March 2013
hoping someone can help?? we bought the car (2004 5 series) on the 15th sept 2012 from a local dealer for £7500. it had aprox 85500 miles on it with full service history. the dealer gave us a 3 month warranty. during the warranty period the fuel pump failed and was replaced under warranty. eleven days after warranty ended,the turbo,starter motor AND alternator all failed!!
because of my ignorence of the law/rights, i took the car to an independent garage to carry out the repairs. while repairs were on going,i told the dealer what had happened. he was amazed,and said he was truly sorry. he said that i should have taken out the extended warranty. but he never offered to pay or help with repairs,can i point out that i never asked him to though as i belived that it was my problem.... Read more
Help! Whiilst a garage replaced my wishbones they damaged my steering rack and have had my car forover three weeks and keep fobbing me off. The owner has tried to do things on the cheap, like replacing the sensor. Eventually after 3 weeks they had someone come to the garage with a computer (theirs wasnt good enough) and my steering rack is dead, the whole thing needs replacing. This I googled 3 weeks ago and I told the garage I suspected that was the problem. The garage is now saying they will try to make contact with someone they know in Germany to source a rack cheaply.
I cannot afford to take the car somewhere else as this is a big and expensive job. i need my car back and visit the garage daily to hassle them. Any advice on what I can do? Read more
So they want to fit a cheap rack form Germany, if its a LHD rack I can see that working in this country.
The RHD ones are probably made in Germany as well. Quite easy to find 3rd party, German manufactured components for VAG, Opel, etc that actually come out of one of the OEM factories that supply the manufacturer. These are usually considerably cheaper than the ones from the same source with the magic logo stencilled onto them....
Hi, is there an easy way of finding the radio code? thanks eddie Read more
I googled for a site that gave them out, registered, gave lots of thanks, can't remember the details as it was ages ago. Some are easy and some are impossible.
Can anyone advise...
My car was hit a copuple of years ago with no fault to myself ... Read more
The askmid.com site is for finding out who insures a car you've had an accident with or to check your car is on the MID.
The website the poster requires is www.insurancedatabases.co.uk/default.aspx aka C.U.E...
I want to check my engine bearings (main and possibly big end) while I have my sump off to (hopefully) fix a leaking sump gasket with sealant.
Is it OK to take the bearing caps off one-at-a-time, photograph, and then replace and torque-up before doing the next one?... Read more
You should consult a service manual to find out first if the bolts holding the bearing caps are single use type. Unlikely, but some are. Assuming they are NOT,
# then it is okay to remove each big end cap in turn and then replace. Taking pictures won't help though - you need to be able to precisely measure the diameter of the journals to determine the amount of wear and whether the journal is still round. Visual examination may reveal scoring or excess wear if you know what to look for, but visual is less than half the story. ...
Anyone got a steering rack out? I have removed the pinch bolt and safety clip from the pinion shaft but the universal joint won't budge off the shaft. Do I need to ubolt the rack next? Or remove the steering column? Someone saysyou need to drop the subframe which seems a bit excessive. Any advice gratefully received. Read more
Amid all the talk about DPFs and the need to take cars in to dealerships etc for the regeneration process to be carried out I was left wondering how early these problems can arise, both time wise and mileage related in the life of the car.
In other words has anyone with for example a 2011 or 2012 car suffered the problem. Linked with this is the question of whether DPF technology is advancing and causing the problem to become less.... Read more
I myself have a Honda and this seems to be one of the main topics of conversation on the Honda forums. However it seems that all the DPF problems are occurring on 2008/9 registered cars and at around 50k miles and more.
Some forum members have had the DPF removed but that opens up another can of worms in all sorts of ways....
Given the number of reports of cars going into safe mode suddenly at any speed should we drive half a mile apart from the car infront. Have never heard of any accidents caused by something that could become a scandle for car makers Read more
"luckily I was able to coast to the hard shoulder without hitting anything".
There's no luck about it, anything else would be operator ineptiude. Losing power on a motorway is not pleasant, but it is not a cause for panic. You have plenty of momentum to get from lane three to the hard shoulder...
I can get a virtually unlimited supply of free monograde engine oil (Q8 Mozart TM SAE30) from a marine base with a surplus stock of it, and was wondering if any long term damage would occur with using it in a VW 2.5 TDi 65kW AJT engine with 155k miles on it? It's specified for 'trunk piston' marine engines but surely if the SAE and CF ratings are suitable it would be ok? Maybe the detergent content is quite high, but after a couple of low mileage oil changes & sump flushes with it..? Read more
Sorry Focussed, it's the crosshead type engine that separates the cylinder from the crankcase by means of a diaphragm with a mechanical stuffing box (The older type of crosshead engine like the Doxford LB had no diaphragm and a foul crankcase!!) The trunk type engine resembles more closely the automotive type engine.
The current trend is towards reducing Sulphur content (and indeed eliminating it in coastal waters) in marine fuels - with the attendant lubrication problems - which brings us neatly back to the original question - I personally would not use it both on viscosity grounds and the fact that (most) reputably operated marine engines are run under a far stricter oil filtration, purification and monitoring regime than any automotive engine. ...
I have a 2011 Ford Mondeo 1.6 Petrol Ecoboost - had a few niggling problems with it since I bought it last year.
It's come to a head today.... Read more
IF it's the same set up as a diesel turbo, open the bonnet and on the left hand side of the engine (driver's side) just in front of the power steering fluid reservoir, there is a big rubber pipe like a radiator hose, put your fingers behind the bend and feel for a split. If not split take off your grill (2 plastic screws) and pull out at the bottom, you'll see the bottom of the hose on the left, check the jubilee clip joint and the plastic bend into the after cooler (long radiator looking underneath the grill/bumper area) Go to the right hand side of it, check the plastic bend going into it and the jubilee clip on the rubber hose, the rubber hose goes into a steel pipe connected by another jubilee clip and then underneath the engine then up the back of the engine to the turbo, check all the joints. If it is a bad split you'll hear a compressed air noise when you're doiing 2000+ revs and lose power.
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Most turbos and electrical units are recon units even if you buy them from major outlets,you will see most companies will charge you a deposit against the old unit in case you do return it.