January 2013
Hi
I recently broke down due to power failure in the car. The AA mechanic suspected the brushes in my alternator had gone. I have had a brand new alternator and battery fitted. Last night whilst driving home, the car started to show signs of power failure again. My wiper blades slowed down, headlights dimmed and the radio switched off.
What other issues can cause power failure as I am confident it is neither the alternator or the battery.
A friend of mine says that I may have a problem with the Earth wire?... Read more
I am going to be trying to sort my other half a replacement car over the next couple of days, really the one make I have never spent much time under or mending is Vauxhall because literally nobody here that I deal with owns one! In this case though, specifically Vectra...I have been offered a really nice looking 2005 2.2 SRi with 75k miles I think on it...
I have heard nasty things about timing chains on the 2.2 snapping very early, and general problems with the EPAS etc, I dont mind an older car having the occasional blip of misbehaving, but the reason I have never owned and dont really work on Vauxhalls is because my opinion of them has been very low! This car is cheap enough it doesnt matter to a huge degree but if its going to end up at the side of motorways, I will avoid.... Read more
Well interestingly the insurance is cheaper than a Vectra or Mondeo 1.8 for us which is why we even considered it in the first place!
Thanks for the advice, and frankly thats what I assumed was going to be said, a Vectra wasnt ever on my shopping list but it was temptingly cheap...
Hello all newbie here.
I have just picked up a nice little 2011 Citroen c3 1.6 auto exclusive ,stolen recovered which was cat d and had a small bit of n/s front wing damage. Citroen have three year warranty and according to their website the warranty is transferable.
It's the cat d bit that I am not sure about, would they still transfer it?.
The other problem is because it come salvage we don't have any of the bits that come with it, like handbook service book warranty, we can't even get the wheels of as we don't have the lock nut key.
I have sent a letter to the previous owner asking if they still have any paperwork, but haven't heard back from them yet. Regards Gary
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Why do you not ask Citroen then you will have a correct answer instead of summises.
The wheel lock key and the missing books are all available at Citroen or on Ebay.
ride was bouncy'changed lhm oil'all6 spheres'rear hight corrector and ride is still hard'noway near as used to be,need help'can it be front height corector or main pump'main regulator or something else'car rise and suspension are soft as i pressing down from each corner' Read more
hello'havent got sport mode'its normal 6sphere model'hydroactive model'what do u recon on westeroin spheres'i bought mine from aep direct.how do i know if front height corrector is sticky or faulty'would that couse bumpy ride.i know and tested it does take bit longer for front to rise from min level setings'cheers
Garage equipment says possible carburation fault but none found. Llight goes out when reset but come back on at start up after several weeks reset again same result. Suggestion that sensors in exhaust system may be cause. Any ideas? Would specialist tuning help. Engine will not pull below 1750 rpm even in first and heavy use of right foot causes stall. very erratic.
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My wife's Golf has suffered "judder" in low gear ratios from
the day she bought it in June 2009. The vehicle was an ex-demo and was registered in April 2009. The selling dealer Benfield Motors Newcastle refused to acknowledge the issue and patronised my wife saying she wasn't used to driving such a powerful car. Her previous car was a Porsche Cayenne 4.8S! We took the vehicle to VW Pulman in Durham and eventually, after numerous investigations, VW approved the installation of a new DSG. VW also extended the manufacturers comprehensive warranty for 12 months until April 2013.
Unfortunately, the problem has come back and Pulman have removed the DSG again and are awaiting advice from VW UK. I was advised by VW that the cost of replacing the DSG was circa £5k plus labour!! We are now terrified we will not be able to sell the car or worse still, we will be faced with thousands of pounds of costs arising from an issue which has been present from the time we bought the car in 2009. We believe the car to be a "lemon" and "unfit for purpose".
This is now the fourth time the DSG problem has been raised with VW and their agents in the North East. It is patently clear that the car has a serious issue with the gearbox which has returned even after a replacement box was fitted. We have totally lost confidence in the vehicle and VW. When, and how, can we have the vehicle replaced or my wife have her original investment returned to her? Read more
Makeman, I'm sorry that it wasn't clear to you from the beginning what you are getting on this forum. I'm glad you got the result tyou wanted - indeed were entitled to, as the fault was the same one that existed during the warranty period.
In case anyone else isn't sure, if you want advice from HJ himself, E-mail letters@honestjohn.co.uk (as you eventually did). If you post on the forum you will normally get replies from fellow forum members; most of us are amateurs but some have a great deal of useful relevant experience which they kindly use for our benefit.
Wise decision, the whole city is a cackhole frankly, but needs must and an occasional commute in has to happen, much to my chagrin!
The OSF tyre on my Picasso is balding quite badly on the outer edge, even though the tracking has been checked / adjusted on several occasions at my local National Tyres branch I have used for many years. They say it could be the 'camber angle' needs adjusting but they do not have the equipment to test it. The Picasso is almost eight years old but very low 40,000 miles from new.... Read more
It might be worth taking it to an MoT station that has one of the new suspension "shakers" built into the ramp (they'll all have them soon). Ask them if they'll just test out the suspension for you to try and find the worn part.
Or get someone to whip the steering left / right quicky whilst you feel for movement....
Scraping an S40 2.0D
I posted in another post about my injector problems on a 2.0D
My cars done 186,000 miles. We buy any cars reckoned £1250 which they will probably barter down to somewhere around £1000
AA tred to fix it withou success (in limp mode) so took in it to main dealer in Guildford.
They wanted £180 just for diagnostic £140 to fit new battery.
I have error code reader which gave ECM1203 ESM1202 and ECM1213 which are injector errors. I could find too much about them on net.
Dealer reckoned once £180 diagnostic it would need 1 or 2 injectors at £400 a pop. All figures are plus VAT.
if it's just the one injector that £864 and for two it's £1344
Would you take a gamble and get it fixed or cut your losses. It's scrap value is £160
It doesn't seem right to scrap it as when it works it's OK but it's a lot of miles and soemthing else could go wrong easily enough. Read more
Agree with the find a good indies idea and get it fixed. Repairing a car has to be cheaper most times. When we get a new/newer car it's not long before something needs doing to that. 'Sorry sir, it's wear and tear so the warranty dosen,t apply' had injectors done on my 9 year old V70 and so far so good after 9 months.
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A 12 volt battery is not 12 volts, its actually 12.6 volts. But even a battery that holds 12.6 volts will not necessarily start a car if the plates are b*****ed or there is a calcium build up in the bottom, been there, done that. It can sometimes supply the volts but not the current required.
By putting a volt meter across the battery with a running engine all you are getting is the output voltage pf the alternator. This should be between 14.2 and 14.4 in a modern car although cars with stop/start and the special batteries can (and do) charge with a slightly higher voltage. Thus even with a totally duff battery you would still see the alternator voltage....