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types of tyres-Michelin nokian apollo general and bridgestone runflat tyres

Sunbeam Rapier Cross Ply-Tyres-Classic car fitted with 590/600×13 TYRES

12th December 2022/in All Car Manufacturer Articles/by Eric Roberts

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Sunbeam Rapier Cross Ply-Tyres

Sunbeam Rapier Cross-Ply Tyres-1961 Rapier had 600×13 whitewall tyres

One of the great things about my job. Hence, as MD of Pellon tyres. No two days are the same. Thus, the only unfortunate thing about this is that your time does fly when your having fun.

As expected, the other day I had a motorcycle battery to deliver, (we offer next day delivery). Because it was only a few mile away in Bradford, I decided to deliver the battery myself. I will very often provide batteries in the near by towns in West Yorkshire. We try to give the best service to our customers from our Tyre shop and web-sites.

However, I arrived at the house in Bradford. So the customer was out. Therefore, I hid the battery under a bucket and left a note. Thereupon, on my way back to my van I noticed an old car parked up in next doors drive. I love old cars and often write blogs about them. Hence, this was no exception.

The car was a Sunbeam Rapier. I was over the moon and took a couple of pictures. These cars reminded me of when I was a young mechanic, my friend Richard Ellis worked in Dewsbury at a Rootes garage, and I worked at a BMC garage ( soon to become British Leyland). We always shared stories about the good and bad points on the cars we worked on including the Sunbeam Rapier. I do not remember seen one until the other day in Bradford. I think the owner of he Sunbeam is a member of the Sunbeam Rapier Owners Club.

Sunbeam Rapier Cross Ply-Tyres

The Rapier was an up market version of the Hillman Minx the early ones only having a speed of 85mph. The Rapier was given tail fins and a new style grille for the radiator, with the options of a convertible body making the car look kool. As far as I can remember they originally came out on cross ply tyres in the sizes 590×13 and then 600×13 tyres but I stand corrected if you know better.

In 1961 the convertible came out and was a very sound car, it had whitewall tyres

and was fitted with a walnut dash with two tone paint, making the car look unique. The Rapier was out at the same time as the Vauxhall Cresta and the Ford Zodiac all iconic cars of the time.

Lastly, I hope this blog brings back some memories as it did to me. A story from a motorbike battery delivery sunbeam with 590/600×13 tyres

Audi TT Hand-Brake failure- lady customers blue TT started creeping downhill?

30th November 2022/in All Car Manufacturer Articles, Brake Servicing Halifax/by Eric Roberts

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Audi TT Hand-Brake failure

Audi TT Hand-Brake failure; The Audi TT has in the past had many problems with the handbrake. There have been several reasons for this issue.

Last week a good customer of ours told us that his daughter had parked her car on a slight slope while she went into the bank. When she returned, the car had moved down the hill about ten feet. Luckily for her, the cat had come to rest against a very high pathway edge.

She was kind of scared and reflected in her mind what could have happened?

His daughter was in her late twenties and worked as an insurance broker in Halifax UK. The family brought all their cars into my garage for servicing and repairs; this Audi TT was no exception.

The father then phoned us and told us the story. The first thing that we asked was “whether she had put the handbrake on at all?” He said that this was the first

the thing that she had checked.

The car finally arrived at the garage, and the young lady left it with us for the day. I often look at the particular forums on the internet. The Audi forum did come up with a few different problems associated with Audi TT handbrake failure problems.

Audi TT Hand-Brake failure

We put the Audi TT up onto a ramp and removed the wheels. Although the problem was with the rear handbrake, we always check all the cars brakes to be on the safe side. The car was registered in 2005 and was 1800 Turbo special edition. A 225 BHP engine powered the car, giving a high performance.

Alex had the responsibility to repair this car. He set to work examining all the parts that make up the handbrake. Everything looked in good order and so Alex greased the moving parts and began to examine the discs and pads.

The brake discs looked in good condition, but Alex noticed that the pads had a shine on them. Shiny pads usually mean that they had “gone hard.”

We decided to fit a new set of pads as we suspected that this was the culprit. Alex completed the work and tested the handbrake on some of the steep hills that surround Halifax. He ran the car making sure the brakes were hot and checked the handbrake again.

Finally, another satisfied customer drove away into the sunset.

Pellon tyre online tyres and car repairing servicing

Daewoo Matiz Engine management Light problem?

29th November 2022/1 Comment/in All Car Manufacturer Articles, All Car Repair Articles/by Eric Roberts

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Daewoo Matiz Engine management Light problem?

