yashicamat

I can't be sure of this, but here are the symptoms - what do you folks reckon; - For months, occasionally when it started it sounded like a bag of spanners (a really harsh, knocking sound) - irrespective of if the engine was warm or cold. Switching on and off cured the problem instantly and the engine was smooth again. - The last week or two I have detected a very slight vibration (more of a steady pulsing vibration rather than a jack-hammer) through the steering wheel on gentle-moderate acceleration. - Today was the final (and rather more dramatic) incident - slowly (yes, slowly!) accelerating to about 60mph on the duel carriageway, I suddenly could hear a very loud deep rumbling/rattling sound (but quite a high frequency), I was in 4th at the time. I eased off and the sound quitened down quite a bit. I slowly tried to accelerate and it came back again, so I popped my hazards on and coasted to a stop where the road widened in the 30mph. At idle (in neutral), there was a loud rattling noise from the engine, a metallic but 'solid' sound, like someone very irregularly, but quickly, tapping the engine with a hammer. Dipping the clutch caused the sound to mostly go away. I was about to arrange to get the car towed away to discover I'd left my mobile in the office (doh!) so decided to see if I could coax the car gently back home so I could get my bike. Well, upon starting all was well again. I nevertheless still was very very gentle all the way home, not straying about 45mph or so, but it went through all the gears fine including reverse and there was no noise at idle. Does anyone have any thoughts? Can the DMF be intermittent like this (maybe if the plates are loose and 'catch' in a certain way or something? My knowledge of clutches is somewhat limited)? Bit of extra info - the car is on 130,000 miles and is on the original clutch still. Cheers.

Porsche 944 2.7 - but I then secured a company lease car and the temptation of a brand new car, that I otherwise couldn't afford, was too strong. 18 months later, I ditched the lease car having realised that having a brand new car isn't all it's cracked up to be. Part of me wishes I'd bought the 944, even if it was going to be the inevitable short ownership before I realised the shortcomings of that type of car for the lifestyle I lead!

No and nope! I believe such a device has no practical use on these engines.

In the end I didn't have time to remove the headlights, so I've fitted some 'Eurolite' converters to the lights. It was a bit hit and miss but it's a significant improvement, although probably not quite perfect. Not looking forwards to trying to get them off when I get back - the glue seemed pretty powerful!

Cheers Steve. Screenwash . . . I have half a litre left which will probably do, it's a case of if there's a realestate charge being placed on my future supplies.

I'm sure I've asked this (or at least seen the answer to my query somewhere), but the search function seems unable to find any trace of such a question. Does anyone know how to adjust the factory xenon units on the mk1 for use on the continent, please? On my mk2, it was a simple lever you flicked over . . . is it as simple as that on the mk1s? I don't think the stick on patches work for projector lens headlights . . . Cheers.

This isn't strictly necessary - I've done this task without disconnecting the cable. I just used a tall box to rest the caliper on while I was working, although I admit it didn't have much movement in it, but it was sufficient.

Well, I don't have any towing experience, but I'd say that you'd probably be looking at a bit of a struggle anywhere other than flat roads with the 1.6 engine. It's not the most powerful in the world really. Have you already got a towbar fitted? If so, could you 'test drive' a caravan to see how the car coped?

AFAIK, they share the same gearbox. The only way to check your theory would be to actually plot them against each other at a suitable venue.

In my experience (I've owned both engines), the 110tdi revs more freely than the PD100 (bizarre given the 110 is an older style of engine). Torque delivey is more brutal in the PD100 too, although I don't think the stock figures are much different IIRC. As for standard power outputs, My 110tdi produced a few bhp over standard when RR'd with 120k on the clock, as did my PD100 fabia - so not much difference there, either. I suspect the different in feeling is entirely down to the delivery from the engine. A very smooth profile curved NA petrol engine, revved from mid range, doesn't always feel massively quick, but would be comparable (if not faster) than a similarly powered diesel that would feel much much faster due to the torque delivery. 'Feel' I think is the operative word of this conclusion.

Looks like you had great weather again! I wish I could have made it - hopefully next year.

RARB is straightforwards to fit, just make sure you have all the bits you need first (I needed some domed nuts to replce the normal hexes on the beam as the latter fouled the new ARB - I forget what size they are but I expect someone will know. I'd guess M5 and about 20mm from what I recall, but don't quote me on that) as it's a royal pain to discover bits missing when your mode of transport is in bits! I had to do a bit of bending with the brackets (on the Neuspeed one anyway) to get them around the beam, but it wasn't a big issue.

Another thing to note; clean up the area around the injector as best you can BEFORE removing it, otherwise that crud will drop into the cylinder when you remove the injector. Trust me, been there, done that . . . .

PD150 turbo is a relatively easy job - bit of fiddling to make the boost hose fit, but otherwise not much different than changing a turbo. Bigger turbo is wasted without bigger injectors though. PD130 has a totally different head and fuelling system (along with injectors, internals etc.), so I'd assume the work required would be greater than that for a complete engine swap! Depends on what the final target is. A 110tdi should be tuneable to about 180bhp for c. £1500, although the clutch won't like it.

Something else; make sure your cambelt, water pump etc. are all well within their age/mileage limits before you map the car!

Simply incredible - I have seen something similar before; the level that rider has to commit himself to on some of those obstacles! I wouldn't like to fall down some of those gaps between the jumps . . .

This was the reason I included the prefix 'George' in my original post! Ah well . . . .

A piston, polished up nice and shiney? A camshaft, ditto to the previous? That's the sort of things I'd like, things that show engineering precision. Alternatively, a brake caliper on a brake disc, somehow mounted on a block of wood or something might make a different (if rather heavy!) ornament. It'd need cleaning up and painting, and the disc would need polishing then laquering to prevent it going rusty.

Just came across this one again - I don't think George Bush jokes will ever cease to be funny.

As with most of the above, for some reason they don't look right on that car. Maybe look out for some 17" spiders?

Banging sound? Possibly the front ARB bushes - they went on my Fabia after about 45k miles. How many miles has yours done? I wouldn't expect the rest of the suspension bits to be clanging about too much before 80k miles at the earliest?

Actually, all the Elegance and 4x4s in the mk1 versions had headlight washers with halogen bulbs as standard. The mk2 Elegances did (at least the pre-facelift, I don't know about since) I expect the mk2 4x4s too.

If there's play, then oil can get past the seals, but yeah, it is more of an indicator of the state of the bearings rather than the seals themselves.

The turbo check is 'a' way of checking, but I don't know if it's conclusive - all I know is that it worked on my 110tdi.

Nice looking car - the factory white spiders are well suited to the car. I can't imagine why anyone in their right mind would want to sell a car like that . . .