May 2007
Just bought an Haynes manual for my wifes Fabia.
The wheel nuts torque is 83lbs ft but the illustration shows steel wheels.
Never having had alloys this seems high even for steel.
Would this be the torque for alloys as well.
wemyss Read more
need to put a set of tyres on our Bora today. This car has a fair amount of road noise coming from the tyres. What tyres will give me the quietest ride and which are the ones to steer clear of?
Could be worse, could have a Focus! Read more
The Focus is exceptionally noisy I certainly won't be having another one! I can't wait
to get rid from that point of view.
It's very tyre sensitive. My Focus came from the factory with Conti SportContacts on it which were fabulous tyres. Grippy and long lasting, and very little noise. Unfortunately, the lease company used by my employer had a deal with Dunlop which meant it spent the rest of its life saddled with dreadful SP Sport 200 Es and later on, SP01s. When the first set of SP200Es went on the front at about 19,000 miles, the noise levels increased dramatically. When the rears eventually gave up the ghost at about 55k, it went up again!
I've put cheap remoulds and dodgy Eastern European-branded tyres on cars in the past when I've been skint, and can categorically state that none of them come close to the SP200 for sheer nastiness. The 01's were better, but what a racket!
I would rather fit part worn remoulds than ever a Dunlop tyre near a car (or bike) of mine again.
Cheers
DP
Car in question is my dad's Peugeot 806 2.0hdi Y reg.
I was driving it a couple of weeks ago and noticed that the power steering was very heavy (not sure if thats relevant) and the car itself just had no poke at all. I used to love driving it as it had a good bit of oomph When I mentioned this to my dad he said that he had noticed when he was pulling his caravan that he was having to change down gears a lot when he doesn't normally need to.
Anyway booked it into his local garage who "specialise" in Peugeot. He hooked it up to a fault reader which said that there was a fault with the turbo solenoid. He stripped it down and said he couldn't find anything wrong with it. Took it to his pal who had more technical equipment and his apparently diagnosed an intermittant fault with the EGR. They put some fuel additive in the car and reset the fault memory and have asked him to drive it about for a few days to see if it has made any difference. I drove it today and it is still the same. I gave it an Italian tune-up but that didn't seem to make any difference (a one-off probably wouldn't anyway)
From what I know of EGR(very little) they can be susceptible to round-town stop-start journeys which my dad has done a lot of over the years he has had the car.
Will this be an expensive fix? Is it the start of lots of repairs trying to get things sorted?
(Re the power steering the first garage said his fluid level was low and topped it up but it was still very heavy today)
Any help appreciated!
{Slight adjustment to header at authors request - DD} Read more
If you're having the same problem, take note of all the things it could possibly be. It would be a huge waste of time and money to throw parts at the problem without a good diagnostic check.
I have a 2001 Vauxhall Zafira 2.0 DTi and recently I have been having problem with the central locking. When I use the key it doesn't always lock all the doors. I have changed the key to the spare, changed the battery to a new one, but still have the same problem. It doesn't always happen, but it is getting more and more frequent. Any ideas? Read more
Sounds like the lock mechanisms are getting a bit sticky as the car gets older, might be worth trying to lubricate the linkages, if that is possible without taking half the car apart.
Looking at the engine specs for the new Mondeo, I was surprised to see how apparently punchy the 1.8 TDCi motor is:
--> 1,753cc Lynx TDCI belt-cam diesel: 92kW (125PS) at 3,850 rpm; 320Nm (236 lb ft) torque [340Nm (251lb ft) on transient overboost] at 1,800 rpm.
--> 1,997cc 16v Duratorq TDCI belt-cam diesel: 103kW (140PS) at 4,000 rpm; 320Nm (236 lb ft) torque [340Nm (251lb ft) on transient overboost] at 1,800 rpm.
Is the Lynx a newer motor than the Duratorq, or is it older? There's not much difference in performance or emissions and both can have 6-speed boxes.