Daewoo Matiz Engine Management Light problem?; Engine management light problems are a common feature of owning a busy Service centre, like the one here at Pellon Tyres in Halifax UK. I would not be lying if I said that we get two or three cars in a week for related engine management light problems.

I must say that it is one of those things that can scare our customers to death. They can drive their cars around with a bald tyre for months, but as soon as a warning light comes on, they are straight over to us for our opinion and possible corrective action.

Our latest light on problem came from a lady who had a Daewoo Matiz Engine Management warning Light problem? The woman said that she did not think that her car was running properly and was a bit sluggish. Also, a picture of an engine lit up on her dashboard.

As most customers do, (no matter what the car make or model), she panicked. Our customer was waiting at the door ready for when we opened up the garage

doors. This problem can indeed be anything to do with the engine management system. From the expensive coil pack to a faulty fuel injector.

Alex, one of my mechanical staff, plugged our engine management machine into the car and read the fault codes. The code came up as a cylinder misfire, which tied up with the ladies statement of the car not running correctly and sluggishly.

Daewoo Matiz Engine management Light problem?

Like many of our customers think, she thought she was going to need a new engine and was probably on “tender hooks” waiting for us to call her back with our assessment of the damage and the price. We checked most likely cause, the spark plugs. Indeed, the plugs were in a bad condition, and we suspected that this was the cause.

Everything else looked fine and so we fitted a new set of plugs. The car ran much better and so we reset the engine warning light, and road tested the car. Everything ended up right, and we informed the stressed lady customer, who was highly delighted with our low price repairs.

Millions of Car Workers Will Be Out Of Work-Repair and servicing sector still ill-equipped for “monumental” EV switch, IMI warns

29th November 2022/0 Comments/in All Car Manufacturer Articles/by Eric Roberts

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Millions of Car Workers Will Be Out Of Work

Millions of Car Workers Will Be Out Of Work

This is a comment that I made in response to the Governments Crazy Idea

So, in my humble opinion then this is just another idiotic plan. From people who have never lived in the real world (MP’s). Consequently, the government will not be able to pull this mammoth task off! Look what they did to brexit and now the corvid pandemic.
As a garage owner for all my life. So, I find it impossible to grasp why they have given in the the “climate change brigade”. Where I live the air as never been cleaner! It is time that someone or organisation stood up to this idiotic idea. What i am sick about is that i actually voted for this government who are prepared to smash the family business that we have built over the last 50 years.
What are all the other people in the present motor trade going to do? The garages, parts stores, gas stations. Including all the people that manufacture replacement parts including millions of lead acid batteries. Millions of people will be affected! Where are all the charging stations going to go many homes are two and three car families.

Many drivers on lower incomes will be taken off the car owning list. Electric cars wont be able to tow caravans and trailers unless you can afford one of the bigger models, taking millions of caravan owners off the road.

If motorhomes are to be classed as vans then these will be wiped off.

Also I think that the petrol companies will look at the situation and pull out of the UK even before the ten years are upon us! causing chaos. The list of negatives goes on and on. We will all be left “scraping for the bits” as most of the after service works and repairs on the electric cars will be kept at the main dealers.

Importantly, I just cant think what the government are thinking or is it that they just dont care. Just like the poor small businesses are having to close during the covid pandemic and the big stores are allowed to open selling the same things. This will be the independent garage sector in ten years time!

Finally not too long ago then it was estimated that we would need 1o new power stations to supply enough energy when these electric cars all require charging ?

A failure to properly support the servicing and repair sector will compromise the government’s ambitious plans to end the sale of all new petrol and diesel cars from 2030, the Institute of the Motor Industry.

Source: Repair and servicing sector still ill-equipped for “monumental” EV switch, IMI warns – Garagewire

BMW Mini Wheel bearing-Our customer thought it was just tyre noise to start with?

28th November 2022/in All Car Manufacturer Articles/by Eric Roberts

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BMW Mini Wheel bearing

So, this was one of those customers that are not your customer if you get what I mean. Let me explain? The owner of this BMW Mini wheel bearing problem had taken the car with its noise problem to two other garages, before finally bringing his car into us.

The first garage put the problem down to the tyres. They were Mini run-flat tyres, 205/45R17 and these tyres were fitted to the original alloy wheels. I personally think that the early Minis were noisy to drive. I thought it was the run-flat tyres, due to the fact that they are very stiff and hard tyres. These tyres have

strengthened sidewalls and are a different tread compound to give them the extra strength, for if a puncture occurs and the tyres are then driven to safety at 50 MPH.

