Email Tim with your questions

Tim,

As my X3 is nearly three years old, the warranty is due end of this month, I would appreciate your thoughts on extended warranties, manufacturer or others, the asking price for one year fully comprehensive including BMW assist is £427.

Thanks,

Derek, UK

Get quotes from other firms such as warranty direct and you might get cheaper cover, but read the small print very carefully. There are all sorts of exclusions and if you’re not careful you’ll find that whatever’s wrong, it’s not covered. Many companies also ask for your anticipated mileage, and if you exceed it, the cover instantly expires, so be as accurate as you can, then monitor it carefully during the year.

Speaking personally, the best value cover I’ve found is the AA’s Breakdown Repair Cover. It’s not quite an extended warranty, but it pays out up to £500 for a single repair and you can have a few of them in a year. You have to break down with the problem, but then that’s what tends to happen anyway, and best of all it’s something like £50 on top of your membership (you do have to be an AA member, but joining and getting the extra cover still works out cheaper than most extended warranties). If you’re interested, go to theaa.com/breakdownrepaircover/index.html

Can you advise if an 07 Vauxhall Astra Twin Top with a non-operational roof problem (stuck half way) and being off the road in a main dealer workshop awaiting parts for 1 month is grounds for rejecting the car and asking for our money back or a replacement car?

Stuart Billing, Epsom, UK

After a year or more, it is very unlikely that you can make a case for rejection. However, “waiting for parts” is one of the lamest excuses I can imagine and I suspect it’s often used to cover up some other inadequacy at the dealer. If they insist on saying that they’re waiting for parts, point out that someone, somewhere knows where that part is. Is it on a lorry or a boat or in a warehouse somewhere, or hasn’t the factory made it yet? We have computers these days to tell us these things. Insist that the parts department gets on the phone straight away – while you are there – and finds out when the parts will be delivered. In case they don’t know how to get in touch, the phone number for Vauxhall Parts at Luton is 01582 721122.

Just purchased a 1996 Ford Maverick 4W 5door 2.7 diesel (rebadged Nissan Terrano). The clutch has failed due to a leak in a pipe which runs to the rear of the vehicle? From a pipe union under the driver, ie. master cylinder hydraulic pipe splits, one to slave cylinder on bell housing and one to the rear of the vehicle. What is the purpose of the rear connection as it seems to connect to a device over the rear axle. Looking for a workshop manual as Haynes don't do one.

Victor Mower. Brighton, UK

There is no pipe linking clutch hydraulics to the back axle. However, there is a pipe from the front brake circuit that goes to the pressure apportioning valve which sits atop the back axle, and it sounds as if this is what you’re looking at. The brake and clutch reservoirs are separate on the Maverick, so if it is a brake pipe leaking you’ll see a drop in the fluid in the brake fluid reservoir as well as the clutch. It’s easy to mistake a pipe underneath the car for a different one that you can see from above, but if the clutch hydraulics have failed, suspect the slave cylinder.

I own a Jaguar 3.0 X Type SE. The seats are cream leather and I have been told that patented leather cleaning compounds can remove the natural oils from the leather. Is this true? I currently use a soft soap (Lux flakes in warm water). Can you suggest any alternative or are the prepared compounds ok? Any assistance you can give will be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

Tony Peddie, Christchurch, New Zealand

You seem to get all sorts of conflicting advice on cleaning leather. Cows don’t seem to bother at all, but we have a couple of cream leather chairs at home and the label that came with them is most insistent that you ONLY use slightly soapy water to clean them, no cleaners. If the Lux and water is doing the trick, stick with it. Otherwise you can get leather treatment to nourish it.

I have a 2001 Mazda 323. Recently, one of the coils failed and the engine naturally started misfiring. I had the coil replaced and things returned to normal, but the engine

warning light still comes on. If I reset the warning light by pulling one of the interior fuses, the light stays off for quite a while and only comes back on when the car gets up to about 60mph. If I take the car onto the motorway and drive for few hours, the light doesn't come on at all. The dealer says that the error generated involves the oxygen sensor, but doesn't seem keen to investigate further. Would a company who performs specialist engine diagnostics be able to diagnose/fix this problem?

David Thomas, Swansea, UK

It’s quite possible that the misfire resulted in a poisoned catalytic converter, which is why you shouldn’t carry on driving a modern car with any sort of misfire. There is a second lambda sensor (AKA oxygen sensor) after the cat and this will put the warning light on if the cat isn’t doing its job. A diagnostic machine will tell all – you can try a Mazda dealer or a Ford dealer, since they use the same diagnostic system, or an independent garage with a good code reader.

Hi Tim,

I have a three year old MarkV Golf GTI with 45k on the clock. The car has been a pleasure to own and drive but recently I have noticed the engine has become quite "lumpy" when idle. This problem is not immediately apparent and only occurs when the car has been stationary for a while, at traffic lights for example. The problem also seems to subside when the air con is on, as the engine then idles at slightly higher rpm. Your thoughts will be appreciated.

Many thanks

Matthew Gordon, London, UK

This could be a number of things. I always like to start with the simplest and cheapest to cure, and the simplest problem you might have is a fuel injection system just getting a bit gummed up with petrol deposits. The Golf is known to be a bit prone to this, especially in FSI engine form, but it can happen to any car and it’s more likely if you generally use cheaper petrol. The simplest cure is to run the tank fairly low (below a quarter full), then fill up with and advanced fuel such as BP’s Ultimate or Sell’s V-Power. Do this for two tanks full and see if there’s any improvement. In spite of what you might have read in various consumer reports about whether or not you can get extra mileage from these advanced fuels, they certainly do contain a very good detergent additive which will thoroughly clean the injection system after two tanks full, and the total extra cost will be about a tenner. If this has no effect, it could be the idle speed control valve – again, it might simply need a good clean but the advanced fuel won’t do it since it only allows air through. A further possibility is that the dual mass flywheel is wearing. It’s designed to reduce vibration, but when it wears it tends to make the engine vibrate and you’ll notice that most at idle speed. The only cure is a replacement, which isn’t cheap I’m afraid, so fingers crossed that the decent petrol sorts it out!

