April 2001
The airbag light in my Renault Megane has recently illuminated and now fails to extinguish (nothing has happened to the car). Any ideas as to how I can rectify the problem?
Thanks. Read more
I have a wierd problem with my 1990 205 GTi heater. The fan doesn't work when you operate the rotary switch. I've checked the fan motor and it runs and the switch circuits appear ok too. The real mystery is that when you unplug the cable connector from the back of the switch, the fan motor starts to run but stops as soon as the connector is plugged back into the switch. I believe there is a rheostat and a relay somewhere in the wiring and perhaps one of these is faulty but my Haynes manual is no help in locating these parts. Can anyone offer advice? I would be most grateful. Bob Read more
Hi Chris, thanks for replying. My switch is fine and I have now found the problem elsewhere as the following tale explains. If you haven't used Autofive for spares you might want to try them. Second hand parts may be cheap but can be poor quality, I know - cracked exhaust manifold and worn wiper motor. Anyway, good luck whatever you're driving. Bob
I have finally resolved the problem with the heater blower on my Peugeot 205 GTi and perhaps someone else will benefit from knowing what happened. The problem was that the fan motor would not run, very inconvenient when the windows steam up. I checked the motor, which is on the right side of the passenger footwell and held in place by three screws. Undo these, detach the cable connector and the motor and fan drop out. You can check the motor by connecting two leads from the battery to the terminals on the connector block on the motor. Get someone else to hold the motor when you do this as it will spin if it works. Take care not to short out the wires. My motor was fine so the problem lay elsewhere but I wasn?t sure what other components were in the circuit or where they were. Eventually I spoke to a guy at Autofive ( 205 GTi parts specialists) If you haven?t heard of them give them a call on 01606 782555 and ask for a price list - much cheaper than Peugeot main dealers and helpful advice too.
He told me about a control unit which was inclined to corrode and stop the fan working. This is located on the bulkhead a few inches from the fan motor, high up in the passenger footwell. Follow the cable from the fan and you will find it. Remove the plug in cable connector, undo two screws and drop the controller out. It consists of a circuit board with a diode mounted on a heat sink. The spring contact looked a bit tarnished so I cleaned it up with sandpaper. Note that under the contact is a small round disk which can be removed if the contact is eased up. Clean this on both sides and the back of the diode. You may need to retension the spring connector when you reassemble to ensure pressure is maintained on the contact.
I refitted the control unit to the car and the fan worked again. (If this doesn?t do the trick a new control unit is about £22). I just wish I had spoken to Autofive a week ago and saved myself days of fruitless labour. At least this repair cost nothing so I have to be grateful for something. If you ever have the same problem I hope my experience gets you to the solution more quickly. Bob
I have a Vauxhall Corsa on which the timing belt has started to disintegrate though thankfully not snapped. I understand from my garage that Vauxhall are aware that there is a design fault with the timing belt, but are not prepared to pay for the extra work required because of this fault. Has anyone successfully got anything out of Vauxhall for this problem? Read more
Gwyn
£53 sounds a good price. From memory my last Vectra belt cost £40 or so for labour alone, plus £25 for the belt plus £X for the pulley! Sounds more like an 8 valve Corsa price to me (£14 belt)
Regards
John
This item has been widely advertised for years, with glowing claims for the positive effects it has on fuel consumption and even performance. have there been any serious documented tests done on the effectiveness of this product. On the same line, what about the Ecoflow bar magnet which is claimed to improve the performance of liquid fuel and gas powered devices? Cars and domestic boilers are alleged to work better with 'magnetised fuel' Read more
Save your money. A light right foot is cheaper and more effective!
Regards
john
I own a '99 Mazda MX5 1.8S which comes as standard with a passenger side airbag. Are there reputable companies which will fit a disable switch for this airbag thereby allowing a rear facing child seat to be used. My local Mazda dealer doesn't seem keen to do it. Read more
Mazda sell a range of car seats which incorporate some kind of transponder to inform the passenger airbag the seat is occupied by a child and deactivate the airbag. Seems complicated to me but that is the only way to do it apparently should of messing around with explosive devices under the dash!!!
Is it just me, or have other people had problems with door locks, handles actually, on pre-face lifted Omega's? Read more
Both my brother and I have run Omegas over the past three years. Out of the three cars we have had, (all less than a year old), two of them have had the sticking drivers central locking syndrome. WD40 is the best we have been offered as a solution, however the problem usually reoccurs, especially in very cold weather.
