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Car batteries the Cold weather and your car: How to keep your battery from dying

24th June 2018/0 Comments/in car batteries /by Eric

AA is getting a record number of calls for storm-related problems with nearly half being for dead batteries.

Another warning to vehicle users to have their car batteries checked before the winter and you will reduce the risk of being caught out in a snow storm?

it would be like sitting in a fridge and i am sure that it does happen to some people, remember that when it is cold we use all the electrical appliances in your car and if your battery is not up to scratch, then it will let you down and it could let you down in an isolated place or a snow drift if you live on the east coast of America, with the massive snow falls that they are having at the moment.

www.batteriesontheweb.co.uk

Car batteries let you down when you least expect it

After years of experience of selling car batteries, I know that it is the last thing on a drivers mind when they set off on a journey. It is like any other battery situation, you only know about it when the battery runs out of power. The best example which happens in most households is the mobile phone, specifically when the phone goes flat, it is total panic and the phone must be charged up at all costs.

Fortunately your car battery is a better engineered system, it will probably never let you down in a five year period, but when it does, you will be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and in most cases it will not be a simple case of charging it back up again.

Testing a battery with a volt meter, most garages will do this free of charge

Statistically your regular car batteries would fail in the cold winter months. This would always apply when I was first time Lucas battery retailer in the 1970’s. I would stock up in the summer time when the battery companies would always have a quantity deal, all ready for the winter explosion of car battery sales. The first cold spell in November would bring in number of cars with our first rush of flat Cheap Car Batteries, it never failed us.

Since the early days car batteries have changed

There were a couple of marked differences concerning car batteries then compared to modern day cars. First the car manufacturers would make millions of one model of car, say Vauxhall made millions of Vivas and Cavaliers, Ford made millions of Escorts and Cortina’s and then of course came the original Minis. They outcome of this was that the size and part number of the batteries were all the same, the 038 battery fitted almost every car other that the Fords, who opted for square bolt on terminals part numbers 037 and 085, later the 065 battery became more popular.

As years went by we started to import many makes of cars from the Far East, such as Toyota, Nissan at first and then many more cars came into the UK. This had a massive effect on battery sizes and part numbers, making the car batteries market more specialised.

This is where I made am good business decision and I decided to make the battery market a key part of my business strategy. Although I did not know it the time this decision gave me contacts that were to last me right up to today.

Car batteries remained much the same, the only thing that changed was the different terminals and physical sizes of the batteries, battery plates, became a new mix of alloys and lead alloys and companies the likes of Lucas batteries became the first to introduce practically sealed batteries that were maintenance free, there were no screw tops on the Car batteries for the driver to check the acid level.

Also there was the evolution of the cars. Cars were now coming out on more sophisticated electrical systems, which required car batteries with more power. We found that a difference in the old type battery and the new type of battery was that the new types of battery did not give you much time after failure, one morning the battery light would come on in your car and you would need a new battery, there and then; you do not have the time any more.

This is why it is important to check the batterybefore the winter time and when the car has a service. The winter cold that I have recently seen in the east coast of the USA makes me cringe at the number of drivers who must have been stuck in their cars with a dead battery. Remember they will let you down when you least expect them to, they do not give you much

This battery is in a bad state and would have been a good contender for failure, before the winter time.

warning like they used to do.

So my 40 year old advice is to check your car batteries before every winter and if the battery is over 5 years old then do not risk it and buy a new battery, once again especially before winter?

Please note these are the words and opinion of the author (Eric Roberts) only. Neither the author nor the website can be held responsible for any errors or omissions. You should seek professional assistance if in doubt about your choice of battery. The article may contain a link to Batteriesontheweb where you can buy battery products online.

Pirelli Tyres are joining in with the winter and all-season tyre popularity Boom.

RT @MissEvans2010: Take me back! Exclusive development story on Pirelli’s new all-season rubber: http://t.co/4XUHOWRqpr #Pirelli #Tyres htt…

Pirelli tyres are grabbing a chance to supply the growing popularity of winter and all-season tyres amongst European drivers for winter use.

http://www.pellontyres.co.uk/Tyre/Brand/1293/PIRELLI

Pirelli tyres go for new technology compounds

There is no doubt about it that there has been a massive shift in direction, as regards the public changing to winter tyres or all-season tyres, before the winter arrives here in the UK and the rest of northern Europe. Some countries, such as Germany, have to fit winter tyres by law, but the UK relies on common sense from many of its vehicle drivers.

