Ask a Shiter

[Morgan84]

Yes,DPF = Avoid !

 

My Alfa is cursed with one which keeps wanting to regen and go into limp home mode

[Pillock]

I've got a DPF'ed 1.6 TDCI Focus, yes it'll need the filter changing every 75k or so but then it's £20 a year tax so it all evens out, if it takes you 4 years to do that mileage then you've saved the £700 odd quid to do the filter. Remember there are no brilliant new cars any more!

 

The car itself is nice, I'm racking up between 500 and 900 miles a week and it's comfy, gets 57mpg on a run and 53 around town. It's a Titanium with all the gadgets like the all-in-one climate and satnav which gives me the rather useless ability to press a button and verbally set a temperature.

 

Don't get a 1.6 diesel if you like any sort of acceleration. It doesn't do that. It will sit happily at motorway speeds though.

Fully aware of the turbo-consuming tendencies if the wrong oil is used (and sometimes if the right one is used...) although as a company we have a fleet of a few hundred identical engined Style models and there's no real issues as long as they're serviced on time. I did take out a warranty though and fully expect to use it....

[trigger]

Cheers Pillock, I don't think I'll be getting a 1.6TDCi now, I'm gutted as I had my eye on this ONE, It was ideal but a friend who works for a local diesel specialist said the DPF issue wasn't really anything to worry about, it was the turbo's that are the problem, apparently because they use such small engines they have to boost the turbos right up to get the power out of them eventually makes the seals blow.

 

Might keep a eye open for either a 2.0 TDCi model or a 1.6 petrol, I'll see what comes up, Although Golf 2.0 TDi's are on my radar, even more so if they were a bit cheaper!

[Pillock]

Don't get me wrong, they're not a terrible car. Just don't expect it to tear the flesh from your bones with acceleration. It certainly drives a lot differently to my supposedly similarly-powered Leon did (both 110hp) with no "kick" as the turbo cuts in, and it's a damn sight slower than Mrs Pillock's Touran with 140hp. But as a cruiser it's nice, it's very much a mini-Mondeo.

 

If you're still looking for ideas, SEAT models are always cheaper than the equivalent Golf - I know I had an awful time with mine thanks to it being bodged before I bought it, but thankfully Albert of this very parish sorted it right out, and it was a brilliant car - just getting very leggy at 170k and needing too much to keep doing 700+ miles a week in.

[Wilko220]

Stupid transmission questions:

 

In a car with overdrive, should the clutch be engaged when going in and out of it?

Does the answer to this question depend on the type of car/gearbox/overdrive system?

[wuvvum]

You don't actually need to use the clutch - every overdrive I've seen is an epicyclic type, which will engage and disengage quite happily without needing to cut the drive to it. Using the clutch does smooth things out though, especially on down shifts (disengagement), so will probably improve the longevity of the overdrive and the rest of the transmission in the long run.

[Pete-M]

and make sure o/d isn't engaged whenever you select reverse

[Lacquer Peel]

I think diesel engines peaked with the PSA XUD.

What do you need a diesel for trigger, do you cover lots of miles? I don't see the point otherwise.

[Guest]

I think diesel engines peaked with the PSA XUD.

What do you need a diesel for trigger, do you cover lots of miles? I don't see the point otherwise.

 

Except XUD engines have a shit intercooler arrangement and weigh more than the moon.

[trigger]

What do you need a diesel for trigger, do you cover lots of miles? I don't see the point otherwise.

 

Not a massive amount, only 12k a year but do quite a bit motorway driving, I already have a 2005 Mondeo 2.2 TDCi ST but I want to downsize a bit and getting something newer plus I've had it nearly two years and fancy a change, To be fair the Mondeo still does it's job fine and is a bloody nice car, It's done 100k now and I worry that it won't be long until the DMF starts playing up and the injectors start going wrong too.

[Lacquer Peel]

I think diesel engines peaked with the PSA XUD.

What do you need a diesel for trigger, do you cover lots of miles? I don't see the point otherwise.

 

Except XUD engines have a shit intercooler arrangement and weigh more than the moon.

 

Not the ones with FMICs, or no turbochargers.

 

What do you need a diesel for trigger, do you cover lots of miles? I don't see the point otherwise.

 

Not a massive amount, only 12k a year but do quite a bit motorway driving, I already have a 2005 Mondeo 2.2 TDCi ST but I want to downsize a bit and getting something newer plus I've had it nearly two years and fancy a change, To be fair the Mondeo still does it's job fine and is a bloody nice car, It's done 100k now and I worry that it won't be long until the DMF starts playing up and the injectors start going wrong too.

 

Focus petrol, FTW.

[Guest]

I think diesel engines peaked with the PSA XUD.

What do you need a diesel for trigger, do you cover lots of miles? I don't see the point otherwise.

 

Except XUD engines have a shit intercooler arrangement and weigh more than the moon.

 

Not the ones with FMICs, or no turbochargers.

 

What do you need a diesel for trigger, do you cover lots of miles? I don't see the point otherwise.

 

Not a massive amount, only 12k a year but do quite a bit motorway driving, I already have a 2005 Mondeo 2.2 TDCi ST but I want to downsize a bit and getting something newer plus I've had it nearly two years and fancy a change, To be fair the Mondeo still does it's job fine and is a bloody nice car, It's done 100k now and I worry that it won't be long until the DMF starts playing up and the injectors start going wrong too.

 

Focus petrol, FTW.

 

Yeah. Did they come with FMICs as standard? No. Were the NA versions slower than continental drift? Yes.

Also, embedded quoting.

[Lacquer Peel]

Yeah. Did they come with FMICs as standard? No. Were the NA versions slower than continental drift? Yes.

