Topic: Car & mechanics advice thread

[mikeb58]

If you know the car is reliable, it's worth doing. You could buy another car and end up throwing money at it.

Yeah, that's why I got it done, decent car with a pretty new exhaust too, so worth keeping. The clutch price rose overnight though, apparently it needed a master cylinder as well, I thought I'd already been quoted for that part and the labour it involved. So the total cost went up to £545. Good local garage though on County Road, so I always use them.

[rob1966]

Yeah, that's why I got it done, decent car with a pretty new exhaust too, so worth keeping. The clutch price rose overnight though, apparently it needed a master cylinder as well, I thought I'd already been quoted for that part and the labour it involved. So the total cost went up to £545. Good local garage though on County Road, so I always use them.

The Master Cylinder was probably what caused the clutch to fail, so best that they changed both.

[mikeb58]

The Master Cylinder was probably what caused the clutch to fail, so best that they changed both.

Yes, he said that, he showed me all the shite parts he replaced too, one was leaking black thick gunge, apparently it should have been a golden colour, haha but he'd lost me by then!

[rob1966]

Yes, he said that, he showed me all the shite parts he replaced too, one was leaking black thick gunge, apparently it should have been a golden colour, haha but he'd lost me by then!

That's the hydraulic fluid. Not surprised the clutch failed

[mikeb58]

 

That's the hydraulic fluid. Not surprised the clutch failed

Is that something that could have been avoided?....on second thoughts I don't want to know! 

[paulrazor]

I have a 2017 Insignia and have recently replaced 2 tyres as well as one of the Tyre Pressure sensors. Doing that seems to have thrown all of them out and the dashboard lights up like its Christmas! Any idea how to reset the sensors or is it a trip to the garage? Thanks for any help.

check the air pressure

 Check on YouTube or your manual how to reset it

If it keeps happening bring it back where you got tyres. Sensor might be broke or out of place. Happened me after a ford service and 4 new tyres. They replaced for free

[rob1966]

check the air pressure

 Check on YouTube or your manual how to reset it

If it keeps happening bring it back where you got tyres. Sensor might be broke or out of place. Happened me after a ford service and 4 new tyres. They replaced for free

I Googled it to see if there was a reset procedure and the only thing I could find was to make sure the tyre pressures are correct. There's 3 settings, LIGHT, ECO and MAX and the tyre pressures need to match what the setting expects - the pressures are on a sticker in the passenger side door aperture where the door lock is.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/kg2JYwfg8K0&amp;t=194s" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/kg2JYwfg8K0&amp;t=194s</a>

[reddebs]

I found someone to replace the glow plugs for a decent price and got it booked in for last Wednesday. 

Tuesday I was out and about doing lots of errands and shopping before I was carless but it started running weird.  Losing power then surging, misfiring then being fine, called for diesel 5mins from home then as I turned onto the track to the house it just stopped and wouldn't start again.

FFS I've got a half mile walk home with a car load of food shopping, 10ltrs of paint, 2 bags of logs and 25kgs of bird seed 😡

Managed to get the car recovered to the garage but when I phoned the mechanic he then couldn't sort it till today as he was going away.

I've spent 5 days panicking that it could be something really expensive or even fatal but it turns out to be a small ballcock on the fuel pump that had split ☺️🙏👏👏

[Graeme]

Sounds painful

[Buck Pete]

Can someone help me out here please with this obscure question (I'm looking at you Rob)

I have always had a coupé or 3-door car.  From the driver seat, I can quickly release the passenger backrest so it springs forward to enable my kids/grandkids to get in easily.  The release handle is usually situated at the top of the passenger seat thus making it easy for me to get to.

My question is:

Is this backrest release feature only available on coupes?  Obviously, with a 4 door car, there is usually no need to move the backrest back to let someone in the backseat.

New Coupes are very limited at the moment and I want a 4/5 door that has this.  What is the terminology I should use to at least enable me to do a Google search?

cheers

[rob1966]

Can someone help me out here please with this obscure question (I'm looking at you Rob)

I have always had a coupé or 3-door car.  From the driver seat, I can quickly release the passenger backrest so it springs forward to enable my kids/grandkids to get in easily.  The release handle is usually situated at the top of the passenger seat thus making it easy for me to get to.

My question is:

Is this backrest release feature only available on coupes?  Obviously, with a 4 door car, there is usually no need to move the backrest back to let someone in the backseat.

