May 2018
I have recently purchased a 2011 Land Rover Defender my dream motor. I now intend on keeping this vehicle for many years to come and have been looking at rustproofing treatment companies in the UK. Can anyone recommend DINITROL i've noticed they specialise in Land Rover https://www.dinitroldirect.com/landrover-rustproofing/ Read more
Having posted yesterday regarding a battery problem, I have decided to replace the battery having no success trying to charge it. I have looked online and am confused with Silver Calcium and Calcium, as some sites say must be Silver Calcium replacement others say it only needs to be Calcium as the difference is minimal, Before I jump in I thought I would try and get a bit of advice from non bias people who may have had the same problem. thanks.
Calcium is fine for these.Its probably got the original battery fitted.So check the label on the top,this will give the ah and Cca spec. Fitting the battery is a bit of a drama on these,as it is not possible to reach the neg terminal easily. Best way is to disconnect the pos terminal first, remove the air intake filter assy,undo the battery clamp nuts/bolts ,then slide the battery forward to release the neg lead.
Do manufacturers, Seat in this case, routinely put dye in the air con system in the factory or is it an aftermarket thing when you get a regas? Son's climate has recently stopped working and I can't see any signs of a leak under UV.
Also, on this model and I believe other VAG cars, the controls flash to indicate a fault on start up. If it is just a regas required, will the fault code disappear automatically or will VAG Com be needed? Read more
Update. No fault codes were recorded so took it into ATS today for a re-gas. £29.50 via a Groupon deal. They were honest enough to say they're not experts and it just gets hooked up to the machine. Working well at present and we'll just have to see how long it lasts.
Anyone got an idea how I can remove the 3 bolts from the trailing arm? One connects the trailing arm to the body bracket, and two connect the trailing arm to the rear axle brackets. Following the clear instructions in the service manual, I got the shock absorber loosened. I then loosened the 3 nuts on the bolts which pass through the trailing arm bushes. But I could not get the bolts out. I can just about get them to turn slightly (against the resistance of the rubber bush), but the bolts are clearly seized in the inner (metal) sleeve of the bush. Not brilliant access, of course, particularly on the forward bolt. Have applied WD40 and some modest tapping with a hammer, but thought someone might have been here before? Many thanks - rustonboy Read more
Thanks for your answers and advice.
I will try some (and possibly all) of those suggestions, but the laser heat inductor costs more than the car so I might try to borrow one of those, as I hope I will not be doing this very often :-)...
It might interest some of the BRs to read this article. It is a bit incoherent but that is the score for journalists.
www.independent.co.uk/voices/hybrid-cars-ban-carbo...l Read more
If the government want to ban internal combustion engines and force everyone to use an electric car then I assume that everyone will be provided with a charging point outside their home? And that said charging point can be protected from vandalism or jokers? And those who have perfectly good cars and can't afford to replace them will be reimbursed? And classic car enthusiasts or those who drive for pleasure will still be able to maintain and drive their cars?
The government should encourage motorists to keep their cars for as long as possible....
I read an article that said that if your car failed the MOT after introduction of the revised MOT in two weeks you will not be able to drive it away for any reason whatsoever even if there is a month on the old certificate. Does this mean that you cannot drive it either home or to another garage for repair, even if only a short distance is involved? It also raises the issue about MOT only test centres. I have used them a number of times. On two occasions it was because garages came up with a long list of issues which needed attention (job creation). In one case the car went straight through and in the other only one minor repair (small plate near a seat belt mounting) was needed. If a MOT Centre does not/cannot do repairs what happens – the place will be clogged with MOT failures within weeks.... Read more
DVSA confirmation that the previous MOT remains valid.
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Car starts and runs well, battery holds charge. After a few motorway miles musical noise may start, usually with easing off the throttle, coming and going with pedal pressure. Ah, alternator bearing I thought, and a few drops of oil there relieved the symptoms for a while. When the noise returned for a third time I fitted an unused replacement alternator - fine. B*gg*r me if the noise didn't start up again in just the same way yesterday.
