Showing results in  Forum [Show all channels]

Sort by: Relevance | Newest first | Oldest first

• Astra 1.4i Merit 1992 - Burbling 4 Jun 2003 (Forum)
  Now this one may be more difficult, both to explain and to solve - nice if I could attach a sound file. The car generally runs fine for its age and mileage its at 116800 miles now and I have recently serviced it. New Rotor Arm, Dizzy Cap, HT Leads, Spark Plugs, Oil and Air filter Change, Cleaned out all breather type hoses.
• Starting Problems on Golf 3 16v 31 May 2003 (Forum)
  Its an intermittent fault but when it does happen, the engine starts and revs to maybe 1500 - 2000 rpm and then cuts dead. Sometimes it will start after A LOT of effort but after a while the battery runs dead. I came back to it this afternoon (nice hot day) and it burst into life with no problem! Frustrating! I've sent it to 2 garges where they did diagnostics but found nothing - one replaced the vacuum hose to no avail, the other couldn't think of anything so cleaned the injectors which did help for a bit.
• Astra Head Gasket gone - what else to do 30 May 2003 (Forum)
  About to phone around garages as the plume of white smoke was there again today. The car is still running OK but I'm trying to minimise it's use - if I could have avoided taking it in I would. I'm pretty certain the head gasket needs done - any guide price for me to weep over? I guess this is a good time to get the Timing belt changed as they've got to remove it to take the head off (uncertain of it's age anyway), but is there anything else that would be advised with the head off?
• 111 to Ka and insurance 17 May 2003 (Forum)
  Therefore will a Ka be comparatively immune to neglect, if it is the new engine version? She doesn't hammer cars, she just drives them into the ground ('its running fine' for 20000 miles or so then 'this car's crap.')
• New BMW brakes 15 May 2003 (Forum)
  I have just replaced the discs and pads all round (£180 all up -not bad for a Beemer)on my 1990 E30 318IS and am interested in a few things. Firstly, what is the best/most effective way to run in the new brakes ie. what driving style to adopt in order to prevent warping/pitting/grooving/glazing etc etc. as I have heard that these brakes a vulnerable to the above. Secondly could someone explain why having rear discs improves braking performance so much and what percentage of the braking is done by the rears?
• It's not rocket science, or is it? 13 Apr 2003 (Forum)
  Unusually, did the school run today. Had a good view of the following incident. A woman in a Peugeot estate was moving slowly down the road about 20 mph (in a 30 mph limit) with her left indicator going, obviously looking for a parking space.
• Intermittant fault (Mitsubishi) 1 Apr 2003 (Forum)
  I inherited a G reg Mitsubishi Galant (4WDS 4WS) 2.0 DOHC from father in law (would not be my first choice) but it has served remarkably well for two & a half years recently however it left us stranded twice with an intermittent fault. It runs fine for a variable period (5 to 20 miles) then starts to hesitate & miss (producing clouds of smoke (not steam) when it momentarily picks up) & eventually stops all together. Leave it an half hour or so and it drives fine until it happens again.
• W126, W140 or C-class W202 1 Apr 2003 (Forum)
  Does anyone know about the fuel consumption of W126 300SE? (Urban, 56mph & 75 mph) Low depreciation is my first priority, then low servicing and running cost. I do all the work on my Mondeo so I am technically proficient. Also, I need aircon but not sunroof. I do not have a price limit but I believe the less I pay, the less I lose. I do not have a time limit to find a very good example so I will be looking for the next 6 months.
• Avensis vs Legacy 14 Mar 2003 (Forum)
  With the arrival of our new baby and the realisation that a 5 series saloon and a ti compact aren't particularly good family motors I'm looking at something spacious, japanese and cheap to run. The 98R 318ti se compact auto with leather to go privately...£6800 22k miles fsh??? The two options are a Legacy Estate 2.5 gx or an Avensis hatch/estate in 2.0 vvti form. Does anyone have any experience of these cars particularly the subaru?
• Air leak in fuel system [Diesel] 3 Mar 2003 (Forum)
  Same Xantia as in Smokey start thread. I'm pretty sure I've got a leak somewhere in the fuel lines, when the engine is cold is runs rough for 5-10 seconds before smoothing out. After that its fine. Filters, oil etc & glow plugs are fine (brand new Beru), theres no major smoking though if you rev it while its having its coughing fit it will puff white smoke but not a great deal.