I got into an Omega taxi in Newcastle the other day, and the driver told me what a wonderful car it was - apart from the sticking driver's door central locking.
I think it is a poor show from GM charging £125 a time to fix what is clearly a design problem with the car.
I think the Omega is much underrated, however the capabilities of the dealer network fall well short of those of the car..........
Can any readers confirm or deny that Vectra seats are the most uncomfortable of any comparable vehicle. There was uproar over this when they were still new and I believe Vauxhall may have been forced to modify later versions.
Also they have as much grip as a well greased 3 legged pig on an ice rink covered in marbles.
and finally they crumple like paper when involved in collisions with a Datsun Bluebird of 1970's origin.
anyone care to inform us of other "Characteristics" of this lovely vehicle ? Read more
Having had the (mis) fortune to borrow a few different vectras from my company over the course of the last couple of years I can give you my thoughts. These were all fairly low mileage (less than 20 k). Generally I felt that the handling is pretty good. They could never be described as inspiring but these are some of the most chuckable cars about because you can trust it not to bite you back. As for comfort they are average, not bad not good just average.
1.8 petrol - Go's OK but the power delivery and the controls always felt like a couple more months in development would be useful. Difficult to drive smoothly.
2.0 petrol - Much better. Probably the most rounded. More power improves the smoothness of progress but the whole car is still very plasticy. Stalks feel like they might break of if you pull them too hard.
2.0 t.Diesel - All that weight up front seemed to improve the handling and the car felt very solid, but the engine has no power and was very dissapointing after trying some of the VAG Tdi engines.
2.5 V6 auto - Easily the worst of the lot. A lot of this could be blamed on the auto box which insisted on kicking down whenever you touched the throttle (and take a long time over doing it). The suspension was too stiff and the plastic wood very tacky.
I have been looking to get a mini MPV and have been considering the Picasso or the Scenic (both used). Now the "problem". I found that the new Picasso 1.8 16v SX has been reduced to £11495 (£500 pound less than the now reduced 1.6SX), and £1000 cheaper than a used one at Lovekyn at Kingston. Why? and is it staying down?
I have a new addition arriving in 3 months (hence the mini MPV) and have had conflicting reports about both cars. If any one has got an "inside" or professional view on these could you please post them for me. I'm lost with it all!
Thanks, Paul
PS. Do people still not like working on Citroens, mechanics used to hate them, do they still? Read more
I like my Zafira.
7 seats too - I thought that's what defined an MPV!
What about Fiat Multipla??
I have had various problems with my Polo GTi purchased new in July 2000. The day after delivery I had problems with the electrics, which can be summarised as in the opinion of VW Emergency Assistance as an earth wire receiving a positive feed. Shortly thereafter one of the headlights started working only occasionally and could not be relied upon to work regularly. After the garage having had the car back for these and other minor faults, I advised the garage when collecting the car that it was my intention to reject the car as being of unsatisfactory quality.
VWUK have all but avoided responsibility saying that it is up to the dealer. The dealer have offered to purchase the car from me (at market price), but avoid their legal responsibility of refunding the full purchase price.
What advice can you give (other than instructing a lawyer) to make the dealer accept their responsibilities under the Sale of Goods Act 1979 (as amended). Satisfactory quality in is an impled term of the act, and any breach of this in a consumer contract is always regarded as a material breach of the statute. One of the "tests" laid down in the Act for being of unsatisafctory quality is "freedom from minor defects", and I consider my car to fall within this category.
Many thanks for your assistance. Read more
Carole,
You seem to have been unlucky with the Xsara but stick with it. It is something of the "soft spot" you speak of that makes the Citroen range a bit more interesting than some and produces very loyal owners. The Citroen Car Club is over 50 years old and proof of that faithful following. See www.citroencarclub.org.uk
Years ago VW would have wiped the floor with a Citroen for quality, now they have effectively met in the middle.
We had family members over last week, one with a '93 Golf 1.8CL and the other with a '93 ZX 1.9TD. The ZX now provides the more modern driving experience, better equipment and greater economy. The Golf survives on image which is undoubtedly supported by solid re-sale values. And amazingly it is the Golf starting to show some rust first.
David
What are the regs regarding carrying long rowing skiffs on top of cars ie accepted length of overhang.please? Read more
Don't pay a lawyer...read it yourself at desktoplawyer.co.uk
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Thanks all!
Fault was diagnosed as a dislodged connector on the seatbelt pre-tensioners. I have no idea how it happened but it would appear that adjusting the seat can easily cause it.
Regards
Emma