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• Ford Focus (1998 - 2004) - 1998 1.4 draining my battery life 17 Feb 2009 (Forum)
  hi, can anyone help pls, we have had the AA out this car, a call out mechanic and still no joy, the car went dead with no power at all, so we had the battery changed and over night the new battery went flat, we have checked and clean all hearth points and checked leads, i have just put another alternator on and stiil drained all the battery, when it was driving the battery light came on and then went off, then it died at the lights but it started up that time, the light's went dim and bright when we touched accelerator.
• Mazda MX5 (1998-2005) - Putting laid-up car back on the road 19 Jan 2009 (Forum)
  I didn't attempt to start it. The discs looked particularly corroded. I thought I'd approach it with jump leads, disconnect the fuel pump and wind it on the starter until it had some oil pressure before I attempt to start it. Any suggestions from the BR, apart from shooting her?
• Nissan Micra (1992 - 2003) - 95 1.0 Starting Problems 12 Oct 2008 (Forum)
  Should have guessed something was up, when the guy who sold it to me made a point of starting it in front of me, and saying "look how well it starts from cold". The next day, it took jump leads and about 20 mins of cranking to get it to cough into life. That was after checking for 4 good sparks and drying the plugs. Today was the same saga, but I gave up after 10 mins, and tried bump starting behind a land rover. fired first time in about 10 meters!
• Renault Kangoo Combi (1999 - 2004) - 1999 1.9 d starter motor? 18 Jul 2008 (Forum)
  what it is, --- i have fitted a new diesel pump and ive had trouble starting it again, turning the engine over the battery went flat i jumped it with jump leads but just got a click i tride it a few more times and the same thing just a click and then nothing not even a click,the battery is fully charged i turn the key all the lights come on on the dash and all the driving lights are fine. have i worn the starter out?
• Citroen Xantia (1993 - 2000) - 96 2.0 Xantia lighter socket 15 Apr 2008 (Forum)
  I've got a 66ah battery in it at the moment and I'm thinking of popping a battery in the passenger footwell and connecting it via the lighter socket. Maplins do a lighter socket to lighter socket jump lead which would possibly do, the jumper battery has a lighter socket in it so I could connect it that way and just use it to power the radio code and alarm until the main battery is charged again. The car is parked in the road, so all solutions must involve locking it with no external battery on the street.
• Nissan Sunny (1986 - 1991) - 1.4 12V H/B loss of power/revs on acceleration 17 Sep 2007 (Forum)
  Checked Ignition side of things (but no expert) - plugs new and gapped OK, batt. OK, coil gives correct resistances, diz cap looks OK (I think), leads seem OK too. Was serviced recently with new fuel filter, air filter, plugs, valve adjustment, oil change. Seemed better for a while now back to square 1. Son says better in the wet. Redex in tank and direct into carb. - no difference.
• Astra steering wheel vibrations 4 Jun 2007 (Forum)
  Car mechanics are not my strongest discipline but i've worked on a tractor where the track rod ends were worn and this lead to some shudders through the steering. Could this be the cause? Many thanks for your wisdom. Ed
• Golf GTI cold start problems 29 Mar 2007 (Forum)
  I have a 1996 golf gti 2.0ltr 8 v (AGG) it takes ages to start from cold when left overnight,it also has a slight miss fire. up to date it has had replaced,plugs,leads,2 x lambdre sensors,crank angle sensor.othe sensors i cant remember which ones,fuel filter,its also had the injectors and rail cleanedout,the thottle body has been cleaned,and re set,oh i forgot its also had a new dizzy cap rotor arm,and a new ignition amplifier, recovery man out 5 times,the alarm /immobilizer has been checked its fine.
• Changes to Theory Test ? 19 Feb 2007 (Forum)
  green issues? is tested. The Driving Standards Agency (Who are they ?) spokesperson said, ?This should lead to a group of drivers who from Day One drive in an environmentally-friendly way.? Learners, among other things, will need to show that they understand : 1. how motoring affects the environmwent, 2. what speeds are best for driving and braking ??
