February 2012
The trite advice habitually dispensed by the IAM was thoroughly lampooned on Top Gear tonight. It seems that it's not just on HJ that the organisation is regarded as fair game for ridicule! Read more
I have a hilux surf and auto box runs using dexron 111 oil.Now because its my everyday car for work and towing trailers and a large caravan around europe,.I would like to know weather replacing the dexron 111 gearbox oil with the synthetic castrol z oil is possible.Would i have to have the box completley flushed before changing the oil,or can i just drain the old oil out of the gearbox sump and refill with castrol.As i know some dex 111 oil would still be in the tourque converter,would this matter.I would like to do this because the surf is clocking up around 15ooo miles of towing plus all the weekend run around stuff, and i think the old girl deserves the best oil to keep her going.i,ve had the surf for 4 years and 73,000 miles and never missed a beat.She,s got 169000 miles under her bonnet and still going strong,i just think if there are better oils on the market the surf deserves it.can anybody give me an answer.cheers
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Yes i do mean castrol transmax z. Thanks for the advice.I just wan,t to look after the surf because some of the people i work with spend fortunes on keeping their modern vehicles going.And i can,t think of anything worse than spending my hard earnd cash on keeping a new vehicle on the road.I was only thinking if there is a better modern oil available i would use it. i guess i will stick with the genuine toyota oil i use.thanks for your time.
I've just updated my TomTom maps and an alert flashed up that all devices that warn of (fixed or mobile) speed traps in France are now illegal, as of 1st January 2012. TomTom suggests removing all SatNav radar warnings for France and will not update this information in future, but offers to provide warning of "danger zones" if possible in the future (some would argue that the whole country is a "danger zone"!)
Anecdotal evidence of les flics reveals that the police rigurously enforce speed limits and show no mercy. They are known to have forcibly removed warning devices, confiscating and actually destroying them on the spot. This in addition to marching offending drivers to a cashpoint to collect a fine on the spot and well known accounts of instant magistrate court appearances at the roadside and instant jail sentences in the most extreme cases.... Read more
Most people here are just ignoring all this BS and it will probably go away if Sarko doesn't get elected president in March and gets his old job back as the car park attendant at the Elysee palace.
On verrá!...
Afternoon all,
I have a quick query regarding coolant. My level's very low, in fact it doesn't even reach the resevoir. I know that mixing coolants can be serious and cause quick corrosion, so what would be the best course of action. I have some Bluecol Universal but really don't want to make matters worse. I won't be able to drain / flush until later in the week and even then I'm not sure what to do!
Thanks for your help.
Dabooka Read more
What does the little green indicator on the battery tell me? According to the label, green means it's charged.
However, for the past few weeks the car has been turning over a bit slowly in the mornings. The colder it's been, the slower it turns. The car has always started very easily, firing up after only a second or so and it hasn't let us down - yet! Today I got the multimeter out. 12.2v first thing before I tried starting it (the car is garaged, the temp was about 10 degrees C) and 14.15v once it was going. This dropped to 13.98v with headlights, front fogs and HRW on, so the alternator is working. The earth is OK too with no resistance between the earth terminal and body or engine. Cranking for 15 - 20 secs got the volts dropping to just over 9v and you could hear the battery starting to die. So I'm thinking the battery is on the way out. It's seven years old so it is about that time.
The thing is, throughout all of the above, the little indicator has shown green - "Charge OK". What makes the indicator work? Is it measuring the specific gravity and if so, does that not drop as quickly as the volts? Read more
I would say you need a new battery, It can still be fully charged but be low on capacity, your charging system sounds healthy enough.
Is anyone familier with the dangerous hesitancy of the vw dsg gearbox when entering road junctions or roundabouts? If so does anyone know if this problem can be sorted out electronicaly. By that I mean reprograming via the ecu.
Any help with this would be appreciated.... Read more
'''You'd think they would test them properly before putting them on sale, rather than getting the customers to do their research for them, the hard way.'''
No need, they are behind the golden badge whether it be a circle with the letters inside or the 4 circles doesn't matter in the least, the holy grail for those who need a badge....
Ive had this problem for ages now but just as im messing around with our cars im trying to get to the bottom of the problem.
I fitted a in tank lift pump a while ago after a catestrophic fail and its been great.... Read more
Hi all,
my problem is this:
The CD player of the radio works fine, but
as soon as I start the engine and put the sound louder, then the sound disappears.
Turn it on to radio mode, the sound comes back.
I turn the engine off, the sound works consistently.
Is the cdr 500 broken?... Read more
Have you tried the Vauxhall-only forum in this link?
hi hope someone can help. i have had my vectra 1.8 2001 model for about a year and had no problems untill now. i used the car around 3 weeks ago and it just cut out at traffic lights it would not start for 10 mins with the light with spanner flashing then it would start and run for 2 mins then run on 3 cylinders then cut out again, it did this 3 times then run fine for a couple of weeks then did the same again, very random, i have replaced the ecu and the coil pack. i have gone out today to use the car and it wont start at all and the light with spanner and the light with the engine on it are flashing rapidly. could it be the airflow sensor? i just dont want to keep throwin money at the wrong things. hope you understand what i have put.
many thanx john. Read more
I removed the rear seats (Top seats) of the volvo and disconected the 2 wires of the SRS .
Now the dash computer has an issue with that, is there any way I can stoped this as i want to leave the seats out permently. Read more
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Theres a moral to that story....