 

TD 406s and Xantias and those 806/Synergie things came with FMICs as standard. I'd rather have a slow car than one that shits fuel pumps, turbos and DPFs all the time.

 

You may embed only 3 quotes within each other.

[phil_lihp]

Random heater question: the heater on my Nova didn't seem to be working so I bled the cooling system and released a big airlock from the temp sensor valve (and got a face full of boiling coolant when I loosened it too much and the valve blew out under pressure when the airlock suddenly cleared; lesson learnt, depressurise the system before bleeding it ).

 

Despite this, the heater still seemed to be pretty cold. However, I've now found that it's actually toasty warm when airflow is set to the windscreen or footwells. It's only when set to the dash vents that it's cold. Is this normal?

[Cavcraft]

BOGOF stupid questions.

 

1) Why do people (seemingly mostly Ford owners) put modern wheels on old cars and instantly draw attention to vulgar rims instead of nice bodywork?

 

2) I don't actually like to ask this as I had always steadfastly refused to believe it: Does fancy fuel really make a difference to perfomance? I was running on fumes recently in the Pug and the only available fuel was Shell's mega expensive Optimax (or whatever it's called) diesel. Stuck a tenners worth in, continued nailing the car everywhere and a couple of miles or so later it was pulling shit loads better and far 'cleaner' too. The car DID have some veg oil in it before that but a) not much it's always run well on it and c) I've since experimented with standard diesel and nothing has come close. Was I just imagining it?

[CreepingJesus]

@Phil; from memory, Novas blow hot from the dash vents too. If there's no hot air randomly escaping from the back of the dash, you'll need to check the distribution knob and block are ok.

If there's hot air blowing all over the place, a hose may have come adrift.

 

@Billy; God alone only knows. I'm as certain as I can be that super makes no odds to how the Volvo drives. It's a couple of MPG worse off on it tho', so it's anybody's guess.

[whitevanman]

/\/\ Billy in answer to your BOGOF questions

 

1- Because, despite being a Ford modifier myself, most of them are fucking nuggets that do NOT know how to modify a car properly.

 

2- Yes, you are fooling yourself, but WTF so long as your happy..............

[phil_lihp]

@Phil; from memory, Novas blow hot from the dash vents too. If there's no hot air randomly escaping from the back of the dash, you'll need to check the distribution knob and block are ok.

If there's hot air blowing all over the place, a hose may have come adrift.

 

Thanks, after a lot of Googling I eventually found this: http://www.pngclub.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-8091.html which suggests there is no fault and this is actually by design. Odd, I've never come across this before but I vaguely recall a long time ago that someone said they liked having this sort of setup in a MK2 Astra so you could have fresh air on your face but warm feet. I guess I can just about see the logic! The fan itself works fine on all settings so I'm happy.

[Richard]

Motoring journalists used to be obsessed with cold air to the face and warm air to the feet. They used to bleat constantly about temperature controls not working instantly too.

[Pete-M]

The fancy fuel question. I don't know about diesels, but the Impreza runs noticeably worse on regular fuel than on super, and gets more mpg on super. Enough to cover the extra cost? Yup - provided the super isn't from one of those stations that add about 20p/l onto Super.

[Pete-M]

Poverty model Novas didn't have the end of dash vents or blow hot air from the middle vents.

 

Mk2 Escorts needed the export spec heater option if you wanted hot air from the eyeball vents.

[CreepingJesus]

I stand corrected then!

[phil_lihp]

Thanks for confirming my suspicions, I can see why this didn't catch on, it seems like one of those povo-spec 'features' that actually costs more to engineer than just leaving it as it is.

[CreepingJesus]

Dunno about anything else, but the pov-spec V70 has left and right heat controls, and one dash vent which can be set to fresh air, independantly.

Makes sense when you get used to it!

[M'coli]

Just as an aside, all 3 of my mk2 Cavaliers blow cold from the centre dash vents, and hot (when set to hot and engine warm) from every other vent. Seems GM wanted it this way!

[Pillock]

I've had a car, fairly recently, that did the same - but I've never owned a (road-legal) GM product. I thought it was a loose hose until I tried another example that was identical - hot from windscreen and feet vents, cold from the centre dash, hot from the outboard dash vents. Might have been my Mk3 Golf? Don't think it was the E36 or the Leon.

 

I rarely have the heat turned up anyway, yesterday trying to defrost after Santa Pod was the first time my heat has been over 18 degrees.

[barefoot]

Washer jets became a bit inoperative on Porsche, rodded out the jets, re-adjusted & we're sorted except...

...the water stinks of cabbage / eggs /rot.

 

It stunk out my whatsits when I was adjusting, but I could still smell it when inside the car.

Anyone any idea what I can pour in to stop it?

or do I have to blast it all through with a hose pipe?

 

Thanks in anticipation,

[DSdriver]

Are you using a screenwash additive? Don't use fairy liquid as it gums up the jets.

[Spiny Norman]

Washer jets became a bit inoperative on Porsche, rodded out the jets, re-adjusted & we're sorted except...

...the water stinks of cabbage / eggs /rot.

 

It stunk out my whatsits when I was adjusting, but I could still smell it when inside the car.

Anyone any idea what I can pour in to stop it?

or do I have to blast it all through with a hose pipe?

 

Thanks in anticipation,

 

My money's on the washer bottle. I had a look at mine the other day and the inside walls of it were black, I swear to God there were unknown lifeforms in there. Best bet is to take it out and give it a good clean out with bleach or something before they invent the wheel....

[kinkersaab]

I have a samsung galaxy s3. I am shit with techi stuff. I dont have computer anymore. Is there a ap or something that would enable me to take a pic and send it to photobucket so i can put it up here?

I know or knew how to get them from there to here. Any attempts at other methods have failed. Ta in advance. L