In fact according from figures issued by the tyre industry the number of winter tyres fitted to our vehicles, will have doubled between a five year periods of 2013 to 2015.In my opinion Pirelli have not been as active as the could have been in the winter tyre market, but they now hope to make amends with the Pirelli Cinturato All-Season tyre. This tyre is also

Pirelli scorpion winter all traction

available with the new tyre seal system, that ads another safety feature to the tyre, by making the tyre practically puncture proof.

This new tyre will have the three snow flake winter tyre marking and so it will be good in the snow as well as a normal wet winter that we would see in the southern European countries, making the tyre a true all-season tyre. Pirelli Tyres of course has a number of what you could call full winter tyres, as we know them.

Pirelli tyres Scorpion Winter traction

Other tyres from the Pirelli winter range include the “SCORPION™ WINTER” which have been especially designed to fit modern SUVs and CUVs, for the use of winter motoring, with a special emphasis on the upper end class of vehicle, including the SUV’s and cross-over vehicles. The main reason for this tyre was to control better down-hill braking and cornering in snow and other winter road conditions, whilst keeping total control of your vehicle. These were especially designed with the larger size tyres fitted to the likes of the BMW and Mercedes people carriers, to help in bad winter weather conditions.

Pirelli tyre Winter Sottozero series 3

These asymmetric winter tyres has been developed with the high performance and sport car market in mind. The “WINTER SOTTOZERO™ SERIE 111” will guarantee a top performance weather you are driving on dry roads at speed such as on a motorway, or on a snow covered mountain pass, on your way to the ski slopes. Like winter tyres from most other tyre companies .This tyre has a special compound that gives the tyre great flexibility in a temperature of 7 degrees and below, giving the tyre a better grip in the cold and snow.

Pirelli tyres Winter Snowcontrol 3

This will be the winter tyre for the, what I would call the average car, that has to perform in colder climates or say drivers living in hilly and mountainous regions. This tyre is made in

Pirelli Sottozero winter tyres

smaller sizes to fit the average cars and I would say that they are a step ahead of the new Pirelli All-Season tyres, for the guy in a more extreme environment, say the difference between Scotland and the south of England.

Pellon Tyre and Auto-centre offer car and van servicing and repairs to all makes of vehicles. We are members of Unipart Car Care centres and give a nationwide guarantee for all our work and parts. We also sell Pirelli Winter Tyres online from our website www.pellontyres.co.uk by using the tyre selector and choosing your tyre size. We offer courtesy cars to local motorists who need to go to work and leave their car with us for work doing. We are also an official MOT testing station and are members of Motor-codes, who carry out checks for high standard of equipment and workmanship.

Kumho Tyres-sponsoring two further German football clubs – Tyrepress.com

23rd June 2018/0 Comments/in kumho tyres, kumho tyres from halifax /by Eric

In addition to its newly-signed deal with Champions League and German Bundesliga team FC Schalke 04, Kumho Tyres has come on board as tyre partner for two further German clubs. Hamburger SV and Her…

Source: www.tyrepress.com

Kumho tyres are extending what is now a long standing partnership between football clubs and major tyre companies around the world, the big clubs have massive exposure on TV stations and the tyre companies want to be seen supporting football.

http://www.pellontyres.co.uk/Tyre/Brand/1268/KUMHO

Kumho tyres join the trend of Football sponsorship

In line with latest advertising trend of many of the leading tyre companies, Kumho tyres now sponsor a total of two clubs in the German Bundesliga. The three teams that now fly the Kumho flag are now down to two, with the deal at FC Shalke04, finishing, Kumho have signed a contract to replace them with, Hamburger FC and Hertha BFC and the sponsorship deals are until the end of the 2016-2017 seasons.

Yong-Sung Kim, who is the managing director of Kumho Tyre Europe GmbH, said in an interview, “after recently finalising a long-term partnership with FC Schalke 04, we are now

Apollo tyres now sponsor Manchester United after the Kumho pullout

pleased to have found in the Hamburger SV a long-established club that we can cooperate with in the coming years. HSV possesses one of the largest fan bases in Germany and we hope to clearly increase our brand awareness with the help of this partnership.”

As a Kumho tyres dealer here in Yorkshire, this is good news. Although the deal is in Germany then we can still see matches and Euro matches on UK TV through the Sky network and this will follow the success of the Kumho tyres sponsorship deal that has recently been finalised with Manchester United.

Kumho tyres Motorsport pulls out of the UK

The sad part of the German football club sponsorship is that Kumho tyres are pulling out of the UK and moving it to Germany. We have given the South Korean tyre company much support in this country and I really wonder if moving out will give them any better sales here in the UK ? Only time will tell.

