samj2013

How about an MX5? A friend of mine has a mk1, really nicely handing car - very tail happy and quick enough with the 1.8 engine in such a small car. It's not that 'left field', but you could get a very nice one for £3k.

I know it's not RWD but... Octy VRS?!

If I've money for fuel around that time, I'd like to come along for a jaunt! Never been to a petrolhead meet before.

Makes me a bit sad to see a nice car like that getting broken, but I guess it'll keep others on the road.

It seems that, yes, narrower tyres would be better for cutting through snow than wider. But that's obviously if the two tyres are otherwise identical. Are you planning on driving in nothing but 6" snow between now and the end of winter? If so, fine, though as others have said, a hard compound summer tyre isn't going to be much good anyway. Removing a winter tyre and replacing it with a summer one seems daft to me.

Aye true enough. I think it's probably been leaking for a while anyway.

Drenched it in switch cleaner - seems alright, for now.

Thanks guys - I'll try the switch cleaner first!

Just been for a little spin down some lovely windy roads, approaching another car flicked my main beam off to be plunged into total darkness! Cue almost soiled underwear! Pulled over to have a fiddle - nothing seems to be wrong with the fuses, as the dips did come back on, only to go off again a few times. This also rules out bulbs. That and both sides failing at the same time - something funny going on there. The light on the dash comes on to tell me my dips are on. Fogs and main beam are both fine, so I ended up driving home with my fogs on in case the dips failed again, which they did a few times. So, any ideas? Cheers fellas.

Took the wiper arms off and had a proper look, the strip of plastic on the underside that clicks into place under the windscreen has broken off along more than half of it, which explains why it won't go down right. Looks like I'll just get a new one. Cheers

I'm able to do laser engraving, if I can order in stuff that's already anodised. Though it won't be quite on par with some of their stuff that they've engraved and then coloured...

I did it the lazy way and didn't remove the wipers. Perhaps I'll have to have another go tomorrow, although one of the rubber bungs around the base of the wiper was totally unseated anyway which was probably letting in a fair amount of water.

There's nothing really obstructing it, it just doesn't really sit flush. Maybe one of the clips is broken. Seems like it may have been that way for a while.

Hi guys sorry if this one is a bit silly - changed my pollen filter today, I didn't look at how the left side of the scuttle panel (looking at it with the bonnet open) sat before I changed the filter, but after i couldn't get it to sit flush with the glass, so water is just going to run down behind it. It just didn't want to click back like the other side did. Is this a problem, or will it be okay if I just leave it?

I thought you got rid of it ages ago?!

Definitely wasn't grease. It looked like it had flowed down one of the pipes from the PAS pump and where it had been dripping off, it had gone a bit sticky. I guess I wasn't too clear there. It doesn't seem to have dropped anything last night though.

Not especially.

Nope, no undertray. I got right under and had a look - the stuff dripping off really didn't look like engine oil, it was a sort of amber colour. I'll have a check of those though, thanks.

Had a quick look, and the stuff on the floor looks fairly black, but underneath the car, the sump seems fine, however I found what looked like a yellow sticky fluid coming from one of the pipes. On closer inspection, it seems to be running down from the power steering pump, though it wasn't doing much when I looked. Looks like it's dumped a load last night, and then left another small drop this morning. A friend of mine had a wee look and said that would be strange - if it were power steering, he'd expect it to go pop at once while under load. Power steering and brake fluid levels both seem fine also. I may stick some newspaper under it tonight to see if it catches anything.

Nope none of that. I did have some contact with the ground a couple of weeks back driving along a rough track, I assumed it was just the bumper at the time, but now thinking I may have cracked the sump. The leak seems to be coming from very close to the front, in the centre. I'm going to get underneath and have a proper look later.

My car dumped a load of oil on the road last night while parked up. Any suggestions for something to look for?

Great, thanks for the info guys! Very helpful. I'll leave the glow plugs well alone then. Some bits from euro car parts turned up today - oil, air and pollen filters. I also ordered some shell helix ultra 5W-40, as that was one of the oils that came up as compatible with my car when I put my reg in - will this stuff be okay? I'd like one of those pumps, but funds don't allow at the minute. I do plan on self-servicing regularly though, as you say, it doesn't take long and a regular service will keep it running sweet for much longer. I'll get it done once the strap wrench I ordered turns up. Thanks again!

Thought I recognised it. Only been there the once - this summer during the fringe festival. Very cool city.

There are people on here asking more for the same car... Though I wouldn't call this a rally replica.

Hi guys, I'm going to be servicing my car myself as I can't afford to take it to a garage right now. I've done this sort of thing before and know it's easy enough, I was just wondering: 1. How much oil does the engine require? Haynes manual doesn't seem to say 2. How often do the glow plugs need changing? Is it worth doing just to be on the safe side? 3. I plan on cleaning the EGR valve soon, what's the best stuff to clean it with? Any other handy hints to keep her running sweet would be appreciated. Cheers