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• Xantia's progress 20 Apr 2005 (Forum)
  This is sensible, as it has never been replaced in 11 years, so there will be another bill to pay shortly. He reckons it has lasted so long because the coolant has always been replaced at more or less the required intervals. My wife thinks it is a lot of money to pay on a car that is worth next to nothing but the car is in good shape, and is still lovely to drive.
• ZX 1.4 head gasket?? 29 Dec 2004 (Forum)
  But I would have thought with a new thermostat (88 deg) that it should run cooler, especially when the ambient temp is only 3 degrees. The reason I am concerned about the head gasket is that while changing the coolant over Xmas I noticed some brown mayo/sludge in the header tank. I am usure whether this is oil deposits or just from the previous owner doing short didtances. Everything else seems fine, it runs smooth, pulls well, has no sign of water in oil, and water level stays constant.
• '96 Polo warming up too quickly 13 Dec 2004 (Forum)
  Basically from cold it would reach the quarter mark by driving about 1/4 of a mile and reach 'normal' as in halfway after about a mile. I checked the coolant level before setting off and it was fine. I drove it a couple of miles and then let it idle until the fan kicked in. Temp stayed at half and heaters were blowing hot air. Nothing seems to be wrong just that it heats up real fast.
• Ineffective Aircon - Rover 220 17 May 2004 (Forum)
  They said it tested OK - down to 2degrees, whatever that means. There is no problem with airflow (no pollen filter on this model, for example), and plenty of coolant. No overheating or other odd temperature behaviour. One thing which has been suggested is that the old car may have had the "old" type of refrigerant (whatever that is), and the new car a different, less effective, type.
• faulty waterpump in vauxhall 13 Jan 2004 (Forum)
  Again I am going to demonstrate my lack of knowledge with cars by asking for som advice before i make a fool of myself. Some of you will know that my husbands vauxhall carlton as been leaking coolant and the system has been massively pressurising 2 weeks ago the camshaft actually seized causing the camshaft to snap!The car had plenty of oil in it and the oil pump is working fine. At the time I didn't think they were related but again my knowledge of cars is quite limited so please help me out if you have an explanation for this.
• Overheating A6 5 Sep 2003 (Forum)
  This cycle will continue, but the needle always moves back to 90 when the car is brought to a stand still. There are no signs of any coolant loss, and the belts all seem fine. Thanks SteveX
• where's my oil going 24 Jun 2003 (Forum)
  Does anyone have any idea where the oil is going? there are no signs of an oil leak on the driveway, and no emulsifies oil on the oil/coolant filler caps. Is it normal for this type of engine to consume oil? Is the normal level for oil half way between max and min? (ie. has the engine burnt off the oil as there was too much in there, returning it too it's current state?)
• Peugeot 406 Coupe Water Leak!! 13 Feb 2003 (Forum)
  With the radio and fan turned off I can hear water trickling as you go around a right hand bend and the left hand side is lower than the right. The leak is freshwater and not coolant / washer fluid etc. Water appears to be coming out of a small drain hole in a unit (I think a fan housing)up behind the glovebox During the 15 days I've owned the car it has spent five days in with the Peugeot Dealer trying to sort the fault.
• Toyota reliability/value for money 10 Oct 2002 (Forum)
  Only money spent on it has been 4 new Michelins, one set of front pads and wiper blades. I change filter and oil (Mobil 1) 3 times a year and coolant every 18 months. Listed at £19 K, I got it from a supersite for less than £12K. Given that any local taxi firm would probably jump to give me £4K even now, I consider this cheap motoring. Ok, I know it's ugly, has no "street cred" and doesn't exactly race off from traffic lights, but it's done the job perfectly for my family of 3 (now teenage) kids.
• too darn hot 22 Jan 2002 (Forum)
  i have read the relevent section in my haynes manual, but regrettably it isn't as detailed as would be liked. it has no wiring diagrams for the electronic coolant valve, and does not show any images of the heater unit..... has anyone encountered a similar problem, or care to give some pointers? appologies for the short and poorly written effort. thanks in advance for any help people may offer.
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  My car won't start - can you help me? 29 Mar 2018 (Ask HJ)
  My car has problems starting. A mechanic replaced the straight front exhaust pipe and after a couple of weeks the car doesn't start. The mechanic tells...
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  How much should a new heater matrix cost? 23 Aug 2016 (Ask HJ)
  I had a coolant leak from the heater matrix on my Ford Focus and was informed it required replacement by our local Dealer who had serviced the car from...
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  Car dealer now claims he's a private seller - what are my rights? 28 Sep 2013 (Ask HJ)
  Three weeks ago I bought a 2001 Skoda Fabia from an individual who sells cars for a living. He doesn’t have a forecourt, but does have a website with multiple...
• Ford KA, 52 Plate, Petrol - Ford Ka Overheating Problem 8 Jun 2013 (Forum)
  Last Sunday when I was up visiting my folks in Birmingham steam started pouring out of the right hand side of the bonnet and the temp warning light came on, then the following sequence of events took place: AA man attended, refilled water tank with water/coolant, then noticed the water pouring out of a crack in the inlet manifold/gasket. We managed to limp the car across town to where my dads mechanic lives and left the car with him. (I had to travel home approx 2 hours away to go to work) Mechanic fixed the leak, drove the car around several times to check it was all ok, and in checking over the coolant system noticed that the theromstat wasn't working and he couldn't get the fan to kick in, but the car seemed fine.
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  Windows won't demist - what could be wrong? 12 Jan 2013 (Ask HJ)
  I currently own a Vauxhall Corsa D, Design, 09 plate. Since the onset of the cold weather I have been experiencing issues with firstly condensation forming...
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  Underpowered Y-Reg Peugeot 306 - What can I do? 1 Aug 2012 (Ask HJ)
  My brother's Y-Reg Peugeot 306 HDI is under power, the turbo doesnt cut in and their is no smoke coming out the back. It will drive along up to 80mph OK,...
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  Is the 1.9-litre CDTi 120 engine, as used in the Zafira as well as many Saabs and Fiats, really a "disaster zone"? 17 Mar 2012 (Ask HJ)
  I refer to the answer you gave stating that that the 1.9 CDTi 120 in the Zafira can be a "disaster zone". Since I assume that this is the base engine that...
• Peugeot 306 diesel - Cambelt Failure Catastrophe 13 Mar 2012 (Forum)
  In spite of all this, I have had catastrophic failure leaving my ego severely bruised and camshaft broken in four places with cyl head totally wrecked. Pug 306 1.9 Diesel needed cyl head gasket replacing as coolant loss occuring. Spent couple of months on job, no hurry,  slowly doing everything by the book, grinding in the valves; checking / adjusting the valve clearences (which is a pain as the small round shims under the cam followers have to be replaced or ground to exact thickness - which I did as I have milling machine and grinder).
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  My Vectra won't start 6 Feb 2012 (Ask HJ)
  I have had my Vectra 1.8 2001 model for around a year and I have had no problems at all until just after Chistmas. About 3 weeks ago I started my journey...
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  Car losing power and revs 23 Dec 2011 (Ask HJ)
  My Clio is playing up when idle - it will drop revs, nearly cutting out but then it revs back up and just keeps doing this until I turn the engine off....