July 2012

Question Vauxhall Combo 1.3 cdti - Vauxhall 1.3cdti limp mode

muckerbarnes1 on 4 July 2012

Van 2008 42K combo 1.3cdti now goes into limp mode after falshing lights on the dash.It is fine up to 2800rpm and very little beyond. At 2800 once the turbo speeds up it jerks almost like a tap on the brakes and will not pull or rev above. Power is well down until I stop, restart, and it's back to normal.It was intermittent, now it is permanent. I can hear the turbo whine a nd pick up like normal, but I think under load and acceleration it makes more noise just before it cuts to limp. It also has a flat spot at 1700 rpm. I can play the throttle and make it stutter when in gear at these revs. Above and below it's fine. Read more

Ash D on 19 June 2013

easy fix your joking arnt you hahaa wouldnt have a clue but thanks anyway ill try and pay some one to do that for me

Forum Mobile Safety Camera Van - Measured distance

autumnboy on 18 July 2012

Any idea's of what distance a Mobile safety camera van on the road side starts to measure your speed and over what distance to get a reading on an open roadway from a lay-by.

I saw one approx. half to three quarter of a mile away, at the time I saw van I was doing 53mph (digital) on a 50mph limit dual carriageway. When using SatNav my speed is always approx. 2mph faster than SatNav showing.... Read more

1litregolfeater on 9 August 2012

So what country are you from.

Question 2005 Ford Fiesta 1.4 petrol - 2005 fiesta 1.4 Duratec timing belt

ib33 on 30 July 2012

Hi,

I am wanting to change the timing belt on my wife's Fiesta. Bought the Haynes manual and now have a few questions if anyone else has done one of these belts on the 1.4 duratec petrol I would be grateful for your advice.... Read more

ib33 on 30 July 2012

Thanks for all the comments and I agree with what you have to say.

I am reluctant to accept that I cannot do this job but due to time constraints and my gut feeling that something might go wrong and cause damage that would easily cost much more that getting a garage to do this job....

Forum Peugeot 3008 1.6THP - Broken down again, 4 times in 17 months, what now?

guygamps on 18 July 2012

Bought the in Feb 2011 car as a 1 year old from a main Peugeot dealer in Coventry, drove it abot 8000 miles 2011 to 2012, and about another 4000 miles since, 22000 on the clock

A few weeks after buying it, car lost power and "anti pollution system failure" message showed. it was repaired under warranty by local Peugeot dealer in Hatfield

Then a few months later car was loosing power off and on, feeling sluggish, and after a few weeks of this again "anti pollution system failure" message showed, this time we were told it was a faulty timing chain, and again fixed under warranty in Hatfield

Car ran OK for about 6 months, then in June it broke down again, sudden loss of power, car went in to limp home mode a "anti pollution system failure" message showed. This time told it was bad spark plug in Cylinder 4, causing a misfire. Car repaired under warranty again (though I had to pay £50 for a set of plugs).

Now less than 3 weeks later, same thing has happened, driving home (55 miles to go down the M1), just before the M1, power lost, limp home mode, and "anti pollution system failure" message showed.

Waiting for Puegeot Assist breakdown to come out to me.

I have had the car 17months, it has broken down 4 times, it is barely run it (22000 miles) and has never been reliable.

Apart from selling it quickly after this next repair, any suggestions?

guygamps on 24 February 2013

As the original poster, I was interested today to spot some posts on this thread long time after I stopped posting.

To recap, our errant Pug 3008 was replaced thanks to a very fair offer (close to the retail value not trade in value) providing we stayed within the PSA group, since Mrs G and I had good experience of Mitsubishi previously we got a C Crosser, since it is shares large amounts of Mitsubishi DNA!

the C Crosser is excellent, drvies and handles sublimely for a car its size and wieght, we both like manual cars that "engage" you, and the C Crosser does just that, the gear change is lovely and precise, so is the steering, there is non of the vagueness of our Mitsubishi Grandis (which we had before the Pug 3008), and all the driving experience is very very good, the practicality and build quality are good too, easier to get the main passenger seats folded away than on the Grandis. 6/7 seats are an afterthought, but we don't really need them... mind you they have prooved useful twice already on journeys that otherwise would have needed 2 cars...

