May 2012
I think this must have been covered before BUT I am really annoyed ! Driving towards Westerham Kent today a couple of miles of fast B road had been tarred and chipped. Of course there were the 20 mph signs - really work for lorries,vans and company vehicles ! WHY don't they sweep the road afterwards and recover tons of chippings to re-use ? It was so dusty with chippings flying everywhere I could hardly see where I was going + my windscreen survived by luck only. Read more
The other day the front window mechanism failed. I went to close the window and there was a terrible crunching and grinding, culminating in the window glass falling back into the door panel and becoming inoperable. It would seem that the regulator and possibly the motor has failed. Has anyone experienced this problem and what did it cost to resolve? If I attempted to replace the components myself what would be the pifalls and how difficult would the job be? I am put off trying at the moment because from past experience, there are lots of fragile plastic fixings and things which could break when endeavouring to get the door panel off and these aren't easy to obtain.Does anyone have any views on this? Read more
You need to strip the door down and see whats at fault, plenty of repair kits on ebay so it must be a common problem the cost seems to vary from around 29ukp to 150 dependant on what parts are required.
Hello, after a little advice and input.... Read more
If you need a big 4 x 4 wagon, the Honda CRV is a good bet: plenty around and available with petrol or diesel engines.
You could also think about a Skoda Octavia Scout, which will be much more like a normal car to drive once you're off the farm track. Look for the newer 2.0 litre common-rail diesel or the 1.9 TDI, avoiding the old 2.0 PD....
I see in the motoring media that on French roads we must now carry breathalisers. Where might we buy them from?
Has anything else been introduced recently to trap the unwary?... Read more
You can buy from a myriad of outlets and there are many suppliers of the recommended product on Ebay at around 5ukp thats were I bought mine.
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After five years trouble free use, a (hopefully) relatively minor electrical issue has now arisen; the rear doors cannot be opened from the inside - both can be opened from the outside. I assume this is an electrical fault, not a mechanical one, as it affects both rear doors. Front doors OK. I have scanned the manual and tried various on/off combinations with the central locking switch, but nothing has helped so far. Everything else seems to work. Any ideas/suggestions recieved with thanks.
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Red face time, you got it Julian, many thanks.
I really should've sussed that one myself, but the car's been so 110% reliable that even after 5 years I still don't really know it in detail.
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Hi,
I have had a problem with my 2007 mazda3 air conditioning since last summer. Basically the compressor seems to be engaging and disengaging all the time but it gets disengaged for a very long time when the weather gets hot e.g. during summer days. I asked the mazda dealer to check the AC when I took it for a comprehensive service. They didn't have a clue (yes supposed to be mazda specialist!! and for the money that they charged me for the service to say that oh we put thermometer in the car and didn't find any fault, is just outragous. As a result I never go back there again for anything and i do not recommend them to anyone. I also took my car to a centre in Guildford where they supposedly do performance test as part of their AC service.... Read more
What you need is an A/C specialist, garages just know how to add gas
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I have a Peugeot 206 1.4hdi van 2005. When i pull up and put the van into neutral there is a spinning noise that is coming from the gearbox. If i put my foot on the clutch and then release the noisre goes away. Does this sound like the clutch release bearing has gone? Read more
Sounds as though its noisey, not necessaraly gone. If it doesn't affect the way it drives I wouldn't worry about it, the gearbox will have to come out to check it or change it.
Please help.... I have a vw sharan 1.9 tdi 2006 Ive been told that i have seized my engine. My engine code is BVK. Ive looked high and low trying to find one but not muck luck as the engine BVK is the latest. Ive noticed that AJM and AUY codes seem to have the same layout / kp / hp, But unsure if they will slot into my Automatic Sharan. My old engine has served me proud covering a whopping 184k. The car is still mint thoughout and would be a shame to let die. Please any advise would be great. Read more
About 8 years ago I got some excellent advice from you people here in the Back Room Technical forum about what small automatic car to buy. Having had a Clio autobox fail on my, I bought a Polo on your advice and it did sterling service.
Now I'm looking to buy another small/medium size automatic (about 3 years old) and I'd really appreciate your views again on the reliability of auto gearboxes. I'm currently considering a Skoda Fabia or a Ford Fusion - are there issues with either of these? (I think the Fusion has a proper torque converter but not sure about the Fabia, which is tiptronic) Are there other cars of a similar size I might consider? (I've ruled out the Jazz, which I know is well loved but I found the rear visibility awful!)... Read more
Sorry to resurrect thiis folks but the road i first complained about 3 weeks ago is still best avoided because of flying chippings. Today the 70mph dual carrigeway A22 north of junction 6 M25 is being chipped - what next the M25 ??? !!! Not everyone agreed with me last time but I still think this is crazy.