The thermal fuse was rated at 187C (also confirmed by Matt). The only ones that I could find at that temp were 10A thermal fuses. These are much larger than the original fuse (which is tiny) and does pose an installation problem (but can be done as Matt went this way) plus there are amperage issues.

I tried to find a fuse that is more appropriately sized and looked all over the net but couldn’t find one from an Australian retailer/distributor. (Found manufacturers in China but... too hard)

We don’t really know whether the thermal fuse dies because of temp or amperage. The most suitable one I could find was a 2A rated at 150C (they don’t have a higher temp rating) from RS Components. This is slightly larger than the original fuse but fits in the original location with a bit of plastic grinding and modified clips.

I reassembled everything. The first circlip to go back on required me to modify my circlip pliers to open wider to get back on. Everything else is straight forward.

All works as per normal. Time will tell whether this stronger amped fuse with a lower temp rating will do the job. If not I will try and source something from overseas that most certainly will get the job done and install easy. On second thought I should have drilled some holes in the thermal fuse cover for a little airflow which would have helped.

Good luck. Just make sure you have all your TORX sockets and keys before you tackle it.

So you have a KIA Carnival which means that you have a big problem just waiting to happen and when it typically loses power, the usual prelude to engine failure, you think the last lot of petrol is the problem. Uh?

Your vehicle is 5 years old and it’s been invariably collecting water in the fuel tank by way of condensation or possibly even from small amounts over some of the fills during its life. Water in fuel ends up in the bottom of the tank and does not go to the pump until there's a good quantity of it capable of reaching the pick up. There’s no way you can say definitively that the last Woolworths fill was the cause and slagging them is not very bright. No I don't buy their fuel nor do I work for them.

The three amigos have been around for ages - make no mistake the only way to fix them is with a "non faulty" ABS Wabco modulator.

I have researched & tried every method suggested & checked the logic of the fault suggestion against the reality. LR testbook / T4 computers read the stored faults in the abs / sls onboard computer, however they can only interpret what they are told - there is no code for faulty modulator. Two codes are seen often. One relates to ABS sensor faulty and they sometimes are (greased up, rusted, damaged, wire leads damaged etc). Sometimes removing cleaning and reinstalling can help - but - and this is the thing, the ABS sensor fault is a non latching fault. This means it will not turn the ABS/HDC/TC functions off but will store a fault in the ECU.

The other common fault is the "shuttle valve". This was the alleged cause for some time and sometimes fixed the problem. The shuttle valve consists of two pressure switches that are activated when the brakes are applied to show the primary & secondary circuits are functioning. The electrical circuitry for this actually runs thru the modulator. The switch is quite easy to test for function when removed.

Here's where I believe the problem starts. Several options - the plastic body of the shuttle valve can bend (engine heat?), the wires can be faulty, the switches may stick / fault or the shuttle valve - modulator connection could be bad. Commonly this fault occurs after brake work i.e. new pads / discs. May well be due to air in the ABS block as a result of pushing the disc pads apart to remove / replace and hence forcing excess fluid back into block. Any air in the block would cause the shuttle valve fault as they only move a tiny amount to activate.

So what to do if you have the amigos & no joy from your main dealer? Find a quality non franchised workshop to work with. Talk to them a perhaps try a proper Testbook / T4 / Autologic power brake bleed with new fluid and reset the lights. If this fails and the lights come back on save yourself grief and go straight to a replacement modulator - you will never sell the car with the lights on and if the vehicle is carrying an "older" suspect modulator most specialists would advise a prospective buyer not to purchase it.

There are two distinct types of modulator and they changed around 2001. They should still have a sticker with the year on it i.e. 99, 00, 01, 02 etc and the later ones have the two 25mm bronze coloured discs recessed into and below the surface of the block. Find one, fit bleed it, reset the lights and wait for something different to occur. Sources for the replacement modulator can be new at the dealer, secondhand for many dismantlers in Australia, UK & USA, try the internet, British LR mags etc.

To close, a short history of the 99 model series 11 I have owned since new.

- 1st service 5000 km - new radiator, engine (yep), & water pump (corrosion and faulty block).
- 10000 km - new steering box and front axles ( warranty ).
- 20000 km - new gear box due to reluctance to change into top. Later found to be non resolved and due to the 1st of several air flow mass sensor failures (out of warranty )
- 40000 km new front prop shaft ( non warranty )
- 160000 km abs modulator failure ( non warranty )
- 185000 km crank angle sensor failure
- current - many oil leaks. I still have one new never used still sealed modulator waiting for use.

