May 2022
Ford Focus 06 1.6 petrol manual. I was driving & went to change gear as normal but when I did it felt like a pull as if when you take your foot off the clutch very quickly so I tried the next gear & it did the same changed gear but a big pull with it. A bunch of lights lit up on the dash & steering went hard so basically it had cut out so I pulled over turned the car off waited a minute started it up again & it's been fine since. Just wondering what could this be as I don't want it happening again? Read more
I have a 2003 Seat Ibiza
just recently the fuel gauge has a intermittent fault, display... Read more
they ho, will have to get it done, I can do some jobs, but dont have means to do this type of job
For a car that is quite old, would it not just be cheaper to fill the tank up with fuel and reset the trip computer every time you fill up? Even in the worst conditions you would probably get at least 300 miles out of a tankful. You would be carrying around the weight of the fuel but I wouldn't have thought the cost of that would be huge.
I am looking for a replacement hatchback for my 1.3 Yaris. I would like to go for a larger engine say 1.5 to 1.7. I do approx 100 miles per week, usual split is 1 run of 60 miles plus lots of local runs of 2 to 3 miles each. Is this use better suited to a diesel or petrol car? Read more
A smaller engine say a 1 litre with a modern turbo is surprising quick and economical
They certainly are, but also potentially disastrous in the case of Peugeot and Ford three pots with a cambelt soaked in oil.
Isn't it about time HMRC revisited the fuel rates for business use (45ppm and advisory rates for fuel).
Diesel is currently at 16ppm for a diesel above 2L, its costing me now to do business miles as my ppm is now higher! Read more
There is absolutely no reason why the price of petrol is so high, as there is no shortage of crude in the world. Alaska has over 100bn barrels of known reserves. Alberta over 180bn and off the east coast of Canada there is so much oil, they can’t even put a figure on it. Oil doesn’t come from dead dinosaurs, the Earth makes oil. That is why ‘Peak Oil’ was completely rubbish. You don’t hear much from Al Gore these days. The reason why energy prices are so high, is because of the looney Net Zero policies of Boris Johnson and Biden. When Trump was was in office, the US was self sufficient in oil and gas due to the fracking revolution. The oil price during his term ranged from U$25 to U$45 a barrel. Now it is U$115! Biden doubled the price of crude even before Putin invaded Ukraine. He cancelled the XL pipeline which would now be supplying 700,000 barrels of oil from Alberta. He has gone to war with the North American oil industry introducing 81 new regulations restricting exploration and the development of oil and gas fields. Johnson was going to seal up forever £1tn worth of gas in Lancashire until Putin invaded Ukraine. Look how the Dutch have benefitted from their Groningen gas field. First discovered in 1955 and it is still producing gas. Revenues from this gas paid for a welfare state and national health service in Holland, and Johnson was going to seal those fracking wells up forever. Can anyone comprehend the stupidity of that? Two years ago the world was awash with crude, the price even went negative. To get energy prices down there must be an all out effort to develop North Sea oil and gas like the Cambo oilfield, which Shell pulled the plug on after COP26. If wind power is so effective, why has the price of electricity gone up so much? Has air suddenly become expensive? We are being conned. The UK must frack, drill and pump. Open the oil spigots wide. A low oil price will cr1pple the Russian economy too. What are Biden and Johnson waiting for?
This is not the most sensible time to be shopping for a new car.
As well as the impact of the general "cost of living crisis", new car prices are becoming less and less affordable, hence the number of people opting to lease rather than buy. There is also the uncertainty factor. Petrol? Diesel? Hybrid? Electric? Hydrogen? Who knows?
I bought a new car in 2016 which has covered 26000 miles, and by extending the warranty I am protected from repair bills. Why would I change it?
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I recently had 2 new tyres fitted to my van. The new tyres had a little yellow circle printed on the sidewall and this was aligned next to the valve. I believe this is to match the lightest part of the tyre (yellow circle) with the heaviest part of the rim (valve) which will help to balance the wheel.
During balancing 80g of weights were added exactly next to the valve. Some, or all, of these weights will be there to compensate for the adjacent lightest part of the tyre. If the tyre was deflated and rotated 180 degrees on the rim the amount of weights would be reduced or maybe there would be no weights needed.... Read more
Thanks for your reply.
My wheels are steel. The weights used were the hammer on type but for alloy wheels. The second fitter confirmed that they were the wrong weights....
My partners car came up with a STOP warning light recently. AA suspected it was the thermostat which had failed.
Towed it to a garage with a 'good' reputation and a lot of good reviews. They said the thermostat certainly needs replacing, but until they do that, they can't say whether there is further work to be done. For replacing the thermostat, they quoted us £280. This seems like a really steep price.
I've watched a few videos of the thermostat being replaced on similar models. Is this a job a layman can do, providing I drain the coolant, and make sure I remember the order of pipes I disconnect?
Its not a hard job. But first I'd check the temperature sensor.
Good morning,
Bp have announced a 5 billon Uk Pound profit, twice as much as the same period last year they expect Shell to announce the same.... Read more
A perfect example of that today.
Asked at Asda petrol station Colchester, why so many pumps coned off, No fuel,...
Hi, the magnetic coil has failed but our mechanic says that the rest of the A/C compressor is good and does not think it is necessary to replace the whole unit - just need the magnetic coil (clutch) and as it has been pressure tested and is full of gas I am hoping I can just find a coil which should cost < £50. I have the old one and the dimensions are (as best as I can measure):
External diameter = 87mm
Inner diameter = 59.6mm
Assembly = 40mm
Height = 25.1mm
Position 270 degrees (or 9 o'clock)... Read more
Have you tried Partsouk? You need your VIN but they seem to have itemised drawing for just about everything.
I will be 70 later this year and will need to renew my driving licence. I also drive the volunteer minibus, taking people shopping etc. This mean I need to have the D1 category on my licence. I obtained this under grandfather rights when the plastic cards came in but if I renew online then both D1 and C1 (light trucks) are removed. To retain them it is necessary to fill in forms, get a medical certificate etc, none of which is a problem in itself.
I can continue to drive in the UK whilst the form is being processed if it is not back in time. However, five days after my 70th we are due to drive down to the south of France for a major family event. If my licence is not back in time due to delays in processing paper applications then I cannot drive in France, a fate not to be contemplated would then be visited upon me by you know who. In France the driver must be in physical possession of a licence otherwise they can lock you up, confiscate the car and blame you personally for Brexit, Dunkirk, Agincourt etc (probably, they are French after all). ... Read more
I would imagine that with the data access, the complex systems and the despatch arrangements-this would be a seriously difficult job to complete AT HOME. I blame management for allowing it to fester and also the workers for not having the guts to help their seniors come up with sensible ways of getting round the problem.
I think I wrote in another post about Dr youngrovergirl.. HAD to go into work, even for telephone conversations as NHS could not provide a secure encrypted laptop to access patient details from home.
So normal clinics seeing patients and telephone consultations too, but all at the hospital. No Choice.
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The Ford diagnostics is far more in depth than a standard OBD and will provide codes/faults that an OBD will not even with no dash lights on. Ford dealers or specialists should have it. It you want a go yourself you can download Forscan or Forscan lite for a phone and buy a suitable ELM327 interface device to plug into the OBD port, but depends how Techy you are!