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  • "Ban sale of cars below 35mpg" Shell ex-Chairman 7 Feb 2008 (Forum)
    "The EU should ban the sale of cars that do under 35 miles to the gallon, the ex-chairman of oil giant Shell says. Sir Mark Moody-Stuart told BBC News the motor industry would adapt to cope with stricter environmental rules. " http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7225451.stm "Sir Mark said the rich should not escape their responsibility to tackle climate change: "It is a social thing.
  • Peugeot 206 hatchback (1998 - 2006) - 2002 1.9 Diesel - smoke and clatter 14 Dec 2007 (Forum)
    I have no service history or anything and when I start it in the mornings I get a load of blue smoke accompanied by 5 seconds of clatter. It's calmed down slightly since I have had it, and I am getting the oil and filter changed tommorow. The car starts and runs fine (although the idle speed is a little high) It's only done 58000, but I lot of may have been with a faulty timing control solenoid. When I bought the car it sounded like it was about to blow up, but at high revs it quietend down, hence I guesses it was a timing issue.
  • £3K to £4K to spend 25 Mar 2007 (Forum)
    I have had it for for nearly 4 years and have done 65K miles with under £500 of bills, other than changing oil, filters and plugs myself. It does around 40 mpg on mixed driving. It is getting a bit tired but hopefully will get through the upcoming MOT without too many problems. I have been considering a 1.8/2.0 P11-144 Primera or Honda Accord.
  • Astra coolant loss 31 Dec 2006 (Forum)
    Hi All seem to have lost about 3 pints of coolant ! must admit don't check coolant level on regular basis( do for oil though) is 51 plate 1.8 coupe. 84k cambelt and water pump changed in april at 80k no mayo on filler cap or dipstick fan cuts in and out ok no signs of leak from engine bay or underneath- looked bone dry to me. first sign was coming home from work yesterday and could only get slightly warm air out of the heater despite temp gauge showing slightly above halfway.
  • Ford Transit 100 T260 - lack of power 23 Aug 2006 (Forum)
    Sometimes it accelerates at lower speed through the rev range impressively and then the next minute it runs out of steam shortly after the turbo gives a bit of boost. Totally upredictable! It's just undergone a big service, changing oil, fuel, airfiler (clogged worse than I've ever seen one!) and this has made no different to performance :-(. Fuel economy seems fine and it doesn't kickout smoke (that I can see) or missfire.
  • Fiesta 1.25 Zetec 12 Dec 2005 (Forum)
    Car ten years old and 37,000 miles. What should I do other than obvious service items? 3. I want to change the coolant. Given this is a Japanese designed aluminium engine (I think Yamaha), is there a special coolant and anti-freeze I should use? 4. What oil grade? 5. Anything else. The radio code is lost.
  • DIY-Proof Cars 14 Sep 2005 (Forum)
    I've just given up trying to change the oil on my Fiat Multiwagon, having discovered that my new Halfords wrench for removing the drain plug wont't fit (this has nine heads and 'fits most cars'). I've also found that it is impossible to replace any of the front bulbs myself, as the battery blocks access on one side, and the washer fluid bottle on the other, and have been unable to help with jump starting a neighbour's car due to my battery being boxed in by a cover attached by star screws, which I couldn't remove without the appropriate tool.
  • Alfa Romeo 33 - cutting out 3 Aug 2005 (Forum)
    I wanted some suggestions about a fault with a recently purchased Alfa Romeo 33 1.7 IE 1990 model. I bought it in good condition with recently serviced items (oil change, air filter, plugs, leads and cap). It was running well for the first couple of weeks. Then I noticed it was occasionally cutting out when slowing down towards a junction. But it would restart immediately each time.
  • Rover 416 Spongy brakes 27 Jun 2005 (Forum)
    After switching off the engine whe vacuum is used up in 2 depressions of the pedal and the pedal feels dead firm then, which I believe is correct. The servo check valve is working correctly, cannot hear any air leaks. Oil condition is clear & clean. No hydraulic leaks. Fitted brand new master cylinder - no change. Brakes have been bled about 8 times now. Each brake circuit has been isolated in turn, still faulty.
