pogweasel Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 REMEMBER THIS?: Well if we are going to go in for a bit of 'modern toss bashing... BASTARD BASTARD BASTARD BASTARD VICIOUS BASTARD! (broken, suspect terminal)^ Last month ^ v Today v TWATTING TWATCAKES!I'm getting a bit fricking dicked off by this. The RAC must love me. Today's symptoms?Well this morning on start up I noticed that the power steering did not kick in straight away. Odd. Came in within 5 secs so thought little more of it. This afternoon, thought it was a bit heavy. Then came back after a bit, no PAS, battery light on. Ah. Absolutely mental that if your alternator goes, it switches off the power steering meaning total dead-weight wheel, must be terrifying for clueless gimps. Bring back the shitters, this new stuff is WRONG. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spottedlaurel Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 Bad luck Pog. Do you actually own this van then? If so, does your employer require you to have something newish for work? Just wondering, would they accept an older van (Chevanne FTW) with updated running gear – for what an Astra van of that age costs could you get something built up like that?I’m out in our works Astra van tomorrow, hopefully I won’t be facing a similar situation… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vicsmith Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 Yep, I`ve always thought the EPS on Puntos was a bit dangerous, if the unit fails, which it can, the car is extremely difficult to control, not just like say a `90s Cavalier with the ignition switched off, but REALLY STUPIDLY difficult. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r.welfare Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 EPS is not known for being hugely reliable to be honest - lots of grumbling in the Skoda forums about Fabias. Ours (touch wood) has been fine over 65k miles.Blame my mate for the FIAT stuff - it's a Lucas product, and he did the testing for it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle silvia Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 You need something old!! They may break down but can be fixed with a hammer, cable ties and duck tape in 5 minutes!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HillmanImp Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 You need something old!! They may break down but can be fixed with a hammer, cable ties and duck tape in 5 minutes!!!Exactly my idea. I have stopped driving my Disarsetra for this exact reason. When it broke down it would inevitable cost me £££s to repair as joe blogs cannot do it.At least with old cars a bit of common sense can prevail opposed to a PHD in computer science. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashmicro Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 For modern stuff, one of these is pretty much a must-have While they're not the panacea some would say they are, it's certainly helped me out a lot (eg, the "Farting Jaguar Issue") Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Split_Pin Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 Agree that old stuff is waaay better for fixing, but the website www.astraownersclub.com might yield a permanent solution for the problem.Or sod the Ashtray and get a Sherpa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shite_meister Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 blimey how much was the fault-code reader and is it any good? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashmicro Posted June 18, 2008 Share Posted June 18, 2008 The fault code reader was only £85 all in of teh Bay of da E. Obviously, it cannot diagnose issues which aren't connected to the ECU/SCU/MFU, but then we all know a duff wheel bearing when we hear one.I've used it on quite a few post 98 cars:00 Audi A4 TDi - engine management light (EML) on - duff airbag02 Rover 75 V6 - EML on, bad plugtop coil04 Mondeo TDCi - Heater plug relay04 A-M Vanquish S (yes!) - Airflow meter07 Merc E320CDi - Airflow meter too. While this car was under warranty, it's a taxi, and my mate couldn't afford the dealer flaffing about for a week trying to suss it, so a morning in the workshop it was cured. Merc dealers do great coffee and Strudel...All in all, the price of the reader was less than 2 hours wages well spent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r.welfare Posted June 19, 2008 Share Posted June 19, 2008 Codereaders are pretty essential for more modern toss - I bought a Gendan VAG-specific reader for t'wifes car for something like 40 quid, has served me (and several others!) well. Mind you, a "universal" one for 85 sheets looks like value to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle silvia Posted June 19, 2008 Share Posted June 19, 2008 Ive never had a car new enough to warrant one LOL Oh Except my 1994 Nissan Silvia Turbo, which had a fully re-programable ECU with a "gameboy-esk" controller on the dash which told me everything anyway!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pogweasel Posted June 19, 2008 Author Share Posted June 19, 2008 Well it's fixed again.Only £300 this time. Wonder what next month's melt-down will be?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigstraight6 Posted June 19, 2008 Share Posted June 19, 2008 Well it's fixed again.Only £300 this time. Wonder what next month's melt-down will be??OOF! Thats quite a lump of dough that could have been in the 'tat kitty' Modern stuff, don't ya just lurve it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross_K Posted June 20, 2008 Share Posted June 20, 2008 Forget a fault code reader. Here lies the solution to your problems: The last place I worked had a pool of Astras and Fiat Doblos. If you weren't quick at grabbing keys first thing in the morning you'd end up with a shitty Astra for the day. Says it all really when people prefer to drive Fiats... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrRegieRitmo Posted June 20, 2008 Share Posted June 20, 2008 [firestokemode]Says it all really when people prefer to drive Fiats...[/firestokemode] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross_K Posted June 20, 2008 Share Posted June 20, 2008 Oops, I wasn't having a jab at Fiats although I can see how it might look like that. Honest guv. We had a couple of the old model Vauxhall Combos too. The 1.7 diesel with no turbo. Even they went before the Astras. I don't have anything against Fiats. I found the Doblo to be a comfy and well screwed together piece of Italian workmanship. I would have no hesitation in buying a Doblo of any other Fiat in the current range with my own money. Well maybe not that Punto in the other thread, but you know what I mean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raffles Posted June 20, 2008 Share Posted June 20, 2008 Bad turkey with the Ashtray failure Mr Pog... On the subject of fault codes and Vauxhalls, this might be helpful..ClicketyClickClickSaved me the Tech2 fee at my local stealer when I gave them the fault codes. I had to argue with them first though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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