September 2018
Talked to a bloke last night, he has a 2009 Fabia 1.2 petrol. Bought new in 2009 it has covered 270,000 miles. Most expensive repair was an alternator. 100 mile a day round trip to work and the rest social I suppose, brilliant. Read more
Me again, sorry!
Thought id start a new thread as my old one went forever!... Read more
Definitely worth a look I'd say.
It's several months now since Lanny asked these questions, and he hasn't told us what he did yet .... if anything.
i've been looking at buying a ford focus 1.6 tdci on a 2012 plate, my mechanic has told me to avoid the diesel as it has a mainly plastic turbo that has a habit of shattering under hard driving and going on to wreck the engine, I do 12000+ motorway miles a year, can you tell me if anyone has heard this before Read more
i've been looking at buying a ford focus 1.6 tdci on a 2012 plate, my mechanic has told me to avoid the diesel as it has a mainly plastic turbo that has a habit of shattering under hard driving and going on to wreck the engine, I do 12000+ motorway miles a year, can you tell me if anyone has heard this before
I think you need a new mechanic if he thinks any part of a turbo, past or present, is made of plastic.
18 month to 2 year old example.
I'm moving from a Sportage 1.6GDi with 130bhp and 118 lb/ft torque. The 1.4 in the Octavia and Superb has 148bhp and 140 lb/ft torque. Will there be a discernable difference between the two? The Sportage is painfully leisurely, especially when loaded or faced with an incline. ... Read more
I’ve had a 66-plate 2.0 litre Diesel Superb for the last two years. It’s been a great car. Smooth and trouble-free on the motorway. The boot (saloon) is absolutely enormous and I love the fact it has loads of leg room in the front and back.
I have a Golf 4 1.8T AUM and am slowly getting it back on its feet after its last owner gave up and sold it to me for basically nothing.
I took it for a quick spin after taking delivery of it, an noticed the horrendous clunking and crunching from the suspension and the front wheel bearing grinding...
I have changed the springs ( 3 out of 4 were broken) and replaced the front bearing with the help of our workshop press...I have also changed the rear pads and discs too.
Since doing all this and taking it for a spin, the gears wont engage with the engine running...( tho will when engine off)..the car lurches when in gear from first and key on...I have attempted to reset the cable linkages at the stick and gearbox ends...this seemed successful tho am not entirely sure the plunger on the box was supposed to depress as far as it did and also the locking tab seemed to spin a little too freely and little resistance was felt...however the plunger did depress and an "off engine" cycle of the gears seemed ok.
The upshot is..the gears are mega stiff and reverse is impossible to engage withough serious grinding, which im not prepared to do...
According to the reciepts fround in the bundle of paperwork that came with the car, there was a 3 piece Valeo cluch fitted last year..now I dont rate Valeo, never have and would have personally gone for LUK or Sachs...it came in at a cost of £109, which is waaaay too cheap if you ask me...there was no hint of a new Slave or fork...so am unsure
my next idea is to change the Transmission fluid and check for brake fluid at the box....
I would be very grateful for any ideas on what else to do...sadly my current workshop doesnt have a ramp and I dont fancy doing gear boxes on stands...
Many thanks for reading this essay..
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Difficult gear selection with the engine running is usually caused by a clutch fault. Could be a seized centre plate on the gearbox shaft ,faulty pressure plate or release system etc etc. Looks like box will need to be removed.
Hi,
The clutch pedal return spring on my Ford Focus Mk2 2006 1.6 LX petrol has snapped.
The clutch pedal does return to its natural position and in goodish speed. There is just less force returning it to its natural position.
Does the spring NEED replacing?
If the springs purpose is just to return the pedal to its natural position with force then is there any need to replace it?
What would happen if I don’t replace it, will the clutch or any other part of the car become damaged as a result?
Thanks. Read more
Ah well done. For someone reason I couldn’t find it.
I’ll stick with this post as I’m just asking ‘if I need to replace the spring and what would happen if I didn’t?’ Ignore the other post.
I would like to hear if others can comment pls??
For the past few weeks I've been hearing a clunking noise when I stop the car either downhill or uphill, as if the weight of the car shifts in the opposite direction before it comes to rest. I never hear it when stopping on a level surface, and I don't hear it when otherwise braking, except when the car comes to a complete stop. Any thoughts what this might be?
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I'd be checking the spare wheel well, and all around the floor areas, under the seats, and in all storage areas, even under the bonnet, before thinking about mechanical probs, because this might turn out to be an aerosol or bottle, screwdriver or wheel locking nut or anything at all you could imagine rolling around, even the battery loose.
Many thanks for replying Gordon, that's entirely sensible, I'll have a look!...
We have a 16 year old car that only does a couple of thousand miles a year but is very handy for runiing to the tip and carting grubby grandchildren about. It is one owner and never failed an MoT but has just cost me £500 for brakes and an electrical sensor too. On the one hand that is probably not too bad for a year's motoring but I feel the end may be nigh!
Does anyone in the trade know of a likely return of scrappage schemes? Maybe I just put it in Autotrader and cut my losses both current and future. It does have a 12 month MoT... Read more
The family Compact hatch was pretty well trouble free apart from the engine, but that was the Diesel and they all seem to go wrong sooner or later, the family one started making ominous top end noises at around 130k, this despite it having really regular oil changes from 45k miles.
I agree with just running it for years, keep the brakes well lubed (though to be fair German brakes seem to stand salt ingress better than many others), and don't neglect the drum inside disc parking brake either, but apart from the front suspension bushes which are prone to failure these are quite robust little cars....but lube that rear wiper spindle up because they seize solid (due in no small way to the washer jet passing through the centre of the pivot) and the gears chew themselves to pieces, no spare parts its a complete new linkage @ £££ with used parts in short supply for the obvious reason..
Done all checks but still have some penetrating damp to third floor flat. Researched external barriers such as storm guard and storm dry which claim to still allow the wall to breathe. Does anyone know how effective these sort of barriers are ?
Luckily we don't get such severe weather often. Cavity walls in general are good at keeping water away from the inner skin. If water penetrates the bricks and mortar then it runs down the cavity. Cavities should have drain points built in, but not always, but the water usually drains away quite well. A period of milder dry weather afterwards and the brickwork can dry out. It can cycle like this for many years. As for cavity insulation. A detailed survey should be done first to examine the exterior brickwork and the cavity to see if they are suitable to be filled with insulation. Not only will some insulation transmit water through to the inner skin, but also wet insulation is useless because it loses its ability to insulate. Modern new builds incorporate insulation boards or battens in the cavity and they are held against the inner skin with securing clips at the wall ties.. That way you get the insulation and the cavity protection against water. perenial problem keeping buildings in a good state of repair. Pays dividends in the end.
Cheers Concrete
Just had four tyres fitted but the tracking on top always bumps up the total bill. What is the price of tracking in your area? you get it done, hit a few potholes and speed humps etc and it's out again, tyres get uneven wear and you are back to square one. Read more
I understand that tracking won't affect the pull of a car to either side, as regardless of toe-in or toe-out the steering will self centre. A simpler way to check tracking is to measure the tread depth across the width of the tyres.
Had more than a few cars that pulled one way or the other depending on road camber yet they never wore their tyres unevenly. Some cars do this, its a feature. Some brands of tyre are worse than others for doing this as well, very low profile ones tend to be worse....
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I should have added that all cars were regularly serviced by a main dealer according to the schedules.