New Coupes are very limited at the moment and I want a 4/5 door that has this.  What is the terminology I should use to at least enable me to do a Google search?

cheers

No, as far as I know, fold flat or fold forward seats are only ever fitted to 2 and 3 door cars, to enable the passengers to get into the rear seats. As you know, 4/5 doors don't need this feature, so its not added.

If you were ordering a new car, that has a 2/3 door version, you could see if the dealer could specify it on the order, it'll probably cost extra. On a used car, again so long as a 2/3 door is available, you could either buy a seat, or look at getting the mechanism from a seat and having yours altered. Its probably just a release lever and a spring.

[Riquende]

Sorry, why do you want people to be able to get in/out of the back seats via the front doors when there are rear doors?

[Buck Pete]

Sorry, why do you want people to be able to get in/out of the back seats via the front doors when there are rear doors?

Because I need to pass a wheelchair frame across my body and onto the backseat.  If the passenger seat backrest won't go forward then it will have to sit on the front seat

Not the end of the world like, but for 20+ years I've put the wheels and then the chair frame onto the back seat

As Rob said, it will have to be an adaption option if I end up with a 5 door.

[rob1966]

Because I need to pass a wheelchair frame across my body and onto the backseat.  If the passenger seat backrest won't go forward then it will have to sit on the front seat

Not the end of the world like, but for 20+ years I've put the wheels and then the chair frame onto the back seat

As Rob said, it will have to be an adaption option if I end up with a 5 door.

Mine has electrically adjustable seats, they can move forwards and up and the seat back rest can be adjusted forwards and goes quite far. If you can get a car with electric seats, an auto electrician should be able to rewire to put a bank of switches where you can reach them from the drivers seat.

[Buck Pete]

Great idea Rob lad

Ta

[stewil007]

My daughters 2011 Corsa keeps losing power at speed, switch off the engine then it seems to reset ok, dont get any fault readings on the OBDII, its a pain the arse!  And its intermittent, can go days or week without it happening then it can happen twice in one journey.

RAC have been out and suggested it could be one of the sensors, likely the accelerator sensor.

I'm in 2 minds as to whether to sell it on to webuyanycar (offered £2.5k) and get her a new car, or spend a few to sort it out

[paulrazor]

edit

looked up, selling private you might get another 1500 for that

keyed in details to used car ni

[stewil007]

edit

looked up, selling private you might get another 1500 for that

keyed in details to used car ni

yeah but i'm loathe to sell private when i know its got a fault on it, at least if its commercial they can take on the fault

[Graeme]

It's a dilemma isn't it.

I've had issues in the past and then you spend a few quid to sort it out, then you feel you have to keep the car having invested money keeping it on the road only for something else to go wrong.

I think it comes down to personal circumstances. If if carries on with issues are you comfortably in a position to throw more money at it? The last couple of 2nd hand cars I've owned I've just decided to get rid whilst not a lot of work has needed doing and it presents as a reliable motor.

It's part of the reason I switched to leasing because I wanted the luxury of a newer car and I'm paying a fixed monthly cost knowing if anything goes wrong at any point during the lease that the manufacturer warranty will cover it.

[rob1966]

Is the car otherwise solid? If so, having checked the Corsa forums, its likely the pedal sensor is the one causing the issues, putting the car into limp mode, so change the pedal sensor and see if that cures it, if not it'll be the other one in the throttle body. Unless you're looking at spending over £10k on a lot newer car, you're risking ending up with a car with a shit load of potential issues.

edit

looked up, selling private you might get another 1500 for that

keyed in details to used car ni

WBAC are robbing c*nts. They're just auctioneers, nothing more. They offered a fella I worked with £15k for a 3 year old Jag XF, he got £27k trade in for it.

[Kalito]

My daughters 2011 Corsa keeps losing power at speed, switch off the engine then it seems to reset ok, dont get any fault readings on the OBDII, its a pain the arse!  And its intermittent, can go days or week without it happening then it can happen twice in one journey.

RAC have been out and suggested it could be one of the sensors, likely the accelerator sensor.

I'm in 2 minds as to whether to sell it on to webuyanycar (offered £2.5k) and get her a new car, or spend a few to sort it out

Screw them. Rip off c*nts.

Part exchange it for a newer car or within your budget - I'm sure you'll get more than what them robbing bastards offer.

[stewil007]

Is the car otherwise solid? If so, having checked the Corsa forums, its likely the pedal sensor is the one causing the issues, putting the car into limp mode, so change the pedal sensor and see if that cures it, if not it'll be the other one in the throttle body. Unless you're looking at spending over £10k on a lot newer car, you're risking ending up with a car with a shit load of potential issues.

