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• Ford Ka Won't Unlock In Thru Boot Help! 9 Feb 2006 (Forum)
  she has had to disconnect the wires on the inside of the door ( that black plastic screw cap thingy- sorry i don't know what it's called exactly) but that also disables her windows and radio! Anyone any ideas as i feel she may get ripped off on this. Thanks in advance. Lee
• 00/01 Merc C320 total electrical failure 25 Jan 2006 (Forum)
  Car now at Merc dealer for fixing, but out of interest; a good friend was bowling along on the motorway at night in his (2000 or 2001 I think) C320 Estate when it suffered total electrical failure. Headlights, instrumentation, radio, engine - the lot - without warning save for a helpful "STOP!" caption in the instrument cluster. I would normally say "Earth" for something like this, but unless the instrument cluster has a backup battery, this appears unlikely to be the cause.
• Peugeot 306 1.4 electrics gone crazy! 8 Jan 2006 (Forum)
  The garage also replaced the fuel pump relay and idle control valve as that was apparently jammed. Last night the radio kept on cutting out, then the headlights flickered, instruments went from 0 to full scale but the engine kept on running fine. Then it cut out and eventually restarted. This morning it would not start.
• mondeo v6 starting problems 18 Oct 2005 (Forum)
  The remote door key has packed up, and would not switch off the alarm/immob light, The car is refusing to start at first few tries, with the alarm/immob light staying on even using the red master key After eventually starting the radio display is blank??? The engine now feels rough to drive. It is a 94 Model has done 108000 trouble free miles right up to now, any ideas? AndyD
• Citroen Xsara strange noise 26 Jul 2005 (Forum)
  It does change slightly if there's a strong gust of wind, but that might be because the balance of the car is thrown off slightly. Any suggestions, or should I just turn the radio up? ;-) Many thanks! David.
• Unexpected pleasures 19 Nov 2004 (Forum)
  The Fabia has come with a cassette/radio rather than a CD player. I was thinking this is a major downer and that I need to swap for a Skoda Symphony (same fit, but £320!!!) or some other standard CD player, but they're all a bit showy.
• Still got your 'ears on' ? 26 May 2004 (Forum)
  Wouldn't be surprised if it was the kiddy factor that killed it off - I got involved in it around '78 but very rapidly cooled off when it became legal in '81 and rapidly acquired my amateur radio licence. Although, come to think of it, haven't seen a 2m or 70cm antenna on a car lately either.
• Focus electrical fault 18 Dec 2003 (Forum)
  My Focus has recently developed some kind of electrical fault, which I first noticed as flickering headlights, but it seems to affect all the internal lights and radio as well. The problem is intermittent, so I presume it's some kind of loose/dodgy connection. It went in for a service the other day, and I asked them to take a look, but they couldn't replicate the problem so they just checked the headlight earthing points, and nothing has changed.
• Legal definition of hands-free? 1 Dec 2003 (Forum)
  What is you've pressed re-dial to make a call whilst using an earpiece? Are dangling ear-pieces going to be outlawed and only fixed dashboard/thru the radio systems going to be allowed? I'm not after a debate on the rights and wrongs of mobile use behind the wheel, simply a definiton in layman's terms of what the law will say. Thanks in advance
• Corsa Wont Stop!!! 10 Nov 2003 (Forum)
  Has a 3 cyl Corsa in the workshop for an engine change this afternoon. Nice easy job. All went swimmingly until startup. Connected the battery and noticed the central radio display lit up straight away before putting the key in, hmmmmm. Fired her up and let it run for a few minutes, no leaks, nice and quiet, great, switch off, er, it wont, even with the key out still chuntering along happily!!
• Classic Motoring Embarrassments 20 Aug 2003 (Forum)
  Next garage, the mechanic spotted straight away that in the passenger footwell (near my size 12s) was a portable radio, that had been turned on. Well of course the interference caused by the engine was the noise! We had a good laugh! H
• Seatbelt - 20th Anniversary 1 Feb 2003 (Forum)
  There is a news item on our local radio today that it is 20 years since the wearing of seatbelts became compulsory. Over this time 375 deaths and 7000 serious injuries per year have been saved. So, hip hip hooray for Volvo. What puzzles me though is that the news item goes on to say that Road Safety Officers are currently out in force reminding people how great seatbelts are.
• Overpriced Servicing 25 Oct 2002 (Forum)
  Once the big extras were removed from the scope of the work(clutch, headlamp) the bill was still £900 (400parts/500 labour) including such things as £35 for 'investigating' a poor quality radio (conclusion - upgrade it!) and £30 for changing the wipers (labour only). The dealier isn't interested. Vauxhall say thay only regulate part-prices....Dealer says labour rate is 64.50 plus vat. What are the other courses ?
• Supermarket cars (and a bag of spuds) 2 Oct 2002 (Forum)
  Don't know if anyone heard the full version but I just caught the end of a discussion on radio 5 this afternoon where they were dicussing that we would "soon" be able to buy a new car at any shop including supermarkets. I was amused by a spokeswoman from the Consumers Assoc who said it would include "any car from a Merc down to a Skoda with Fords in between" and everyone seemed to think it was a wonderful idea that you could go in for a bag of spuds and come out with a spanking new car.
• Charge for dealer fit option? 29 Sep 2002 (Forum)
  I negotiated hard for the deal, but ended up with my dealer matching the best broker price, which I was delighted with. I deferred a decision about upgrading the radio/cassette to a CD tuner as this was a dealer fit option. I was quoted (and expected) £150. I asked for the CD to be fitted 2 days ago, but now there is the cost of an hours labour on top (£40). Is this usual practice for dealer fitted options on a new car?
• VW Golf MK IV Audio Equipment 24 Jan 2002 (Forum)
  I am contemplating importing a VW golf from Holland.The only problem with achieving a full UK spec is that cars from Holland due not have the UK std VW Gamma radio/cassette/cd player fitted to UK sourced cars. The equipt is very expensive to buy seperately from a VW dealer, does anyone Know of an independent supplier for original VW audio Equipt.? I have located a possible supplier, from an ad. in Carparts magazine, Soundmaster, in Scotland.
• 5 questions..... 13 Dec 2001 (Forum)
  Did everybody miss this, or was it not worth of comment ? The questions HJ was faced with on the Radio Programme; Author: Mark (Brazil) (200.165.138.---) Date: 08-12-01 19:37 Just because I'd like to see what everybody else says... 1: What book are you reading? Arms & the Women- Reginald Hill 2: What is the most embarassing record you have ever bought?
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  Why has my VW satnav stopped giving traffic updates? 27 Feb 2024 (Ask HJ)
  My satnav no longer picks up traffic, roadworks etc. VW tells me it is no longer supporting its own satnav. Is that genuinely true?
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  Can I retrofit Bluetooth into my car? 24 Jun 2020 (Ask HJ)
  I have a 2014 Vauxhall Vivaro van and would like to know if I can upgrade the infotainment/radio to incorporate a hands free Bluetooth system.
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  Skoda Yeti battery problems 29 Jul 2016 (Ask HJ)
  I purchased a new Skoda Yeti last year, but have experienced problems with the battery and engine start/stop ever since. The dealer recharged the battery...