October 2009
Hi all,
this is my first post so please be gentle with me.
I recently bought a 1.4 petrol Astra G with 117000miles on the clock. seeing as my 1.4 Astra E had just clocked 201000miles but died of terminal body rot i thought a G would be just as reliable. However, it's turning into a epic saga of 'war and peace' proportions...a bit like this email!
There were a few oil leaks, no probs, just replace seals gaskets etc. but i realised all was not well when the engine number...under 1/2 inch of crud... didn't match the V5 and noticed the water pump looked very new. Also a shed load of silicon sealant had been used to seal the old rocker cover seal and the 3 sump bolts that bolt into the oil pump were in various stages of having been stripped etc etc. You got the idea, the previous weilder of spanners on this poor car was a much closer relation to our neanderthal ancesters than ourselves.
Anyway i decided the reason for the different engine number was that the unforetunate previous owner probably had the classic seized waterpump/valves hitting pistons scenario and got a reconditioned motor which itself had a new waterpump having suffered the same fate before being 'reconditioned' by our knuckle dragging friend....'torque wrench?....wot that then'.
After changing the rocker cover+sump+camshaft+crank seals, cam+ancilliary belts, waterpump, coolant, plugs, filters, fluids etc i thought we were good to go with perhaps the possibilty of oil leaking from the pulley end of the sump,, which i'd remedy with helicoilling the oil pump sump bolts. On start up all seemed fine and i let it warm up until it got to fan switch on time, i took a gander underneath and to my dismay there was coolant leaking from the pump area. on inspection it was coming from one of the holes which are machined into the aluminium body near the seals/bearing. i presume this is done so if the inner seal leaks the coolant doesn't get forced through the bearing and spew out over the belts but is channeled straight onto the floor. Ok, a pain, but after fitting a new pump i was strutting my stuff thinking i'm the mutts...
However, after just 100miles there's a fair oil leak from the pulley end which may start at the crank seal, admittedly it didn't go in as well as i'd hoped and shaved off a thin layer of rubber from the outer circumference. ok i'll change the £12 seal again and heicoil the sump bolts, but the thing that worries me the most is that i noticed the signs of dried glycol on the waterpump an the same place as the previous newish looking one. The coolant level's gone down a bit, understandably, the oil on the dip, filler cap and that dripping on the floor looks spanking new, clear and un-mayo like, the coolant in the header looks ok, a smidgeon dirty but i'd expect that after been spun around a 117000 motor. So you know what i'm going to ask....... do you reckon the head gasket is blowing into the water jacket, pressurising it and causing the inner waterpump seal to fail???? I remember when the head gasket went on my E the waterpump failed a month or 2 later in exactly the same way but the replacement was fine. If it is being over pressured why isn't the cap on the header tank blowing off? or is it only there to let air in under vacum? Any advice would be much appreciated....other than 'drive it off beachy head'....i couldn't do that to the environment...tho admittedly there'd be little oil left in the sump to contaminate the sea due to the leaks ;-(.
Do i:
a) change the header cap in the infantile belief that everything will be fluffy bunnies after...and while i'm at it, hang out my stocking for father xmass?
b) put yet another water pump on and pop down to the bookies and put a tenner on kilmarnock winning the champion's league in 2015
c) bite the bullet and change the head gasket???? bit wobbly about this one because the 8valve carb motor was easy peasy but the 16valve head without any room around it and enogh cabling and hosing to fit out a carrier seems a tad daunting.
cheers all!! Read more
Hi there,
I'm at a dead end with information and can't find out anything useful from the people responsible so I'm going posting here for some advice if anyone can help.
I've just recently come to sell my car, now I'm not the biggest 'in the know' car person. I use them from getting to work etc. But upon gathering all the relevant information regarding my car I've come across a problem.
The mileage on the last MOT certificate is totally incorrect. Like most people I've spoken to over the last few days, I got the passed certificate and stuck it in my folder of car paperwork and carried on driving knowing that my car is all good for another year. That was back in March 2009.
The MOT certificate states that I have done 109,993 miles. Now for the age of my car that isn't an unreachable number. When I bought the car in 2007 it had done 46,521 miles, the first MOT I had done with it was in the follow March and the car had done 56,892.
As I used to drive around 14 miles per day during the week and in the middle of that I had been to London, Manchester and Nottingham for some gigs.
