treks

@Gaurav, did you manage to get the misfire on your Pajero sorted out? It would be kind of embarrassing if your Pajero started running rough in front of a lot of newbies, LOL.

I think it is perhaps more important to find out why the CEL light came on in the first place? There are hundreds of reasons why it could have come on, and while some could be minor, for all you know you might have a serious problem. Just turning off the light does not fix the problem.

In my experience the fist question should be- Diesel or petrol engine? The advantages of a diesel over petrol are so many that everything else comes second- here are some examples; 1.) More power at lower revs. 2.) Better fuel economy. 3.) Diesel engines last longer than any petrol engine. 4.) Diesel engines are generally smaller and lighter than petrol engines in the same vehicle, so you get better weight distribution. 5.) Less maintenance, particularly in the electrical system. There are many more, but these should get you going.

Plastic pigs?

I am afraid that Danny is misrepresenting the issue here. Any car can go into a skid at any moment, and for a wide variety of reasons, which is why in the US market, all new cars are legally required to have a working stability control system. The ABS is the mechanism that controls or regulates the stability control system, so without ABS, you don't have stability control, which means that you have a very good chance of ending up under a truck or in a ditch. Other markets are following suit, and in a few years stability control will be required for all cars everywhere in the world. Even for Camry's that don't develop 1000 horse power, because stability control saves lives by preventing a large percentage of crashes.

Hi Haroon I'm afraid that ABS issues is much more than "scare tactics" used by mechanics to make money, In the case of the code you have (U0123) the problem involves the failure of the yaw sensor, or its control circuit. This sensor detects over or under steer conditions. When it does detect such a condition and it thinks that you could lose control over the car, it activates the stability control system that in its turn, uses the ABS function of the brakes to apply selective brake forces to the wheels to correct the dangerous situation. In daily driving you could need this system at any moment. For instance, you may need to swerve violently to avoid hitting another car or some obstacle on the road, and if your stability control system is not working, you could end up in slide that could have you end up under a truck or in a ditch. Having code U0123 means you have safety critical issue, and if I were you, I would have it fixed right away.

@aatish, it all depends on the tires' speed and traction ratings. For instance, there is no benefit to fitting Pirelli tires with a 180+ km/h speed rating on a sedan that cannot do those speeds. Moreover, high-speed rated tires need to be at a certain temperature for the traction rating to be relevant, so by paying money for a tire that cannot perform as intended (or designed), is a waste of money. Also remember that the higher the speed and traction ratings on a tire gets, the softer the compounds are, meaning that high performance tires never give the same mileage as tires that were designed for family sedans.

Gaurav should be good to go with the setup you describe- one inch difference is nothing to write home about after all.

Very nice drive, this. It reminds me of the Sani Pass in Lesotho- the pass seen by most off road drivers as the most dangerous, but also the most beautiful mountain pass in all of Africa, especially during winter when the mountains are covered with thick snow. I have driven this pass several times during my travels, but this drive you are talking about should come close to the Sani Pass in some places.

I don't know if it is terrible news for Tesla. A wake-up call maybe, and not an unexpected one. I mean, their cars have been catching fire for years, and one would have thought that they would have fixed the problem by now, especially after the bad press they have been getting about it. Tesla's are nice and all, but who wants to drive a "nice" car that can (and probably will) catch fire at any moment?

Those pesky drift mode buttons need a firm hand, don't they?

If you drive a family sedan, you should be OK with Nitto or Kumho tires. However, if you drive a Lamborghini, Ferrari, or something similar, you have to pay more for Pirelli or Michelin tires because these tires are designed to be able to cope with the higher cornering and braking forces these cars develop. That said, Pirelli or Michelin tires are generally wasted on family sedans.

One inch difference in diameter is not going to make much difference in how well the brakes ultimately work. If anything, you may have to press a little harder on the pedal to get the same braking effect as with the bigger booster, but using a slightly smaller booster won't cause anything to break or fall off. Did you fit the original master cylinder on the replacement booster? If so, you may have to press the brake pedal a little harder to get the same braking effect as with the larger booster, but if you don't want to do that, you can fit a master cylinder with a slightly smaller bore than the original to keep the ratio between booster and master cylinder bore the same as the old setup. However, if the brakes work fine and you are happy about how the pedal feels, or how well the brakes work, you are good to go, and you don't have to modify anything else.

