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• BMW 5-Series E39 (1996 - 2003) - Automatic Gearboxes and Coasting/Freewheeling 15 Oct 2009 (Forum)
  Hello all, I have a question; When driving my 3Litre BMW Diesel lump around, I often drop the tiptronic automatic box into neutral when I can see the...
• FIAT Punto II (1999 - 2006) - 02 1.2 overheating - no water circulation 24 Jul 2009 (Forum)
  Symptoms are: * engine boiled and lost some water, but only through the over pressure vent in the cap as far as I can tell * plenty of water remained in the system - above max in fact due to expansion * high pressure remained in the system * bottom radaitor pipe and radiator itself seemed too cool by touch, indicating no circulation * no heat from cabin heater, which I believe means it's not a stuck thermostat as the cabin circuit bypasses the thermostat on engines I know * radiator in good condition * fan was running including key off but not for that long I believe the water pump is driven by the cam belt, so the pulley must be turning as the car still drives!
• Vauxhall Vectra C (2002 - 2008) - 06 1.8 Brake Fluid Level 23 Jun 2009 (Forum)
  Hi All Had the bonnet up yesterday to check oil level etc, and i noticed that the Brake fluid bottle was clear, IE, i could not see any fluid at the Min/MAX levels. I tried to tap the reservoir to see if i could make the top level of the fluid shake but i got nothing, although the reservoir didn?t move its held in very securely. I didn?t want to unscrew the cap, as I didn?
• Nissan Almera (2000 - 2006) - 01 1.8 Crossmember rot 4 May 2009 (Forum)
  There's a couple of small (1cm ) holes rusted in it, and one of the drainage holes has gradually been rotting away. The latter is now a ragged hole of about 6 or 7 cm in max diameter, and the surrounding metal is very weak. Questions: How bad does is have to be before it goes from pass to advisory to fail? I went through my last MOT fine, though the hole was smaller (about 3 or 4 cm).
• Toyota Celica (1994 - 2000) - 95 2.0 Auto - holding too high a gear 16 Apr 2009 (Forum)
  I recently flushed out the gearbox with a quality Dexron III recently, several changes, and the fluid level is at Max. as far as I can see there is no kick-down cable to adjust (I have done this with other auto-cars I have had when there have been these problems) I assume it is electronic kickdown. Is there anything that can be adjusted on this gearbox eg. selector cable (or is the selector electronic too ?)
• Confessions of a part time mimser 21 Oct 2008 (Forum)
  Whenever I saw a huddle of cars darting onto the motorway from a sliproad I would gently accelerate up to the max. 120/75 and when all was clear again I let the car slow down to 100/60. This happened four times in an hour and a half. I was, naturally, in the nearside lane. I can honestly say that I got in nobody's way, never caused anyone to slow down, took barely an extra 20 minutes for the journey and the trip computer was showing over 60 mpg when I reached home.
• Nissan Primera III (1999 - 2002) - 00 1.8 Engine management + oil pressure lights 1 Sep 2008 (Forum)
  Assuming a sensor glitch when the engine management light first appeared I was going to wait until the MOT (due Sep 12th) but I'm not so sure now. The engine is running normally and the oil level is just under the max -- exactly where it was 5000 miles ago when the car was last serviced. Additionally, about 2000 miles ago the light that tells you when the screenwash is low stopped functioning. Again this didn't bother me at the time, but all these things happening almost together has got me wondering if there is not something more serious going awry behind the scenes.
• MINI v's Grande Punto V's MG ZR - help! 5 May 2008 (Forum)
  We are car shopping again for my partner. We have a budget of £6K max, preferably £5K would be nice and the only considerations are a MINI, Grande Punto Sport or a Mk2 MG ZR. Dilema is the MINI will be older and higher mileage - 60K plus on the clock and probably an 02 at best.
• Toyota Landcruiser 80 Amazon (1990 to 1998) - Modern diesels - what's the point? 28 Apr 2008 (Forum)
  I've been running my 3 litre CR auto D-Max for nearly 3K miles now, and I get about 29mpg running around, dropping to 25 when I tow 3 tons. My old '93 Landcruiser 4.2TD auto does around 25mpg, dropping to 22 towing 3 tons. So considering the LC is 15 years old, has a 6 cylinder engine, permanent 4wd, old style auto, 600kg heavier, bigger tyres, and is less aerodynamic, why does it not use much more fuel?