• A Big Hurrah for the Backroom 3 Mar 2003 (Forum)
  Just wanted to say many thanks to all the backroomers who have posted about ill-running mondeos in the past. A quick search of previous threads turned up several apparently likely causes for a rather rough 1.8 belonging to the little brother. Top of the list was tracking on the plugs of cylinders 3 and 4.
• Fanbelt Squeal and Tacho reading 14 Feb 2003 (Forum)
  I've tried starting it up with the bonnet open and a torch to check if the pulleys/alternator/steering pump are rotating, but so far Murphy's law has dictated that when I have time to do this (not running late into work). the problem doesn't appear! The belts seem tight enough, but I might tweak them up a bit. What puzzles me is the tacho reading - anybody any info on where it's picked up from? could it be caused by a voltage drop (with alternator not turning)?
• Trip to the skidpan 11 Feb 2003 (Forum)
  National Driving Centre in Croydon (found easily by web search). Not a particularly glamorous location, but an interesting, well-run and fun experience. We drove a front drive Primera with ABS switched on and off and a rear drive Sierra without ABS. We had 30 mins in a classroom plus 90 or so in the cars. Cost was £120 for the two of us.
• VW Golf 92 (MKII) 4 Feb 2003 (Forum)
  Problem> I have a J reg 1992 MKII Golf , 1.8 Driver, the car has 92,000 miles and is a shinning example of German engineering, but alas it has a problem, the car starts and runs like a dream, then every so often it starts to idle at 3000 rpm (absolutely no correlation in time, temp, distance etc). For no good reason it'll just suddenly start to over rev. The only clue I can provide is that it isn't an instant jump i.e. 800 rpm to 3000 rpm in a second, it takes about five seconds almost like it's a valve slowly opening.
• Oil burning VTEC Accord? 3 Feb 2003 (Forum)
  I did a further 1,200 miles and after the consumption check they said it hasn't used any at all. The car runs fine and doesn't leak and there are no obvious signs of smoke etc coming from the back. So what happened to 1.3 litres of synthetic (Mobil 1) oil in 4,000 miles? Dealer is not prepared to admit that it wasn't done proerly at the service but says will allow a little on next service against this query.
• Astra Suspension prob/engine stuttering 13 Jan 2003 (Forum)
  Seems as though there may be a problem with the choke, or the fuel getting through? Maybe sparkplugs or points? When idleing the car runs sweet... Any light shed on these things is much appreciated. Cheers, Murray
• F Reg Nissan Micra - Starting Problems 29 Nov 2002 (Forum)
  The car has been fine all year so I'm assuming that it a problem caused by the damp/cold (the car seems to suffer with a lot of condensation, which is why I thought the leads / spark plugs idea might have been the one). The car has an automatic NOT manual choke if that makes any difference and it is not a "short run only" vehicle!
• Dandy Highwaymen? 28 Nov 2002 (Forum)
  Anyhoo, the dismantling and cleaning of the carb seems to have stopped it roaring from cold (the main thing that was annoying me) and the car is running okay (touch wood). I'm going to do all the other stuff myself - dizzy cap, rocker cover gasket etc. But the inlet manifold looks a bit tougher - what with all those vacuum hoses I'm loathed to remove the carb myself.
• best and worst MPG 12 Nov 2002 (Forum)
  A little earlier I had a Montego turbo diesel as a young rep and used to get around 60 MPG. This would go up to 65 on a more gentle run and drop to 55 MPG when cruising around at 90 MPH. My worst non-motorsport MPG was in my 620 Ti when on a top speed charge across Germany on the autobahns. My average 36 MPG dropped to just 18. I even stopped at a certain point to check if the fuel cap was on properly and fuel wasn't being somehow sucked out of the tank in the slipstream as I could almost see the fuel gauge dropping.
• Two things... 9 Nov 2002 (Forum)
  I'm planning to sell the damn thing after it's MOT next month but no-one's going to buy a car off me if I say 'it runs fine but there's this one thing...' and I'm not lying to anybody! While I'm at it, what car would anybody advise someone to buy if they had £800-£1100 to spend, were after a small or smallish car (mini-escort) which will have good fuel economy, low tax and insurance and is also likely to be as reliable as possible because they are a poor student who will be spending their every last penny on buying it in the first place (i.e.