Ask a Shiter

[HH-R]

Cheers. My car has had that advisory for the past few years, but not on the last MOT (before I bought it). I'm assuming it was never changed because the suspension is very clonky. Replacements about a tenner, win.

[Station]

You know if you apply to be a driver at Spunktrumpet's of Cockwarbler driving coaches to Chester, does the application form state that you MUST have the following:

 

Food/baby gravy/sweat stained bri-nylon shirt that generates enough static to power Northern Europe for several months, Terry Wogan hair cut, bus covered in gold stars and swishing lines, £1.99 shoes, trousers several sizes too small (leg and waist) a paedophile's smile and the most garish company tie known to man?

 

 

*Disclaimer, I don't fancy being roundhoused or windmilled at Chumley and would like to state I know not all coach drivers are like that.

Don't forget never having change equalling more than £2 (if you are a bus driver). And then glared at like you've just pissed on his kids if you dare pay with a tenner.

[bub2006]

Could anyone please enlighten me to an issue I have with my car? Don't want to start a new thread. Nissan micra 1.0 on a y plate with individual coil packs. Coming to a stop it will just cut out,no lumpiness etc just a sudden stop at traffic lights or junctions. Also occasionally when started it will run lumpy as if not firing on 4 and has an hesitation on pull off. Done it all time I've owned it. Service made no difference and no eml of doom. Thanks

[scaryoldcortina]

Idle control valve would be my first guess.

[bub2006]

Thanks will give it a whirl

[HH-R]

Mine must have been one of the last with a Lucas dizzy!

[bub2006]

Thought they stopped using dizzy on the micra on the first facelift? I could be wrong though.

[cobblers]

How old? They are known for shite throttle bodies that cause running and idling issues.

[Pillock]

Doesn't seem worthy of a thread of it's own, and is possibly a really stupid question.

 

Are Alfa 1.9 JTDs from the early 2000s any less reliable than any other diesel of that era? I know the petrol engines will crap themselves if you look at them funny, but I really need a derv and I really like Alfas.

[gm]

I appear to be in the same boat, was quite happily browsing the usual germanic rubbish when an Alfa GT drove past and fair caught my eye. I went to look at one last night, gorgeous interior, went like shit off a stick, if I hadn't spotted some dodgy repairs on the sills, there would have been a collection thread going on this very day They may or may not be a bit iffy but I'm prepared to take that chance

[spike60]

Doesn't seem worthy of a thread of it's own, and is possibly a really stupid question.

 

Are Alfa 1.9 JTDs from the early 2000s any less reliable than any other diesel of that era? I know the petrol engines will crap themselves if you look at them funny, but I really need a derv and I really like Alfas.

I had a high mile 2.4 JTD from 2002 and it gave nowt but pain, - not engine but everything that was attached to it. 2.4 is a 5 pot version of the 1.9 4 pot so most stuff applies to both. Ate clutches, mounts, exhaust and intake flexi's, wishbones etc. Pulled like a train low down, 40 mpg local, 46 mpg through Europe. GT, 156 and 147 use common parts so easy to see what's good and bad. I've had 3 petrol Alfa's, loved them, 1 diesel which was probably the neediest car I've ever owned.

[drum]

We've had a 147 with 1.9jtd 8 valve for 3 or 4 years with no engine problems. Changed the timing belt when we got it. Replaced a turbo hose and the clutch slave and suspension parts.

The wife loves it, I'm less keen.

[drum]

DVLA question - on august 24 I received a confirmation email that I had declared sorn for my latest Land Rover purchase. On Friday I received a 'last chance' letter dated 30 August telling me to sorn or tax it.

 

Do I ignore this or do I have to engage in dialogue with these people?

[fairkens]

Can't hurt to check?

 

Reliant Rialto for a 30 mile each way mainly a-road commute? Daft?

[Andrew353w]

Can't hurt to check?

 

Reliant Rialto for a 30 mile each way mainly a-road commute? Daft?

 

Did it daily for 6 months in a "R" reg Robin, a round trip of 64 miles, mostly on the M25. Never let me down once but noisy and affected by side winds big time! Still, I enjoyed the experience! The admiring looks were fun & it was cheap, too!

 

Tell a lie: it DID break down once, at work, as I went to drive home. The clutch cable snapped but I started it in gear and managed to get home by changing up & down without the clutch. Once home I changed the cable-easy job!

[scaryoldcortina]

DVLA question - on august 24 I received a confirmation email that I had declared sorn for my latest Land Rover purchase. On Friday I received a 'last chance' letter dated 30 August telling me to sorn or tax it.

 

Do I ignore this or do I have to engage in dialogue with these people?

I'd double check. My next door neighbour asked me a very similar question yesterday - she SORNed her MGZR at the beginning of august and cancelled the DD for the tax, last week she got a "last chance/failed direct debit" letter about it. I told her to phone them on monday.

[dave21478]

^^^^ iirc there is someone in the Grumpy thread going though this just now - some kind of discrepancy between the actual status of the car and what DVLA believe.....all was fine with him, showing SORN online etc but it actually wasnt and he started getting final warning letters.

[Negative Creep]

From what I understand you can only have yellow or white lights at the front. So what's the legality of those signs you often see in tipper truck cabs? Not sure of the actual name, but look like something you'd see in an American bar

[tooSavvy]

Called 'preGlow'... they are swiched off when you pull!

