Could any one give some information or web sites on adjusting the band/s on the 3 speed Trimatic G/Box (fitted with 186 eng 6 years ago)? I have some information re Allen key and lock nut adjustments, but no information, diagrams / photos of where they are located.

Many thanks, DB.

Hi, read about the 3 amigos, as with mine. I bought a 99 model within a few weeks then came on and have spent many a time in the garage getting them fixed only for them to come on again. I’ve had sensors etc replaced but problem seems to lie else where. LR should recall all concerned. Apart from that it seems a good motor. But drives you to pull all your hair out.

Hello Frank

The same thing has happened to my Carnival after getting a jump start. I have put it into the Kia dealer up here, so far they have spent 3 hours on it and can not find the problem.

Can you remember which fuse you pulled out first?

Regards Andrew

This problem seems to be difficult to sort by our nearest Renault main dealer, who seems more interested in selling us a new car. Renault RX4 Diesel 1.9 DTI Manual. Bad vibration noise coming from the engine bay. It was present about 15K ago whenever going over speed bumps. It's now present all the time while the car is driving. It disappears when the engine is switched off while moving. It rises/falls with engine speed.
At rest with the engine ticking over it is present only when the front of the car is pushed down. It takes about my weight 250 lbs to make the vibration occur, and the tone varies with the engine rev's.

This sounds to me like something (e.g. exhaust) is coming in contact with suspension/chassis or other part? Maybe the engine mounts are worn? We can't see anything obvious, and note the problem has worsened progressively since we bought it s/h two years ago.

What do you think? We'd be glad of the advice. I'm anxious not to throw more money into the pot without seeing definite results. Seems the dealers are happy to try this and that, and make loads more money from us!

Regards, Kevin Murphy.

P.S. Happy New Year!

Thanks to all people who offered feedback on my pinging Courier and for all owners of Mazda B2600 vehicles and 2.6L Couriers I can now tell you that the problem has been fixed. It was a faulty engine computer (ECU) - **** up by Midland Ford during the routine service and not giving the correct ignition advance on hot days.

Vehicle is now running perfectly, as it was before it went into Midland Ford for its under warranty service and came out faulty and pinging.

If anyone is having computer problems - contact me and I can put you onto a company in the east who for under $500 will give you a rebuilt computer with 2 year warranty, exchange basis with your faulty one. New prices from Ford are about $2600 and from a wrecker about $550 - so who would use them.

Two other factors that I found during my lengthy hunt for the problem was that the manufacturing tolerances of the fuel pressure for the fuel pressure regulator and fuel pump used in these vehicles is poor. You can have a regulator putting out pressure on the low end of the pressure specification and a fuel pump doing the same thing. You finish up with a real problem which contributes to a pinging problem as it is impossible for the engine to receive the correct amount of fuel through the injectors.

John Wilkinson

Disappointing! I had similar issues at approx 12,000kms only to be told by DC Motors that it was "acceptable wear and tear" and perhaps I should reconsider where I drive the vehicle.

After about 3 weeks of arguing, they agreed to replace it.

Just stumbled across this site... nice to know I am not the only person who has had problems!

When towing 1700Kg you will not notice much input from the engine as there is a lot of weight propelling the vehicle forward which will overcome the capability of the engine. Running at 6.2 Litres per Kilometer is the equivalent of going through an average tank of fuel (60 litres) in just 100Kms. Are you getting 100kms to a tank? Being a commercial vehicle you probably won’t achieve a low RPM rate at highway speeds as the vehicle is geared to pull a lot of weight at low speeds so overdrive probably won’t show much difference.

Hi John,

Just out of curiosity when the rotors and pads were replaced? are they genuine or aftermarket? I am recently from a Ford dealership and I have seen so many instances where people are fitting the wrong brakes. As ABS is an option on that model some rotors Do Not have tone wheels on the inside (these are pick-up points for your ABS system sensors). If the rotors are not fitted with these then your light will come on whilst your driving.

Hope this helps. Andrew

Hi Jacen,

I know after a few years the EL series in general starts to get a bit old in the electrical side of things and the problems you described are quite common. I know for a fact that most of these concerns are traced back to earthing issues of the wiring, as the EL only came out with a baby earth strap from the battery to the body (near the coolant header tank) and a main earth that traces to the starter motor.