• Over the top actions for a blown bulb? 12 Feb 2007 (Forum)
  The police officer gave her a lift there but couldn't give a lift back and therefore she was left to walk the half mile back on her own in the dark on a road leading out of the city. What on earth are they thinking about? Leaving a young woman to walk alone on a road like that in the dark is ridiculous. Letter to the local headquarters on it's way! {Subject header given a more meaningful title - DD}
• Golf MKIII idle hesitation 31 Jan 2007 (Forum)
  1995 I.8 Monotronic ABD engine Golf, Recnetly at idle the the engine is very slightly rough, runs well, new leads plugs, cap rotor, fuel cleaner. The same. So I am down to an air leak. Just spent 2 hours chaecking all the pipe work, operation of the purge valve and Carbon can an can find a leak anywhere. Purge valve resistance is 43 ohms and appying 12 volts it operates and opens the valve allowing air through the can into the inlet manifold. small ridged black pipe allows air in one direction i.e. you can blow but not suck, and the click sounds healthy and the feed pipe down to the can when applying suction clunks closed with no leaks.
• Opening door with flat battery - Omega 3 Jan 2007 (Forum)
  A brilliant piece of logic that will solve all my problems and will become the standard solution for this problem everywhere, leading to revered worship by mechanics worldwide and subsequent overloading of my ego by fawning women? b. A recipe for disaster, as it'll blow a dozen circuits? c. Daft, because there's an easy, tried and tested way to resolve this that is much easier and guaranteed to work?
• Is this really fair? 16 Sep 2006 (Forum)
  No helmet, no leathers, no insurance, no licence, no MOT etc etc. If he should run in to me and I am judged to have 'cut a corner' which leads to his death or injury I would be well hacked off.
• Citroen ZX 1.8 8v - Idle/Starting Proble 23 Aug 2006 (Forum)
  I have changed head gasket ~5 months ago and I have therefore checked, cleaned and reconnected all the sensor multi-plugs. I have also changed the Plugs and Plug leads. Could possibly be fault with a sensor but unsure how to check for faults or which sensor could cause the problem. Idle sensor appears to be ok, can blow through when ignition off, and closes when ignition is on (presume this is correct!)
• Log Book Loans 8 Aug 2006 (Forum)
  I didn't catch what the interest rates or repayment terms were like. However, surely this is a daft idea and is almost irresponsible in that it may lead people with bad credit histories, or insufficient dosh to pay the loans, into further credit issues. No doubt resulting in them losing 100% of their car to service the 40% they borrowed. Or am I missing something and its really a very good idea ??
• Mk2 Mondeo front wishbone size? 10 Jan 2006 (Forum)
  Under the 47mm section, it says: '(REPLACES EARLIER TYPE LEFT)' '(REPLACES EARLIER TYPE RIGHT)' Leading me to assume that both parts fit, but the later part replaced the earlier part. Anyone got any ideas?
• Who's to blame here? 18 Dec 2005 (Forum)
  His bike was unlit as one would expect. The cyclist and I were next to the main road and I stopped at a minor road leading off the main road for a look round before crossing. On the main road a Citroen Picasso with sidelights on was coming towards me and the cyclist. Instinct prevented me from setting off across the minor road; there was no reason for me to wait, the Citroen wasn't indicating and should have passed me to my left going straight on.
• Volvo Ignition timing 18 Dec 2005 (Forum)
  I thought the Knock sensor was not working and removed same to test off the block only to discover the scope lead was faulty. However this caused me to dig out my timing strobe only to discover the engine at tick over appears to be well retarded but does advance once the throttle switch comes in and the revs pick up it advances a lot.
• Repair your own car - get insurance hike 19 Nov 2005 (Forum)
  Now having had experience of woefully inadequate garages leaving dangerous faults on my car I wonder whether this will actually lead to an increase in accidents? Most people that repair their own vehicle are competant (it's their own safety on the line for a start) and often don't trust garages because of the likelihood of serious mistakes.
• Mondeo Euro III/IV diesel 13 Sep 2005 (Forum)
  People like Ford?s of Winsford have TDCi 130 Ghias for £11.5k which seems like a good deal. Which at last leads me to my question ? my reading tells me that there is a big mpg difference between the Euro III and Euro IV models and that I want a Euro III ? so when you a standing in a car park full of Mondeos how do you tell the difference?