Cars and Blondes.... - Page 3

Pia · 22-05-2008, 19:20

Hi all - just an update....

Took the car to a garage a few days ago, he spent about 45 minutes on it, also testing it with an error code reader or something - but he said it didn't give him any errors, and presumably that's because the specific problem needs to occur 5 times in a row for it to send a code to the computer, but my particular "revving" problem doesn't happen everytime i hold the clutch down....

Anyway, he didn't charge me for what he did the other day, and i took it in today for him to spend another 40 mins or so trying to diagnose it.
He said something was full of gunk (i don't know what it was, throttle something?? and the idle thingy??

)
so he cleaned that out.
But he's found a problem with a caliber(?) on the front brake which is sticking, and will cost about £90 to fix/replace...

Anyway - it hasn't revved on me so far, so fingers crossed the problem stays away!

Xaccers · 22-05-2008, 19:29

Caliper, it's the bit that pushes the brake pads against the brake disc which slows you down.
Remember when you had a bike? You'd pull the brake lever and the U shaped thing over the wheel would squeeze the rubber pads against the wheel's rim? That's a caliper.
If one is sticking, it can't apply the brakes as hard as it should do, and so your car can end up being pulled to one side, not good in an emergency if you slam your foot on the brake and your car merrily heads into oncoming traffic!

Pia · 22-05-2008, 19:32

Aaaaah yeah, when my fella drove it back into town the day i bought it, he was testing the brakes and noticed it pulled to the side.

My mother reckons i'm quite a jerky driver when stopping in slowish traffic, but i feel like i'm braking as smooth as i can, is this related to this issue??

Xaccers · 22-05-2008, 19:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pia

Aaaaah yeah, when my fella drove it back into town the day i bought it, he was testing the brakes and noticed it pulled to the side.

My mother reckons i'm quite a jerky driver when stopping in slowish traffic, but i feel like i'm braking as smooth as i can, is this related to this issue??

Could be, or it could just be that being in the passenger seat feels totally different to being behind the wheel.
Just get a sign for the dashboard next time she's in the car saying "Shush mother" and that should do the trick

mr_bo · 22-05-2008, 20:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pia

he was testing the brakes and noticed it pulled to the side.

Hi, a faulty caliper will cause a car to pull under braking as one side will have more braking efficiency.

Glad your revving problem looks sorted.

You could always get a second hand caliper from the scrappy and get that fitted to save some dosh.

LSainsbury · 22-05-2008, 20:26

Welcome to the world of motoring Pia....get ready to spend your hard earned cash on food for the car (ie petrol!)

Pia · 22-05-2008, 20:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by LSainsbury

Welcome to the world of motoring Pia....get ready to spend your hard earned cash on food for the car (ie petrol!)

omg i know

i've put £128 in 10 days in it

homealone · 22-05-2008, 21:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr_bo

Hi, a faulty caliper will cause a car to pull under braking as one side will have more braking efficiency.

Glad your revving problem looks sorted.

You could always get a second hand caliper from the scrappy and get that fitted to save some dosh.

Ditto best wishes that the revving problem is fixed - but, to be honest I would never consider buying second hand braking parts, myself.

Check exactly what you will get for your repair, though, Pia, for example if it includes pad changes to the affected wheel, the other wheel should get new pads, as well. Also is the hydraulic fluid going to be replaced rather than just topped up - and is that extra?

Wicked_and_Crazy · 22-05-2008, 22:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xaccers

If one is sticking, it can't apply the brakes as hard as it should do, and so your car can end up being pulled to one side, not good in an emergency if you slam your foot on the brake and your car merrily heads into oncoming traffic!

Its actually the reverse, if its sticking it will be sticking on and therefore creating friction slowing the car when it shouldnt. If it was sticking when the brakes were being applied it would be sticking very hard as the hydraulic pressure on the brake caliper is significant. Where as the return pressure on a caliper is very light

The ECU was most likely getting confused in that the speed sensor said a speed and the car would expect an amount a fuel to be needed for tick over however the extra drag was casuing it to over copensate. Once the drag inerti was overcome the car would have the effect of over reving or surging.

Xaccers · 23-05-2008, 17:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wicked_and_Crazy

Its actually the reverse, if its sticking it will be sticking on and therefore creating friction slowing the car when it shouldnt. If it was sticking when the brakes were being applied it would be sticking very hard as the hydraulic pressure on the brake caliper is significant. Where as the return pressure on a caliper is very light

Out of interest, how would that explain why under braking the car pulls to to one side?
If it's sticking on, then wouldn't it pull when you take your foot off the pedal rather than when you're applying pressure?
Would it be something else causing the veering then?

**Graham M** · 23-05-2008, 18:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pia

omg i know

i've put £128 in 10 days in it

Ouch! Going where!?

I put £30ish per month in mine!

Pia · 23-05-2008, 18:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zeph

Ouch! Going where!?

I put £30ish per month in mine!

£30?? That barely gets me round town for a week!

Well in the first week or so i was driving as much as possible to get practice and gain confidence. And i drove to Chesterfield and back (M1

) which is a good 250 miles.

Xaccers · 23-05-2008, 19:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pia

£30?? That barely gets me round town for a week!

Well in the first week or so i was driving as much as possible to get practice and gain confidence. And i drove to Chesterfield and back (M1

) which is a good 250 miles.

Should have bought a Xantia

frogstamper · 24-05-2008, 04:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by zing

clutch on its way out maybe or throttle cable sticking? what rpm does it normally tick over at?

I'd have to agree with zing.

Escapee · 24-05-2008, 14:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pia

Well this is what i wondered, because i am basically a new driver as of 2 days ago.... but my boyfriend did say it definitely wasn't that cos it did it for him too, plus i made him look at my feet when driving

and he could see i wasn't on the gas and it was doing it then

I dont think this is the thread for discussing your fetishes here.

Its difficult from your description, but you can eliminate a worn out clutch by driving up a hill and if the clutch is worn the revs will rise as it slips.

Your problem doesn't sound like the clutch but it may be worth trying this.