September 2003
Folks,
It's so long since I did any bodywork touch-up, so I thought I'd ask the question.
The Vx Monterey (Isuzu Trooper) has a nicely-bubbling rust spot on the door lower edge.
Can anyone recommend a rust treatment that "works"?
Sure, I am only slowing down the progress, not eliminating the rust. I am not convinced that anything does this.
And then some decent filler; the door edge is most likely to get "ding-ed" again, so it needs to be failry tenacious.
The last car I worked on like this was my Vx Viva HC back in 1988...
Cheers
rg
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Sorry if this is a rather simple and silly question but my airbag warning light on my '99 Passat just came on. I was wondering if it could be a simple thing or something a bit more complex that would lead me to hand it in to a local garage. Any advice would be appreciated. Thx.
S. Read more
Sorry if this is a rather simple and silly question but my airbag warning light on my '99 Passat just came on. I was wondering if it could be a simple thing or something a bit more complex that would lead me to hand it in to a local garage. Any advice would be appreciated. Thx. S.
I have a 1999 Passat TDI , the airbag light came on and has stayed on ever since. When plugged in code 01221 came up, this shows the side airbag sensor on the drivers side is faulty. This sensor is directly below the drivers seat, i removed the sensor and replaced it with a new sensor but the light stayed on and the fault code kept appearing. I put the origonal sensor back in place and removed the passenger side sensor , i then plugged the new sensor into the passenger side and Hey Presto the light went out and i was able to erase the fault code!. Since Passats tend to get damp on the passenger side floor area that would most likely be the reason the sensor failed, but why did the diagnostic equipment point to the drivers side?, the vehicle is wired for the european market and was correct in showing the drivers side sensor since its reading a left hand drive car! So beware Passat owners it may not be the source of your problem but keep my experience in mind should you have side sensor issues.
I know HJ is keen on chain cam engines as opposed to the belt-driven variety. The belt change on my current VW GT TDi is horrendously expensive at a main dealer who has to do it to fulfill the terms of the warranty.
I am looking at cars at the moment and the Honda Jazz impresses me. I note from the CBCB that it has a chain cam.
Do any backroomers know if chains have to be changed, at what mileage would this normally be carried out and, if necessary, is this proceedure very expensive?
I would imagine that a new chain is not a cheap item.
HectorG Read more
This is a very old message but belt driven can would not last 100k
Most have to be changed after 4 years...
My sister's 1996 Clio has failed its MOT for having two broken front coil springs.
The tester also informed her that a "piece of metal is sticking out and that's what probably caused a break"
Is it me, or does that sound like a load of PFD?
I would have thought it unlikely that the springs on both sides would have broken.
She was advised that the tester has ordered the parts should she want them fitting. £135!
What do people reckon??
Thanks
Paul Read more
I suspect that Renault springs are made from poor quality steel as they seem to be always breaking. Years ago a colleague told me that he once worked in a spring factory that made engine valve springs. The company was extremely pernickety about the quality of the steel; in particular they didn't like "inclusions" (particles of dross trapped in the metal) Inclusions were thought to propagate cracks and this is why the company didn't like them. The steel was assayed by looking at it with a Nikon binocular microscope and counting the inclusions in the field of view. Good quality steel would typically have FOUR HUNDRED inclusions but the best Swedish electrically smelted steel would frequently only have THREE! Anyhow valve springs made from Swedish Electric steel were virtually everlasting. I wonder how many inclusions the Renault springs have?
Allegedly "spring guards" or "spring catchers" can be retrofitted to Renaults to stop broken springs ripping the tyres. With spring catchers fitted one can at least get home....
Tried 3 different internet route-planners, driving from Cambridge to Loch Ness, and they all came up with different routes !
Which is quicker going north - A1 or M6. A1 is quicker mileage-wise, but seems chock-full of lorries most of the time !!
:-) Read more
Can I suggest A1 to Newcastle, then A69-A68 (A68 is a lot faster and less busy than the A1). It is a bit of a dangerous road but is good fun. Go round Edibburgh ring road up M9 past stirling to join A84 until Crainlarich then join A82 all the way to Loch ness. The A82 south of Crainlarich past Loch Lomond to Glasgow is an awful road. Very twisty, narrow and slow and can be quite busy as it's near glasgow.
If you go M6 variations it's still best to go via the way I describe via sterling once you get near glasgow and avoid paying for the Erskine bridge if that sort of thing bothers you.
James S
Jump over to the Honest John MSN photo site groups.msn.com/honestjohn/problems.msnw?action=Sho...3 to see an interesting failed part. Rather than duplicate the text here, you can read all about it there.
Peugeot/Citroen HDi owners may be interested....