 

TS

[fairkens]

Did it daily for 6 months in a "R" reg Robin, a round trip of 64 miles, mostly on the M25. Never let me down once but noisy and affected by side winds big time! Still, I enjoyed the experience! The admiring looks were fun & it was cheap, too!

 

Tell a lie: it DID break down once, at work, as I went to drive home. The clutch cable snapped but I started it in gear and managed to get home by changing up & down without the clutch. Once home I changed the cable-easy job!

Cheers! Are the heaters any good?

[Eddie Honda]

Heaters are alright...and if it's not working the heat from the engine hump will keep your left leg warm anyway. Did a few 400 miles plus trips in my Rialto estate. Estates are more prone to side winds. Saloons seem more happy.

 

You know it makes sense!

[The Moog]

Driving to work today saw a Cavalier with 1.7TD up for sale.  Always loved these since my dad had them as a company car. 

 

What is the realistic MPG on them? 

 

I need to use a bit of man maths to work out whether I can afford to run it or not. 

[Pillock]

For real man maths, the end result is what you want to do. It's like flipping an equation around to find x.

So start with "I want a Cavalier 1.7TD", work out what you need the MPG to be, and then hunt around Google until you find someone that says they get that. Shouldn't be too hard, MPG is one of the "Internet Spurious Claims" mainstays.

[scdan4]

anyone any good at internet car diagnosis from a slightly flowery and dodgy audio based description?  

 

Saab has engine light on and a noise.

 

Noise sounds a bit like a shot wheel bearing - a bit of a howl/resonance/vibration - but is linked tightly to what the turbo gauge is doing - it only makes the "resonance" noise at the top of the first (green) segment. If you push the gauge into the second, orange, segment then it all shuts up. If you trickle along keeping the turbo gauge in the first half of the first green segment then there is no noise.

 

when the noise is being made you can change the pitch of it with the throttle - a bit more throttle deepens the note, a bit less lightens the note.

 

There is also a slight vibration felt in the throttle pedal when it is groaning/singing.

 

Unsure of where the noise is coming from - it just seems to be "under the car" somewhere.

 

Car still goes ok - been towing in it all weekend, although it now seems "hesitant" when it's making the noise. But, as said, give the throttle a shove and all shuts up and it picks up its skirts and goes cleanly.

 

 

I've not looked yet, so it may be simple. I don't really know what the gauge signifies / what the turbo is doing. The fact that it happens right at the top of one segment and then shuts up into the next makes me wonder if there is a  "thing" that happens between green and amber, and that "thing" is poorly.

 

Dunno, or the turbo could just be shagged. 

[scaryoldcortina]

I'd go with "turbo telling you it's about to die".

[Station]

DVLA question - on august 24 I received a confirmation email that I had declared sorn for my latest Land Rover purchase. On Friday I received a 'last chance' letter dated 30 August telling me to sorn or tax it.

 

Do I ignore this or do I have to engage in dialogue with these people?

About 50 - 60 doing mways/town. They have a Bosch pump.

[Station]

^ wrong quote bit, was meant to Moog.

[drum]

DVLA question - on august 24 I received a confirmation email that I had declared sorn for my latest Land Rover purchase. On Friday I received a 'last chance' letter dated 30 August telling me to sorn or tax it.

Do I ignore this or do I have to engage in dialogue with these people?

Phoned them and after 10 minutes of Richard Clayderman playing Knocking on Heaven's Door, was told to ignore the letter as their system can't deal with cars that had been off road for 10 years suddenly being sorned.

[Lacquer Peel]

Driving to work today saw a Cavalier with 1.7TD up for sale.  Always loved these since my dad had them as a company car. 

 

What is the realistic MPG on them? 

 

I need to use a bit of man maths to work out whether I can afford to run it or not. 

 

Let's ask the AA, circa 1992.

 

46MPG average, 50MPG brisk driving, mixed roads.

 

WINNER.

 

AVAS, apart from these, I really liked my Cavalier TD.

[twosmoke300]

anyone any good at internet car diagnosis from a slightly flowery and dodgy audio based description?

 

Saab has engine light on and a noise.

 

Noise sounds a bit like a shot wheel bearing - a bit of a howl/resonance/vibration - but is linked tightly to what the turbo gauge is doing - it only makes the "resonance" noise at the top of the first (green) segment. If you push the gauge into the second, orange, segment then it all shuts up. If you trickle along keeping the turbo gauge in the first half of the first green segment then there is no noise.

 

when the noise is being made you can change the pitch of it with the throttle - a bit more throttle deepens the note, a bit less lightens the note.

 

There is also a slight vibration felt in the throttle pedal when it is groaning/singing.

 

Unsure of where the noise is coming from - it just seems to be "under the car" somewhere.

 

Car still goes ok - been towing in it all weekend, although it now seems "hesitant" when it's making the noise. But, as said, give the throttle a shove and all shuts up and it picks up its skirts and goes cleanly.

 

 

I've not looked yet, so it may be simple. I don't really know what the gauge signifies / what the turbo is doing. The fact that it happens right at the top of one segment and then shuts up into the next makes me wonder if there is a "thing" that happens between green and amber, and that "thing" is poorly.

 

Dunno, or the turbo could just be shagged.

I'd go with a boost leak somewhere