WBAC are robbing c*nts. They're just auctioneers, nothing more. They offered a fella I worked with £15k for a 3 year old Jag XF, he got £27k trade in for it.

RAC guy did mention the pedal sensor, is it an easy job? Look like a £60 part.

EDIT: looks from youtube its remove the cover,  unclip the electrics and undo 2 bolts.......what could possibly go wrong

I bought the car for £3k three years ago, so getting offered £2.5k seemed reasonable to me, but its like anything sometimes it is better the devil you know and the car is a good little runner for my daughter.

[paulrazor]

id say fix the sensor for now, any more problems consider binning it

yeah but i'm loathe to sell private when i know its got a fault on it, at least if its commercial they can take on the fault

yes, I sold private once, pain in the hole, time wasters, people not turning up. its up for sale at 2500 and "would ya take a grand", plus the paypal scammers

[stewil007]

id say fix the sensor for now, any more problems consider binning it
 yes, I sold private once, pain in the hole, time wasters, people not turning up. its up for sale at 2500 and "would ya take a grand", plus the paypal scammers

Yeah, i've ordered one, fingers crossed!!

[Riquende]

Having finally brought my Mini Roadster out of a 'year of hell' of warning lights, a stuck bonnet, broken springs, bulging tyres, worn brakes, etc etc... I'd had a good month with it back on the road. Then yesterday - the active spoiler wouldn't deploy. Worse, it's considered a safety feature of the car (stability at speed with the added downforce), and so burped a continuous alarm at me on the way home, which kicked back in immedately upon starting the car hours later.

Looking online regarding failed spoiler motors, my best best was to try to source one from a breakers' yard - BMW only supply complete spoiler assemblies that would cost well over £1000 and arrive primed and needing spraying. The fixed spoiler was a cheaper (and more attractive) option but was long out of production and I could only find it at a US reseller for £600 plus whatever to ship it. Or, I could just try to code the car to not give me the alarm and risk the spoiler not deploying when on the motorway.

Turned out I just needed a new fuse.

I celebrated too early on this.

The replacement fuse blew a week later. I had one more in the pack, so popped that in, and it blew immediately. The spoiler was stuck up at this point so I risked a higher ampage fuse and was able to drop the spoiler, but after that it stopped working. The fuse didn't blow, but the motor must have burned out entirely. So now, whenever you start the car, the alarm starts pinging as soon as you move away as the spoiler isn't quite settled, and it can't move it.

So I at this point I was back to my 4 options:

1) Get someone to code the car so it no longer throws an alert up, and then manually set the spoiler at an angle that doesn't move.

2) Find someone breaking a Roadster and get a replacement motor for cheap. Downside to this is that I'd probably end up in the same boat sooner rather than later. Plus, having to find one. I only found 2 being broken in the UK and both had the motors claimed already.

3) Pay for a new part and get that fitted instead. Pricey, and might still wind up in the same boat in 10 years time.

4) Just splurge on the fixed spoiler from the US. Looks better and might even be cheaper than option 3, plus it removes the motor from the car forever.

And we went with...

Spoiler

[close]

[rob1966]

I celebrated too early on this.

The replacement fuse blew a week later. I had one more in the pack, so popped that in, and it blew immediately. The spoiler was stuck up at this point so I risked a higher ampage fuse and was able to drop the spoiler, but after that it stopped working. The fuse didn't blow, but the motor must have burned out entirely. So now, whenever you start the car, the alarm starts pinging as soon as you move away as the spoiler isn't quite settled, and it can't move it.

So I at this point I was back to my 4 options:

1) Get someone to code the car so it no longer throws an alert up, and then manually set the spoiler at an angle that doesn't move.

2) Find someone breaking a Roadster and get a replacement motor for cheap. Downside to this is that I'd probably end up in the same boat sooner rather than later. Plus, having to find one. I only found 2 being broken in the UK and both had the motors claimed already.

3) Pay for a new part and get that fitted instead. Pricey, and might still wind up in the same boat in 10 years time.

4) Just splurge on the fixed spoiler from the US. Looks better and might even be cheaper than option 3, plus it removes the motor from the car forever.

And we went with...

Spoiler

[close]

Right choice, removes the constant issues.

[Nobby Reserve]

Does anyone have experience of selling their car through Motorway?