As wiring ages it increases in resistance and loses efficiency and for a whole car to run off that small wire for body earth is tragic. Keep in mind the car could have stalled due to computer shut down too due to bad earthing. My father’s car experienced the same issues so you ran an earth strap from the battery to the engine block, and also from the battery to the body of the car (where the main bolts are for the suspension) and the theory is use the bigger the better. This should fix your problem.

Andrew

I have seen this to be a very common problem over the recent years with BA & BF sedans. Although it shouldn't be doing this the main reason you find water in the boot is that the tailgate lid fills with water and when it is opened pours in to the boot compartment. Furthermore it overflows into the boot and you find a lot of water. Easiest fix is to lift the tailgate and remove the rubber grommets that stare you in the eyes at the base of the tailgate that are at eye level when opened. What this does is allows the water to drain so when the tailgate is opened in the future there will be no water.

I hope this helps. If you need any further information, just message thanks. Andrew

Hi Steve, I was recently a service advisor at a Ford dealership and I have commonly seen multiple vehicles come through the dealership with this colour peeling paint. The only real way to fix the concern with complete satisfaction is to completely respray the vehicle which will probably take around 5 weeks. As your new car warranty covers you for 3 years/ 100,000km's don’t forget that the body has a 10 warranty on the body of the vehicle providing it has had no damage to cause the defects etc. Hope this helped mate, any further questions don't hesitate to contact me.

This convertible is only seven months old. It has the 2.2 litre direct injection engine. At four months the motor started stalling while driving resulting in coasting to a stop at the side of the road. After several minutes the engine could be restarted and travel resumed until the next time it happened. The Holden dealer replaced the fuel filter and fuel pump and had to get advice from Melbourne re the problem.

Well, it is happening again. I just don't know when the engine will cut out again. Sometimes it will occur twice or more in a day and sometimes it may be up to a week between occurrences on the same tank of fuel.

Your advice is very welcome as I don't believe the Holden dealer's mechanics (or Holden?) know what the fault is.

Cheers

Rob, Have the same problem as LC2034. There does not seem to be a pin to push to get the barrel out. Can you give some more details on where to find the pin? Does the main electrical connector have to come off the back? Wish I could post a photo! My wife’s car will not start due to this barrel.

3 yr 100,000 km warranty is what most manufacturers give, under certain circumstances goodwill is considered, usually would require a good service history and a known fault. In your service book there is a number for the customer relations centre. Give them a call, you never know your luck.

I am having a similar problem and I believe the dealer is trying to put the blame on someone else. I complained when my vehicle was 12 miles over warranty. They refused to fix or even inspect for free.

My 2007 Mazda 3 has always had a surge/stumble at around the 60kmh range. I work in a mechanical workshop and I’ve driven lots of 3's.Mine is a throttle position issue I think, as when I’m on light throttle, regardless of engine revs or vehicle speed, the cars jerks and shakes. If you own a 3, rev yours just past the 2000rpm range (in neutral) and you will feel the engine shake. Above and below that is fine. Mine is much worse than any other 3 I’ve driven regardless of age.

I've been to my local dealer up here in Maroochydore several times, and have had all the "techs" test drive it and say it's fine. I’ve had Mazda Australia call me and say they will send a field technician to check it out, but the dealer didn't call me when he was up here. I’m getting really frustrated with this treatment, and it reflects badly on the dealership. What do I do to get something done?

My Temp gauge goes to over hot within moments of starting engine. Had new radiator replaced by Mitsubishi but temp gauge still the same… must be time for Mitsubishi to do another recall.

I have had this problem recently. Rattly sound when light clutch pressure on starting off. OK while moving. Only just made it to the mechanics. He first though it was a clutch centre. Turned out that both clutch and flywheel were stuffed. Adding insult to injury, there are also a couple of different ring gears for this flywheel and we got the wrong one. He had to fit our old ring gear to the new flywheel to get things going.

Resulted in the car being off the road for 2 weeks while a new clutch and flywheel was fitted. My mechanic indicated this is a problem with the dual mass flywheels. They just fall apart. Along with many other mechanical items on this model, they are under designed for the engine stresses involved.