The 2009 MOT is where we have developed an issue. It was again done in March, I passed and filed the documents away. I have done now done 72,991 miles in the car and am looking to sell, but I have an MOT certificate that states I had done 109,993 miles.
As I said before, this is not an unrealistic figure but I still worked in the same place doing the same mileage each day with the odd long journey thrown in.
Now I am trying to sell I can honestly say the car has only done 73,000 miles but when you look at the MOT it looks like I've clocked the car back.
I have spoken with the DVLA and VOSA but the only advise I got was to take the car back to the same testing station and get them to retest for free and include a letter confirming that the information on the new certificate was correct. Which obviously the tester isn't willing to do.
So I now look like I've clocked my car, and nobody really wants to help me with a solution. I can either sell the car and try to convince the person buying it that the mileage is genuine or take a massive loss on the value of the car that has incorrect mileage information.
Any help would be wonderful? Read more
A garage can't just write out a new one;they're on the DVLA computer nowadays.
You may be right, but I can't see why they can't carry out another test (which would, of course, have to be paid for) and supply another certificate based on the results of that test.
hi all, want to start off by saying excellent site. like it a lot.
however i was dissapointed by your judgement of the lada niva. Everything you said about it was true, apart from one thing - it off road ability. Rather than make a case for this myself, I found an AA review that just about hits the mark.
(lots of bad things about the niva, but off road, it can prettymuch climb tree's). It can be found here.
www.theaa.com/staticdocs/pdf/carreports/AA_REPORTS...F
these cars are insane offroad.
thanks for reading,
ned . Read more
Nice revieuw Hoodoo,looks like a sound and solid car to me ,spoke to a russian mate on a cargo ship a while ago.He spoke good english lives in st petersburg,drives the Niva no complaines good for the russian winters.
Hi All,
Just wondering what the views here are.
I see my neighbour reversing with apparent great ease (and speed sometimes) purely using his mirrors. I have tried reversing on the mirrors but don't feel comfortable and have to stick my head out the window, rain or shine.
It occurs to me that using the mirrors properly is better technique and safer, but my views often change after reading threads on here!!
What do you do and what is safest?
Regards.
FTF
Read more
Got parking sensors front and rear on my new Golf and they're marvellous also with a useful display on the radio.
These, allied with views in the door mirrors, that tilt downwards and with human awareness, give me much more accurate parking in confined spaces, especially as I have an ageing and stiff, painful neck.
My Vectra (81000 miles) has developed a low pitch moaning sound when running easy at 50-70mph, especially noticeable on the over-run. It is definitely related to road speed, not engine speed, and happens in all gears, including neutral. I have had all 4 wheels jacked-up and all turn freely with no noise, roughness or bearing play. There is no evidence of heat generation in the hubs. I have temporarily exchanged wheels with a friend, but no difference. The drive shaft gaiters appear sound - there is a (very) small amount of play in the drive shafts, but this is equal both sides and I think is normal.
I have a long European trip coming-up and don't want any nasty surprises.
Any ideas/suggestions would be very welcome. Read more
I also have a moaning noise and last week the garage replaced both rear bearing hubs -cost £500. A front bearing has also failed and is booked in for Wednesday. My Vectra is an 04 with 78K miles. You cannot replace just the bearing and it must be the complete hub at a cost of £175 each plus labour. I have driven about 500k miles in my lifetime and never had a bearing failure . Just like buses, three come at once. This car has been a money pit. Broken springs/ wiper failure/ water pump failure/ and now this
I have bought Toyota for a number of years now but find on every model I have purchased the projection on dipped headlight bean has been appalling!! on full beam its fine !!
I just wonder if other makes are the same and if other Toyota owners find the same problem .I know it may depend were you drive (dark country lanes ) but just wonder if it is a Toyota thing or all modern cars are like it now
And before anyone suggests I get an eye test had one last week :-) Read more
Worst, Renault Laguna's x 2
Best, Astra G (Suprisingly) and Vectra C
The Renaults full beam was only as bright as the Astra G's Dipped, full beam on both of my Vauxhalls is truelly so bright its unbeleivable
hi. im having a few problems with my frontera.
the speedo isnt working and my perol gauge isnt working either, they come on now and then. ive located the speed sensor in the box ive tried a second hand sensor in to see if that was the problem still no good. the drive in the box is turning so i think thats ok. i took the clocks out messed about with them but couldnt find anything with them, im just wondering if anyones had similar problems? wonder if its worth trying some different clocks. cheers
p.s its the newer model without the speedo cable Read more
hi there
did you get this sorted i have the same problem with it going to 20 then to 0 ...