Haynes says the belt tension should give 6mm 'slack' on the belt run, which is about what I set. However this seems rather tight to me, so I shall slacken off a bit. But could the noise be something else? Engine has about 100K miles, but was recently overhauled. Read more
If the noise is from a tensioner it must be from the timing belt, which was renewed 12 to 18 months ago (by the previous owner, I'm not sure of the date). The noise started about 3 months ago, so I don't think it is that. It needs several miles at 60mph for the noise to start, and that usually happens when I lift off the accelerator. Power-on again usually stops it, but I can just hear it grumbling.
Update - car failed completely a couple of weeks ago and had to be recovered. Now running again after new cambelt kit fitted, so that diagnosis seems to have been correct - lucky no valves damaged. Time will tell if the problem has gone away ....
Hi all, I am hoping you can offer some sound advice for me. Three weeks ago I bought a used BMW X3 for £3750 privately. It was from someone who is a friend of a friend and so I felt secure that I’d bought a well maintained (but high mileage car 96500 miles). Since owning it the car has failed to start on three occasions and on Friday the turbo went. Knowing that I’d bought I lemon I have decided to sell the car. However, to keep my conscience clear I went down the Webuyanycar path. This is where it gets worse because they offered me £3000 but then did a HPI check and it has a marker on it for a number plate transfer in 2010 that was stolen/cloned. As such Webuyanycar won’t buy this one until the HPI check is clear. So, I can’t sell it to them, don’t want to sell it privately with the issues it has to some poor individual and as a result I have no idea how to now sell this car. I know I’ve been naive in all of this but your help would be appreciated as it’s causing me some stress! Read more
A good alternative is the Honda CRV 2.0 EX Petrol Auto. No turbos to go wrong, ultra reliable and very refined. Ideally the 4th Gen is best, but the 3rd gen is still good.
Does anyone consider the manufacturers drag coefficient any more when choosing a car, or has this evolved to the claimed mpg as per the manufacturer. With the introduction of more and more brick shaped SUVs etc it would appear to be still very relevent in achieving the optimum mpg. Also has any contributor noticed that even if they give their car a good polish it seems to cut through the air that little bit better or is it all in the mind!
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Much better than those car transporters GB? As a caravanner I would say that those things cause more turbulence than anything else I can think of - I give them a wide berth on motorways as far as possible.
You don't notice it in the transporter so much MT, many modern transporter configurations are unstable anyway so the effect of wind is quite a long way down the agenda of things to worry about, unless the wind starts a caravan style pendulum sway going. :-)...
Hello all
I hope you can help me!
I have 4 x 215/45R16 90V Bridgestone Turanza T001's on my 2015 Audi A1, which has done just over 22,000 miles.
The front tyres are approaching the legal minimum, so I am looking at getting these replaced within the next week or two.
The rear tyres, on the other hand, have 5.5 mm of tread left, however, as you can see from the attached photos, ever since I have owned the car (bought used nearly 2 years ago), there have been cracks visible in the grooves.
Would it be wise to replace the rear tyres too?
http://www.tyreforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=385&d=1525537849... Read more
I didn't read Andy's whole post, but the first para is 200% correct. Transfer those rears to the front so you end up with th enew tyres on the rear. Safest and you'll get best useage out of the tyres by wearing them out a bit quicker on the front.
BTW: doesn't matter where the drive is - new tyres on the rear.
I've had a Hilux professionally treated, and in all honesty without blowing my own trumpet i've done at least as good and possibly better jobs since of treating 2 owned Landcruisers and one Outback, am almost finished re-treating my present LC and have already applied the initial hard paint coating to the good lady's Forester suspension/subframes, with full wax coating and cavity injections to follow once its been LPG converted, in two week's time.
The main benefit of DIY is obviously a large cost saving, it takes roughly £250 in product (i use BIlt Hamber mainly due to the ease of use and their superb cavity probes as well as quality) to do a thorough job of a LWB Landcruiser to give you an idea, that's around half the price the pros charge....