Forum Cars with seats higher from the ground

writersblock on 19 July 2012

We have friends who have problems with mobility and they want to buy a car with seats which are higher than normal. They do not ant to have to 'drop' down onto the seat and nor do they want to have to struggle up from a low seat.

Has anyone any suggestions as to suitable 4 door mid price cars ?... Read more

TeeCee on 23 July 2012

I see a lot of older people driving the Nissan Juke. Presumably for comfort/ease of access rather than aesthetic reasons?

I have to say that I found the idea of someone possibly driving a Juke for aesthetic reasons somewhat amusing.

Even Ssangyong designers look at those and wonder what Nissan's lads were smoking......

Forum Volvo S40 - Sign of impending clutch failure?

Dingle232 on 2 July 2012

This morning I started my 2.0D S40 from cold and let the clutch up and heard a very unfamiliar grating sound for the first time. It was like a low rumble that disappeared when it was fully engaged and didn't reappear once I had done a few miles.

Same thing happened again this evening after work. With my very limited knowledge I suspect that this may be the first sign of the clutch beginning to go? I bought the car in Feb with 49k on the clock and it now has 54k so I have no idea whether the previous owner was a clutch killer or not.... Read more

John F on 15 July 2012

Good point, John F. Many years ago SWMBO had a lovely old Triumph 1300 ........

Forum CAT C AND D SALVAGE EXPLAINED

PETER 4768 on 29 July 2012

VEHICLE INSURANCE CATEGORIES EXPLAINED
I have read with interest many peoples interpretation of category C and D accident damaged vehicles and to be honest 95% of the information I have seen is incorrect, to say the least.
Most people tend to believe that the category has something to do with the damage, i have seen on many forums that cat C vehicles have substantial chassis or structural damage or that cat D are lightly damaged and easily repairable. Categories have nothing to do with the damage sustained in an accident, as can be seen below A.B.I categories are only interested in the cost of repair. This can be clearly illustrated by a quick browse of salvage websites generally the older the car the more likely it is to be a cat C.
Take for instance a £50,000, 6 month old BMW. The vehicle has been involved in an accident and has a repair bill of £25,000, insurance companies never normally repair vehicles with such extensive damage and as a rule will write the vehicle off and sell it on as cat d salvage. Firstly consider how badly damaged the vehicle must be to have such a high repair bill. Now think of the same car but when its 4 years old, the Pre Accident Value will be less than the repair bill, the price of the parts to repair or labor rate will not have dropped because the car is older. The same vehicle with the same damage will now be a cat C , make the same vehicle 6 years old and the insurance company will only sell it for parts, cat B. A ten year old, run of the mill car with a scraped bumper and broken headlight will be a cat C.

Another common misconception surrounding damaged cars," Insurance companies don't write a car off with hardly any damage?" Sometimes they do, why, its all about money? A desirable model car will have a very high salvage value, insurance companies no longer rely on percentage of the p.a.v. to assess a salvage value, they look what previous salvage vehicles of the same type have made at there online auctions and take this into account when deciding which is the way they lose the least amount of money. A 3 year old mini cooper convertible, with a £3000 repair bill and a P.A.V. of £8000 as a cat D would likely make £5500. the Insurance company have saved £500 and probably another whack on courtesy cars etc. Most repairs bills are made up of the cost of the parts new, replace new with used and you have a very easily repairable vehicle.
The best thing to do in all circumstances is to ignore categories and go with an independent inspection,or an MOT contrary to popular belief a badly repaired car will fail the mot as any visible chassis damage is a failure. Another cheap option is a four wheel alignment check carried out at any good tyre centre. If possible ask to see photos of the vehicle pre repair, most salvage now comes direct from insurance websites so photos should be easily available CATEGORY C IS DEFINED BY THE A.B.I. ( ASSOCIATION OF BRITISH INSURERS) AS
"REPAIRABLE total loss vehicles where repair costs including VAT exceed the vehicle’s pre-accident value" CATEGORY D IS DEFINED BY THE A.B.I. ( ASSOCIATION OF BRITISH INSURERS) AS
"REPAIRABLE total loss vehicles where repair costs including VAT do not exceed the vehicle’s P.A.V."