I'd appreciate a quick bit of advice here; I've a distinct feeling of having been encouraged into unnecessary repairs, but don't know enough to be sure and don't want to needlessly think bad of the garage.

My Rover 25 recently failed the mot on handbrake efficiency.

My view is that the first step to fix this is to adjust the handbrake - on the basis that if the car passed the footbrake tests the pads/discs are probably ok.

Instead, I'm told 'Might be pads, discs, calipers...'

So, I ask them to have a look.
'Needs new rear pads, these are glazed and crumbly' says the bloke in the overalls.
'Hhhmmm... whatever, do it' says me - wanting to get home.

I know that the rear brakes had been binding and gotten hot - a problem I'd had fixed (elsewhere) a few weeks ago by a calliper strip/lube, and since then the handbrake has been excellent.

And yes, on inspection, the pads are indeed glazed and crumbly (around the edge) but have plenty of depth - so I'm mystified why that'd affect the handbrake test. Surely it'd also affect the rear-wheel braking?

Having fitted new pads, the bloke in the overalls then adjusts the cable. 'Why didn't he just do that first?' thinks me.

Am I simply being unduly cynical?

Other than that, the service was ok. I didn't want a fuss, and I don't know enough to be certain. But right now, I'm not so likely to return - which may be unfair on them, and hence I'd like to be sure.

Yes, the pads were less than brilliant and would have needed changing at some point - it's simply that I'm unsure the work was necessary right now and I could have done without the extra £80 expense. Read more

Hello can anyone tell me what mileage they get to a tank in there mondeo when I fill up the computer says approx 440 miles. If I reset the mpg reading and take it easy then I average 38 - 40 mpg. My mate has a Audi and when he fills up the tank range is 700 miles plus I'm lucky to get 400 miles from a tank. The general journeys are stop and start 10 mile here or there. On a long journey I can average 50 mpg. Based on fords figures even at 35 mpg I should get approx 531 to a tank. The car is serviced new fuel and air filters only one I have not done is pollen filter car has only 43k on 56 plate tyre pressures ok also. Any suggestions greatful. Read more

hi, I have a 1.6 zetec se which has done 52,000 miles. It has recently developed a nagging problem. I'm a big fan of free wheeling and it used to free wheel at 800rpm, it now free wheels at just over 2000rpm, I can pull over and they will slowly fall back to just over 1000rpm, I can go on again, put it in neutral and the revs will be back up to 2000 or just over.

If you turn the engine off and on a few times sometimes this will sometimes correct the problem and in neutral the revs will go back to 800 or if you leave the car ticking over long enough, say 15mins this will also sometimes clear the problem,

I put my diagnostic tool on it, no dtc faults were detected however on the onboard monitor test, number $56 the status was fail, with other readings of ID = 00, MOD = $10, MEAS = C77, MAX = 7D0 and MIN = ---. Any ideas what this might mean ?

I took the idle control valve off and gave it a good clean in petrol, I had a spare throttle position sensor, tried that and it still behaved the same. I tried disconnecting the battery overnight for the computer to remap etc, no good.

When the revs do come right the best I can describe it is as a quick gurgly noise from somewhere in the engine bay.

Has anyone got any ideas what might be causing the revs to stick and I'm pretty sure it is not a sticking throttle cable.


Thanks,


Jon

Camelford,Cornwall Read more

Just had to replace the front tyres on the Golf, for the second time at 49k miles.

The tyres coming off were bald on the inside edges, but had about 2 mm on the outside.... Read more

Our car was recently "rear ended" sitting at a roundabount. The car went in for repair and as soon as we got it back we noticed the door open waring light, beeper and interior light would come on whenever we reversed or turned round corners. The car has been returned to the repairers who cannot find the fault. It was then taken to the local Vauxhall dealership who seem to now think the problem is related to the EMU unit in the front of the car. Their view is that as such they don't think it is related to the crash. The repairers have now washed their hands of it and say its up to us to pay the £600 to get it fixed.

I cannot accept that this is pure coincidence and believe something must have happened during the repair process or the initial crash to bring about this fault.

Has anyone experienced this type of problem before and do they have any advice on what options are open to me. I have flagged it to my insurance company who are investigating but I fear they are going to fall on the Vauxhall view of things.

Any help greatly appreciated. Read more