I have a 2008 Astra CDX new in March. I have spoken to the service dept about the brake dust and the severe braking. I was told it is normal which is a lot of bull and no one has complained before. I have since found that replacing the pads with Bendix solves the problem. I also bought my new car from Motorama Holden at Springwood. So much for knowledge at the service department.

Have been using 14 L per hundred since day one and local dealer has been very helpful but can only do as much as Nissan Australia instruct. Computer, filters, etc all check ok. With OE tyres on highway/country run, dealer got 12.2 and now Nissan say this is "within expectations" for this model. The figure is actually 12.7 when you adjust for 4% speedo error.

They suggest my 265 Coopers upset the auto transmission computer gear change program causing excess fuel usage, but... in Australia they can't reprogram for the taller tyres. The canopy also contributes, so they say.

I am looking at a 2 3/4 inch mandrel bent exhaust replacement to (1) Eliminate the DPF from the system which may be causing back pressure and excess fuel usage and (2) to increase power to offset the loss of torque from the taller tyres.

Any comments Please.

In reply to Sara Seroka - Brisbane, Qld.

I purchased our BA work ute last year, it has 487,000klm on the clock. Yeah, I know, that's a lot of k's. It was bought by our boss in 2005 & had 213,000klms on it at that stage. Not since 2005 has the diff oil been changed. There are no noises & overall it runs like a charm. Mind you, it's never done any heavy work since brand new (it's been used as a security vehicle all its life). I've no complaints at all & because it runs on factory LPG it's reasonably cheap to run.

Hi I have just bought a Barina 95 swing (5 door) and it did not come with an owner’s manual. I want to check the clutch fluid/engine oil/brake fluid etc and don’t know where to look (single blonde female)! So if anyone would be so lovely to scan it and email it to me. Or give me some tips please help. Would rather not go to a mechanic as they charge so much and I would look very ... er... dumb!

Thanks so much!

Sam

Hi Carly,
Have you contacted Today Tonight? What was their response? I am in Vic & have been fighting this for 5 months. Has had no joy from consumer affairs - they say they are powerless. My case rests with my local MP and Vic Ombudsman.

Have you complained to ACCC?

I have a 4 year old Holden Barina that has only done 50,000 kms and the computer has just packed in. Has anyone else had the same problem?

I bought the car from a Sutton’s Holden garage. The car is still under warranty, but they refuse to fix the problem as I didn’t have it serviced at a Holden garage. Has anyone also had this problem?

Has anyone else experienced issues with warping of the rotors or brakes wearing only on one of the brakes.

I bought my car brand new and it has been serviced by Kia (2005, only 34,000 on the clock), had an outsider check the brakes when they started sending a shutter through my car. They were fine. Kia then checked it and I was told they were fine but 'your right hand front rotor is warped'. After having a few words about that, it was covered under warranty and I was told it was completely safe to drive the car... 2000km later the same thing is happening to my brakes.

Kia replaced the rotors but only to get told the brake on the front right of my car is paper thin and is unroadworthy! This is classed as wear and tear and not poor workmanship or just plain **** parts on Kia's behalf.

Kia's customer service is an absolute shocker, there is no customer service. They are not interested in helping you and they are the rudest individuals I have dealt with. As far as they are concerned, uneven wearing on one brake and every 30,000km is "Completely Normal". I am selling this piece of **** before it kills me in an accident due to having no brakes at all and I can’t trust the servicing mob to do their job properly. I will be telling everyone I know never buy a Kia, I would rather burn my money than spend another cent on their rubbish.

If anyone else has had this issue please let me know... either that or I just got really unlucky.

Hi

Have you had any luck getting it repaired? I am looking at the 2 Litre Diesel Wagon. The dealer said they have quite a few with no complaints. Was also looking at the Mazda 6 but apparently they have stopped selling them maybe because they had problems.

Thanks, Malcolm

Mate, I bought a 2003 Carnival with 60,000kms, car now has 82,000kms. Overall car was in pretty good condition and has run without fault until... In early March my wife purchased half a tank of fuel from Woolworths petrol. Car started to ping and lose power. Three days later she filled tank completely from same fuel outlet, now engine has no power at all. Have done usual checks i.e. fuel filter, drained and refilled tank; no change. Put the car into Kia to identify problem.

