timb02

Nope no adjustment and they are frighteningly tight. fit the belt to the pump and as much of the crank pully as you can then turn the crank with the bolt in the centre till it pops into place. Tim

Horn is in the steering wheel centre where the spokes are should be marked in the plastic, The lenses will pop out of the courtesy light with a small plastic tool however the bulbs are not easy to find be careful to not break the sprags that hold them in. T10 bulbs can be made to fit with a bit of persuasion. the warning light is the diesel pre heater, comes on automagically when needed, don't fit an after market radio they almost always cause power drain issues. the standard system is pretty good so if yours is not up to snuff check it is working properly. hope this helps. Tim

Because the filter must be changed at the same time and the oil changes are pretty infrequent. It is possible to use a vaccume pump to change the oil after a filter change as the torque converter stays full thereby "flushing" the box. I would just go for an oil and filter every 70k or so unless the gearbox gets a particularly hard time.

Yes as it's driven to the mot station it's fine when it gets there. The egr valve is at the front towards the top of the engine. it is possible to clean with carb clean however I think the smoke is from a cracked pipe.

You are right the handbrake does not auto tighten. there is a blanking grommet in the bottom of the rear disk back plate that allows access to the adjuster. with the wheel off the ground tighten each one until the wheel binds with the handbrake two clicks up. the hand brake on GV's is poor at the best of times so don't expect too much. The cable in the cabin should not need tightening and definitely shouldn't be used to adjust the brakes.

Yes mine does that too. it will be the egr and associated pipe work but as above a PITA to get to and repair. I've just put up with the smell for the first few mins.

Just thought, there is an airbag sensor in the sliding door channel so best to disconnect the battery and wait five minutes before stripping out wires. Tim

Almost certainly broken wires in the harness that runs in the channel under the door. Easy fix and there are video's on YouTube showing the process. Just done mine and it was broken near the gear drive on the front of the door. No need to remove the harness from the door just the cover plate at the door end and the support half way along the body, slide it towards the back of the car. the plastic "runner" pops apart and clips back together just be careful not to break the sprags. Good luck. Tim

I've just fitted these rear struts from fleabay item 163741058708 worked fine. the ends were bolts rather than t40's however the lid now lifts and stays put.

If you drop the trans pan be very careful when replacing the bolts as they can strip the threads in the gear box even at the specified torque.

The rear springs are really chunky single affairs, it must have taken quite the bang to break! I would just fit a second hand one. Tim

Have had a bit of noise coming from the right side of the engine for a few days and thought I had an idler pully going. Duly ordered and had intended to fit today however SWIMBO decided that a trip to the garden centre was more important so off we toddle. Noise got progressively worse then all the smoke got out and the power steering failed. Limped home and investigated to find half the air con clutch embedded in the PSP pulley and the belt shredded. So off to euro car parts for new belt (which of course didn't fit, not their fault wrong belt in the pack) and ordered a new compressor clutch. so to my question, does anyone know the spec. for the bolt that holds the clutch to the compressor? thanks in advance. Tim

Could be a drive shaft joint. Do you get any clicking when moving on full lock? Any evidence of grease around the shaft? TBH grumbling is more likely to be bearing so the inner could be fooling you. I assume you have jacked and safely supported the car and spun the wheels for a listen to the bearings. Tim

So has been in to the local garage and they also cannot find any play. the suggestion was its your tyres as I have and Avons fitted within the last few months. can't see it myself as the off side wheel has a mass of positive camber when jacked up and free whereas the near side stays neutral. I have asked them to change the top strut bearing anyway so we shall see. Has anyone ever had issues with different tyres catching on the body? I suppose if I can't find any other faults I could extend the lock stops a few mil

Thanks for the reply chaps,yes both bolts are still present and tight with no sign of movement ,I think they are locator bolts as the front suspension is not adjustable. I have booked it into our local garage for a look as I don't fancy stripping out the leg myself. Lazy Tim

Sorry if this has been answered before but can't find info on search. Have had an odd noise from the front end when on full right lock and today found that the offside tyre will catch on the bottom arm and inner wheel arch when on full right lock. Not good. Jacked up the front and the near side tyre holds vertical and the offside is tipped out at the top by about 50mm! I can't feel play anywhere however i assume the strut top bearing has bought the farm? Can anyone shed light for me please? thanks in advance, Tim

I fitted an exile excel 74ah 680 cca replacing a brand I didn't know and declared ok by the breakdown man. As you so rightly say the battery is only a store so no matter how big if you take out less than you put in you will eventually get the click of doom when you most need the car! I have also taken your advice and bought the maypole battery charger so can top up the battery as needed. Yes the bus has got a tow bar "fitted"and has standard ICE. The tow bar wiring has been bodged on with wires going in to the rear light clusters under the lenses was done by the previous owner in spain. I have thought i would strip that out but of course while it kept starting ok i have not bothered. This will be the first thing to go when the search for the excess drain recommences. When you suggest pulling the shelf fuse which one would that be? I have to say i do find the IPM confusing as there seems to be no listed fuse for the ICE which would have been my first point of call. I guess it is part of another system. Have to say that patience was running thin yesterday as the battery clamp bolt had fallen into the engine bay resulting in me having to strip off the under tray to find it in the rain. Ah the joys of home maintenance! Thanks again for your advice and support.

Without going on too much I have had the classic GV battery problems which raised its head this week when the bus became 1st car post our lease car going back! new battery fitted and all seems ok so far. What would be an acceptable drain on the battery at idle? I know the spec is 25mA max after 20mins however I am reading 34mA. should I be too worried given that I have done the button mod and the car is used daily although not for long runs. A big thanks to QinteQ for all the posts on the subject of battery's and the mod has helped me no end! Thanks tim

thanks will buy a kit with all the bushes then. Probably best to do the lot

The front bushes of the rear springs on my grand are perishing and I wondered if while I was doing these bushes should I do any others? your thoughts and opinions please folks! tim

As with everything you gets what you pays for and as an old boss of mine was fond of saying only budgies go cheep! The suspension takes a beating on a heavy vehicle so try to get oem or at least something recognisable from a trader not best top notch Chinese only £1 today. Keeping the rear screen clear on a blunt back end is never gong to happen. Any estate van etc will always suck muck so just keep wiping.

Had the air con re-gassed today, apparently there was no gas at all in the system however it didn't show any leaks. now nice and cold for the summer

for those who may want to connect their phone if you have the dvd player with aux inputs a rica to 3.5mm cable does the trick. got mine from amazon for £5

Thanks chaps! I have now bought a re-gas and clense for the system so fingers crossed. Tim

I am having issues with the air con on my 2.8crd. When I bought it the guy said the air con just needed a re-gas and I foolishly thought that would be it, however I am beginning to think that this may not be the case. A little investigating and the 40a fuse for the rad fans was missing(?) so replaced with no ill effect. I cannot hear the a/c pump cutting in when the a/c is switched on and the fans do not cut in. The unit in the car also does not go into automatic mode i.e. the air direction and fan speed indicators stay on. anything anyone can suggest to look at please? Would low gas pressure cause the unit to shut down or is it not that sophisticated. thanks in advance for your thoughts. Tim