December 2002
Hi.
I have a 1989 Ford Escort with a crude flywheel/valve/mechanically operated ABS on the front wheels. It has passed the MOT before, however i'm not sure if they tested the ABS :-S. Basically the front-left ABS unlocks the brakes when the wheel locks. That's it!!! it then doesn't allow braking to that wheel for ~30 mins until some valve in the modulator becomes unstuck.
This I regard as quite a dangerous persuit, particularly if it happens in wet weather. I've had several occasions when i've tried to brake and all I've got is one front wheel (which is ABSing like mad 'cos it's the only one that's braking).
The ABS modulators are belt operated from the driveshaft, there is a modulator on each side of the gearbox. My question is, if I cut these belts off (ie disable ABS), will I get MOT failure?
I don't want to leave it as it is, way too dangerous. Then again I don't want to splash out on a new modulator or getting the old one fixed (new one £400). Moreover, I don't want to end up having to splash out on a new Modulator at the MOT, complete with all the work taking the suspension apart and driveshafts to put new belts on!
What should I do? MOT due July.
Cheers
M Farrow Read more
A couple of examples of how not to design a new car:
New Vectra - I can only compare its back end to the human equivalent of a 20 stone woman in jogging bottoms, and what the hell is that chrome strip low on the tailgate all about?
Nissan Primera - I like my creases to run down the middle of trousers, not the middle of the entire length of my car!
I await for the owners of these vehicles to spring to their defence, please understand I am only giving my own personal opinion!
Read more
Theres a car running about at the moment that has to be the ugliest thing I've ever seen, and I think it beats the Multipla.
I did think it was a Fiat at first but having just looked through their catalogue it either isn't or they're even too embarrassed to show it off!
Its a little sports affair, not too bad from the front but its got this almighty raised box thing on the back! Oh, and a lovely little mould line running all the way around which looks like its been in a horizontal amateur ringing competition!
I just can't b***** remember or find the name of it!!! Argh!
... and I think the new mini is awful too - I love the old "Jet Black" and "Red Hot" versions they did the late 80s.
Patricia
x
I was intrigued by HJ's report on Rover's new Indian built supermini, so I trawled around looking for info. Unfortunately, the first thing I found was this beautifully written review, from a doctor in Secunderabad. Can't see people rushing to buy one of these instead of a Fabia, Yaris etc etc unless it is very cheap.
I purchased an Indica V2 in July 2001. I wish I didn?t. The car works. It runs on road. It gives pretty decent mileage per liter of diesel. That is about it. For the last year I have been struggling to get rid of the noise problem in my vehicle. All kinds of noises; Emanating from every where under the hood you can imagine- wheezing, asthmatic, screeching, rattling & squeaking. Each and every moving part sings its own tune ? air conditioning fan belt, idler bearing and so on.
Concorde Motors, the dealers of this automobile in the south offers fairly good post sales service. They come when ever called to tighten the loose belts and bearings. This is no ordinary service. A fortune worth bearing, belts have been replaced. My Indica AP10Q 5775, has been to the service center at least 10 times only for this problem. They have been coming to my place every other day to tighten (even as we speak Concorde engineers are doing so) or every body in my part of the country will know that I have started my car. They do not know how to put an end to this problem. May be I just have to sell off this vehicle. But then who will buy it?
I have tried getting in touch with TELCO head, but he is so inaccessible. The regional staff I think have tried their best but they have lot more noises to attend to.
I have spent a good portion of my savings on this real value for money car. Value for money it is indeed, for you get more noise per car than any other car.
Dr. Sudarsan Jagannathan
Richard Hall
bangernomics.tripod.com Read more
Consider this! Indica does ok as a small Rover, a great relationship gets going with Tata. Tata need cars bigger than the Indica and Rover need a low cost source plus economies of scale of designs for viability - it could be a win win for all. You might see 45/75 based cars made for India and that will be mrket sometime. Maybe Rover will have a new dady in terms of TATA who have deep pockets. (They own Tetley).
Wishing you all a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year... (and other assorted seasonal greetings)
SWMBO and ma are off (tonight) on a coach (motoring link?)to Spain for the Festive Season, beats falling out with the in-laws!
We're not back till the New Year, so good health and drive safe.
PS My first time through the Chunnel(!) :-(
I was hoping for the ferry again as it gives you a chance to stretch your legs and grab a bite to eat.
(Allegedly...)
John R Read more
Happy Christmas to you too, John R, have a good trip and take care.
HF
Just a quick question, is it normal for the tread depth across the tyre to be slightly different? Mine is about 0.5mm different inside edge to outside edge. My tyres have done 3000 miles.
Thanks for any replies. Read more
My Vectra GSi Estate has pretty extreme camber by design on the rear tyres, and wears out the inside shoulders as a result in 16k miles. Yes REAR tyres on a FWD car! The outside shoulders remain almost like new throughout. I found this out the hard way when my Vx dealer berated me for running rear tyres down to the canvass. I did, and had no idea, just like with the front tyres on a Skyline.
Front tyres wear hardest on the inside too, though by nothing like as much, which has been the case on every FWD car I have owned. Thinking about the physics of what happens when putting power through front wheels, and the way steering works, I wonder if it is caused by the tyres squatting and toeing-in under power.
/Steve
The annual scramble to find cheap(er) car insurance began, and I soon found quotes cheaper than my current insurer (More Than). However, I soon discovered that one More Than have their claws in you, it's hard to escape.
Why?