• Washing paper air filter elements 31 Jan 2008 (Forum)
  Rinse in washing solution for 5 minutes, rinse in clean water till no further dirt emerges, shake out water and dry at max 60 degC. This can be done a maximum of three times thus extending the change interval to 40,000 miles or 2 years (which ever comes first). "Air filter elements without perforated metal covering are not to be cleaned, these must always be replaced."
• Brooks' Gambit 26 Nov 2007 (Forum)
  I heard about this a few years ago, and a quick google search came up with the below. The question I have is: Who is Brook? "Brooks' Gambit This...
• Older diesel 4x4 recomendations ? 13 Sep 2007 (Forum)
  In the market for a diesel 4*4 5 or 6/7 seater with half decent fuel economy. Max spend approx 5K hopefully less. Wife loves the Discovery, horror build quality and rust puts me off. But can see the attraction otherwise. The 300TDI would be the one for us, but most examples high miles and corrosion everywhere.
• 1998 Fiat Ducato running hot 8 Jul 2007 (Forum)
  Given that any water loss isn't ongoing (only goes down to minimum) what could be causing the running hot? Any ideas? Filling up water to the max doesnt make any difference to running temp - it still seems to run hot.
• Advice For Daily Commute M62 West Bound 5 Jul 2007 (Forum)
  Whats the traffic going to be like. We live about 5 miles from the M606 motorway. It takes about ten minutes max to drive there in non rush hour traffic. I can remember when I was working in Doncaster, getting on m62 east then joining the A1 south, it was a nightmare commute, taking about 1.30mins at least and traffic was regularly at a standstill.
• Car advice please - economy AND pace! 11 Jul 2006 (Forum)
  I'm thinking that one of these modern turbo diesels which handles well may be the way to go? Budget is £9k max, preferably less because the Scooby won't be welcome as a p/ex. Comfort is very, very important as the miles are racked up on long journeys of often 600 miles in one go. I do the occasional gig so a hatchback or estate would be the best configuration, although a big boot and split/fold rear seats may suffice.
• Next Car Advice please 11 Dec 2005 (Forum)
  It didn't quite fit the image as I run my own business and the folks working for me all had cars 10x as much but it was an awesome car, eventually I gave in to the comments about it and bought a nearly new Skoda Superb....after 3 months I realise it's been a big mistake and I want to go back to the big old exec type of car. The Skoda is being handed to someone else who is very happy with it. I now have a budget of £4k max. I want something along the lines of the 850. I want leather,auto,climate and I would like 30mpg average, the 850 did 32 average as I do a lot of m/way work in my 25k miles a year, also I'd like it to last at least 3 years. it's not an easy choice as so much is in my price range, on my short list is S70T5,S40T4,S402.0T,Omega2.5 The advice here seems good so can anyone give any other suggestions, can cars like the Nissan QX, Lexus GS300 achieve 30mpg ?
• Which SUV to replace diesel estate? 26 Aug 2005 (Forum)
  I do about 25,000 miles a year, including at least a couple of trips through France and Italy. I ski and also do other "pepsi-max" sports, so kit-carrying capacity is key. Things are looking up financially (whenever they do I find ways to spend it) so I've looked a little upmarket from where I am now. I've looked at the VW Toething and have heard that it isn't too reliable from other owners.
• Primera ABS Sensor Help 2 May 2004 (Forum)
  I have a 98 Primera where the ABS keeps operating at low speed, I have measured the resistance of each sensor and found that the front passenger side is 600 ohms higher than all the others (and higher that the stated max value in the Factory Manual) I have therefore bought a new sensor (£188 !!!) and set about this morning to replace it. In true Haynes manual style, they say undo securing bolt and remove sensor. Back the real world, you take the securing bolt out and the sensor won't budge at all.
• Almera warning light 25 Jul 2003 (Forum)
  We rang the Nissan dealer, but they just said to bring the car in and leave it with them...not really what we want to do if possible cos she needs the car for work. I've checked the brake fluid level, and that is at the max mark. So my suspicion is that its a low brake pad lining warning? Can anyone confirm if my suspicions are correct? Also, am I allowed to replace the brake pads myself...or must it be done by the main dealer as the car is still under warranty?
• VAG 1.8T vs V5 vs 20VT. Which one? 31 Mar 2003 (Forum)
  OK, narrowed next car down to one of these VAG products. Our budget will be up to max of 10k. Audi A3 1.8T ( 150hp ideally 5 door) Seat Toledo V5 (170Hp engine) Seat Leon 20vt My criteria in reaching this decision were.. 1) Big enough to swap current two cars for one car only. But not too big that the wife is unhappy. 2) Must be four or five doors for possible children (gulp!)