Car Servicing/Maintaince

[Last Man]

Have a bad rattle coming from my exhaust - dropped it into a kwik fit just to see if it could be an easy fix!! told me that the backets are all rusted and have boken off! And that I need a whole new back section (£240) I would have thought you could just get new brackets, and will this cause it to faile MOT? Cheers

Has happened to me with the back box hanger breaking off, luckily the metal on the bracket and the silencer was solid enough to do a weld repair. Because of thr zinc coating on the exhaust the mig welder wire needs to be flux cored and used with shield gas also for a solid job. Fixed my Mk4 to do me a week or 2, that was 8 months ago. Will probably fall off today though.

[snoopdog]

Hi 2000 ford focus failed it's NCT tonight with high and low idle emissions . Low idle co 0.84 vol%  high idle co 0.44 vol%. Is there any quick fox for this? Known reason. As I say it's 15 yrs old and I don't want to spend a fortune on this. If o can do a quick fix to get it through for another year happy enough.   

[nrico2006]

Car is starting fine most mornings.  On the odd occasion when I turn the key its taking 2/3 seconds for it to start.  Sometimes it doesn't and I have to turn it again and it goes no bother.  Is there any easy way to determine if this is the battery or starter?  This car is only drove Monday to Friday, 7 miles in the morning and 7 in the evening which apaprently isn't good for batteries.

[macdanger2]

Not an expert on this but you can use a multimeter to check the battery easily enough but I'm not sure excatly what you'd need to check - presumably the charge before you start it. Should be around 13.4 or 13.5 for a fully charged battery. If it's quite low, that might be your problem.

If there's another car in the house, you can switch batteries and see if the problem moves with the battery.

If it's a diesel car, it could be the glow plugs?

[GJL]

Car is starting fine most mornings.  On the odd occasion when I turn the key its taking 2/3 seconds for it to start.  Sometimes it doesn't and I have to turn it again and it goes no bother.  Is there any easy way to determine if this is the battery or starter?  This car is only drove Monday to Friday, 7 miles in the morning and 7 in the evening which apaprently isn't good for batteries.

Is the car turning over but not starting?

[nrico2006]

Car is starting fine most mornings.  On the odd occasion when I turn the key its taking 2/3 seconds for it to start.  Sometimes it doesn't and I have to turn it again and it goes no bother.  Is there any easy way to determine if this is the battery or starter?  This car is only drove Monday to Friday, 7 miles in the morning and 7 in the evening which apaprently isn't good for batteries.

Is the car turning over but not starting?

A lot of the time it turns over straight away and starts.  Some times its turning over for 3-5 seconds before it starts and the odd time it turns overs but doesn't start (but on second attempt it starts ok).

[GJL]

Car is starting fine most mornings.  On the odd occasion when I turn the key its taking 2/3 seconds for it to start.  Sometimes it doesn't and I have to turn it again and it goes no bother.  Is there any easy way to determine if this is the battery or starter?  This car is only drove Monday to Friday, 7 miles in the morning and 7 in the evening which apaprently isn't good for batteries.

Is the car turning over but not starting?

I have seen poor quality diesel cause this. The next time you are empty put in £30 to £40 of BP Ultimate Diesel and see how it goes.

A lot of the time it turns over straight away and starts.  Some times its turning over for 3-5 seconds before it starts and the odd time it turns overs but doesn't start (but on second attempt it starts ok).

[nrico2006]

Car is starting fine most mornings.  On the odd occasion when I turn the key its taking 2/3 seconds for it to start.  Sometimes it doesn't and I have to turn it again and it goes no bother.  Is there any easy way to determine if this is the battery or starter?  This car is only drove Monday to Friday, 7 miles in the morning and 7 in the evening which apaprently isn't good for batteries.

Is the car turning over but not starting?

I have seen poor quality diesel cause this. The next time you are empty put in £30 to £40 of BP Ultimate Diesel and see how it goes.

A lot of the time it turns over straight away and starts.  Some times its turning over for 3-5 seconds before it starts and the odd time it turns overs but doesn't start (but on second attempt it starts ok).

Thanks, although its petrol.  The other car is a diesel, would it be possible to simply switch batteries to test or would they be too different?  Is there any obvious way of telling the difference between a starter starting to go or a battery starting to go?

[nrico2006]

Not an expert on this but you can use a multimeter to check the battery easily enough but I'm not sure excatly what you'd need to check - presumably the charge before you start it. Should be around 13.4 or 13.5 for a fully charged battery. If it's quite low, that might be your problem.

If there's another car in the house, you can switch batteries and see if the problem moves with the battery.

If it's a diesel car, it could be the glow plugs?

Thanks - was thinking of getting a multimeter.  The other car has all that information on the trip computer which makes diagnostics easier.

[snoopdog]

Hi 2000 ford focus failed it's NCT tonight with high and low idle emissions . Low idle co 0.84 vol%  high idle co 0.44 vol%. Is there any quick fox for this? Known reason. As I say it's 15 yrs old and I don't want to spend a fortune on this. If o can do a quick fix to get it through for another year happy enough.

Any ideas guys?

[general]

Hi 2000 ford focus failed it's NCT tonight with high and low idle emissions . Low idle co 0.84 vol%  high idle co 0.44 vol%. Is there any quick fox for this? Known reason. As I say it's 15 yrs old and I don't want to spend a fortune on this. If o can do a quick fix to get it through for another year happy enough.

Any ideas guys?

have you give it a bottle of fuel cleaner? should clear it up a touch

[laoislad]

GJL- An warning light for the airbag has come on and is staying on my dash.
Any ideas why?  Its an Audi A4.
Haven't crashed it or anything before you ask ,I just noticed it was on one day.
Have NCT due next month so don't want to be failing due to this.

[GJL]

GJL- An warning light for the airbag has come on and is staying on my dash.
Any ideas why?  Its an Audi A4.
Haven't crashed it or anything before you ask ,I just noticed it was on one day.
Have NCT due next month so don't want to be failing due to this.

You would need to get it plugged in to find out where the problem is. Likely to be a plug under one of the front seats. Usually disconnect and reconnect then reset with computer.

[doodaa]

GJL- An warning light for the airbag has come on and is staying on my dash.
Any ideas why?  Its an Audi A4.
Haven't crashed it or anything before you ask ,I just noticed it was on one day.
Have NCT due next month so don't want to be failing due to this.

Could be any number of airbag sensors/ connections.
As GJL says you need to get it plugged in to see which one.

Have you had any passengers in the back with big feet as they often dislodge a plug underneath the seat which would bring on a light.

[Donnellys Hollow]

Yeah checking under the seats would be the first port of call. I manged to dislodge one of the sensors cleaning the car one day.