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• Finding the perfect driving position. 21 Jul 2009 (Forum)
  We are often told that a bad posture at your desk can lead to long-term injury but what about the long-term effects of a bad driving position? Given that many of us will spend a large chunk of our lives behind the wheel, is this something that we should be giving more thought to?
• Ford Mondeo II (1996 - 2000) - 00 2.5 Alternator problem - need advice ASAP 9 Jul 2009 (Forum)
  My mate has now replaced the alternator with another new Bosch unit and also fitted a new battery (apparently they need a particular Lead Calcium battery and mine only had a cheapo one fitted). Despite that the lights are still flickering even when revving the car, the alternator is charging at 14.8V at idle and 15.11V when revving.
• Vauxhall Vectra B (1995 - 1999) - 99 1.8 oil use/loss 29 Jun 2009 (Forum)
  There are no obvious leaks and the exhaust gases are clear when driving along,but for that amount of oil osage one would expect the engine to be plastered or a real smoke screen coming out of the exhaust. I have difficulty in believing that the initial stages of head gasket failure could lead to such catastrophic oil loss without leaving an obvious trace. When I changed the oil shortly after purchasing the car a few months ago,I noticed that the old filter was squashed down on one side,as if it had not seated properly.The new one appeared to fit well,but I have not checked it since,but have wondered if there is a pressure release which operates in the filter housing which could vent out oil when running along?
• Does warranty influence the new car choice? 7 Jun 2009 (Forum)
  I personally wouldn't have one of their cars again following this little affair. I'm quite surprised that more makers haven't had to match Hundai's warranty lead to keep their sales up, the only one that springs to mind (apart from Kia of course) is the 5 year offered on the Fiat Bravo. Now is this an age thing, are the buyers of cars with short warranties younger people maybe more interested in image, whereas the older driver maybe thinks more long term, or are more factors at work here?
• Honda Accord UK (2003 - 2008) - Premature Rear Brake Wear 20 May 2009 (Forum)
  Honda are playing hard-ball on this though and are claiming that the setup of the braking system causes the rear brakes to be used more than the front ones and hence wear faster. This leads me to assume that I will have to go through the same expense again in another 20k miles - surely something quite unacceptable. It is not even as if I am a fast driver who uses the brakes roughly.
• SAAB 9-3 (1998 - 2002) - 99 2.0 Intermittent Clutch/Gearbox problem 8 May 2009 (Forum)
  Switch off and restart and fault is present again. Recovery company suggested a fault in one of the clutch cylinders leading to lack of pressure. (no leaks present) Trader I bought car from has taken it to a garage and paying for fix (and has given me a courtesy car) so I can't complain really. I'd really like to know what could be causing this fault so that I can check it's been fixed properly and not just bodged.
• Ford Focus (1998 - 2004) - 03 1.8TDCi - Fails to start 27 Apr 2009 (Forum)
  Then went away for a month and the car was a nightmare to start when i got back, took about 15 mins even though air temp was approx 18 degrees, managed to get approx 2 miles before engine cut out silently and would not restart, even off jump leads. When depressing the clutch prior to junctions the revs would drop to 500 then back up to 900 every 1 second and would get plumes of white/light grey smoke on start up. Used the built in diagnostic and only error code found was for coolant temp low.
• Ford Mondeo III (2000 - 2007) - 01 1.8 Serious engine problems 21 Apr 2009 (Forum)
  Temperature gauge was reporting and apparently correctly; car heated up to approximately 70°C but then seemed to stabilise; ? On 18.04.09 coil pack checked, leads replaced, not firing on cylinder 1; ? EML initially went out, now flashing/illuminated constantly, smoking heavily, temperature gauge permanently on cold; ? Oil clean, no signs of mayonnaise, heater and air con working correctly at all temperatures ?
• Volkswagen Golf III (1992 - 1997) - 94 1.8 Rattling from head - part 2 20 Feb 2009 (Forum)
  Tappets don't move when pressed (lob's pointing up). So all ok? A few oddities found: 1) possibly weak spark voltage from no1 plug (Plugs and HT leads, Disti rotor and cap are all fairly new) - measured on O'Scope with inductive probe. 2) Gunky crankcase breather tube - going to get that blown out 3) Compression test with a Laser test valve - only get 150psi per cylinder.
• Ford Mondeo III (2000 - 2007) - 02 1.8 misfire after start up 15 Feb 2009 (Forum)
  Garage plugged it into the diagnostic computer and found nothing wrong, but they changed plugs and ht leads and put something in to clean the valves. This didn't fix it. Car is 02 and has 97k miles. Pattern of usage changed about 1 year ago and car now gets a few journeys per week of approx. 10 miles and the occasional longer run.
