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• Mercedes Benz E-Class W124 (1985 - 2000) - ' 91 230TE won't run when warmed up 1 Jan 2008 (Forum)
  Sucumbing to a long desired dream to own a 'classic'W124 estate I recently bought a beautiful J reg 230TE. It has been a joy to drive and a nice change...
• Honda - Africa Twin XRV 750 motorbike - Lean? 17 Dec 2007 (Forum)
  I recently replaced the end can of the exhaust (Think 'back box') and want to know how to tell if it's running lean. I will be checking the spark plug colour and also doing some high rpm shut downs to check the spark plug colour at various points in the rev range. But for now, are there signs if an engine is running dangerously lean?
• Rover 400 (1995 - 1999) - squealing pulley 25 Oct 2007 (Forum)
  The car does seem to be affected in the way it runs by this but should I keep driving it or lay it up till monday when its going in for servicing? I dont want to invite disaster!
• Kids and cabriolets 1 Jul 2007 (Forum)
  And then there is the soft top/safety issue. But of course I may be wrong. Does anyone out there have any experience of running a 9-3, or indeed any other 4 seat convertible as their only car with a new baby? Views gratefully accepted
• Citroen Xsara HDI heater fan fault 14 Jun 2007 (Forum)
  Vehicle: Xsara estate Hdi110. 2002, 86k miles. The heater fan on this car runs flat out, regardless of the manual setting, but only once the engine is running. After some investigation work, there appears to be a system control box, the driver control consul (containing more electronics), various temperature sensors, a flap servo and the fan unit.
• Retirement car for FiL 20 Apr 2007 (Forum)
  My retired father-in-law is thinking about getting another car which will last him a good few years. New or up to two years old, three or five door, manual box, reliable, cheap to run, and corrosion-resistant (he lives by the sea). Image is of no concern nor is performance as long as it is comfortable. Lowish annual mileage so petrol rather than diesel. Mainly local pottering with a very occasional longer run.
• fiat cinquecento 2 Feb 2007 (Forum)
  Due to the hike in van tax i am going to park my service van up and for the first time in 20yrs i will have to buy a second car,the tax is going to cost me 770 quid per year just to bring a smelly transit home(thanks Mr Brown).I am thinking of a Fiat cinquicento,i have max no claims on my X trail,what do you think will be the likely running costs for this vehicle will be (insurance,tax,fuel,passing mot etc).Going off other readers experiances is this a good cheap run around to buy?if not what are the other options?or should i keep paying the tax on the works van.I think the van tax is likely to go up each year in the budget .thanks Andrew.
• Fiat Ulysse - Head or Gasket? 17 Jan 2007 (Forum)
  My daughter, who lives in England, so is a bit far away for my practical help, has recently bought an "R" registered Fiat Ulysse , with the 2l. petrol engine. She has a problem with engine lumpiness, particularly on the over-run. The breather tube seems to become clogged up after around 500 miles - cleaning it temporarily solves the problem There seems to be evidence of some "mayonnaise" in the oil filler cap, which I understand from her is difficult to inspect in the normal run of things.
• vw 2E3 carb ajustment help ? 10 Jan 2007 (Forum)
  ******* i have a problem that the car will start and fast idle as normal , but after say 3-4 minutes that fast dies downs and hovers around stalling point, it either stalls or runs very very slow for about a minute, then it will go onto what i assume is warm running /no choke and idle normaly again it makes the car a bit of a problem if those first few minutes are around town at junctions etc it also doesnt always catch first time when i go start it in winter..but usualy does go first time in summer....any ideas on that??
• Water feature in my Mazda 323 1.3? 6 Nov 2006 (Forum)
  I can hear a sound much like bubbling/gurgling water coming from anywhere between the gearstick and the dashboard. My car is still running slightly cool and Im going to change the thermostat again, but it was starting to do this before the thermostat was ever changed and the car was running normally, so Im not sure its related. The strangest thing about it is that it only happens when the car is accelarting, usually between 1/4 and 1/2 throttle and not so much at higher revs.