Wheel bearings

The guy paid them for an hours labour and then moved to the second garage. They told him more or less the same. The tyres are noisy due to construction and noisy roads. The guy was still not happy and so came to us for our advice.

Pellon Auto centre, Halifax, Yorkshire, UK, have a large number of customers that own BMW Minis. We have come across customers with noise complaints before. We did, however, check the tyres and the tyre pressures and they were fine. The next step was the wheel bearings. This has been a common problem for us in the past.

Just as we suspected one BMW Mini Wheel bearing was found to have a little play in it. It did not look to be much, but with the weight of the car and the wheel turning then the noise would have been replicated many times.

We told the relieved customer and carried out the work on the wheel bearings. The outcome was a much quieter BMW Mini and a happy customer.

Nissan Navara Clutch replacement-Duel Mass Flywheel replaced.

27th November 2022/in All Car Manufacturer Articles, All Car Repair Articles/by Eric Roberts

Nissan Navara Clutch replacement

Nissan Navara Clutch replacement; One of the car problems that increase after the winter driving period, is a noticeable rise in the number of clutches that we fit. The other day was no exception. One of our first jobs that were booked in was a Nissan Navara Clutch replacement.

Clutches fall into two main categories. These are cars that are fitted with manual gearboxes and also automatic gearboxes. In the UK, the most popular type of gearbox, by far is the manual type of gearbox.

Other types do exist, but they are mainly on the upmarket car models and motorsport cars.

As most of my readers probably know the clutch fits between the engine and the manual gearbox and this Nissan Navara Clutch replacement, was no different.

The clutch enables the driver to change gears, in response to the car engine speed. This enables a smooth transfer of power, from the engine to the gearbox.

The clutch plate is made from a similar material to your brake shoes and eventually, wear away. Like anything else it depends on how the driver treats the clutch, as to how long it will last. The guy with the Nissan Navara could feel the clutch slipping when the truck was fully loaded. He also had problems engaging his gears on occasions.

Nissan Navara Clutch replacement

He brought it into us here at Pellon Halifax UK, for us to check it out. Sure enough, the clutch was slipping and in need of a new one fitting.

The Nissan Navara Clutch replacement, meant us removing the gearbox away from the engine. The Navara is an inline unit, which means that the engine and gearbox are lined from front to rear, driving the rear wheels.

Alex was allocated the job and he soon started to remove the holding nuts and bolts. The Navara is a big vehicle, compared to the clutches that we normally fit and Alex had to use hydraulic engine stands to take the weight of the extremely heavy gearbox when it was removed.

When we checked out the parts, the computer informed us that this model could be fitted with a Duel mass Flywheel (DMF). These were invented to take out many of the stresses and vibrations that were associated with diesel engine cars. In my opinion, some vehicles do not need it. This has become more obvious to me, when certain clutch manufacturers, make an alternative solid “Blue-Print“clutch to replace the DMF.

We contacted the customer and explained to him about the DMF and the solid clutch. He phoned back and gave us permission to fit the solid clutch. This was fitted and the gearbox built back up. The Nissan Navara Clutch replacement was complete and the customer collected his car and away he went.

All-terrain Tyres-A wide range of tyres for the Land Rover or SUV owner?

26th November 2022/in All Car Manufacturer Articles, All Tyre Articles/by Eric Roberts

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All-terrain Tyres

There are many different types and makes of 4×4 and SUV vehicles on today’s roads, and so explaining about which tyres to use for various vehicle makes, becomes nigh impossible.

For this purpose, I am going to use the Land Rover, for my explanation into all-terrain tyres. All-terrain tyres are for the driver who may do the mixed on-road driving and off-road driving. Many of the SUV’s come out on a standard summer tyre. But the type of tyre that most people associate this kind of vehicle on is a more rugged tyre.

This is where the all-terrain tyres, come into their own. A good example that I came across recently was at an agricultural show in Halifax where my tyre business is based. The cars are all parked in a grassy area, adjacent to the showground. I suspect that you now know what I am about to say because many drivers have experienced this for themselves.

The day started out to be sunny but in the afternoon, then heavy thundery showers were peppering the Halifax area. One shower turned into a torrential deluge, sending spectators and exhibitors for the shelter of the marques. The fun came when the visitors started to drift to the car park and then home. To my surprise, most small family cars did alright, apart from a little skidding.

However, to my surprise, the cars that were suffering and getting stuck were the SUV’s and were also driven by lady drivers. The one I helped was a BMW, with brand new Continental summer tyres fitted. The car was useless and skidded all over the place.