• Ford Mondeo II (1996 - 2000) - 99 2.5 misfire problems 21 Jan 2009 (Forum)
  I have a Mondeo ST24 2.5 V6, I moved the car off the drive one day and all was fine, got up the following day and the car wouldnt run, i have a Scanguage so I used that and it threw up P0353 error which is Ignition Coil "C" Primary/Secondary Circuit Malfunction, I replaced the coil with a brand new genuine Ford part, also changed the leads and plugs whilst the UIM was off. I fired the car up and all was good, no misfire and it ran nice and smooth. I left the car idling for about 45 mins to charge the battery, in that time the fans came on 4 times.
• Ford Mondeo III (2000 - 2007) - 2002 2.0tdci - Fuel injectors 17 Jan 2009 (Forum)
  To add salt to my wounds the car is also chipped so the power i had has been drasticlly reduced My father has the X-TYPE 2.0D Sport (which has also been chipped) which has the same engine as my Mondeo (or so i am lead to believe) i used his car over christmas and ran it up the same steep hill and found his pulls like mine did 50mph and accelerating like my TDCI did...can now only reach 40mph and feel i should change down.
• Mitsubishi Colt 3-door (2005 - ) - 07 1.1 Anyone ever had problem with EML coming on? 23 Nov 2008 (Forum)
  I am thinking it's connected to me washing the car and then moving it straight away whilst it was still dripping wet. Maybe one of the leads got damp? Would be interested to hear other people's experiences with this - will pop it into local dealer on monday to get it checked out just in case Thanks.
• Mazda MX5 (1989 - 1998) - 1989 1.6 How to remove the alarm/immobiliser? 14 Aug 2008 (Forum)
  It is an aftermarket item rather than an original fitment judging by the wiring This device seems to have failed leading to us not being able to start the car at all, even if we just reconnect the battery the alarm goes off. What happened was that the alarm went off and would not respond to the fob, so I disconnected the battery to shut the thing up.
• Ford Escort (1993 - 2000) - 1995 1.4 PTE SEFI erratic misfire when warm 10 Aug 2008 (Forum)
  My old Escort has covered 52000 from new and is mainly used 10-12 times each month usually for short journeys, after about 12miles it developes an erratic misfire, also sometimes the engine races away without the throttle being touched plus frequently cuts out when the accelerator pedal is released. Various mechanics have looked at it, changed the plugs and leads etc, checked electrics, all to no avail. It is now suggested that the ECU may be at fault and should be replaced, if this is done will the new unit require reprogramming to the car by a dealer, I am told that the coil unit will have to be replaced as well as part of the ECU system.
• Volvo S60 (2000 - 2009) - 01 2.0 TS - recent cold starting concerns 30 Jul 2008 (Forum)
  The spark plugs are genuine Volvo items fitted by a main dealer at the last service they were due, and are still well within their service life according to the schedule. I would normally be checking things like HT leads, but it doesn't have any. Any suggestions or any common areas of weakness to check? By the way, once up and running, the car is running fine, pulling well, returning mid 30's mpg, and there are no warning lights on.
• Renault Clio II (2001 - 2007) - 02 1.2 My spare tyre well fills with water 22 Jul 2008 (Forum)
  There is a large water mark coming from below the cup holder thing next to the rear offside seat but it appears to lead into the footwell and I can't see that that would end up in the boot. It does look as though what has collected under the seats has gone into the boot and there is a hole in the top of the rear offside window seal so I thought it might be seeping round inside the interior trim but I tipped a load of water over there and nothing seemed to happen (also took off the interior trim by that window and it was perfectly dry inside).
• Renault Laguna (1994 - 2001) - 1997 2.0 8 valve petrol engine vibration/misfire. 2 Jul 2008 (Forum)
  A Renault specialist advised that the engine management showed nothing wrong and suggested that a pattern part coil was a common cause of misfires on Renault engines. They replaced the coil for the affected cylinder, the second coil and the HT leads were later replaced but still the problem persists. Everyone is baffled so if anyone has any ideas they would be gratefully received, before I have to put the car out of it's misery.
• Ford Focus II (2004 - 2007) - Boot opening problem on my Ford Focus 26 Jun 2008 (Forum)
  This is not the only problem I've had with the car, I found 2 inches of water in the spare wheel area when I needed to change a tyre and the radio/CD player is about to be replaced for the second time as that keeps turning itself off and refusing to play CD's. I am pretty disappointed with what is supposed to be a class leading car. Rant over - any help with the boot would be great, the car is heading back to the dealer soon so if I can point them in a new direction that would be handy. Thanks.
• FIAT Scudo (2007 - ) - 2000 2.0td van - alarm is discharging the battery. 25 May 2008 (Forum)
  poor builders van I bought 3 years ago it has factory alarm fitted which kept going off and annoying everyone near my house including me so as a short term measure i cut the wire to the alarm horn it still whent off continually but was now silent, however it seems to be flattening the battery I bought a new one last winter cost £70.00 and it was fine for a bit, but I think that is now ruined as I have to remove battery leads every night to aviod constant alarm going off indicators flashing constantly etc.and discharging the battery every night? if there is some way of disabling the alarm completely then it should not go off continually and thus flatten battery overnight.