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• 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.
• Faltering Frontera 3 Mar 2005 (Forum)
  My 1997 Frontera Sport has done 160,000 miles, and, despite the brickbats often thrown at this breed, has been very reliable and mostly still runs sweetly. BUT, in recent months the (regularly serviced) engine has sometimes, and increasingly, started to cut out when cool (not cold) often several miles into a run, and usually when cruising steadily with the foot just eased off the accelerator.
• Another Oil question. 1.4 Escort (92) 8 Feb 2005 (Forum)
  The leaking has stopped but the oil on the dipstick is black and looking a bit thin, and smells a bit "petrolly" compared to whats in the oil can. Should i change it now, or will it last thru till october again? The engine is running fine by the way. (the change from 5w30 to 10w40 made it run noticably smoother too) cheers
• Mercedes 230 E ( W123 ) fuel pump relay 6 Jan 2005 (Forum)
  Hi Everyone, I have had a problem with my Mercedes today, the first ever, where it would not start, the fuel pump ( electric ) was not running, so I took a live feed from the battery to the pump, and it started without a problem, and continued to run fine and restarted, even after I removed the improvised feed. I suspect the Fuel pump relay to be at fault, however I could not locate it anywhere, despite reference being made to it in the Workshop manual, as being on the LH Front inner wing.
• Fans and coolant on 306 13 Oct 2004 (Forum)
  Hello I have a couple of questions about my 1997 306 xtdt.First is the pair of cooling fans on the rad. i tried to test them the other day by letting the car idle after a run to see if they cut in as they should, but the temp got to about 95 ish and then only the nearside one came on at very high speed. Is this right? i thought both of them should come on at the same time?
• sliding door runners - Mazda MPV 17 Aug 2004 (Forum)
  The strip appears to be metal but does not seem to have a protective plastic coating so I'd thought about possibly applying some strong pvc tape for the wheels to run on hence protect the paint work. Can anyone come up with a better idea? Ta all.
• Neon new head gasket/not starting 30 Jul 2004 (Forum)
  I am assured the timing has not slipped during re-asembly. Both the crank sensor and the cam sensor have been replaced but still the car fails to run.