near it. He said that the next step in his investigation was to remove the head to carry out the investigation further. By the way he also said the timing was ok. He also said that the fault did not sound anything like it being the harmonic Crank Balancer
Sounds to me that I'm going have to remove the injectors and start the process of removing the head
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I did have a full service done on the car at the same time when I took the car in, so I would have thought if there was any more damage they would have noticed when they changed the spark plugs?