December 2019
A couple of weeks back, the CEL popped up on son's 2018 420i. I checked for fault codes, none was stored. A search on the BMW forums indicated that it’s not uncommon to get a CEL with no codes on the F30 cars, and that it often simply resets itself.
No problem, it was due for its first service anyway, so booked it in and mentioned the CEL had been lit for a couple of days. Of course, the day after booking the service, the CEL goes out and doesn't return. ... Read more
Just hit this problem on my drivers side front tyre?
Is this to be expected on this model at this age? Read more
Had this in the past, most owners with alloys have it at some point.
Simple fix is to visit your local tyre indy who will pop the tyre off the rim, clean up the rim to remove flaking paint and loose corrosion and refit the tyre using an orange coloured sealant instead of the usual tyre soap. The orange turns to a rubbery black within the day....
Just hit this problem on my drivers side front tyre?
Is this to be expected on this model at this age? Read more
Steel or alloy wheels? Both will suffer from rim and/or bead land corrosion to different degrees.
Solution? Get your tyre centre to clean the bead land on the wheel and use bead sealant when fitting or refitting the tyre, my local tyre centre in the UK used to apply bead sealant whether bead lands were corroded or not - the reason when asked why was "We don't want customers suffering bead leaks" ...
My ZS was in for servicing the yesterday, and was loaned the HS demonstrator. Had a good drive around, A14 and local roads.
My oh MY,... Read more
Avant, the thing is that for the ZS at least, which is a "compact" SUV and is quite light, I have found that if I push it a bit it actually goes rather well, perhaps not like a2 series or a golf, but does ok.
For obvious reasons i wasn't going to throw a brand new demonstrator around in the same way. The HS is a good bit bigger and a lot heavier too.
I've been having issues with my ford focus cmax 2.0 tdci. It's randomly loosing power while driving and won't rev/move (also rough idle in the morning). I had the crankshaft censor changed, it was fine for two weeks then same problem again, I then sent it back to the garage and they apparently replaced the EGR Valve with a used one in a good working condition, however on the way home it happened again! Just lost power and seemed to go into a limp mode.
I've had the car diagnosed at a different garage, and the codes that came up suggest that it has a problem with the EGR Valve.
My question is: Is it possible to get the EGR changed on these models and get the engine running without programming/re-calibrating? I'm worried the mechanic either didn't change the EGR valve at all (they just cleaned it), or they changed it but didn't re-calibrate it?
TIA Read more
Have recently bought my mrs a 2004 Ford Fiesta 1.4 Zetec and the central locking isn't working
It is NOT remote only key activated ... Read more
Thankyou again. My mates going to run the diagnostic on it tomorrow up his workshop and then hopefully I will have it sorted. Hope you have an awesome week
Yesterday morning the polls suggested there would be a working majority for the Conservatives.
Those wishing for a hung Parliament or a Corbyn victory must have been feeling desperate.... Read more
Could have been a taxi!
Hi all,
One of my boys is looking at buying a 2005 Ford Focus 1.6 with a little shy of 70k miles. The seller is asking £1,800, he has only just shown me some pictures and expects me to do the look over and haggling! I'm pretty ok on the spanners but questions I have are..... Read more
@Craig, those links are very useful, I will be bearing those checks in mind if we go for a focus
@Gorden, this one has been working in a machine shop for the last 2 years, he has not a scoopby what AF means, and if it's not CNC he can't operate it! I was working on and riding MZ's at 14 :-)...
Hi all
I have two points of interest at the moment with my “project” also known as my labour of love!
Bit of background- working on restoring my old Citroen cx. Work in progress and cash has gotten tight.
So the bodywork is dire. Needs a complete respray and some coaschworks. Currently saving to do this but it’ll be several thousand. So how do I protect the metal in the meantime (someone has already rubbed it down and there is some surface rust) I was thinking the cost effective way is to give it a lick of Matt black until it gets the paint job it deserves?
Other issue is an idle problem that I think is the carb. She won’t idle below 1500 rpm (if the Rev counted is to be believed) and has a habit of cutting out when not under load - say breaking for a roundabout with the clutch in. All the carb bits have been renewed - gasket, float etc. I did accidentally run the tank dry - perhaps taking it off and soaking it for a day or so is something that’s been suggested.
All ideas on both fronts welcome. Read more
If you want to slow rust right down, use vegetable oil. I mostly use sunflower oil on my car, but for upper body work linseed (perhaps "boiled") might be better, since sfo takes a few days to polymerise and collects dust meantime.
However, I'm never going to do a "proper" cosmetic restoration. For that, vegetable oil MIGHT give you problems with overpainting, and would probably be difficult to remove....
Hi All,
Some advice please.... Read more
Cheap code readers are only generic devices and unlikely to give specific info for your engine . Without any codes logged, this could be a tricky fix. Might be worth inspecting the inlet air pipe work to the turbo and inter cooler , just in case there are any air leaks .
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Dring a hot cat through a large puddle can break up cats..