Tim,

I have a Dec 05 BMW X3 3.0DM Sport auto. It has covered only 25,000 miles and I have no problems bar one. In cold and damp weather conditions the car is emitting quite a loud squealing / whining noise. It only ever happens in these conditions and only when the car is in motion, usually between 15 and 30 mph, and/or under deceleration (but not breaking), and/or when turning right. I have had the car into the dealer but they claim not to be able to hear anything. They also claim to have had a look at all the belts and tensioners etc. I think the noise is coming from the back of the car. Could it be something to do with the gear box / 4WD system. Someone suggested torque transmission rods? Any ideas?

Mark Gibson, UK

This doesn’t sound like anything major. If it’s only happening when the car’s moving, it’s related to the wheels or transmission, so forget drive belts. Try to narrow down the problem next time it happens. Find a quiet road, get the car making the noise and apply the brake gently. If the noise goes, it’s almost certainly one or more brake pads rubbing on the disc. This can be because the calliper’s dirty or sticking – a good clean might sort it all out.

Dear Tim

I have a Nissan Almera 2002 15cc petrol, 47,500 miles

Recently my car starting jumping (almost like a kangaroo) as I was driving and almost cut out when taking off at junctions/roundabouts. I took it to my mechanic and he told me I needed a new catalytic converter, so he replaced it. When I got the car back it still wasn’t right; not as bad as it had been but there seems to be a miss when I’m driving, as if the car is holding back on acceleration for a few seconds and then kicks in. So I took it back to the mechanic who took it to the local Nissan dealers to put on their computer. They insisted it needed a new timing chain; apparently this is a flaw with Nissan Almeras, so the timing chain was replaced in the car and low and behold it’s still not right.

Now approximately 6 weeks later and severely out of pocket the car still has a slight miss when I am driving. I cannot take it any major distance and am afraid to overtake in case the power cuts out or it lets me down.

On top of that I have been asking around and am told that a timing chain should not need changed, that it lasts for the lifetime of the engine. Now I am questioning if the car needed either of these very expensive items of work done at all!

Can you help please? Do you know of anything else which might be wrong with the car and do timing chains need replaced?

Many, many thanks

Caroline Sweeney, Northern Ireland

It’s quite possible that neither garage has ripped you off, but it’s absolutely certain that neither of them has given you a good service, because neither has solved the problem you took the car to them for. It’s unlikely to be the catalytic converter (cat) that was the cause – although it’s perfectly possible that the misfire caused it to fail so it might well have needed changing. However, if the original misfire’s still there it will be damaging the new cat, so you need to get this sorted out before you need another new one.

As for the timing chain, although Nissan don’t specify a change interval, the chains are well known for stretching after a fair mileage and do need replacing. Quite a few manufacturers reverted to chain drive on some of their engines, but it doesn’t solve all the problems that timing belts caused. Chains can stretch, putting the camshaft timing out and on some engines they can be starved of oil and break. As a result, Vauxhall and Mercedes now specify change intervals for timing chains, but in spite of knowing that the chains are prone to stretching, Nissan do not – maybe it’s time they did. Anyway, the dealer wasn’t telling you fibs, but if they didn’t solve the misfire, they’re hardly giving a good service.

All Almeira (and Primera) petrol engines were prone to crankshaft and camshaft sensor problems, which would often make the engine cut out completely but could give intermittent misfire – especially the cam sensor. There was a recall for it in 2002 and another in 2003, so make sure any recall work has actually been carried out.

Other than that, a decent mechanic should be able to diagnose what’s wrong, but it seems that you might have to catch a ferry to find one!

Dear Tim, I have recently started a community based job and therefore using my 2003 Honda Civic Type R. I love my car to bits and am a bit concerned about excessive engine wear with all the stop-start trips I have to make. I roughly drive for 20-30 minutes, spend 30-60 minutes with a client, then drive another 20-30 minutes and so on. the temperature gauge appears to be at optimal levels within 2-3 minutes of the 2nd, 3rd, 4th journeys and so on and I always avoid using the cars power unless its been running for a good 10-15 minutes. what mileage would you advise for servicing when the car is performing these sorts of trips. I check the water, oil and tyre pressures weekly but wondered if it needs more frequent servicing.

Any help you could provide would be a great help.

Many thanks

Gavin Church, UK

The type R engine is quite highly tuned and loves to rev, but it should cope quite happily with this sort of work. Get services done on time, but you can stick to the manufacturer’s specified service intervals. Make sure your garage uses a good quality synthetic or semi synthetic oil and get some of the same oil for topping up between services. Keep doing the weekly checks and investigate any sudden loss of fluid etc straight away and you shouldn’t have any problems.

Hi Tim,

I have a 1996 2.0 Honda Accord. My turn indicators blink 4 or 5 times and then cut out. I changed the fuse but it did not cure the problem.

I have a Honda dealer 6 miles from where I live but it always seems to cost me a fortune if I go to them. What I need to know is if this is a major problem or is easily fixed. I am actually intending to replace the car before the end of the year so I hope not to have any more large bills for it.

Thanks,

Nelson Robertson, UK

It’s almost certainly not a major problem, just a faulty flasher unit. Simple to change and not too expensive to buy.