Now the engine is also running roughly after having been taken out twice for this repair. Not 100% sure but this could be that the engine management module might need resetting.

I note that others seem to have this same problem. I went to open my bonnet and the cable "gave way". I had to dismantle the handle to get the cable back onto the release handle but when I tried it again the cable came out of the handle mechanism again. On one occasion I pulled so hard I broke the handle and part of the fuse block.

I went to the local Ford dealer who seemed to not take much notice of my plight. Instead of buying a new one I thought I'd try second hand only to be told I'd be lucky to find one that wasn't broken. It got the better of me and I wrote to Ford - no answer.

The other day I finally went back to the Ford Dealer and was surprised there is a replacement new version. But the Dealer asked if my fuse block was broken? It seems that this is an outcome of the release cable - but there was no offer of factory warranty.

I feel Ford has lost credibility to me over this. It is obviously a design flaw that they have not owned up to. So now I have to purchase a new cable at my own expense and fit it. It's not good enough.

Has any one experienced rough engine running following a long period with battery disconnected?

On 17 July 2007 I had the throttle body and fuel rail serviced and cleaned (carbon). Not long after that the car developed a lack of power on intermittent occasions. I took it back to the Toyota Service where it was checked but no fault was found. Again, on 11 March 08 I asked again but again no fault was found. At this point the engine malfunction warning light started to show itself and the car continued to die from what I thought was lack of fuel feed.

On 25 November 08 I abandoned the brand service and went to the local RAC. I commissioned them to check and replace any parts not up to standard and check why the poor performance. As well as several replacements (not applicable to this problem) their computerised analysis caused the replacement of the knock sensor. But still the problem continued so back I went and did it all again.

Also, I asked that the throttle body be checked and this was done as well, a four way oxygen sensor was replaced. It is still there. Turn left or right it dies in the hole and the engine malfunction warning lights up.

I have reached the end. The experts cannot tell me what is wrong. May be there is someone out there who has the answer. Can anyone help me?

I have had something similar where I pulled so hard I broke the handle and a couple of little clips on the fuse block. I went to the Ford dealer who seemed quite familiar with the problem but no offer of replacement of warranty. I have had to buy a new hood release mechanism and will have to fit it. I have complained to Ford suggesting this is a design flaw but they have not responded. At least the new one looks like an improved model and designed the way it should have been in the first place.

Hey mate same thing here, bought my self a D40 TD and I was losing power and it was really struggling to move. I took it back and they said they wouldn't know till a light came on the dash board (what happened to the good old day when we had no Computers). So I left it with them and they flushed out the injectors.

I've just had our EA wagon put on gas and so very pleased with how it runs. Sadly the tanks sit up an inch higher than the surrounding floor of the back of the wagon and the fibreboard sheet that covers the spare wheel well (where the tanks are installed) sits up extra high. They cut a hole out of it to allow the control box to poke through. There are 3 cylindrical tanks welded together side by side.

I was expecting a doughnut shaped tank to sit in the wheel well. It’s a hideous job and I wonder if I can safely load anything heavy in the back as it will basically be sitting on the tanks. I should take a picture - it’s the most horrible LPG conversion I have seen. Does anyone have advice? Am I a silly old fusspot to think that I should still be able to use the car as a wagon after a gas conversion?

In 2003 I purchased a Holden Astra soft top (Bertone) car new. The roof was vandalised with a slash within weeks, my insurer replaced the soft top. Under their policy they guarantee the repairs for the life of the car, even if the car changes hands.

In 2008 (6 months ago) the hydraulics on the soft top failed pumping hydraulic oil into the interior of the car. The insurance company agreed to repair the soft top under their life time guarantee. Yesterday the soft top failed as I attempted to put the soft top down. It froze half way, won’t go down won’t go up. The insurance company assessor has said they will not repair the soft top because "we believe someone has attempted to break into the car therefore it is not related to the original problem". The car was secure with no evidence of an attempted entry and as I operated the roof myself I know it was a malfunction in operation.

I’m wondering what my options are and if anyone else has had problems with the hydraulics on this roof?