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Oct' 2000 806 2.0 HDi, I have just had my bottom pulley and tensioner changed by a local garage. After a day or 2 there was a tapping noise from the pulley area on tick over. After another day the car lost all power and I struggled back to the garage. The mechanic told me he had used a 2nd hand pulley (charging £40+vat) and it was the wrong one. I have sourced a new one off e-bay (£54) and that is coming tomorrow. The mechanic said he couldn't find the fault on his diagnostics and said it had a missfire which had nothing to do with the pulley.
My question is - could the wrong pulley being fitted cause the loss of power. The car has run fine for 10 months since I bought it. Too much of a coincidence in my mind??
I have read a fairly recent thread which details problems with Central Locking on 206's and Xsaras...but my problem is slightly different. When trying to lock the doors with the remote control, all doors except the drivers door lock then immediately unlock...the drivers door doesnt move.
This problem however does not occur when using the key itself in the drivers door. I've tried recalibrating and a new battery in the control, but still the same. Could this simply be a sticky lock? Read more
Hi, I have a citroen xsara lx 2001. I don't have a central locking key with button. I rely on the key for central locking. When the key is used in the driver side door it only locks the driver door. When used in the passenger side door it locks all of the doors, but immediately unlocks them again. Also the boot does not unlock so I am unable to open it which is a pain in the backside. I managed to get the boot open once, and found that the catch is not releasing to open the boot when using the key. What can I do? Please help, I have no knowledge of cars and I don't like having to leave it open overnight as I cannot lock it. Please help. Many thanks.
Hi everyone,
I post this as a result of a conversation i had in my local last night, that caused a fair bit of confusion, and which really would be helpful to know.
Although i personally don't drink at all if i'm going to be driving, many of my friends do, and although i know the legal limit is 80?mg/l? of alcohol in your bloodstream, and that this can vary depending on size/weight, APPROXIMATELY how much is this in standard 4-5% pints of lager???
For the life of me i can't find a conversion between mg/l and alcohol units anywhere, or i could do the calculating myself. It would just be nice to know whether or not my mates claims that "2 1/2 pints of Stella's fine" is really likely to be true, or if they'll quite possibly/definitely be over the limit.
On another note, i managed to calculate that last friday morning, after a big thursday night out and 3 hours sleep, i was over the limit until 3pm the next afternoon. Is this right? And if so was i running a serious risk in driving to work at 8am that morning, both legally and physically, as i felt 100% sober.
Any clarification would be good, especially from the legal people that i know give a lot of welcome advice here.
Thanks
Steve Read more
I must say that i like the idea of breathalysers in
pubs tho, very simple to set up but could quite potentially
save lives, eg. my mates checking after their 2 1/2 pints
and seeing they are over, so not driving.
My thought on these devices is that they may help to save licences but not that many lives. If you feel the need to check then you could well be borderline and will be affected by the alcohol.
Suppose that 2.5 pints was the threshold for a particular person. Particularly amongst the young like myself, drinking a half has little 'credibility' so finishing off the last pint would take that person over.
One of the worst drinking times for me is lunchtime as alcohol seems to affect me more then than in the evening. I won't use the car for several hours after a lunchtime drink.
James
Given the well-documented problems with head gasket failures on the K series engines of the MGF, can anyone tell me if the problems have been overcome in the TF, as a friend of mine is thinking of buying one after losing his head for the third time, and being told it is too heavily pitted to be ground off!
Ta in advance Read more
Hi, I have just had my headgasket replaced on my P reg 214si, my fault it blew in the first place as I had a leaking radiator and chose to ignore it for a while!!
I had the head gasket, timing belt (good idea to have it changed at the same time), head skimmed, new radiator and all the valves cleaned and reseated for £600 by an idependant Rover specialist, with nearly 100K on the clock the car has never ran as well now everything has settled down..
Shop around for a cheaper price as some people will take a lend when it comes to headgaskets and charge far more than they need to (according to one of my mates in the trade, whose boss wanted to charge me nearly double!!)
i'm part exchanging my old car for a nearly new on saturday. my current car has a fault with the air circulation button, if outside air coming in a motor is broken and makes a loud ticking noise so i'm just leaving it on inside air only. unfortunately this means the buttons light is on.
has the dealer got any come back as the fault wasn't there when he test drove my car. i don't want him phoning me telling me to pay the bill for it to be fixed?
i can't really plead ignorant as the normal position for the button is to have the light off?
their must be some ex car dealers out there who can help!!
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I wouldn't worry too much. When I traded in my Tipo, the dealer didn't even give it a good looking over outside, let alone test-drive it before offering me £100 more than I'd paid for it over 2 years before. I'm glad he didn't as there were a few minor body dings and scratches and more importantly the engine didn't like being worked hard, but that's his look-out.
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