All-terrain Tyres

Halifax is not what you could call a rural area. The terrain is hilly with many small steep bendy lanes and “B” roads. We also have a successful Land Rover dealer in the area, and so it is a perfect scenario to fit a set of all-terrain tyres. These are the tyres you want if you are driving on a mix of road surfaces. You can go from tarmac roads straight onto dirt and farm and forest roads, with high confidence of not losing traction.

The ratio of on/off road capability is most often about 60/40. The one tyre that I would recommend through years of experience is the General Grabber AT. These all-terrain tyres are ideal for the Land Rover owners and any other type of these vehicles. The General Grabber tyres also carry the “snowflake” symbol, which means they are also ideal for bad winter weather and snow.

Fit these tyres and you will be the person that gets to work on time, or can pull off the grass at an agricultural show?

Broken Engine Mounting-Mercedes A Class thought his engine was dropping out?

25th November 2022/in All Car Manufacturer Articles, All Car Repair Articles/by Eric Roberts

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Last week was a busy week, one of the jobs was a broken engine mounting.

The customer came into our garage here at Pellon Autocentre in Halifax UK, with what he thought, “Was the engine dropping out”?

He told us that the Mercedes Class A an increase in engine noise and vibration felt inside the car, as if the engine was ready to fall out?. The customer thought that the noise was even louder, when the car was stood still and idling. The guy was very distraught. He explained how the car made a noticeable thumping noise when he changed gears.

Ryan Linton had a good idea of what it could be. Consequently, the customer left the car with us for examination. Like any other part of the car the engine mountain can be prone to breaking. It is similar to a large exhaust bracket that supports the engine against vibrations. Once it breaks it sounds like the engine will fall out.

A few weeks ago we also had a Mazda 3 in to us with a broken engine mounting problem. The Mazda had a top engine mounting problem and caused the car to vibrate badly when idling. Other cars show different signs, but in general all the noises are stressful, for the car owners.

Broken Engine Mounting

The mountings are checked on the MOT test, but the rubber part of the mountings can break apart very quickly.

Ryan checked out the Mercedes and as suspected the car had a broken engine mounting. Because we are a part of Unipart Car Care centres, all our work is guaranteed and covered by a nationwide warranty scheme. Because of this we use replacement parts that are of the same standards as the original equipment parts.

The engine mounting is the part that holds the engine to the body. Or to the engine cradle (sub-frame) of the car. This is to reduce the amount of engine vibration felt inside the car. Most engine mounts are filled with rubber as shown in the image and works. Because, there will be no direct metal-to-metal contact between the engine and the car body In most cars. Furthermore, the rest of the engine and gear box assembly are bolted together and held in place by three or four other mountings.

Ryan went ahead and removed the old mounting. When the new one arrived he fitted it and the car was as good as new. Ryan road tested the car and gave the

thumbs up. When the guy picked the Mercedes up he was highly delighted with the cost, because he was convinced that he needed a new engine?

Peugeot 206 Misfiring-Including pulling problem-Fuel Injector problems?

4th November 2022/in All Car Manufacturer Articles/by Eric Roberts

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Peugeot 206 Misfiring

Peugeot 206 with engine problem

So, when you own a garage in the same town as a main dealer. You are more likely to get second and third hand cars in with problems. Of course, rather than the customer taking their car back to the usually more expensive main dealer. And why not! In most cases we have just as good equipment and knowledgeable staff, as the main dealers anyway. If we get stuck with a technical problem. Importantly, we have also got a network of people who specialise in the make of car. So from where the problem has arose. So, we can always rely on their help if such an occurrence arises.

The problems that can happen are usually electrical and although we have an array of scanners and computers, they don’t always get down to the problem and we have to seek help from friend who is a specialist in that field. This however did not apply to one of the jobs that a customer left with us the other week.

Peugeot 206 started OK but did not pull on hills.

The car was a Peugeot 206 2001 model and had started up on a morning, with no problems. At first the car drove along OK, but after about ½ an hour, the car started to lose power. The Peugeot 206 was still drive-able but he did notice a lack of power?

The car was also able to accelerate away when required, but his foot was down to the floor. He said that he thought that the car was asking for more fuel and had to keep it into a lower gear, say third instead of fourth. He said that a few years ago the 206 had a catalytic converter failure and the symptoms felt very similar.

The guy left the Peugeot 206 with us and Ryan decided the best plan was to plug the car into our scanner and see if anything showed up there. We often get similar problems with these

Sometimes the owner says that the engine feels like it is misfiring

Such as a guy who recently called in with his 206 Gt. This one ended up having an injector problem and we fixed it accordingly.