First thing Kia asked me was "is this still on its first engine?" He was genuinely surprised, this was a bit of a shock to me as car is just over four years old. $800 later they told me that the engine needed pulling down to identify low power problem. $400 of the bill was for a fuel pump. I asked what was wrong with old fuel pump. Was told there was nothing wrong with old pump but because it was ordered in I was stuck with it. I put car into fuel injection specialist for further diagnoses, injectors tested ok and all other systems fine.

Car has been serviced by Kia since I have had it, Kia will not look at goodwill support because we do not know where previous owner had it serviced. I had complained to Woolworths petrol but the response was typical: "Our fuel is good so we’re not paying." When I drained fuel from tank, water could clearly be seen in petrol.

Overall, I am not satisfied with Kia or Woolworths petrol. I will replace engine myself and then pull old engine down to determine why exactly engine has low power. Hope to finish this in next week or two. Two things I would recommend do not buy a Kia and do not buy Woolworths petrol.

Hi Jon,
Just read your post. Same problem. Got tailshaft replaced - $2g. Gear started jumping out of 5th gear, then before could get home, oil drained out. Had gearbox repaired but short time later, same problem. No oil in drive etc but mechanic said gearbox full of metal.

Fifth gear selector plate snapped off and needed replacing. Quote for the single fifth gear plate? $2g. Second hand gearbox, $3g plus $2g labour. New gear box around $10g fitted.

While we were making our decision - mechanic advised recon gearbox had so many fragments in gearbox oil he was worried another gearbox selector would go, the entire gearbox went as we drove around the corner. Luckily we were turning into our street. Car stayed where we pushed it until we sold it. Renault dealers would only offer us $3g as a trade in and that was working! for a 2001 car!

Luckily for us we got 200k out of our car. We feel flogging it off as a fixable wreck was the best option for us.

Nightmare.

Same problem with a 2001 Renault scenic privilege. We had the tailshaft go - $2g repair bill. Then gear box started popping out of 5th, took to mechanic, had developed leak in gearbox. Immediately fixed but shortly after began happening again. Within a week, entire gearbox collapsed as we put it into 2nd to turn a corner. Lucky for us it was turning into our street so we pushed it home and there it stayed. Quotes were $3g for a second hand gear box, double plus for a new - without labour!

We sold the car unfixed as we were only being offered $3g by dealers as a trade-in. To have a $30g car go from terrific to **** overnight is shocking. We would never buy this brand again.

The gearbox obviously has a design flaw and should be fixed by Renault.

I bought a Honda Civic in August 2007 after considerable research into what was meant to be a reliable, economical car, only to find that water leaks into the car during heavy rain. The problem being, after several inspections by the local Honda dealership, the water entry cannot be found.

My concerns are –

1. Where else is water entering the car?

2. Is the car potentially dangerous i.e. I understand there was a massive recall of Civics between 2006-2007 because water was flowing into the wheel bearing, from time to time, causing the bearing to become loose and the wheel subsequently falling off!

3. The car is brand new, now 9 months old, can I get a replacement? Will I need to undergo months of threatening correspondence and a lot of inconvenience taking my car to multiple inspections for little result?

You cannot imagine my disappointment after so much due diligence. It is also my first car - ever.

Advice anyone?

For what it's worth. My experience:

1. If one tyre is worn irregularly it will pull left

2. Important. Take it to a steering specialist that understands four wheel alignment and their alignment machine.

I will guess that it is definitely the toe-in toe-out on the rear wheels. Tyre wear will show. It is usually toe in on the back right wheel which is the issue. 1 degree too much or little is Huge.

Go to ebay USA and find a rear camber - toe adjusting setup. 4 new arms fully adjustable, as if you were going to lower the car. About $80USD + postage.

These sets can change from -1.50 to +3.00 degrees for caster and toe

3. Check the tyre pressures

4. My experience with cars that have 4 wheel independent suspension and 4 wheel alignment is that if a tyre is worn or worn badly you can not stop it pulling left. Have two worn tyres and the problem compounds.

Hope this helps.

Message to Rob Adams - re Holden Astra ignition

Many thanks.

I had something of a battle to actually withdraw the barrel section from the steering column because the pin was worn - but once it was out the remainder of the solution to fix was straight forward and worked first time.