• Misfire on 93 polo 1 litre 1 Nov 2006 (Forum)
  the car now a fault of appearing to run on three cylinders, espicially when depressing the accelerator. On closer inspection found that when I removed the 2nd spark plug lead (2nd from distributor end of the engine) there was no effect on the overall running.
• Vectra stalling 24 Jul 2006 (Forum)
  Hi, my mates Vectra SRI 140ps, S reg, 84,000 miles has a stalling problem. It will jump start ok, battery is flat even though it is a new battery. After 1 minute of running on tick over or driving, all the dash lights come on very dimly, abs, airbag, engine management, the lot. Even the rev counter drops to zero even though the engine is still running. Then the engine starts to back fire and gradually loses the battle and stalls with a cough and splutter.
• 406 HDi - constant live 30 Apr 2006 (Forum)
  This is a problem for me because I don't want to leave my lights on accidentally, and also I have a GPS unit in the car which I only want to be charged when the car is running and not when it's left, as this could run the battery down if left long enough. Apparently this constant live can be set by swapping around a couple of fuses, but no one I've spoken to seems to know which ones.
• Ford fiesta Bioethanol conversion 27 Apr 2006 (Forum)
  The reason i ask is that i have a crazy idea to convert my mk3 fiesta 1.1 CFI to run on bioethanol. Does anyone out there have any experience of bioethanol conversion or know of any third-party conversion kits? Cheers, G
• italian tune up (again...sorry) 12 Jan 2006 (Forum)
  ive only just discovered this site and i think its excellent by the way loads of really helpful stuff. i just read about this italian tune up. i give my 306 1.9 td a good blast every month or so and it runs lovely and smooth...but i was wondering how often people recommend doing it and for how long? i dont want to reck anything but on the other hand i want it running as sweet as possible. as much as people dislike peugeot i love mine and want to keep it as long as possible.
• Rover 220 Coupe (1995) 11 Jan 2006 (Forum)
  A friend has just had a replacement engine fitted in his 1995 Rover 220 Coupe (NON turbo) but cannot get it to fire up and run. The engine is in working order and saw it running before fitment but after being installed, it will crank over but not fire. The ignition coil has been checked and is okay with 12 volts supply and correct resistance on primary/secondary but there is no HT output as the coil doesn't appear to be being switched.
• Vectra key fob - dead 22 Jun 2005 (Forum)
  Yesterday one of the key fobs for my Vectra went dead. I don't think the battery has run out because it worked perfectly up until yesterday (what I mean is, usually you can tell if the battery is running out, you have to start pressing the buttons a bit harder and stand closer to the vehicle).
• Joined up thinking? 13 Jun 2005 (Forum)
  Today Ruth Kelly, (that 16 year old boy with a woman's name) the education secretary, announces that all schools will form 2006 be open from 8 am to 6pm to cater for children whose parents work. Does that mean that instead of the "school run" taking place between about 3 and 4 pm it will be transferred to 5.30ish to 6.30ish. Is that rush hour? Does this ensure that not only Dad will be charged £1.34 per mile but also now school running Mum?
• SuperChips - Have you used or heard of? 28 Apr 2005 (Forum)
  Basically what they do is re-program your ECU to improve performance etc. NB: I have a dual fuel Vectra which simply doesn't run quite as smoothly when running on LPG compared to petrol (new plugs and leads helped a bit but didn't completely resolve the problems), I'm thinking of trying these guys to iron out the problem further.
• Swirl pot 15 Mar 2005 (Forum)
  Hi all, I have Mk 4 Sr 2 Escort RS Turbo sitting in my garage. I have noticed when turning it over and running it for a while that the header tank cap hisses when the engine is hot. I dont think it's a knackered head gasket as the engine runs like a dream. No mayonaise in the oil etc, etc. CVH's have a bad history of cooling problems.