craigowl

Yes - good story. Good of you to take the time to write it up. :salute:

We lurv our 1990 Pug 205 diesel. Bomb proof engine. 50-55mpg when driven in hurried manner and up to XX mph on motorway. :wink: You can get a newer one than ours for about £700.

My lad sent me this for the forum! Apologies if you have seen it. http://blog.cardomain.com/blog/2008/06/ ... er-ev.html

Writer in Car Mechanics last month thought that steep excise duties on 2001-on cars may mean a loophole for people being able to afford to drive a big engined car by going for one from, say, the 1990s. Hope he's right. That would improve Corrado desirability, surely? As for new car sales, I believe that in Scotland, at least, June 2008 saw a large slump in sales compared with same month last year.

The cover on my battery is fastened with Velcro tabs, not press buttons. It is black and I believe to be original with the car (1995 Storm). Any one else got that type? (I realise this is such trivial tripe I am asking now :cuckoo: , but thought I'd ask anyway! :sleeping: :lol: )

Water pumps appear to be simple components mechanically. So many failures in a short time? My suspicions would be that something in the cooling system workings is causing them to fail. Don't ask me what :shrug: - excess pressure of some kind?

Looks like denim is still in, then! Like guitars, IIRC started back in the mid-fifties in a big way in the UK. Funnily, my best pal whom I have known from 1st year at secondary school, and who is pretty cool in many ways, has never worn a pair. :scratch:

Have ordered Mont Blanc set from http://www.towequipe.co.uk of Nuneaton for £69, including p&p and insurance. They have quite a good website for car stuff of the towbar/roofrack kind, etc. The Thule fitting kit for 5-door Peugeot 205 is widely advertised but most do not have it and the last 5 come into the country in July, I am told, and those will be the last. Always check that stuff is in stock by sending an email or phoning!!! I have already had money taken from my card by one company before they knew they could not get the bits (Grrrrr!). Will not be carrying outrageously heavy stuff on bars - mainly camping gear :camp: I am getting Thule Ranger 90 (soft) roof box from http://www.roofrackshop.com in Livingston - only a few miles from here as it turns out. :shock: Their prices include VAT and free delivery in UK. Most places in the country that advertise it do not have it in stock due to large demand. roofrackshop's website and customer service, etc is one of best I have experienced recently. The Ranger 90 has the advantage of being collapsible - you do not have to find a place to store a huge hard canoe-like roof box.

Cool - just like Bilic :D

Thanks, guys. Funnily enuf, there aint any on ebay for old 205 that suited - I thought there would be as well. I think I will go for Mont Blanc - one place has them reduced to about £60 while another is selling for £90. Strangely, the kit for the 3-door (mines is a 5-door) is over £100.

Thule roof bars (for Peugeot 205) are about £90. Paddy Hopkirk and others come in cheaper at about £60. Halfords do a dearer set of two they have at about £90, too. Anyone got any knowledge/experience/comments, please? :shrug: Avoid the predictable like "Halfrauds are bound to be rubbish" or "Thule are best you can get", please, cheps. :lol:

Strut tops seem to always come up as advisories even if they dont fail you. I had em fitted so as to avoid failure. (1995 VR6) nos are 357412331A (mount) get 2 of course. 1J0412249 (bearings) get 2 cost about £31 plus VAT for all 4 bits. That was in June 2007.

.....power stations on the moon??!?! How the hell does that work? 'Seasy, man! Once made, energy can be stored in batteries or similar. Just think of fleets of those giant ore carrying space freighters (like in "Alien") carrying millions of uncharged/charged batteries to and from the moon. :nuts: The more you think about it the more plausible it becomes. Some of us may be wired to the moon, :cuckoo: but I dont think you would send electricity down cable running to the earth. I expect dr_mat can tell us more about energy storage and how you get it to earth from the moon.

Wouldn't think so - is it not just a hole in the engine block? I had an irritating slight leak at that point where my new Gruvenparts pipe went in. I have now repaired it. The O ring appeared to have a little damage after forcing the pipe in dry. Best to lube it up with something :camp:

I attended an energy lecture once where the topic included the subject of nuclear power stations on the moon. :scratch: Copious energy would be safely generated thousands of miles away, the power station(s) would be mostly unmanned, being visited by humans only for maintenance, etc. Stranger things have happened, but let's not hold our breath.

I don't like people who have show-off cars with noisy exhausts and ridiculous low suspension - merely a fashion statement for maggot willies IMO. Sorry vwdeviant and mate, but well done to the polis. :shrug: We actually live in a liberal country where we have a great deal of personal freedom, yet many do not realise this.

