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• Vauxhall vectra diesel - Poor performance in gears 1 and 2 8 May 2011 (Forum)
  The car is very slow to build up revs in gears 1 and 2. Takes an age to accelerate then pulls and enables a gear change. Fine on the motorway and drives normally. Tried some catalytic cleaner on advice and performance has improved though still a hint of sluggish acceleration. Various advice from wrong oil, to air sensor but it's a real mystery.
• Nissan Micra K12 '53 Plate - Fuel Economy 1 Jan 2011 (Forum)
  It has gone from doing about 420 miles to a tank down to around 300, and usually just under that. It has done 35k. I have had new front tyres, changed the air filter and had both the fuel and oil systems flushed and fitted with new filters. All with no affect. Can you suggest what else may be causing the problem? I can only think of spark plugs, but when the fuel system was flushed it had an emissions test and was damn near perfect, so they are unlikely to be the cause.
• ford focus 1.6 tdci - ford focus new turbo fitted, but making deep noise 6 Sep 2010 (Forum)
  hi, ive recently had my turbo changed on my ford focus 07 tdci. along with a new oil feed pipe and banjos as i was informed. but since its been done, now and again when im accelerating, i hear a deep noise, like the suck of an induction kit or air from a blown exhaust. im not loosing power at all!
• Honda Jazz 1.4 - Honda Jazz Service Rip off? 15 Jun 2010 (Forum)
  As it has full honda service history I thought I'd stick with the main dealer. I've just been quoted £330 for a service which consists of: Changing oil filter, brake fluid, fuel filter and pollen filter. I don't know what prices for servicing are meant to be but this seems a bit steep to me. What does everyone else think? Should i stick with Honda or find somewhere else to get the service done.
• Alfa Romeo 147 - Alfa Romeo Cam Belt Failure 10 Jun 2010 (Forum)
    We want to know what actually sheers the woodruff key, Would this cause the cam belt to slip and shouldn't it be checked on a cam belt change..
• `ere in France - motoring under ze conkers 16 Aug 2009 (Forum)
  Cars service today - none! Pierre our head mechanic is suspended for letting his great great Grandaughter change the oil on his motor - eze only an 11 year old girl -- sacre bleu! Further more `e as failed in ze risk assessment of `developing conkers`. These are located in a tree across the road from our garage and we are fearful in ze anglo forum (thank you) way of them hitting us like ze doodlebug or bullet.
• Nationwide Autocentres - any experience? 29 May 2009 (Forum)
  Need a full service and first Mot on my diesel. Dealer charged me £400 last year for what's little more than an oil change and giving the tyres a kick so won't be using them again. With Nationwide they quote £235 on their website for service + MoT and I see I could use Tesco points on a 4 to 1 basis - so assume would cost just £60 worth of points.
• Ford Mondeo II (1996 - 2000) - 2000 2.0i engine running way too fast on tick over 5 Mar 2009 (Forum)
  my mondeo with the zetec engine has recently started to run at about 1500rpm when ever i pull up at a junction or at the lights, but after about 2-3 minutes it will slowly come back down.I have tried spraying the cable and linkages with copper slip but no difference ,someone told me it will be the idle control valve/air mix valve .This from a person who hasn`t changed his oil in 2 years so i`m not sure if i trust him..PLEASE HELP it`s doing my crust in..
• Vauxhall Astra H (2004 - 2009) - 04 1.4 broken valve and lost compression!! 27 Feb 2009 (Forum)
  My sister has a 54 plate 1.4 astra, recently started firing on 3 and then 2 cylinders. only got 27k on it and has two oil changes a year using all vauxhall items as my dad is ex vauxhalls. Inspection at lookers vauxhall found knackered rings and a valve which had a chunk missing out of it which we have kept. Its obviously a material defect in the way its broken.
• Ford Focus (1998 - 2004) - 02 1.8 Gearbox/clutch/Dual-mass flywheel.... 30 Jan 2009 (Forum)
  OK, so my gearbox on my TDCi is getting a bit difficult - the car has done 160k miles on the original clutch - is it a cert that I need to replace the clutch? Mainly difficult to engage from cold, and into second a bit 'clunky'. I got the box oil changed, and the action was better, but not fixed. I have stalled the engine a couple of times from cold because of it. Also, my garage reckons it best to replace the dual-mass flywheel as well, I presume becuase once the clutch is out you may as well - sound advice?
