January 2012
I bought the car 2nd hand in February 2011. In the last few months the car hesitates with increased revs on pulling off then suddenly lurches forward, hesitates reversing, doesn't switch well between reverse and drive, changes gear at high revs (60mph still in 3rd gear). Found out today (by chance) about the old recall regarding coolant getting in the gear box; a Vauxhall garage confirmed that my car went in for the recall work in 2009 but chap commented that they would not know exactly what work was done, ie was radiator changed etc. Is it possible that when the radiator seals were done in 2009, the damage was already done and water had already got into the gearbox? Is there anyway of proving this and getting anything from Vauxhall towards new gearbox that is now needed?
When last serviced the mechanic mentioned there was swarf in the fluid, which I have since been told could be a result of coolant boiling, condensing into waater and then rusting the gearbox - is this true/possible??... Read more
I bought my Jaguar at the end of July of 2011 for £6000.00 with an advertised 89k on the clock. I mentioned to the dealer that it actually had nearly 92k on it but they just shrugged it off. I did buy the car though as it was what i wanted spec wise.
After having the car for about 3 - 4 weeks i had to take it to the garage because of a rear flat tyre. They replaced the tyre but said my front passenger tyre was illegal. I got the mechanic to speak to the dealer who asked me to bring the car back. My mechanic said he could replace the tyre as i could not drive the car as it was illegal and that i should bill the dealer for the £50 it cost for a good part worn tyre replaced.... Read more
Having owned an X type I can offer some advice.
I WOULD NOT buy injectors from ebay. You are best buying brand new injectors from either Ford or Jaguar. When I though i needed some, I could get brand new ones (not reconditioned) for £180 each plus vat....
My Stability Control Warning light and Message display Is illuminated . In the past switching off & on the ignition has cleared the problem but not this time. Does this suggest an ECU or ABS module fault and will it be an expensive repair given the age of the car? Does this come within the current MOT scope or will it when changes happen in April? Regards G.S. Read more
My rear parking sensors have recently started playing up. Initially they would work when I first started up but would fail once I had driven a mile or two. Now all they do is emit a constant tone (as if I was close to an obstruction) as soon as reverse is engaged. Can anyone (a) advise me what could be wrong, and (b) where to find the main unit for this equipment? Read more
Obvious possibility, which produces these symptoms.
One or more of the actual sensors may have become dislodged inside the bumper. The sensor then "sees" the inside of the bumper and reports an obstruction a couple of centimeters away. Voila, continuous tone....
The batteries in this car go flat after some weeks non-use. Next time I leave it, I intend to attach a trickle charger. Do I need to disconnect any leads? Do I connect across both batteries or just one? Read more
You won't do any harm by connecting a trickle charger while the battery is in circuit, I would assume that if it has two batteries they are connected in parallel so connecting to one will charge both.
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My VW Golf has an intermittent demister failure. It will run fine for a while, then the fans shut down and you hear something closing within the dash. When the fans are set to recirc the air everything works fine. However to confuse things when you switch on the front windscreen washers the demister starts working again for a short period of time. Read more
My son's VW Passat starts and will run (not smoothly though). When driving it has a tendency to cut out. Our mechanic put it on his computer and said that there were so many fault codes that it is not worth fixing. He mentioned things like crankshaft sensor.
I'm a disbelieving Thomas and was wondering if I purchase one of the Ross-Tech kits will this help me to properly diagnose what's wrong?... Read more
Two observations:
Sack your "mechanic"....
Hello All,
Due to a change in jobs my commute is a short 12 mile round trip each day. My car is an Audi A3 2.0 Tdi 170PS and I am worried that I'm killing it. Winter mornings and evenings mean a heavy load on the battery etc. but I'm more concerned about the long term damage this is causing. I try to take the car on a longer run at the weekends or indeed a little bit of Italian tune up by revving the car quite highly once towards the end of the commute.
Up for any suggestions - many thanks
P Read more
If you shut down an oil cooled turbo immediately after a sustained hard run, you will coke the bearings. Most turbos are now water cooled, and diesels run such low EGTs at idle that this is not really a concern any longer. By the time you've come off the main road and manoeuvred into a parking space, the turbo will be cool enough.
The seven-car shortlist for the Car of the Year competition has been revealed.
The finalists are the Citroen DS5, Fiat Panda, VW Up, Range Rover Evoque, Ford Focus, Toyota Yaris and Vauxhall Ampera.... Read more
The criteria is "The 59 members of the Car of the Year Jury all test cars as part of their journalistic work. In selecting the car of the year they use the following criteria: design, comfort, safety, economy, handling, performance, functionality, environmental requirements, driver satisfaction, and price. Technical innovation and value for money are particularly important factors."
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Browse
Is the micra the later shape model?
I had one about two years ago with a similar problem.
It was a design problem with the timing chain that allowed the chain to stretch,slightly, it caused the timing to go out.when the engine cooled the car would run ok for a couple of miles,then struggle again.apparently the chain can jump the cam sprocket and smash the engine in extreme circumstances.
Just like a snapped cam belt.
I sold mine through a local auction.
Regards
Tony g