August 2006
I have a 5 series BMW, bought recently, and two days ago the petrol guage was showing half way between empty and a quarter full. The low fuel warning light wasn't glowing, which comes on normally when you have around a gallon and a half left in. The car stuttered to a halt, and as luck would have it I was able to coast to a petrol station 400 yards away to fill up. It started then straight away. Any ideas what the problem is, and how difficult to fix? Read more
There is a press report this morning that a committee of MPs' has recommended that cars with big engines be taxed at that price and that the 70mph limit be reduced. The committee chairman is something called Yeo. Is it the Westminster air that turns our politicians into driveling idiots or are they born that way? Read more
The airbag light is on on my instrument panel. Took it to Main Dealer and they wanted £800 for a new wiring loom and labor on top of that to install it. I have just repaired my boot central locking by renewing the wires that run underneath the LH boot strut which had perished cos the strut pushes on them when the boot is opened and closed.
I am hoping that this airbag issue is similar i.e. a loose connection or a broken wire. Does anyone have any hints on where to check first, I'll have to strip the interior down if not but if anyone does know or any 'weak spots' they could tell it would be most appreciated
As always, thanks in advance Read more
There is a common problem on the older Passats with the splices in the loom near the CCM in the passenger footwell.
They are reported to disintegrate even if there is no water ingress problem.
Probably worth a look.
hello,
help please, got a worsening noise from the front of my 2000 W plate 2.8 4 Motion. First noticed it under braking but checked it over as best I can and can see nothing obviously amiss there or with any of the rubber bushes. Noise is now there under drive and I think worse when cornering left. Does this look like a cv joint, are there any common passat suspension/drive issues to look out for?
Thanks
willyb Read more
It's the front suspension from hell, but you can buy a whole set of arms and links for about £200-£250 and be done worrying. e.g.
search.ebay.co.uk:80/190017688035
This is a serious post by the way ...
I was out cycling the yesterday near Worthing and it brought about a childhood memory.
In the late 70's /early 80's my grandparents would take us to the coast for the day or weekend in their campervan (An old Bedford Dormobile)
Does anyone remember a strange old man who used to stand at the A24 roundabout just outside Worthing at the weekends ?
He would have a sit-up-and-beg bicycle and on the back of it a stereogram playing Jazz, and he would have a cigarette holder with which he would conduct the music and wave at the cars as they passed
He would frequently be wearing a bowtie/dinner jacket.
He was obviously as mad as a hatter, and one of the local "characters" - perhaps he had been "let out" for the day !
My grandfather would often drive round the roundabout several times so we could wave out the window at him, at which he would pull quite a few very funny faces.
I can rememebr after a few years he progressed to a motor-scooter, presumably as he got older and frailer :-)
It was one of the highlightsof the dayout ( apart from the fish & chips in the seafront gardens !)
Does anyone else remember him ? I canot recall if one day he was simply not there, or my sister and I got older, and so didn't go with our grandparents anymore.
In a way a shame you don't see things like that anymore. Read more
In Newbury, Berkshire, in the late fifties to mid-sixties, one often used to see a tough-looking but handsome lady with short hair driving a Sunbeam motor bike - vertical 2cyl in line engine (not side by side like Triumph or BSA) with shaft drive to rear wheel instead of chain.
Hope I haven't done the wrong thing here, DD, but I didn't want this to get lost in the speed camera thread - it's a bit of a specific request.
Saturday's Telegraph has just penetrated this part of SW France and Honest John has a letter from a guy who has spotted a lot of beige coloured plastic boxes mounted a couple of feet above the ground beside French autoroutes and he thinks they are speed cameras.
Although the number of scameras is increasing in France by the week I don't think these are they, but I have seen similar beige plastic boxes sprout beside ordinary roads as well in the last few weeks.
Does anyone have any idea what they might be for? Read more
I was working out the controls of a hire car and dealing with the rain and not exceeding 90 Kmph so I can understand why I missed it, and it missed me!
My 2003 Grand Espace has suffered its first major failure, one week after posting some comment on this site that its had no problems.
The welded joint where the catalytic converter meets the exhaust pipe just at the back of the engine seems to have failed. I didn't catch it on anything afaics and it looks like a shoddy weld, the pipe fits into the cat perfectly. The exhaust seems to be a one piece from the cat to the back box.
What are the chances of it being welded up again? I know someone at Renault and they are getting me a price for a new exhaust but I dont think much change out of £1k for a complete exhaust inc cats. Read more
Find a back street garage to weld it as they are difficult to weld and usually only a short term fix.
Make sure engine/gearbox mountings are not sloppy causing the backlash or sloppy gearchanging with vehement clutch dropping.
Consider s/h from proper salvage breaker .thats what i do in this situation
having serious trouble with all interior elecs on 2.0 sri 140....alternator light is on but is charging at 14v interior lights flash windows wont work unless handbrake is off low fuel light flashes all the time all gages and dials dropped to zero but all exterior lighting works fine a engine runs fine...oh..and the windows will do up as and when the choose lol ....any ideas or help would be much appreciated..thanx Read more
maxvec
If you're now getting a problem when you select reverse; first check that the wires to the reverse-light switch on the gearbox haven't chafed through. That's a Vectra speciality - though this sounds more like a rear-light cluster/earth issue. Get someone to check all your rear lights are working. Have you changed any rear bulbs lately? Have you got a twin-plug tow-bar?
Hi all and thanks for every thing so far... this may sound a simple one but which one is more efficent (mpg) when on on long journeys a roof box and roof bars or pulling a small trailer? Read more
found this from the haynes web site:-
Remove that roof rack! Fully loaded, a roof rack can add 30 per cent to fuel consumption. Even an empty ski rack may add seven to eight per cent.
but nothing about a trailer
i shall be going to scotland inverness way and beyond so speed limits are not a problem not many moter ways that way..
i prob cud lock up trailer but as im going camping i wont be able to leave roof box but i should be able to lock up a trailer
Around my way diesel has suddenly become 2p cheaper than petrol, trading at 98.9p/litre, while petrol is 1-2p above. Is there a reason for the sudden change of fortune? ;) Read more
"If we want cheaper road fuel then we must be prepared to tolerate higher taxation somewhere else to compensate. Government has to raise revenue from somewhere."
Shouldn't that be "If we want cheaper road fuel we need a Government that doesn't waste taxpayer's money on quangos, a bloated public sector, gold-plated pensions for public sector workers, massive subsidies for MPs.......sorry, must stop this....."
Seriously, this country was a business it would have been declared bankrupt years ago and it's directors banned from ever running a company again.
Rant over.
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You can't make a case for the Citroen C5, even Clive could not have invented an uglier car.