A definative answer please, will an inopperative air bag light fail the MOT test? I've asked two MOT testers in the last 12 hours, one said a lit light OR a missing light (bulb taken out) is a fail, the other said a lit light is a fail but a missing light is an advisory only. Does that mean I can take the bulb out and pass the MOT with an advisory? Thanks Read more

Sorry for the long post - I'm trying to solve a problem that has been on-going for more than 2 years and has not been solved by 3 garages in different parts of Britain! Any help appreciated. Nothing I can find on various forums has answered the problem.

2 years ago my daughter's 206 became difficult to put into gear. A new clutch was fitted and the problem seemed to be solved. The clutch bearing had disintegrated but the whole clutch was changed to save going back in to replace the clutch at a later date. The mechanic who fitted the clutch checked the auto adjust clutch cable and said it was fully serviceable.

Within a year, the same problem arose - couldn't get the car into gear so the AA towed the car to a garage in Uxbridge who replaced the clutch cable - problem seemed to be solved.

A month or so ago (a year after the clutch cable had last been replaced) the same problem arose - breakdown service towed the car to a garage in Glasgow who replaced the clutch, guide, fork and clutch cable. Problem seemed to be solved but as she drove the car from Glasgow to my home in Hereford, the problem came back. She managed to get the car onto my driveway where it has sat for the past few weeks.

The gear linkages seemed to be a bit loose so I bought a new set and put them on - no improvement. I took every part of the gear linkage system from the gear stick to the gear box apart, cleaned the joints, added lots of new grease - the gear stick is much less floppy, but it can still be difficult to get into gear. I bought another clutch cable from the local Peugeot dealer (which was different to the one the Glasgow mechanic had put on) and put that on the car - no difference.

It is difficult (sometimes impossible) to select some gears - it doesn't seem to make any difference if the engine is running or not. With the engine not running - clutch up or down doesn't make any difference. I'm a reasonably competent DIY mechanic and I'm reluctant to take it to another mechanic who will blame the last 3 and replace all of the new parts (again).

To me the problem seems to logically lie with the gear box - the only part of the chain that has not been changed since the problem started, but several people, including those I have bought parts from say this is unlikely to be the cause.

Apart from this problem this is a nice 206 that the original owner bought with all bells and whistles. It's too nice a car to scrap, and I'd like to get it back on the road soon if possible. Any suggestions greatly appreciated. Read more

This "Engine Systems Fault" has come up on my Focus and it lost power, on investigation a fault code P0380 came up with my local garage which indicated a glow plug or related fault.

I then got a set of glow plugs and a glow plug relay, part number 1 252 609, which today I tried to fit, well I tried to find the relay first, thinking it would be easier to do that than tackle the glow plugs, was told it was behind the ns headlight and inner arch, but i couldn't find it, the Ford dealers I phoned did try to help but said it was there as well.... Read more

Hi,

I am new to this and as a ford owner so please stay with me!!

I have recently purchased a ford S Max on a 56 plate (2.0 TDCI) and it has just started with a rough start and white smoke. I have noticed on a cold day it's harder to start, it's rough and has white smoke for a longer (2-3 mins) period than when warmer like today when it started on first turn and was rough and white smoke for circa 1 min. On all occasions, the rough idling stops first and then the white smoke and once this has happened the car runs absolutely fine with no pulling/jerking. The water levels are not moving, oil is clean and doesn't over heat. The engine does sound louder until it has warmed also.

Any ideas/pointer would be gratefully received. Read more

i asked a brakedown recovery mechanic on 22/04/13 when the best time to change the timing belt was, as ford recommend 100,000 miles or ten years. His reply was, he would recommend changing at around 80,000 miles, but he thought that all fiestas from 2002 onwards did not have a cambelt anymore, they were chain driven? is this the case, or do they still have cambelts. thanks to everyone out there who can help me with dillema. Read more