February 2018
Hi I'm completely new to this sort of forum so after some advice/opinions.
My steering wheel was shaking when braking in December. I use a guy who has set up a mobile garage, he used to be a mechanic at a premium brand dealership for many years. I took the car for a drive with him to see and he said I needed new front pads and discs changed. He fitted Pagid pads and discs on both front wheels.... Read more
on offer this week at ALDI
16" up to 26" all the same price. Read more
I should have realised when the guide book Aldi (or Michelin) helpfully provide had no cars made after 2004 in it!
Hope yours fit the Venga ORB!...
Our car bought in 2018 is very good in most of the gizmos etc on it however there is one very annoying feature and we don't know if it something we are doing or something else. You can be driving along with no problems and all of a sudden the windscreen and side windows mist up really badly and the only way to clear them is to put the fan on full together with the air conditioning. There doesn't seem to be any reason why they suddenly do this, it can happen when you have been on the road for a long.
We normally have the fan on the second setting and the temperature is normally on 21 degrees. Any thoughts please. Read more
I would check and do the following:
- If its of the 'dual-zone climate control' models, set both zones to the same temperature (as a mechnical engineer designing A/C systems, having two 'zones' in a car that has an internal area of about 4-5m3 with no hard division between the 'zones', is a waste of time - all they do is fight against eachother, and can, in extreme cases, cause windows to fog up.
- Check all the ventilation intakes on the outside (e.g. by the windscreen wipers) for blockages (leaves, etc) and inside drain holes as others have said and clear any blockages, which will help moisture in the air (mainly you breathing out) to escape.
- Make sure that the windscreen and windows, especially on the inside, are clean, especially free of greasy (finger) marks and dust, as this will help steam up the window affected.
- As others have said, leave the A/C system on 'auto' and at a reasonable temperature (say 20degC +/- 1degC in winter) and only use the air recirculator function when in heavy traffic - when the car starts, this will likely be defaulted to off in winter to stop the car steaming up, and try and let it heat up with it off for as long as you can to help heat the car and remove mositure from your breath.
- Keeping the air-recirculator on for extended periods (more than 10-15 mins) in winter will inevitably lead to the car steaming up, as you're adding moist air from breathing out and not outside air, which, for the most part in winter, is at a far lower relative humidity level compared to inside the car (as well as in summer) - which can more easily steam up in winter due to the far lower temperature that condensation forms (due point).
- The A/C auto system should, if required, automatically demist the front windscreen, but also make sure that the side vents face the side windows in winter to keep them from misting up (many people forget that they change the direction of the vents to face the passenger in summer), and, if necessary, change the mode from auto to 'front windscreen and upper vents' (it may be auto on front windscreen and feet level vents, with a bit on upper vents) and close the middle two vents to get more warm air out of the two side upper vents. This should help - the two centre vents aren't really needed in winter in my view.
This method seems to work in my (admitedly older [mk1 from 2005/6] Mazda3 with climtae controlled A/C) fine.
Another one of my village idiot type questions.
Would it just be a simple swap to change 18" alloy wheels for 16" or 17" standard steel rims - or do mechanical factors prevent this on a SEAT Leon ST?... Read more
I've researched changing wheel size as this is on my agenda as soon as the existing tyres need replacing, I've done this before, I changed from 17" to 16" wheels for my Primera, I purchased genuine 16" wheels as stated in the brochure and saved a fortune with tyre costs (tyres cheaper for this size) as well enjoyed a better ride. I believe the speedo was slightly out, but not by much.
For my existing car I will be going from 17" to 15", to a size supported in the manufacturer's brochure and already fitted by another user on the vehicle owner discussion forum. Why? well the smaller tyres are much cheaper to buy, the ride will be better and my prefered choice of tyre (CrossClimate) is not availaible in the 17" size. ...
Hello,
First post on this forum so apologies if this is in the wrong place.... Read more
Over the years I’ve managed to have two clutches replaced under manufacturer warranty. One a VW and the other on a Honda. Both however were due to severe judder that indicated clutch plate oil contamination.
Only had one clutch replaced under warranty and that was a VW. No judder, no slip but sometimes it was impossible to get a gear when stationary, I suspected a distored clutch plate and on inspection it was proved to be exactly that. Clutch replaced FOC.
Got the Crit'air sticker Now trying to find if i will need an Umwelt-Plakette at 32 euros a throw...
Can Brit in germany help? Have the purple french sticker with No 1 on it...... Read more
Every other car in Bonn had one on display last year.
I have learned to avoid pools of water in the road because they sometimes hide a pothole that can make a nasty mess of the car wheels.
BTW, how do the fashionable elastic band tyres perform when they hit a really nasty pothole ?... Read more
Hillman, you're a gentleman, i wouldn't have splashed them either even if they wanted, who knows what might be lurking in that water.
I have a big problem with drivers who seem oblivious to standing water and drench others, i can manage to not splash people with an artic by a combination of timing and avoidance, irony when either in front or behind me i see a small car go straight through the deepest part creating a deluge, i always hope there's a razor sharp pot hole lurking in that puddle which causes them many £worth of damage and a flat tyre in the pouring rain....
Hello,
I was hoping I could get some advice. We’ve found a car that we really like through an Audi dealership – we’re due to be viewing it in a couple of days, but have just heard from the salesperson that on inspection, the car smells heavily of cigar smoke and he’s advising us against having it sent down here and even looking at it…. I have my suspicions that something else is awry, potentially that they have another buyer lined up and/or they think they are selling to us too cheaply and have made a mistake with the quote..... Read more
Golden rule, any doubts don't buy it. there are a lot of cars out there.
On local lunchtime news just seen an Evoque in a ditch. Bet the driver thought they'd be safe in their Land Rover on a main road in snowy conditions. Perhaps they've learnt a lesson.
When a brand uses the strap-line "the best 4x4 by far" it's inevitable that some drivers think they're invincible.... Read more
All thats required with an xtrail is to use auto position for the AWD, its very rare you will need to use "lock" except when off road, and lock will cut out above some speed around 26mph.
For 9 years all i used was the "auto" selection....
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Calipers are either free moving or they arn't, your calipers might come round with correct lubing of the piston and working the piston in and out a few times, that would be my first action including checking the sliders are free if they are of a slide design, but i would have done this at the time the pads/discs were changed, and your mechanic may well have done so too and his suggestion the calipers are past it is probably correct, and Hardway is quite right about alloy calipers, they almost never last like cast steel.
The poster above is quite right about too in tryng your best not to leave the brakes applied following a very hard stop, material does transfer and the pads holding tight don't help the disc cool evenly....