March 2016
DPF full in December '15, straight red alarm. Booked in with large independent garage for diagnosis, they said 87% full and really needed replacing as it wouldn't regen on the vehicle. A clean was given as option but the price was prohibitive. Replaced £1100 clean £850. I when with a new one and had the car back the following afternoon. All good and looking forward to DPF problem free motoring.
In Feb, I noticed the exhaust was blowing and called them to book it in, on the day it was due in guess what? Yep the DPF full red alarm came on. Needless to say I called them and they said they would look at it. They gave me some reason that the car wasn't regenerating as they thought there was a leak on the induction system and they needed time to use smoke to identify where. They had it for another day, couldn't find any leak but did think a pipe was a bit kinked so supported it with a tie wrap. They cleared the DPF and I got the car back after handing over £60 for the new exhaust brackets.
Today 26th March the damn DPF red alarm is back on. I'm really begining to wonder if they actually replaced the DPF in the first place. Should a new unit get blocked twice in three months and approx 3500 miles?
Should I start to get angry with them now or is this fault to be expected with the type of journeys it's doing?
I've been using wynns DPF additive every 3rd or fourth tank full, actually three bottles since December and there is one in the full tank now. I've been doing steady motorway runs to activate the passive regen but still get the problem. It does do short journeys about 6 per day of around 2.5 miles, 2 journeys per day of around 8.5 miles then the usual driving town and country driving.
Any help and advice gratefully received. Thanks!
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My 2011 fiesta 1.25 has an annoying problem where the battery light keeps coming on, mostly on longer drives. it's been like this for a while but the car has always been fine apart from the light. While driving at the weekend the light came on again but this time more lights came on and the car started to drive weird (power steering and ABS stopped working) Stopped the car and turned it off, when trying to restart the battery was flat.
I have had this happen before in a previous car so I assumed it was a faulty alternator. after jump starting the car everything worked fine again and the battery light was off. I checked the alternator output and was getting 14.5v with the car at idle. I thought it must have an intermittent fault so I got the alternator changed yesterday. Driving to work again this morning the light has come back on so it's not the alternator.... Read more
Fault fixed!!
Our 2012 Fiesta 1.25 has had an intermittent battery light fault for a couple of years. I hate intermittent faults - every time I checked the battery charging voltage it was OK. Finally this month the light stayed on during a longish trip and the battery went flat. The alternator was not showing any output. I changed it for a secondhand one and the problem has gone! I stripped the old alternator to see what had gone wrong after only 40k miles. I found copper strands in the brushes/ slip ring area, presumably peeled off the slip rings. I think they were occasionally shorting out the rings, then clearing off until the next time. The brushes were OK, although there was a wear slight groove on one slip ring. I fitted new brushes and cleaned the slip rings, so I have a spare on the shelf, just in case! You can check the brushes fairly easily - if you ignore the pain of removing the belt to get the alternator off. It might be possible to do it in situ, but there is not a lot of space down there....
Hi, Yesterday I was driving on the motorway and I pulled into a service area. I could not shift down in gears. When I stopped and started again, from neutral, I could not put it into gear. It was blocked. I was only able to get into gear when ignition was off, turn ignition on and start to move from 1st to 5th. That way, I made it home. Now the problem is: It starts in neutral but will not go into gear. If I turn off ignition and, as before, put into 1st, then turn the ignition on, the vehicle will NOT START. Now it seems that the battery is not kicking in when I start the vehicle “in gear”, but the Vehicle starts when in neutral. also the clutch is is not in its place. it is now lower to the ground.
2006 (new model) ford transit swb panel van
114,000 miles... Read more
The clutch release system is hydraulic on these.Check under gearbox area for any fluid leaking or loss from master cylinder reservoir.
(I probably asked this question in the Ask John Section thinking I was writing it to the forum. Sorry for double-posting.)
About a week ago I bought a 2007 Honda CRV, mileage: 91K, from a local car sales shop. Yesterday the engine management light came on and having the car inspected at a local garage it appears there is a problem with the car's engine (code p2004: variable intake manifold system fault).
