October 2015

den1960

My internal lights only work when ignition key is in and turned to 11 ... also, when i am at a standstill and the engine isnt running everything turns off after about 30 seconds ... do i have major problems? Read more

elekie&a/c doctor

You probably have 2 batteries under the driver seat.one of them is likely to be flat

Jetsam1

Successfully put off pretty much every option? Yes!

Found one Focus I liked but turns out it's a German import with no service record. I wasn't aware Ford do electronic service records that I can find no evidence for anywhere? So no. And Focuses are rubbish. As are Astras. As probably are the ony VAG cars (1.6 tds) in my price range.... Read more

Wukl

It can be very depressing, you just have to aim for the least worst car you can (sorry, terrible grammar). My last car was £1200 and did 87,000 miles in my ownership over five years. The one time it let me down was really my fault as I ignored the signs of a failing battery. Other than that and a couple of calipers it was service parts only (including admittedly expensive big ones like exhaust and discs). So it can be done, but shortlist carefully before you even start kicking tyres.

Focusfan101

Car was Registered 1st Jan 2010.

Car was seviced 20th August 2015 by main Ford Garage.... Read more

Focusfan101

Fords Ireland have not informed me no ESP was fitted to my car.

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Besty

My new Fiesta 1000 Ecoboost has significant vibration felt through the gear lever when engine is passing through 2500 revs. Also when the "change up arrow" advises a gear shift at 2000revs the engine seems to labour from 1300 to 1800 revs in 2nd 3rd and 4th gear. Above 2000 revs it's fine with good acceleration.

Honest John advises that there are minor diferences between Ecoboost 100 and 125 with the 125 having an overboost and suggests using the high grade Shell V-Power Nitro Plus petrol so I will give that a go to see if there is an improvement.... Read more

Andrew-T

I wouldn't change up in my diesel car at 2000 revs and although these new petrol turbos seem to have low down torque I'd still expect them to need more that 3000 revs before changing up.

I'm not familiar with modern petrol engines, but as a general rule it's best to run an engine somewhere near the torque peak on its rev. curve. For a diesel this is somewhere about 1800-2000 rpm, but for a petrol it's a good bit higher. In 'the old days' it wasn't a good idea to ask a petrol engine to pull at low revs, but that has changed with electronics. My personal opinion is that it still isn't such a good idea - so you need to trace the source of the vibration.

EDW2000

any suggestions?

all other gears fine... Read more

Oli rag

I would have a look at the gear rods or cables.

What did you do to get reverse to go in?

Andrew-T

Does anyone know of any evidence that different surfaces (e.g.tarmac or concrete) affect fuel consumption? The level of road noise certainly varies, suggesting that at least some energy is lost as sound. That might suggest that the recent 'quiet' tarmac could improve consumption marginally. Read more

Bolt

<Blacktop coatings are more common nowadays, thankfully>

When they are in one piece, I notice when certain roads are potholed badly, they seem to get left while almost perfectly good roads get resurfaced with tarmac (whatever it is) which appears to cause more drag on tyres, odd, imo ...

VCD

My Picasso Xsara is about 11 years old. I purchased it about 2 years ago as a used car, the cambelt had been changed the same year I purchased it, so that should be ok.

Since then, I have had to replace the clutch, and now recently have discovered a slow leak on the steering rack. We also need to replace the radiator fan (I think thats what its called). I assume we are looking at about £700/800 in repair costs.... Read more

Wackyracer

If the car is in general good condition apart from these 3 things I'd repair it but, If it has tyres on their last legs and has 101 other things that are going to be needed to get it through the next MOT then I'd sell it and buy something else.

Like has been already said, sometimes it's better the devil you know.

kev b

Hi

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Galaxy

Yes, Ebay. Make sure you get the right ones, there's two different types.

Sadlercomfort

Hi Guys,

I'm having trouble finding a replacement oil sump pan for my Suzuki Liana glx 1.6 2004 hatchback ... Read more

Bolt

Hi Guys,

I'm having trouble finding a replacement oil sump pan for my Suzuki Liana glx 1.6 2004 hatchback ...

jasesheehan

I have a strange problem, recently my Zafira battery has died a couple times but only after really short journeys. The first time I moved the car from the street to my drive then it refused to start again without a jump. The second time I drove a few hundred metres up the road to petrol station and it died again. I did leave the lights on while I filled up but it was for less than 5 mins.

... Read more

Bolt

Battery indicator is nothing to go by, but drop tester should have picked up bad battery but not necessarily a bad/loose post,, so as suggested check all terminals.