Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2023 i Car Mechanics

The Verification of Lubricant Specifications (VLS) celebrates its tenth anniversary this year. Acting as an independent membership body, VLS was formed in 2013 amid concerns that some lubricant products were being sold with claims that did not seem believable. Closer inspection found that substandard formulations were occasionally passed off as the latest specifications – or even failed to perform effectively. The vast majority of lubricants sold in the UK market at the time were fully compliant. However, out of this concern, reputable lubricant blenders and manufacturers came together to form VLS. Since then, VLS has investigated 87 different lubricant complaints from cold weather properties to compliance with industry standards and market regulations. The work is ongoing, with 11 cases currently under review. VLS Chairman Mike Bewsey, told CM, “We are…

Follow Rob on Twitter: #CarTechJourno You may have noticed that things have got rather pricier recently. With household budgets being squeezed so tightly, car maintenance is one expense that is being culled. A recent survey of 2000 drivers, from the comparison website bookmygarage.com, found that a third of them were likely to skip their vehicle’s servicing this year. It is a worrying finding but one that is not entirely surprising. Modern vehicles tend not to drive noticeably better after a major service, unlike classic cars, meaning that many nonmechanically minded owners do not sense that their money has been well spent. As regular readers of this magazine will attest, regular servicing is a worthwhile investment, especially as it reduces the chance of big repair bills hitting you later. Driving a…

FINAL TASKS ROB’S TOP TIP Never buy incorrect specification fluids to save money. Purchasing unbranded filtration parts is a false economy. THANKS TO: Simon Russell Rob Thompson…

Although brakes are crucial to the safety of a vehicle, the way they perform on modern vehicles is pretty much the same on all makes/models (in general). The most notable difference being how the handbrake works. Here, our handbrake operates via your left foot which moves shoes sat inside the rear brake discs. A MOT advisory in May 2023 said that our IS rear brake pads are wearing thin. I could see the outer pad was low by shining a torch into the wheel, but at the service (last issue), I took the road wheel off to get a better view. Yes, they need changing asap. The front discs had worn down so it was best to renew the lot. According to service invoices, the main dealer put two remanufactured…

Right of Rejection? ► A trader friend of mine is currently having a rather stressful time. A couple of months ago, he sold a local lady a 2004 Audi A2. It was a nice example overall – Rob’s been in the game for many years and knows not to buy rubbish – and he was happy in his own mind that the car was 100% fit for purpose. A month later though, he got the dreaded ‘about the car you sold me’ call. The owner had noted a knocking from the front suspension over bumps. Rob said that it was probably an anti-roll bar bush, a couple of which had been noted as MOT advisories. “Yes, I know that” came the reply. Apparently, the lady had taken the car to…

2014 Suzuki SX4 S-Cross THANKS TO AES York Ltd 01904 780149 autoelectricsyork.co.uk The compact, SUV-styled SX4 S-Cross from Suzuki is available with front-wheel-drive and also all-wheel-drive. We’re servicing a FWD version, which is powered by a 1586cc petrol engine. Most of the serviceable engine components are accessed from within the engine bay, except for the spin-on oil filter. Underneath, there’s room to inspect the suspension, but there’s limited space to check the brakes. The following steps show a 2014 Suzuki SX4 S-Cross being serviced at AES near York. EQUIPMENT REQUIRED › jack › axle stands (or ramp) › oil drain bowl › 10-13mm sockets/spanners and 16mm spark plug socket › 3/8in ratchet drive › oil filter wrench/strap › screwdrivers › pry bar › battery tester or multimeter › spray grease…

I recall an old fading car salesman on his deathbed whispering into my ear moments before he slipped away croaking; “cheap cars will always bring cheap customers”. Those in the game will no doubt be nodding slowly, I have so many times locked horns or swashbuckled with tight @rsed customers doing all they can to save a few bob both on my driveway and in a showroom. One place I worked at had superb realistic sales managers who would rather send a customer out of the door inches ahead of a well-polished brogue if we got so much as a sniff they’d be a major headache, thus outweighing the benefit of slim profit. After all, if Mr Brown doesn’t buy the car today, Mr Green will probably buy it tomorrow…

`65th BIRTHDAY ► In answer to your request in your April 2023 Editorial and CMs 65th Birthday, I think it was 1960 when I bought my first copy of CM as I was getting interested in working on cars at 13. For some years I had been helping Dad to check his car over. No oil level, tyre pressure or bulb out systems in those days! My first car was a 1957 Standard 10 bought for £20 from a local garage in 1965. After a short while the engine started to get noisy (piston slap due to me thrashing it to get all the 33 horse power working). I bought a replacement from my local scrapyard which had increased compression giving an extra 3hp – more than enough to pull…