  • bmw 318is coupe engine prob 4 Jun 2004 (Forum)
    howdy guy and gals first post on here today i took my car to a guy i always get serviced at. he fitted a new suspension(avo road sport) and did an oil change....he said he put some additives into the engine but he put the wrong one in by mistake...he put in something called diesil blast???an injector cleaner.....but my engine is petrol..he told me that it would be fine just flush it through with petrol and in a couple of weeks itll be fine??
  • Passat 110tdi power loss 3 Apr 2004 (Forum)
    I have had an intermittent power loss on my 97 Passat for over 18 months. The main agent changed the turbo boost pressure valve, no difference, later they replaced the MAF sensor, no difference. I was then told the turbo was faulty, a replacement would cost £1010 ! I then trawled the backroom and found reference to a small hose.
  • Idle speed prob & Service light. Daewoo 29 Feb 2004 (Forum)
    I took my 98 Daewoo Lanos 1.6 SX for an oil change a few days ago and noticed after that a problem with the idle speed, in that it is fine when I first start the car up but then revs high when idle (at 1 500 instead of 900/1000). Also from time to time in the last week or so the \'engine control indicator\' (aka the \'service engine soon\' light) comes up.
  • Golf rattles 14 Dec 2003 (Forum)
    It only seems to make the knocky noise on startup (but still rattles when warm), from cold which seems strange (if it was the bottom end), as i would have thought it would be more pronounced when warm (thin oil). I'm thinking of taking the sump off if it's accessable and seeing if there is a big end with more movement than the others. Am i barking up the wrong tree, if not is there any mileage in just changing the bearing shells rather than having the crank reground etc?
  • Vxl Omega 3 litre probs 26 Feb 2003 (Forum)
    I then thought maybe it's plugs, and bought a new set. I was amazed to find the plugs sitting in an inch of oil, so off to the garage it went for a new head gasket. Garage repaired the head gasket, but the car still ran quite rough, and wouldnt pull up hills. So they changed the HT leads, it ran a bit better but is still crap.
  • Ford Focus ECU Problem? 19 Oct 2002 (Forum)
    Coming back from work this evening, I turned into my drive in 2nd gear as usual, and it became very jerky - almost kangarooing up the drive. I changed into first gear, with a resultant complete lack of power - the engine became almost silent, the oil light came on briefly, despite that I was applying a little pressure to the accelerator. It didn't feel or sound as though it had stalled, there was just no response to the accelerator.
  • Our BMW 1 Series is showing a DPF light - is this because we only use it for short journeys? 20 Oct 2017 (Ask HJ)
    I recently bought my son a BMW 1 Series for his 18th birthday. Soon after the filter light came on. We took it to a garage to be looked at and the turbo...
  • Honda Accord 2002 - Car failed MOT, need advice (do I keep repairing?) 30 Aug 2020 (Forum)
    I don't mind the welding but my REAL question is regarding the Cam Belt. I got that changed and now it's a YEAR overdue.  Mileage wise apparently I've got another 6. Apparently the cambelt is to be changed every 75k or 7 years, and I've done 69K on the cambelt changed 8 years ago.
  • Honda CR-V - Flat spots on rear tyre and judder while driving 4 Mar 2014 (Forum)
    It's as if something slows the car down for a split second, as if I'm driving through a puddle - it's that type of feeling. I'm concerned that because the rear diff oil has never been changed while we've had it and I doubt it was changed when the car was bought in to the family, whether the diff has been extremely damaged by it. Has anyone experienced this issue before?
  • Passat 2009 CR Bluemotion2 - Aux belt-->Cambelt--> Rocker-->Camshaft failure 26 Apr 2015 (Forum)
      I am shocked to say the least as I thought I was thoroughly maintaining my car. Q is it usual for main dealerships not to change the alternator belt at the same time as the Cambelt? I'm particularly disappointed as I saved up to buy the CR model that I knew would not then suffer from the expensive 'rounding off of the oil pump drive spindle' problem on previous models.
  • Vauxhall Vectra B (1995 - 1999) - 97 1.8 petrol (?) Stalling engine & ign. light. 17 Jun 2008 (Forum)
    I've not had it long but a friend helped me to find it and has serviced it just after i got it with all the usual stuff being checked or changed. I know that the radiator has been changed, oil, brakes and discs and lots of other bits too. The car after i have driven about 20miles then park and then get back in just after i have started driving again ( i basically drive from work to parents house, pick up son then drive home again) i normally pull into the same road (my parents road) and reverse out.
 

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