Don't forget the vinegar. I'm told the organic variety works best.

@Barry, I'll have a look through my old records, but I don't think any pictures from that era in my life have survived.

@Barry, I can do you one better- I once replaced a piston on a 1926 Allison Sports Tourer.

It is true that high heat releases all sorts of cancer causing chemicals from a plastic bottle, but it takes more than one heating cycle to make a difference. But its not only heat that is a problem- even if you leave water in the bottle for a long time at room temperature, some chemicals leach out into the water. You can try this for yourself- fill a soft drink bottle with water (it's made with PET-the same plastic as bottled water bottles), and leave it out of direct sunlight for a week or so. You will notice that the water has a different (unpleasant) taste, which is caused by harmful chemicals leaching into the water. Manufacturers of plastic bottles know their bottles are dangerous, but they don't care, because few people re-use plastic bottles for anything.

Only a one month warranty? I suspect you were sold a scrap compressor that may, or may not, last even a month. I also suspect that the garage did some weird stuff to your electrics to prevent the ECU from deactivating the A/C when the engine gets hotter than normal. I would take the car to Barry to have him check if any modifications were carried out on any electrical system or circuit. This "repair" sounds fishy to say the least.

@Technician should remember the old 3 liter Ford Essex V6 engines. Although they were primitive even by the standards of their day, they had a distinctive sound like no other engine. They were hugely popular in Southern Africa when I was there, and everybody and his cousin had a "Big Six" built into anything from VW Kombi's, to Morris Minors, Ford Escorts, and just about everything else in between. I personally hated this engine, but even I have to admit that apart from some modern V8's, there is still nothing to compare to the beautiful sound of a Big Six engine under full throttle. Not that a full throttle meant anything- even the best tuned Big Six was hard pressed to do 170 km/hour with its silly four speed gearbox. Full throttle only got some meaning whith the arrival of five-speed gearboxes, but that destroyed the engine's exhaust note, and sadly, the terrible Big Six died along with it's raucous exhaust note. RIP.

I would add one more thing- a spare ECU. They only cost a few hundred dollars or whatever to produce, and most car owners would be happy to pay that when they buy a new car instead of the several thousand for a replacement at the dealer. But then again, there is no profit in that for the car makers, so they won't do it.

As @Derick said, Pajeros always run borderline hot, but be very careful of how much antifreeze you put into your Pajero. Putting in a little more (stronger concentration) won't hurt most other engines, but since too much anti-freeze can actually lower the boiling point of water, you can let your Pajero overheat even if you use the very best antifreze in the world. Pajeros take some nursing in extremely hot climates, so just be careful.

This is very nice, but the usable range on electric cars still needs a lot of work. I don't think price is the biggest problem and especially not on a Porsche, but they will have a hard time selling these models at the price coupled with a limited usable range. I will be far more enthusiastic about electric cars if they can at least double the range.

The taxi is nice. The Bentley is not.

I saw this on Top Gear- really scary stuff with the truck driving itself!

Is the previous owner absolutely sure that the fluid was replaced with fluid of the correct grade and formulation? It might be worth your time to check the invoice to see if the fluid you have in the gearbox now is the same as the fluid that it should have. If the trouble started after the fluid and filter change, there three other possibilities- 1) The gearbox has too much or too little fluid 2) The mechanic could have accidentally dislodged some wiring from the shift solenoids when he replaced the filter. However, if this is the case, there should be stored trouble codes. Have you had this checked? 3) Some dirt and sludge could have been dislodged during the filter change- dirt that is now blocking passages in the valve body, or is interfering with the movement of valve shuttles. This happens more often than you might think,so you may want to have the valve body checked and cleaned out. If this is the case, there should be stored trouble codes as well, so have this checked out. All things considered, the problem seems to have been caused by the fluid and filter change, so focus on everything that could have gone wrong during the process.