July 2012
I have a renualt Laguna estate, 2.2 dci diesel on a 52 plate.
£ weeks ago i put about a gallon of petrol into a half full tank of diesel. I did';t start the car and it was pushed round to a garage who emptied the tank by removing the pump from the tank.
£ weeks on from that it has started with a light puff of smoke. Now, suddenly, it plumes out masses of smoke. I mean it will fill the street. Yesterday I was looking at it with my brother who suggested keeping at arounfd1500 revs for a bit. Suddenly the revs took off, I took my foot off immediately, revs still climbing to about 3500 so stopped the engine with the on/off button. Lots of soot on the floor at the exhaust. the EGR valve was changed a 3 months ago and oil checked about 3 weeks ago. Any ideas as to what it could be? Read more
As a cheap and cheerful runabout bought used? My inclination is to go for the Yaris as it has a chain cam but I could be persuaded otherwise. Did also consider a Fiat Panda but they look even flimsier than these two. Any thoughts? Read more
Ka's are for girls, Yarisses are for their ugly, but older and wiser sisters.
Fiat Pandas are for Gay Men, as are Smart Cars....
Hi all I hope somebody can give me some advice.
My Corsa has been running terribly recently. No power when accelerating, EML coming on and car juddering when going 25mph+, trouble starting, starting then stalling, lurching forward and slowing down when accelerating. It hasnt been fun.... Read more
New throttle body fixed the problem :D
Good evening all,
The wife came home this afternoon and got me to look at her 02 Plate Fiesta (1.3l Duratec). She said she could see some steam (not much) coming from under the bonnet. She had just driven 2 miles accross Stafford.
After popping the bonnet up I could see a little steam coming out. Upon further inspection I could see a rough bulge on the side of the coolant tank, and then when I peered at the back of the tank I could see a very slight crack where the coolant was coming out (all be it very very slowly).
Is it a straightforward case of getting a new coolant tank or is the fact that there was a small amount of steam coming from the radiator be a worry also ? Dare I say head gasket ??? :(
Many thanks in advance
Richard Read more
Not quite the end of the story....wife still had some steam coming from the radiator. Upon heavy duty investigation it turned out to be a tiny hole in the pipe to the rad. Fortunately it was right by the connection so it was a straightforward cut and refit of the pipe......
My 2006 Mazda 6 MPS has performed flawlessly for 3 years, but 2 weeks ago when I started up it made a terrible noise for a few seconds after start-up. Since then it's again been fine.
This morning I drove for 2 minutes, and then I was unable to change from 3rd to 4th gear. I stopped the car and found that I couldn't move the gearstick at all. At this point, the car stalled.
I re-started and all was again fine.
Does this ring any bells with you, I'm concerned that something terrible is about to happen! Read more
IIRC, gearbox was about £500, clutch was £200 and labour £300, all + VAT.
Basically, the car was sat in the garage without a gearbox by this stage so I didn't have a lot of choice ! ...
Hi,
Just a few quick questions regarding the late model Mitsubishi Lancers. I am thinking specifically about the 1.8MIVEC engine.
1) Can anyone confirm that these are built in Japan, rather than Europe?
2) I believe that this engine is chain-cam. Can anyone confirm? (Mitsu recommend interim oil changes at 6k -- this is a pretty good indicator of a chain).
3) Do these cars have dual-mass flywheels?
If the answers to these questions are all as I'm hoping, I may well acquire one of these. Yes I know they aren't the most interesting cars in the world but they're as good, if not better to drive than the newer Focuses are, and if the technology is basic I'm hoping that the Japanese build should ensure 5-6 good years out of a 3-year-old without the car costing a fortune. Read more
Mazda 6, if you're after a petrol ;-)
Hi all, this is my firsth post on here and I apologise if it's been asked before, but I had a quick seearch and could find any relevant topics.
I have just recently been looking at a 2010 Mondeo 1.8 TDCI that is ex-rental (Enterprise Rent a Car). It already has 53,000 miles on the clock, but after a quick test drive it seems to run exactly as I would expect (as a current mondeo owner). Here's the thing though, it is advertised as CRO only ('computer read-out' apparently), so all they could show me was a list of dates and mileage of supposed service intervals, without actually telling me anything else such as the kind of service or who carried out the service.... Read more
Two years old and 50k plus miles. Are you sure it's ex rental? Do Enterprise do leasing as well?
Seems very high. I've had plenty of ex-rentals, and the highest miles on one was 17k. 16k/8 months seems to be the limit.
I have a three year old Focus (1.8 TDCi 135k) which a mechanic noticed has a serious rust problem on the sump pan. Said he'd never seen it on a car only 3 years old, it's high mileage but it has a panel underneath so the sump should be protected.
The rust is quite deep not just on the surface, I have been scraping it off somewhat nervously.... I know its not that expensive for a new one but surely this shouldn't happen on a 3 year old car? Anyone seen a similar problem? I might go back to the dealer who did the last service in January (major one at 125k) and ask why they didn't spot it... Read more
Sumps are like exhausts. They only corrode if they don't get hot. Alloy sumps can be a pain because people virtually always over-tighten the plug because they've frightened of it working loose.Tight steel nut in alloy thread either results in galling.
Try driving the car a bit harder or buy a car with an engine appropriately sized to your needs and the corrosion will cease.
I've seen on some LR forums about many people blanking of the egr with a plate/kit and was wondering what the implications of this are ?
Possible MOT emissions failure ?
Apparently, improved performance can be gained.
Anyone got any experience ?
Thanks........ebt Read more
These egr valves also aid the engine temp to stay in limits by reusing the burnt gases again these are alot cooler second time in I believe you also need it programming after blanking there's a place near me that does the computer bit I've blanked a few never had. Complaint but if it was mine if my valve wen wrong I'd replace it not blank it
This car frustrates. It will run for 3 weeks with no problem, then all of a sudden it has this issue. It will initially start to choke whilst driving along, which is the sign of things to come. It will then rev itself to high revs, then low, then high, then it will stop completely. The next stage is that you then cannot start the engine again - it will just turn over as if you have run out of fuel. Call the AA, wait 20 mins, by the time they arrive, it will start again and then drive perfectly fine to another 3 weeks or so. In reality, the not starting issues are random and can happen any time, but usually a few weeks apart. It will usually start from cold, but after a short drive of say 8 miles, if you switch off, then go to start, it will also have this problem. Has happened in the petrol station a couple of times, whereby it wont start after you have filled up. On every occasion that someone wil expertise has turned up, it always starts. - So frustrating. I will add the technical bit after this. Read more
On the older Clio the most common fault is either crank sensor, coolant sensor or wiring loom over near side suspension strut.
The coolant sensor goes to either approx -10 or plus 133 degrees due to water ingress into the sensor ! It will NOT flag as a fault so can only be detected by live data readings. If the crank sensor does not work the fuel pump won't run.
Whe wiring loom corrodes where it runs over the near side struts and causes intermittent running issues.
Coolant sensor is the most common and will cause it to not start and make the idle speed erratic.
Browse
had diesel specialist check my laguna 2.2dci and they said there is major engine work needed like oil gettin past rings to explain oil blow out.but how come it drives so well.twice now when accelerating to motorway speeds injection fault is displayed then lose bit of power.but on normal a roads up to 60 its fine.turbo seems to kick in and acceration ok.i have a rocker gasket and 2nd hand inlet manifold to try as its top of engine where oil leaks.people on here have had gasket go and manifold warp or crack.just worried that injectors have to come out and they can get stuck in head.anyone have tool to borrow or advice please?sam in chester.