Becasue More Than treat four years no-claims bonus as maximum, and no matter how many years you have above this, they won't prove evidence to corroborate this. The difference between four years and six years no-claims can be £150 or more, as I have just discovered.
I intend to write to More Than to discuss this, as I feel it is a deliberate ploy to prevent you from moving to a different insurer.
Do any other insurance companies have a similar policy?
Andy Read more
There is no requirement that all the evidence of no-claims bonus has to come from the last insurer. The way round this is to declare to the new insurer how many years without claim you have. If they require evidence, then your last insurer will provide, say only four years, evidence for earlier years coming from earlier insurers. You may need to retain details of insurer and policy number going back say seven years. I have never experienced any problem despite my various insurers having maximums between 4 and 7 years.
The above probably only works for totally claim free periods. If your bonus has been reduced from, say 5 to 3 years becase of a claim, and built back up to 5 years, my method may not be acceptable to the insurer.
A bit of an odd problem this one. My Yaris is gradually getting worse at responding to the keyfob remote locking. When I first got it (about 2 months back) it worked fine. Now, it is very patchy. Oddly enough, it tends to work better the further you are from the car (to a limit!) and from certain angles. I checked the battery which was a bit low (3V) but have tried two different new batteries (GP and Rayovac) with no real improvement.
Any ideas? Does the car have a separate aerial for the remote, or does it use the radio aerial? Might it just be the cold weather? Does it need a 'special' battery? The original battery reads about 3.05V, but only drops to 2.8V when I press a button. Both of the new ones read 3.3V no load, but drop to about 2.7V when a button is pressed. Are they just not up to the job? Read more
The Toyota warranty is a 3 year pan european warranty and is not tied to the supplying dealer. Have you contacted Toyota UK or cc'd them on your letter?
Good Luck - do not give up!
NormanB
I remember a few years ago reading something about putting methylated spirit in the windscreen washer bottle to prevent it icing up in winter. Anybody know how much to put in? Read more
Do they not route the washer fluid pipes so that they are in the heat of the engine or insulated to prevent freezing??
Can I offer a new in-car game for the holidays.
I'd suggest only done by passengers because it could distract you too much. By all means suggest mods to this initial design, perhaps we could form a league table with reg numbers....
The higher the points, the greater the p****** ....
1. LIGHTS ...in low visibility or dusk ...no lights 20 / sidelights 15/ foglights 10/faulty lights 10
2. BELTS ...front belts unused 20 /rear unused 20 , unless it's children , when it's 25 with a bnous of 5 when children stand in the car just behind the handbrake
3. PLATES...any italic effect 10/ any extra badge eg "Ecosse" when only GB is correct ..5.
4. TAILGATING ...travel behind the car in front at 75mph with only 10 meter gap or less 25 , bonus of 5 if it's raining (should 3 series drivers be exempted because that seems to be an automatic feature of that car?)
5. PHONES ... handheld receiving a call 15/ dialling one 25/texting 40
6. INDICATORS ... non-use on roundabout 15..on motorway 20
7. OVERTAKING ... within 100 yards of leaving a motorway anyway 20
8. MOTORWAY JOINING .... uninterrupted entrance irrespective of traffic or conditions , especially involving crossing solid white lines to get into another filter lane 15
9. ACCESSORIES ... any rear window mascot 10, if placed so as to obscure driver's view over shoulder 15 ..little blue lights shining through windscreen 5 ...bullbars 10
That's a stsrt anyway .A few tips on how to spot vehicles worth scoring- it driver has on any sort of hat ( especially baseball cap , even better if worn backwards) ... and types of vehicle (I'll leave that to you but I've found Suzuki Vitaras very rewarding, especially the softback version, plus pickups driven by people probably called Jasper or Quentin) Read more
Greenhey
Great idea- but I would defend the Ecosse sticker on two points.
As a very frequent traveller to Europe, the French Police and Customs are almost human towards Scots..I had several instances of this over the years.
Having parked my car outside many hotels during European Cup football games in Europe, I slept a bit better after the games hoping that the locals would know I was not one of the invading fans and not take it out on my car.
As Scottish teams qualify less frequently or go out sooner this seemed to work..they thought I was an alien?
How about adding the plonkers who sit with thier foot on the footbrake at long traffic lights - specially with these high set lights on the rear screen?
Regards,
Matt35.
Once again on some radio phone-in Ive heard people argue for a reduction in alocohol-in-blood limits .
It misses the point that most people caught for DUI are way over the current limit . So they haven't been trying to judge "How much is OK" but have acted without considering the law at all or the morals involved. Until there's a greater fear of being caught we won't see much change.
Incidentally at this time of the year my guess is that the greatest risk of encountering a drunk driver is mid-afternoon, after office "dos" rather than at night which may be true at other times in the year. Read more
Picking up on 'indefensible' I was astounded to read on Friday of the case where a 24 year old man ran from the scene of a crash (he was the driver) leaving his 5 month old baby boy crying in the passenger footwell of the car.
A police officer had spotted him driving erratically and had followed the vehicle. The driver panicked (according to the report) and crash, fleeing the scene on foot. He was later found asleep in his garden shed, and tests found that he was more than twice over the legal limit.
The court was told that he'd drunk 7 pints of strong lager at a cricket club party before deciding to drive home - he got four month in prison and a driving ban of three years.
The report doesn't mention how the baby was, so presumably (hopefully) he was ok.
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That's a major undertaking - as the pipework is often very different.
ABS Equipped cars still have a conventional brake servo
MG-Rover Questions? forums.mg-rover.org/