Another popular budget car tyre maker will be joining Kumho in Germany, and they are the Chinese company of LingLong tyres. LingLong are now a popular name amongst the cheap tyre end of the tyres customer base. They too have joined Kumho into becoming sponsors of the German Bundesliga team “VFL Wolfsburg

Wolfsburg general manager, Thomas Rottgermann commented,” LingLong Tire are placing their fate in the international platform of VFL Wolfsburg – and sustainably so, over a period of at least three years.”

Other tyre orientated tyre sponsorship deals come nearer to home, with Lassa tyres renewing their advertising deal with the English Premier League over another year period. The Lassa adverts will be visible on the LED pitch side boards that surround the pitches of 21 Premier League fixtures.

Also Cooper tyres that are the parent company of Avon tyres, the well-known British tyre brand are to sponsor Arsenal Football Club from the beginning of this season 2014-2015. The

Cooper tyres and Arsenal link

tyre brand name will be seen on TV all over the globe, watched by football fans during the Champions League games, a great catch for the tyre company.

On the down side Continental tyres have been rumoured to be pulling out of the World Cup sponsorship deal. According to a German newspaper, “in future the tyre maker intends instead to solely sponsor regional confederations, such as Europe’s UEFA. This change to the company’s multimillion commitment is also said to apply to the next World Cup. “

Watch this space, as they say.

Pellon Tyre and Auto-centre offer car and van servicing and repairs to all makes of vehicles. We are members of Unipart Car Care centres and give a nationwide guarantee for all our work and parts. We also sell Kumho Tyres online from our website www.pellontyres.co.uk by using the tyre selector and choosing your tyre size. We offer courtesy cars to local motorists who need to go to work and leave their car with us for work doing. We are also an official MOT testing station and are members of Motor-codes, who carry out checks for high standard of equipment and workmanship.

Michelin Pilot Sports Tyres will be used on the next generation of performance tyres for BMW – Telegraph.co.uk

22nd June 2018/0 Comments/in michelin pilot sports, michelin pilot sports tyres /by Eric

Michelin is the official tyre supplier for BMW’s new M3 and M4, marking the latest stage in a long and fruitful relationship

Michelin Pilot Sports are becoming the dominant force to contend with in the best tyre company in the world, and are constantly coming up with more and more accolades in the motoring world including the announcement that BMW are to use Michelin’s on their new M3 and M4ranges.

http://www.pellontyres.co.uk/Tyre/Brand/1272/MICHELIN

Michelin Pilot Super Sports tyres for the new BMW M3 and M4

I seem to doing lots of writing about the Michelin tyres products of late, but they do seem to be the tyre world’s most active manufacturers of late. The giant French tyre company are attacking all sides of the car industry with their involvement in motorsport on the rise and them the development of their Michelin Pilot Sports series of tyres that are aimed at the very fast and sporty cars, such as these BMW’s.

The BMW logo is that their cars are the “ultimate driving machines” and in their opinion by fitting the Michelin Pilot Super Sports tyres they will indeed be fitting the ultimate tyre for the new BMW range.

This is nothing new as the two giants of the auto industry have worked together for over 30 years, starting in the 1980’s when Michelin tyres were fitted to the M5 range, and have developed tyre products to match the handling and performance of the M range of cars right up to the point of the Michelin Pilot Super Sports, that will be used on the new M3 and M4 range.

As I have written on many occasions, I was brought up in the tyre trade as a Goodyear man, but over the years I have begun to realise that Michelin tyres were always a bit more expensive to buy for a reason and that reason was the quality of their products, I can honestly say that I have only ever seen one suspected faulty tyre in my whole 40 years as a tyre retailer, which is a great endorsement for Michelin tyres.

Michelin are also at the forefront of developing new types of organic chemicals to add to their compounds. This is known as “Bi-Compound “ technology, similar to the “dandelion latex” that Continental tyres are developing, a kind of latex that has the same molecular construction as rubber latex, that has been used to make rubber tyre compounds for over a century.

These different materials that are used have helped the tyre companies develop tyres will give better control and handling when used on the motorsport circuits or when fitted to the very fast sport saloons and coupes that are produced today and the Michelin Pilot Sport tyres are no exception, offering BMW with all these qualities, whether they are driving on normal roads or on a race circuit, where speed is of the essence.

The new tyres are to be brought out on both 18 inch and 19 inch tyre sizes as BMW original equipment. Here in Halifax Yorkshire UK we do have a customer who no doubt will be buying one of these BMW cars, as he is a BMW fanatic and loves going on race days to prove his driving skills. The guy is also an avid fan of Michelin tyres and so I cannot wait to see what he does and so that I can take some pictures for my articles.