• New long term car 7 Dec 2008 (Forum)
  I've just returned from living in France where I've been running an Opel Omega 2.5 diesel for the last 8 years - it's been stunningly reliable - over 300k km with only oil and filters (lots of them). I'm going to be doing something like 600 miles/week so will need something comfortable yet relatively economical. I will be doing my own servicing and would really prefer a camchain engine (or something where the belt is as easy and quick to change as my Transit!).
• Mercedes Benz E-Class W124 (1985 - 2000) - 94 2.2 Fuel mpg gone down despite new air mass sen 13 Aug 2008 (Forum)
  Recently I have has a new air mass sensor, new lambda sensor, new spark plugs, new air filter, new catalytic converter, oil change fitted. This has reduced the emissions however the mpg is worse than before, about 12 mpg. (I have based my calculations on £4.50 per gallon, if this is not correct can someone please tell me.)
• Ford Focus (1998 - 2004) - 2000 1.6 would a blowing exhaust cause??? 20 Jul 2008 (Forum)
  hi, i am a real novice when it comes to cars. i have just changed oil & filter, air filter, re set gap on spark plugs, and checked HT leads for Arc-ing. car idles fine on rev counter and runs fine, however when idleing it appears to miss every 4-5 seconds (counter does not move), causing the whole car to vibrate, it also sounds like pop pop sound from the centre exhaust box, i noticed the other day that this seemed to be blowing, however it was only replaced in december.
• Volkswagen Golf V (2004 - 2008) - VW Golf servicing 15 May 2008 (Forum)
  My main question is does a garage need to have all the high tech diagnostic equipment to be able to perform a thorough service on the car or is it just a matter of finding a competent mechanic who replaces the oil, filters and whatever other bits need changing and tops up fluid levels? Thanks is advance for any advice you can give.
• Vauxhall Cavalier (1988 - 1995) - 95 2.0 ecotec - judder at low revs 10 Apr 2008 (Forum)
  hi, problem with judder at low revs especially when lifting foot off accelerator.Have done the usual ie,cleaned all breather pipes from rocker cover & crankcase,changed rocker cover gasket due to excess oil covering spark plugs & fitted new ht leads & plugs.No engine light coming on & drives really well at high speeds .Had the car 3 years now & it has 140k on it,fitted new idler control valve last year when experiencing erratic idling.Maybe its getting past its sell by date but its a workhorse any ideas would be greatly appreciated many thanks
• Vauxhall Zafira A (1999 - 2005) - 2.0 DTi - Poor starter in the morning 16 Mar 2008 (Forum)
  Hi i have a Vuaxhall Zafira 2.0dti comfort which ive just serviced it never had trouble starting before but now first thing in the morning it takes about 5 minutes to start ive changed the air filter, oil diesel and glow plugs which i have made no diffrence any one got any ideas. I did the glow plugs a few days after because it would not start and when put on the computer the only error was glow plug error this as since gone but sill will not start.
• Vauxhall Cavalier (1988 - 1995) - Stalling Problems 12 Feb 2008 (Forum)
  It started about a month ago and the problem has got worse, now the car stalls every 2 minutes on all gears and revs. I have changed the air filters and the oil filter however the problem remains. The air filters where extremely dirty and a diesel expert has said that I may have some air problems. Could someone help. as I don't want to take the car to a garage and spend more than it's worth.
• Vauxhall Astra H (2004 - 2009) - 2.0T (170) Engine Roughness 10 Oct 2007 (Forum)
  They then told me it was a characteristic of that engine. I referred it to another dealer who said that the car had the wrong oil in it, though it was correct as per the handbook. They said that Vauxhall now recommended the 5/20 for the Turbo engines. However, this change has been no difference either. Anyone else had a problem like this?
• vw polo 1.6 glx auto gearbox problem 29 May 2007 (Forum)
  Hi.i spent all my money on a 1996 polo auto 4 weeks ago and ive been ripped off by a trader in enfield as the gearbox was leaking oil and not engaging properly after only doing 50 miles.i took the car to vw and they have taken out the gearbox and found that the torque converter has been welded up and they cannot take it apart to change the seals without wrecking the box.does anybody out there have any tips on repairing this problem or have/no anybody who has a gearbox for sale.i know if you go to a dealer everything has to be done by the book but im desperate and im low on funds now so any tips will be very much apreciated.thankyou.
• Aftersales service 31 Mar 2007 (Forum)
  Amazing how these little touches make you feel better about your car. They've organised a one month check to change the oil and give it the once over. I've not had to lift a finger. Now I appreciate a tin of biscuits isn't such a big deal, but I thought it was a nice little touch. Fingers crossed this quality of service continues during the time I own the car.