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• Difficult 1st Gear VW Golf Mk2 GTI 28 Oct 2004 (Forum)
  Hi all It is getting difficult to select 1st gear on my Golf Mk2 GTI (137,000 miles). The symtoms are strange - it is only when the car is on a slant, with a component of the slope running across the car (i.e the slope is going from side to side) that it is hard to get 1st. If the car is level, or on a direct uphill or downhill slope 1st gear is occasionally a little bit stiff, but on certain slopes it is completely impossible to select.
• Caravan courtesy - I do try! 24 Sep 2004 (Forum)
  It helps no-one to try and do an emergency stop into a sudden unsignposted laybye. 2) You can't just pull a caravan over into any old space - you have to be sure it has good solid ground and is long enough, so that means slowing down, even if it proves unsuitable. 3) Keeping up a good speed means anticipating hills and trying to get a good run-up. I could pull in at the bottom to let a few people past, but I'd then be condemning a lot more to a long slow slog up the hill. 4) If you tail-gate a caravan you are invisible, so how am I supposed to know you would like me to pull over?
• LPG Conversion Problem. Toyota Carina. 14 Sep 2004 (Forum)
  The system installed was a carburetor type installation and the car is now dual fuel with the ability to run on petrol and gas. I am having three problems with the car on gas (which does not occur on petrol) 1. The L.E.D switch keeps flashing red with the green light constantly on although the tank is completely full.
• Megane coolant loss 11 Sep 2004 (Forum)
  Checked the coolant level had dropped below minimum in the expansion bottle which explained the overheating. The fan wasn't running either when I stopped which made me suspicoius too. I topped it up with some water (had no coolant to hand), and drove home and the car was fine temperature wise. Checked the coolant level again, and it had dropped right down.
• Pro-rata Car Insurance anywhere?? 25 Aug 2004 (Forum)
  Old car was gonna be scrapped..God know why but I thought it far to good to scrap so invested a little time & money & a new second hand engine fitted later, got it running again. It is now MOT'd and ready to get tax in order to drive/sell. I already have my own car i drive daily. If I add this 2nd car to my current insurance - is possible for 30 days at a time up to maximum of 90.
• Why's that, then? 8 Aug 2004 (Forum)
  Went to France for two-week holiday at the start of July. Ran car on a mix of Total & Shell 98 octane - car continued to run very nicely. The price difference, I was interested to note, was 1 euro cent per litre (?1.19 as opposed to ?1.18). So why the big difference in price between the two over here? Does the Gov't impose extra duty on the high-octane stuff, or is it just yet another example of the suppliers charging a lot more here for the same thing for no reason other than "because we can"?
• Everyman Racing at Prestwold Hall, Leics 29 Jul 2004 (Forum)
  I spent a wonderful morning yesterday out at Prestwold Hall, just outside Loughborough, Leics, taking part in a Mini Racing event (which was given to me as a 30th birthday present by my wonderful other half) and had an absolutely fantastic time. Over the four hours or so I got to drive a coach, run a fun Autotest in a Mini Cooper, be taken out for a few laps of the circuit by an instructor and then put down a few laps myself, take a gorgeous E-Type (still bearing Jack Brabham's name) out for a few more laps, and then be a passenger alongside one of their pro drivers in a Cooper S for a couple of extremely high speed (and slightly mental) laps.
• range rover head gasket leak 5 Jul 2004 (Forum)
  However they now say they think it needs a new head gasket which will take 20 hours labour! I am not sure if it really is the head gasket because the engine is running perfectly apart from loosing water and the water very clearly is coming out of the pump. I have looked in the oil filler and the oil looks fine...Also oil consumption is normal. Oh, for the first three visits they made no mention of the Head gasket, but it suddenly became a very urgent problem when i said " do you think it could be the head gasket?"
• Mondeo Tdci real world motoring 20 Jun 2004 (Forum)
  After running three Subarus I fancy a change,(sacrilege) and cannot afford the latest 04 model. My requirement is a large estate with dynamic driving qualities and reasonable mpg. My 97 Legacy delivers a pretty constant 32/35 mpg, mainly rapid country A roads, but I do not want to sacrifice better mpg for unreliability.