We've always sold cars privately before (Auto Trader) but it's a proper faff, and the owner of Auto Trader is a massive Tory twat (has donated £hundreds of thousands to them, and wrote a report for the Tories advocating the stripping away of most workers' rights) and tax dodger (uses the Cayman Isles for a lot of his business)

So I'm thinking of using Motorway to sell the wife's car. But I'd like some reassurance they're ok to use with no nasty surprises.

[bradders1011]

I thought the Guardian owned Auto Trader?

[Nobby Reserve]

I thought the Guardian owned Auto Trader?

Not for a long time:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25830592

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_Beecroft

[FlashingBlade]

2,4,6,8...?

[liverbloke]

Does anyone have experience of selling their car through Motorway?

We've always sold cars privately before (Auto Trader) but it's a proper faff, and the owner of Auto Trader is a massive Tory twat (has donated £hundreds of thousands to them, and wrote a report for the Tories advocating the stripping away of most workers' rights) and tax dodger (uses the Cayman Isles for a lot of his business)

So I'm thinking of using Motorway to sell the wife's car. But I'd like some reassurance they're ok to use with no nasty surprises.

we used them along with webuyanycar and gumtree etc

they all don't offer great deals but...

motorway - seemed fine but they will chase you up a lot for your sale

webuyanycar - fine didn't give a shit if the car was a scrapheap challenge but really low deal

gumtree - every weirdo tom dickhead and harry calls you up (mainly people with a foreign accent) offering the price you asked BUT we sold to someone local even though we made a 5% loss on the price

what i would advise is - you want a price and someone offers it (though not some oddball foreigner via gumtree) then take it

[rob1966]

Does anyone have experience of selling their car through Motorway?

We've always sold cars privately before (Auto Trader) but it's a proper faff, and the owner of Auto Trader is a massive Tory twat (has donated £hundreds of thousands to them, and wrote a report for the Tories advocating the stripping away of most workers' rights) and tax dodger (uses the Cayman Isles for a lot of his business)

So I'm thinking of using Motorway to sell the wife's car. But I'd like some reassurance they're ok to use with no nasty surprises.

When the father in law had to stop driving, the brother in law tried a few and ended up getting the best offer from a dealer. That was about 5 years ago on an 04 520i, so might be worth trying a few smaller dealers?

[MrGrumpy]

Motorway might give you more than someone like Webuyanycar, but car dealers will always find a reason to offer you less than they suggested they would pay for your car. I would suggest the following.

1. How so sell your used car for the most money
Sell it yourself on Autotrader or similar

2. How to sell a used car quickly
Webuyanycar.com, Motorway or similar

3. How to sell your car with the least hassle
Trade in against your next car from a main dealer. While the price they offer may be lower, you don't have to negotiate with multiple groups of people. Main dealers are obligated to fix any defects on a car they offer for sale. If there is an issue with the car you are selling, trade in might be the way to sell it with a clear conscience.

[Ziltoid]

2,4,6,8...?

Ain't never too late

(Just like this post)

[reddebs]

It seems my brake calipers are scraping making it sound like the cars falling to bits. 

Will I be ok driving it as I'm in Yorkshire so have a 150 mile trip home?

[WhereAngelsPlay]

It seems my brake calipers are scraping making it sound like the cars falling to bits. 

Will I be ok driving it as I'm in Yorkshire so have a 150 mile trip home?

Yeah, just get them done as soon as possible or they'll bugger up the discs

[rob1966]

It seems my brake calipers are scraping making it sound like the cars falling to bits. 

Will I be ok driving it as I'm in Yorkshire so have a 150 mile trip home?

Get your pads checked ASAP, that sounds like they've worn down enough to expose the metal the friction material is bonded to, or the rivets if they are riveted on and it's metal on metal, it'll wreck your discs. I've got to change mine tomorrow as I've let them get low, but still got about 3 mm left (service limit is 2mm)

If you have alloys you'll be able to see the pads and how thick the material is

[reddebs]

I only had them all done last October and I've not done that many miles since 🤷

[rob1966]

I only had them all done last October and I've not done that many miles since 🤷

Were they deffo changed? Is it a scraping noise or a grinding noise? Grinding/graunching noise could be a wheel bearing has failed. I'd get it checked before I drove anywhere distance.

[reddebs]

Were they deffo changed? Is it a scraping noise or a grinding noise? Grinding/graunching noise could be a wheel bearing has failed. I'd get it checked before I drove anywhere distance.

Yeah I sat and watched them change them.

It's like something catching on the wheel but it's not there all the time and sounds worse as I go round corners or slow down but not when I'm breaking.

The squeaking is when I'm breaking