"You do take bumper and front of car off but you DO NOT need to take manifold off. I did all this in October last year..............." Update. Last week, due to a slight intermittent drip at the point where the new crack pipe goes into the engine block, I managed with considerable difficulty and time to remove and reinstall the crack pipe without removing the bumper and slam panel, etc. Having slender chimp-like arms helps. :lol: aclwalker - make sure the crack pipe/engine block joint is sound before reassembling whole car. I recommend using a sealant like the copperbased Loctite 5920. I got it in Halfords - £5.99 - after emailing Henkel/Loctite to ask which of their countless sealants would be best. Leave it to cure overnight. In October, without sealant, I had to hammer crack pipe in with block of wood, too, and on removal last week found that the new O ring had 2 little nicks in it, hence causing the leak. The hole in the engine block has a stepped ridge inside so I suspect you cannot force pipe in too far. The sealant acts a bit like butter, so you will feel when you are in correctly if you use it. :norty: Anyway, there is not a drop below the car now and it has been on a couple of fast runs, too. Many people would have ignored the small leak, but these things niggle me and I had to put it right. Fingers crossed it remains fixed as after the initial installation last year, the leak did not manifest itself until car had been used several times. 3corsameal said: can they be done you reckon withot taking car apart? i forgot to check this.... I thought I read on a USA or Canadian forum that you could, if working on the car from underneath, but it was an absolute pig of a job. When I reinstalled crack pipe last week, fitting and tightening the oil cooler hose on the tube coming out of crack pipe took longest of all - it would just not stay on and kept sliding off. Choice is yours!

Thanks for that, davidwort.

Glad you escaped relatively lightly, davidwort. Off topic, but what do you think of the Mk4 Golf? I ask because you always seem well informed!

"True, but diesels almost all have turbos now do they not?" No rules saying you can't turbo and supercharge a diesel. Perhaps someone can enlighten us as to why petrol engines cannot be developed for such gains. dr_mat said: "They are still pretty shoddy in terms of the smoke they put out." Too right, Herr Doktor, I attended an air pollution lecture by a top UK specialist in respiratory diseases and he said that the pm10 sized particles cost our nation billions of £ per annum for damage to health. :shock: He also told us, that after revealing their findings, the government said "that is something we did not want to hear...". I asked what was his view on the great increase in purchase of diesel cars, but he kind of bodyswerved giving a direct answer. It would appear we are in an era of indecision regarding our motoring future.

Never mind - diesels will rule. I have seen in my time very smoky, noisy lumps transform into state of the art power plants capable of 70mpg (and rising) from 1400cc with better performance (still rising, too) than that of 1600-1800cc 1970s sports cars/coupes which did only 27-32mpg. Basically, unless you are disgustingly rich or foolish with money, diesel may well prevail.

That's tough about the bolts shearing - never mind it happens to everyone. When I changed the water pump, one of the engine mount bolts sheared on retightening. Apparently they are "one use only" and new one should be used anyway. Had to get local garage to replace mount and bolt - >£100. :gag: Remember when tightening up the allan bolts on the thermostat housing that the torque is mostly 7ft lbs - quite low - so dont overtighten as the plastic will crack! I had to buy a new torque wrench at £35 as the one I had did not go down to 7. All good fun. :brickwall: best of luck.

I had slow loss of pressure in tyres all round. Really annoying having to blow em up each time you got her out for a run. Had the wheels refurbed (£230) after a test I did with slightly soapy water showed tiny bubbles coming out at the rims. Wheel refurb was best labour saving thing Ive done for a while! Same thing with our Pug 205 (now 17). New steel wheels from Peug for about £23 each well worth it. Never really need oil. I changed it a few years ago and it is still golden-syrup-coloured with hardly any black in it. Only do about 1000 miles per year, though. Having a slight coolant drip from new crack pipe joint (grrrrr! - if it ain't broke, don't fix it) but may be solved now after fiddling with O ring :camp: . Otherwise no coolant or power steering fluid loss.

Probably those little curved ones to oil cooler. I replaced them, too, as they are known to fail and do not cost much. May be these nos, but check. 021 112 1058A 021 121 096 both called "water hose" £6.14 plus VAT each. Use "search" and you will find loads about removing bumper/slam panel and lights. I found enough to do it OK myself.

You do take bumper and front of car off but you DO NOT need to take manifold off. I did all this in October last year at age of 62. It was a big job for me but younger person will find it not so bad. I think original VW crack pipe is not dear at around £12 IIRC. Do it in your cul de sac - no need to trail it miles across town IMO.