Need some tyres for the car. Been a while since I had to buy my own. Looked on line and phoned around. One annoyance is the charge for valve and balance (which I would have thought should be included).
CEAT tyres are reported to me made by Pirelli. Anyone comment?
Looking for a tyarget price of around £60 fitted all in x 4 tyres 195/55 x 15
Thanks Read more
You're either mistaken or your ABS system had a fault.
It was a figure of speech really - the ABS cut in.
Hi,
After reading the advice in HJ's CBC breakdown, this forum and What Car? magazine over a period of many months, I eventually bought a black Ford Focus LX 1.6 petrol (113 bhp), 2006 06 reg, from Carcraft in Staines, Chertsey.
I am basically happy with the car except for its slightly boring interior, handbrake on the left hand side, and apparently poor fuel economy (but having said that, I mainly do short journeys in London). Also being a dopey sod I didn't initially notice that the car had a no smoking sticker (and a few other stickers) inside the windscreen, so I'm guessing it's probably an ex-rental?
Carcraft didn't supply any car mats with the Focus, so I'm just wondering if any of you friendly people know a good place to buy them, either online or in a shop?
Many thanks,
Chris Read more
Hi again,
Wow, you guys are fantastic! You truly are a bunch of dedicated car enthusiasts. I mean, car mats are probably one of the few things even more boring than X Factor contestants! It was a great feeling to see so many helpful replies, including from many of the regulars whose advice and comments I used to read almost every day earlier this year when I was looking for a car. This must be one of the best forums on the internet, and I hope to become a regular contributor to this community too. By the way, sorry for not replying and expressing my thanks earlier; I am a bit of an insomniac, hence I originally posted my question at about 4.15 am last night, and it's 4.45 am right now...
My very grateful thanks to everyone for their kind advice and comments. As it's early days for me on this forum, I feel I must thank you all individually for taking the trouble to reply (in future I guess I will just say thanks everyone), so here goes...
b308 - thanks for your advice. When I said that I wasn't too happy with the handbrake being on the left hand side, I could have expressed this better! What I meant was that the handbrake is quite far to the left, i.e. just next to the passenger seat (is this because the car was originally designed as left hand drive and they couldn't be bothered to move the handbrake as well as the steering wheel?). So if a passenger rests his arms a bit beyond the edges of the seat, I often have to request that they move their arm so that I can operate the handbrake! Not a big problem, but I would prefer it in the centre.
Dutchie - yes the car has been serviced regularly (at Ford main dealers), so thanks for allaying my fears about it possibly being an ex-rental.
jc2, Focus {P}, cuthbert 1, honeybear, Old Navy - I will check out my Ford dealer and the shops and websites mentioned.
ifithelps - very interesting view about company cars! (How's the Focus CC running by the way?)
spood - thanks for telling me about Blackbushe (BCA) and the guy buying up all the stock for CarCraft Chertsey. Very interesting indeed!
Manatee, Falkirk Bairn, pmh3 - thanks so much for your comments.
Again, thanks to all and hope to see you on this forum regularly! I think I will try to get a bit more sleep now...
Had a quick look online for some new studded tyres, and was amazed at all the new brands I've never heard of. It's pretty obvious which country some of them come from, but for the others, goodness knows. Surprisingly, they're not much cheaper than the usual brands.
Here's some strange ones: stunner, debica, sava, kingstar, trayal, nankang, achilles, rotalla, goodride, linglong, sunny, runway, dextero, mastersteel, maloya, meteor, roadstone, novex, nexen.
Interestingly, there was a recent test of winter tyres, including a couple of chinese brands. They both came bottom with appaling scores. So low, in fact, they were worse than summer tyres. Read more
. Anyway I got it back this morning
and in the boot was a winter set.
Result.
Some people have all the luck, whenever i've bought a cheap car the boot usually contains rubbish and the remains of some dead creature, but i much prefer your results.
With your luck i'd be inclined to spend a bit on lottery tickets..;)
Euromaster...now i may be wrong usually am but weren't ATS owned by Michelin at one time, maybe still are for all i know.
I wonder if those tyres you 'found' could be Mich's rebranded to sell through the ATS network?
Browse
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If the rest of the car is good & i mean good why not put another engine in? there is plenty about & i.6 would fit too.
But if anything like the engine get shut grab your cash and run fast.!