For this test we gathered a whopping 25 of the darn things before narrowing it down to the top eight. This means that all of the contenders are devices that we’d be happy to own and use. If you do a casual search via Google you’ll be awash with these things. I tried all sorts from little portable ones to dedicated car vacs to fullon domestic ‘sticks’ that have the ability to be able to be used as a portable handheld. In recent years things have moved on quickly in the vacuum cleaner world. First of all, cordless has opened up all sorts of possibilities especially with the introduction of more powerful brushless motors. ‘Form Function’ is a phrase that is bandied about by vacuum manufacturers and that basically means…

GENERAL Wet timing belts Q I’m in the market for a new car but after doing a bit of research on modern cars it’s not as simple as I thought. We’ve had Nissan Micra’s for years and they’ve been absolutely brilliant. We had a Mk1 for 18 years with hardly any trouble at all and we’ve had a K12 for 10 years no bother too. I thought it would be as simple as going for a new Micra but what a disappointment on the test drive! The 3-cylinder 1.0-litre engine was very tinny and underpowered and it was absolutely flat on pulling away at junctions, it was a 20-plate with 8000 miles on the clock. We test drove a 1.0-litre Ford Fiesta EcoBoost which appeared to be OK but after…

Special Contributor Night terrors With the front suspension replaced on my E60 (see my report in the August 2023 issue), it was time to turn my attention to the rear. As I mentioned last time, I previously had an E39 saloon, and the setup underneath the E60 was nearly the same. Because of the experience of replacing things on the E39 several years ago, I had given myself a few days to do the job, leaving plenty of time to get the car fully tracked before an upcoming road trip to the Isle of Skye. ‘Plenty of time.’ Famous last words. It turns out the rear suspension was ready for a big fight. I started with the simple things – removing the brake calipers and discs, marking the position of…

► As most of you know, I’m a fan of Volvo estates. I’ve run examples of most of the big ones – 240, 740, 940 and V70 – as everyday cars over the years, and the current Simpson car collection includes a rather nice 240 estate which, basically, I intend keeping for as long as I’m able to drive. Away from personal ownership, I’ve also earned a fair amount of money from buying and selling Volvo estates over the years; I was often referred to as ‘the Volvo man’ at British Car Auctions Peterborough because of the number that I bought. You therefore won’t be surprised that I was slightly sad to hear that Volvo have stopped supplying saloons and estate cars to the UK market. Though sad to traditionalists…

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH MERCEDES-BENZ SLK Window failure ► The owner of this 2011 Mercedes-Benz SLK 1.8 had decided that a bit of fresh air through the cabin would be quite nice, opening both front windows. Reaching her destination, she then went to put the windows back up but the passenger side decided not to move, deciding that brute force was a good option she bashed the door and tried again, this did actually work and allowed the window to motor up into the closed position, but once up a loud clunk was heard and she certainly wasn’t going to try and open the window again. Not that I would recommend this procedure, but it can be the case that a good jolt can sometimes get things moving again, and I…

AUDITT Glow plug light Q I am hoping you can help me with an issue I’m having with my wife’s 2008 Audi TT Quattro 2.0 TDI. I am out of ideas and what’s worse my father is out of ideas too! An event that is unprecedented when it comes to vehicle repair. The car has a flashing glow plug light, which comes on after five to ten minutes of running. I have checked the glow plugs and they are all functioning as expected, however Audi also uses the flashing glow plug light as a secondary engine management system fault light. I checked around the car for any obvious electrical faults and checked the condition of the electrical earths. I also checked the battery voltage both off and while running. I…

Special Contributor Good Gears Galore  This 2006 BMW 130i M-Sport has been quite the attention seeker ever since I bought it last year. A seized spark plug, dead battery, failed driver’s door strap, water ingress in boot, failed park distance module, wonky steering with complementary vibration, condensation in one headlamp and leaky radiator hose to name a few ‘snags’. Some of these ailments I’ve fixed already but, as you may have read in my prior BMW instalment, I was working on fixing the poorly shifting manual gearbox. I had decided to source an identical replacement from a similar period Z4 Roadster; while it seemed dramatic, I was not confident on the extent of wear on the existing unit’s synchro rings. A replacement would also work out cheaper than a refurb.…