The scanner we used was a Solus Pro from Sun equipment. Subsequently, came up with a fault code R0270 Injector cylinder 4 circuit. This was a very clear indication what the problem was .

So, we contacted the customer with a price so that we could go ahead with the job. One important thing to remember about these injectors. Significantly, is that on French cars such as the Peugeot 206 they are changed as follows. Firstly, the number 1 injector is at the gearbox end. Secondly, the number 4 is at the driver’s side. Importantly, it is easy to replace the wrong one.

It has been known that the wrong injector has been changed? Say number 2 could be mixed up with number 3. This would mean that you may have changed the injector, but would still end up with the same engine problem and this has probably happened hundreds of times, by DIY car repairers.

After we were given the go ahead by our customer, Ryan ordered the new part and fitted it on its arrival. The code error then cleared and the Peugeot 206 was back to normal and collected by its happy owner.

Pellon Tyre and Auto-centre offer car and van servicing and repairs to all makes of vehicles.

Shock Absorbers- Nissan Micra – MOT Test-Failure if they are Worn and Leaking

30th October 2022/in All Car Manufacturer Articles, All Car Repair Articles/by Eric Roberts

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Shock Absorbers

Leaking shock absorbers are an MOT test fail

The most frustrating thing about shock absorbers and struts, (which are basically the same thing) is that they are sealed units and although they are classed as maintenance free, they will

very often start to leak. In some countries shock absorbers are known as dampers, because that is exactly what they do they damp down and level out the bumps that your car is picking

up as it drives along the road.

Depending what the model of your car is, then the shock absorbers should be changed at certain mileage intervals,

If you are not sure what this is then you can perform a simple bounce test. All you have to do is to press the corner of your car a few times with your body weight and then stop the bouncing. Once you stop then your car should settle back down straight away, if it bounces again more than twice then the shockers require changing. You do this procedure on each corner, bouncing the car and then releasing it.

In my opinion this is not a very satisfactory way of checking your shock absorbers, but at the moment I have not seen a satisfactory machine that will do the job. The best machine that I ever saw and consequently bought was a tester that was sold by SUN equipment. You drove the car onto vibration plates, which shook the cars suspension very violently and then suddenly stopped. The action of the shock absorbers was then recorded on to paper printouts via an ink needle, similar to the ones used in hospital heart machines. If the pattern was tight then the shocks were good, if they were wide, then the shocks needed replacing.

This was a great machine because it produced a print out so that the customer could see the state that his shocks were in. ironically the machine was scrapped by Kwik-Fit after I sold them the business and I don’t think that they are made any more.

How do Shock Absorbers work?

Some cars never have their shocks replaced, but with age the ride of your car will get bouncier and the cars steering will be all over the place when cornering, although this is sometimes

blamed on the cars tyres it is more often than not the shocks that need changing.

As I have said earlier, the most common problem is the fact that they leak oil. If this is the case then they will need changing. Any kind of shock absorber works on the same basis. There is a piston rod that enters a chamber that is filled with oil. The piston has oil seals to prevent leakage. As the piston is compressed by the weight then it takes the force of the road surface and the car. Your shocks take all the up and down pressure (bumps) and the cars chassis remains level, or as level as possible whilst driving along.

When the shocks are worn or broken then you will get an uneven ride in your car. I think that the worse culprits of this are on cars that are used as Taxis. You can often feel the older cars bouncing up and down as you drive along, and apart from alcohol, I am convinced that this is one of the reasons that people are sick in the back of a Taxi.

Struts are normally fitted at the front of cars and are fitted inside a coil spring unit.

These are known as McPherson struts and just like the shock absorbers, they can leak oil. These struts along with the springs that they are inserted into can very often break, and the symptoms are rattling and banging noises coming from the car when going over bumps in the road, This is another problem that the potholes can cause. “Broken springs”

An old perennial that keeps cropping up is that when a shocker has to be replaced then should they be replaced in pairs. In my opinion this is a grey area, the manufacturers always recommend that you fit two, and I think that this is the perfect scenario, but in practice the customer wants to get away with having to spend as little as possible and in general only has the one fitted. The rule to this is simple, if your car is relatively new, then just change the one, the one on the other side should still be good, but if the car is an older model then you should change the shocks on each side of the same axle, backs or fronts. This will give you an even ride and more stable cornering.

Normal shocks are fairly easy to change for the home mechanic

But the struts are more difficult and require some special tools, such as spring compressors and so I would take your car to a local garage, for the work doing.