Any pointers gratefully received :) Read more
I've got the 1.8 115ps TDCI in my C-Max. It's an excellent motorway cruising engine, with lots of torque, and very economical on a run.
There are some minus points though. Due to its cast-iron block it's quite heavy, and takes a long while to warm up. It's noisier compared to the PSA developed 1.6 and 2.0 engines, though this is more obvious when idling or at very low revs.
Compared to the 1.6 115ps PSA engine it has 20% more torque in the mid-range. I imagine the 125ps version is even better.
One plus point is that it's extremely reliable compared the newer PSA developed engines, which have been known to suffer from EGR problems (amongst others) in the past, though more recently built engines apparently have most of the problems ironed out.
My old Punto is nearly dead so I am looking to replace it with a small diesel car for my daily commute to work (50 miles a day mostly on the motorway).
I don't have much cash so will probably have to buy a high mileage used car. Question is who makes the best small diesel engine in terms of longevity?
My initial thoughts are either a 1.4Hdi Citroen C3 or a 1.5Dci Renault Clio or Megane. How many miles can I expect these engines to last for?
Thanks Read more
Yup just checked, it is the 68hp model and the tax disk has £35 on it.
The trip computer has 55.1 mpg gallon on it and it only been used for short runs around town so far.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
My car has been making a scraping noise when starting from cold ever since I had it serviced at a main dealer about 1 month/1500miles ago. Took it to another main dealer to have it looked at under warranty (I was unhappy with the service I got at the first dealer). It turns out it was low on on gearbox oil by about a litre.
Any thoughts on whether this might have caused lasting damage? I will write to the dealer that did the original service to record my disquiet so that should problems arise in the future a record exists.
Read more
Thanks for that info, it puts my mind at rest a lot more. The car was driving OK throughout and the sound has now gone so fingers crossed no damage was done.
A question for older readers, younger ones will probably not have a clue what I am on about!
Anybody who has tried to set up the AC Delco distributor on a TR7 will have sympathy with this post. The distributor is at the very back of the engine, very difficult to access and impossible to see what you are doing. It is not helped by the cockeyed design of 'external' centrifugal weights which severely limit access to the points for measuring the gap.
The questions are,
1 How essential is it to get the gap correct if you can set it then measure the dwell angle?
2 The Dwell angle is specified as 39deg (+- 1). How precise does it actually have to be in practice?
My interpretation is that if the Dwell angle is measuring to low this equates to the gap being too large. Is this correct? Also that it will have a marginal effect on timing, but well if it is running ok so what!
--
pmh (was peter)
Read more
Good post Peter D
I'm trying to get some background information on a recent engine failure I experienced on a Nissan Navara (2004) Double Cab Pickup. The failure was catastrophic (a con rod let go and came through the side of the block).
I Understand it is quite a common failure. Has anyone else experienced this?
Thanks Read more
Sorry to hear that you've experienced this problem. It's actually VERY common. We have 25 years experience rebuilding engines and have had many of these YD22 and YD25 engines from that period in for repair. If the moderators are happy could I lead you to our website which is www.vanengineman.com and our phone number is 01384 352352. We would be happy to help anyone in this situation even if it's just for free advice. We undertake this repair frequently and understand the vehicle well. I do hope that your truck is back on the road as soon as possible, we all know how hard it is when the relied upon company vehicle fails.
Many Thanks....
What would you put on rubber door seals to stop them sticking to the door?
When I open the door the seals are stuck really hard, I'm afraid one day it might tear them. There is also the issue of the rubber generally drying out and decaying, What would you use to act as a preservative for the rubber?
For both problems
How about clean motor oil?
or
linseed oil? Read more
Have to say I just use a silicone spray, same one I use on the window runners, does the job and only about £2 if you get it from toolstation rather then a car shop.
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And yet EVERY wheel back I've ever seen was painted at manufacture. (Maybe not alloy wheels but I have no interest in alloy wheels)...