Can anyone advise if Ford is interested in rectifying noisy diff 3 month out of new car warranty. 81,000 Kms - or do we have to pay for their bad quality?

Hoping for some feedback or anyone knowing of a similar complaint. I have a 2004 DID Pajero that is leaking oil somewhere from the engine and into the airline. I am unsure if it might be the turbo or a ring?

Hi Jo, I would appreciate hearing from you.

My 2002 Carnival (bought new with all book services performed by Kia dealerships) has had 2 engine failures (at 57000 km, then 29000 km) due to oil in water/overheat.

Kia refused to assist on basis they had done so previously under warranty. The car is obviously now out of warranty although I doubt they would have been willing to pay again anyway.

It has cost me about $7000 to get it repaired at a RAA of SA approved repairer - dammed if I will go back to another Kia dealer.

I would be grateful for any advice/info on how to handle this.

I am in the process of fixing the Astra aircon. It’s quite an easy job if you have the right TORX bits (funning looking star shaped heads and keys that are common to the Astra).

First take off driver’s side wheel (for ease of access) and the plastic cover that sits between the wheel well and the engine bay (four little screws, easy). The aircon has 3 TORX ended bolts. Two are easy with a socket, the very top one needs a TORX closed end spanner. I didn’t have that but managed to use a 3/8 (I think) closed end spanner to get it off. The aircon compressor can now be pulled close down to the harmonic balancer height.

There is a TORX screw (yes you need the special key) to unscrew a small bolt from the front of the aircon compressor. The front hat of the clutch (the bit that gets pulled back to engage) should slide off as it’s on a spline. Once the hat is off there is a circlip (yes you need circlip pliers) to take the belt pulley off. It just slides off. Then the magnetic clutch sits behind this for which there is another circlip. This comes off easy. No Pullers are needed.

The magnetic coil has wires coming into it and this is where the diode is. The diode was not my problem so then I went to the other entry point on the opposite side of the coil diagonally opposite. Cracked that open. There is a yellow/white thermal fuse. You can take the little clips off either side with a sharp pocket knife whilst pushing the wires off the clips.

This is my problem. No continuity on the Thermal fuse. RS components and SWE-check have the fuses but at this stage not sure which one to get. Maybe Matt can help. The markings are hard to read, it has 447 UM1 1A250V xx187C F1 markings on the thermal fuse. The xx I can’t read but I assume that it’s a 187 degree C thermal fuse. RS Components have a 192C one with part number 176-9328. If you really wanted you could just solder the two copper ends in the coil, but then it wouldn't be protected for "next time".

Holden should be shot for making people fork out up to $1000 for what is essentially the failure of a 50 cent piece that can be repaired very easily. Do this job at your own risk but I thought I would offer some advice.

Matt if you read this would you be able to email me what temp you thought the fuse was.

Dale, I would appreciate hearing from you.

My 2002 Carnival (bought new) had a short motor replaced under warranty at 57000 km. This motor lasted just 29000 km. Replacement set me back about $7000.

Car had all book services performed by Kia dealerships. Kia refused to assist, saying they had done so previously under warranty.

I wouldn't call 29,000 kms "merchantable quality".

I purchased a Holden Cruze new in 2005. The only faults have been, a loose lower control arm and the fuse box cover fell off the first time I drove it on dirt. Both problems were fixed at the 1000k service. The car has given faithful service since I picked it up with just 26kms on the clock (90,000 now).

I live 160kms from work, and I do the round trip twice weekly, up hill and down dale. During my ownership the Cruze has been to Melbourne (approx 1800km both ways), twice, and to Brisbane (approx 2000ks) once, without missing a beat. I live in the Jervis Bay area, surrounded by national parks, where I regularly exercise the Cruze's off-road abilities on the various trails.

I have nothing but praise for 'Mighty Mouse'. My only concern is that no manufacturer sells anything close to the Cruze, so I cannot update when the time comes.

Many thanks for your reply. The car spent another day in the workshop without success in finding the problem. I will certainly be asking them the check what you have suggested, once again, thanks.

Hello I have an 2007 Volkswagen Jetta Wolfsburg edition. Inside of the car I hear the noises like something clicking sounds like something want to open up and close up right away (example: click, click). Please let me know if I have a major problem or my car needs attention from dealer.