I understand that the Consumer Rights Act, as of Oct 2015, gives a right to reject the vehicle within 30 days of purchase for a full refund if it is not fit for purpose or it is not as described or if it is not of satisfactory quality. I feel my case fall within this scope.
The trader wants to repair the car but I want to return it for a full refund because I am sensing that the fault is indicative of more problems down in the line and I do not want to end up being stuck with a dodgy vehicle.
I wanted to get your opinion about how strong my case is and how best to proceed. In particular I am afraid that, assuming this goes to court, the judge might say that this is a used car and they are expected to develop problems like this and I should have accepted the dealer's offer of repairing the car. But on the other hand the new law gives me a right to return the car without having to go through repairs. Read more
I am wondering, when these codes come up, is it possible to see the history?. Is there a log in the car's computer?. Can a dealer or previous owner wipe out error codes?
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I have the latest Honda Jazz, with just one fault. The tyre deflation warning light comes on every couple of weeks for no reason, and has to be manually reset.
In common with most cars the system works by measuring the rolling circumference of each wheel. To me this seems a very optimistic way of checking for deflation. A quick search on the internet revelas that this is in fact a fairly common problem with many cars, including more than one Honda model.... Read more
having the same problems with 2017 yaris. just come in from checking all 4 tyres and reseting TPMS. hope the light stays off tomorrow been going on and off periodically for weeks. have already replaced two valves. they really are temperamental thing's
Up until today I've resisted the temptation to try the suction method come oil change time, in the belief that it can't be as good as removing the drain plug and letting gravity do it's thing. But today the Mrs dragged me into Lidl and I saw this:
www.lidl.co.uk/en/our-offers-2491.htm?action=showD...2... Read more
Having used a Pela a number of times to change oil on a VW TDI, I always imagined that the extra oil I sucked out of the oil cooler (by putting the pipe down an aperture at the bottom of the filter housing, after draining the sump through the dipstick) was more than any residual drops that might be left in the sump.
Just my notion, and I've gone through phases of pumping and draining. But the pump was a lot easier then removing/replacing those little screws on the undertray. And if I was getting extra oil out by using the pump........
Hi all,
Looking for a bit of advice here.... Read more
I hate the modern cassette style wheel bearings, no adjustment possible no lubrication possible, once a bit worn thats it, kerching.
Even our artic trailer axles are like this now, one make of axle were getting through a ridiculous number of bearing kits, months not years....
Hi all, Have seen a 2010 Mondeo estate with the 2.0 TDCI (140 bhp) engine at a local (back street) dealer. The provenance is all there, HPI clear, a FSH including a timing belt change etc, i've even checked the mot history online and everything seems to be as it should. The only problem i've got is, the seller (by his own admission) isn't mechanically minded and could not answer me when i asked if it had a DPF. I've even rung my local Trust Ford dealer franchise quoting the reg no and got the response, some do some dont!. (very helpfull). The car was first registered in april 2010 on a 10 plate and is the Zetec model, I believe it is the 09 (pre-facelift) model and the annual RFL is £180. Knowing whether it has a DPF or not will be a major influence in my descision to purchase this vehicle, or stick with my non-dpf focus estate. Thanks in anticipation of your kind replies. Read more
It's a 1.8 Duratec TDCi
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Hi,
I have a 2003 Ford Focus 1.6 auto, Zetec engine.... Read more
Thanks for the replies.
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Hi Everyone! I'm new writing on the forum but have used the site and the forum itself for quite some time now, looking for advice on various topics.
I had a seemingly 'standard' gear shift problem on my 2004 yaris where first and (less pronounced) second gear get tough. The problem was a lot more pronounced when I just got it (used), at the point that the stick would slip into third rather than 1-st sometimes. Changed oil with some Liqui Moly 75w90 and added some of their gear oil additive and it all made a night and day difference.... Read more
+1 for bleedibg the clutch, well worth a go.
I had terrible trouble with a MK1 yaris gearbox after changing the oil to a castrol synthetic. After many changes of differnt fluids I found Redline MTL to be the solution. ...
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Two further thoughts - an EGR problem can lead to excessive smoke which would block the DPF. Also, if the battery is getting old, curious faults can arise.