• Modern batteries just die? 13 Jun 2004 (Forum)
  The vehicle (a VW motor home, 2.5 tdi) is 6 years old; had its original battery; electrolyte level was regularly and frequently checked (I'm of that generation!); vehicle normally taken for a 50+ mile run every 3 weeks (minimum) if not otherwise used. Never a problem with starting. Go on hols; drive 300 miles. Stop in rural layby. Try to restart: total death! Fortunately local garage comes out to jump start; alternator ok (phew!)
• Ice Cream Vans 4 Jun 2004 (Forum)
  In that respect then surely the very unsafest places they could possibly position themselves is right outside a school? We've all seen the nightmare ads and programmes of children running across a road because of an ice-cream van. And yes, of course it is the parents' responsibility to ensure that their child does not do this. I just feel that this is tempting fate, and that it is only a matter of time, particularly if this is commonplace, for something bad to happen.
• Mercedes W123 230 E 15 May 2004 (Forum)
  The Engine rattled slightly on start up and the oil pressure guage didn't go to the top until the car was driven, then it fell to halfway when ticking over. I took the oilcap off whilst the engine was running and some oil splashed out, - is this a buildup of pressure in the crankcase or is it usual ? Also it smoked a tiny bit when I gave it some stick on a dual carriageway, however it pulled well and didn't feel tired.
• Insurance Fraud? 5 Apr 2004 (Forum)
  Even adding in a hire car for a couple of days surely couldn't make that much difference. Don't know if it's relevant, but it seems the other driver has a relative who runs a bodyshop, and she has now replaced her car altogether. We do have a witness to the amount of damage the original bump caused. If this claim was excessive, would it be worth reporting to the company concerned?
• School Entrance Markings Offences 13 Mar 2004 (Forum)
  Folks, Are these markings invisibile these days? I often do the school run on my bike with my youngest on a separate crossbar saddle. The school is on a narrow-ish lane with some turning/parking areas at the far end. Most parents don't park or drop off on the yellow school entrance markings.
• VW Polo GT Intermittent problem 28 Feb 2004 (Forum)
  A while later I stopped at a roundabout and when it was clear pulled away. It started kangarooing but did not stall. I pulled up at the side and left it running for a bit trying to rev it but it would not go but would not stall either. After switching it off for a minute or so and restarting it it went but was a bit erratic. I went to halfords and got some injector cleaner and filled it up with optimax and after half the tank the engine ran suprisingly smoothly for a car with 132000 miles on it.
• cavalier derv cooling problem 28 Feb 2004 (Forum)
  The hose which connects the radiator to the thermostat housing \'balloons\' after approx. 5 minutes of the engine running. Un screwing the expansion bottle lid releases the pressure. The build up of pressure has forced a small leak in the car\'s radiator, which has been temporarily cured using \'Rad-Weld\'. Today I fitted a new thermostat, re-filled the coolant and ran the car with the heaters on hot, full fan speed.
• Pug 306 suspension - what wears first? 26 Feb 2004 (Forum)
  Quite outstanding for an otherwise pretty ordinary device. (Another thing has been the amazingly low running costs and absolute reliablity, but that's incidental here) Driving it the other day however, I became convinced that it's become far more road surface sensitive than before. For example, accelerating hard in third gear to overtake another car, on passing over the crown of the (very familiar to me) road, the Pug positively leapt towards the right hand edge of the road.
• Am I mad? 20 Feb 2004 (Forum)
  I'm 20 and drive a 99 Ford Fiesta 1.25 Zetec LX, have done since I first passed when I turned 17... 73,000 later and I've still got it and it's running fine. It's a good little car, but I didn't realise just how good until today. You see I've been looking to upgrade when I turn 21, as my insurance premium appears to plumet considerably when that day comes.
• Mercedes 230E steering lock/leads 29 Jan 2004 (Forum)
  In previous cars I have used a very good red flashing dummy 'car alarm light' that works by using a positive power source from the radio supply, and connecting to one of the leads going into the back of the steering wheel lock. When the car is running, this is energized ie. positive, and with the other positive lead gives 2 positives so the light will not work. When switched off, we have a dead lead ie. negative earth, and the red light automatically flashes.
• A trivial question about air con. 14 Jan 2004 (Forum)
  2 days ago I was sat in Manila Airport carpark with the engine running, waiting for a friend to come in from Brunei, cold San Miguel in hand, aircon on full blast (34 C out there), reading the paper and having a jolly good laugh at the idiocy of the campaigns for the upcoming Presidential elections, when the aircon started to blow warm.