Pellon Tyre and Auto-centre offer car and van servicing and repairs to all makes of vehicles. We are members of Unipart Car Care centres and give a nationwide guarantee for all our work and parts. We also sell Michelin Pilot Sports Tyres online from our website www.pellontyres.co.uk by using the tyre selector and choosing your tyre size. We offer courtesy cars to local motorists who need to go to work and leave their car with us for work doing. We are also an official MOT testing station and are members of Motor-codes, who carry out checks for high standard of equipment and workmanship.

Michelin Pilot Sports tyres-Performance is everything on – Telegraph.co.uk

22nd June 2018/0 Comments/in michelin pilot /by Eric

michelin pilot sports 3

Michelin Pilot tyres reflect its continuing commitment to delivering the best possible handling, strength and durability

Great thumbs up for the Michelin Pilot Sports tyres used on this extreme car, well done Michelin ?

http://www.pellontyres.co.uk/Tyre/Brand/1272/MICHELIN

Michelin Pilot Sports new generation of tyres

There is no doubt about the fact that the Michelin Pilot tyre range has kept up to the modern tyre range, that can be fitted and perform to perfection on the world’s leading performance and motorsport cars.

The French tyre manufacturer has succeeded in a multitude of different motor sporting events; these include the World Rally Championship (WRCC), Formula One, Moto GP and the torturous Dakar Rally.

As I have said on many occasions Michelin have accumulated a wealth of experience, by competing in these competitions, Michelin compliance in motor sport has developed them a range of tyres especially for high-performance vehicles, the Michelin Pilot Sports tyres. These tyres bring ultimate control and poise, to performance cars whether drivers are careering at speed on a race track or just cruising on the local motorway.

Michelin Pilot Sport range had early beginnings

Indeed the name “Pilot” goes back to the Pilote X tyres of the 1950’s, even this was before my time in the tyre trade, but they were still around when I began as a tyre fitter in the early sixties. The Pilote X’s were used on sporty type cars, such as the Aston Martin range, later to be made famous as the cars that James Bond used, in his spy films. And also the iconic British Jaguar XK150 cars, and of course many more.

The Michelin Pilot Sports tyres that we know today started off life in the 1990’s and were used on rally cars. The Michelin Pilot Sports tyres allows the drivers to operate faster production cars that enables them to use the technology used on race tracks. I have a customer here in Halifax that always fits Pilot sports and takes part in track days, putting his BMW M3 through its paces and he would not have any other tyres fitted other than Michelin.

The rally car that first used the Pilot Sports was the winner of the 1994 British rally Championships (BRC), a Ford Escort Cosworth, driven by Malcolm Wilson, who incidentally, drove on Michelin tyres for two years.

One of Michelin’s more up to date achievements, has been the that the Pilot Super Sport tyres were fitted to the Koenig egg Agera R supercar, and the exceptional quality of the Pilot sports have helped the car break six world performance records and because of the tyres, it safely achieve speeds of more than 270 mph.

Other record breaking sports cars to use the Pilot range are the Renault Mégane RS 275 Trophy-R and the Porsche 918 Spyder 4 WD, both these cars did record laps in Germany using Michelin Pilot Sports tyres . The very latest tyre in the Pilot range is the Pilot Sport EV, a tyre that I covered in an earlier article. This is the official tyre of the Formula E Championship. Each race in this all-electric series takes place in a capital city around the world. All these cars are battery powered unlike their cousins the F1 cars with their gasoline engines.

Michelin have been working in harmony with automotive manufacturers for many years now to develop products that are tailored to the characteristics of particular cars, especially high performance cars. When it came to the tyres development, experimenting with many new compounds and tread patterns, the Michelin Pilot Sports tyres was going to be the one used on the brand new BMW M 3 and M 4 models, this process involved making and testing thousands of prototypes, which were gradually refined to finally achieve the optimum performance on both the race track tests and the normal roads.

Pellon Tyre and Auto-centre offer car and van servicing and repairs to all makes of vehicles. We are members of Unipart Car Care centres and give a nationwide guarantee for all our work and parts. We also sell Michelin Pilot Sports tyres online from our website www.pellontyres.co.uk by using the tyre selector and choosing your tyre size. We offer courtesy cars to local motorists who need to go to work and leave their car with us for work doing. We are also an official MOT testing station and are members of Motor-codes, who carry out checks for high standard of equipment and workmanship.

Motorcycle Battery season is almost here for you Bikers?

21st June 2018/0 Comments/in motorcycle batteries /by Eric

Motorcycle Battery choice could be very important

When it comes into February, I know that certain groups of people, start to think about the spring arriving and in fact start to prepare for the new year ahead. These include people who are gardeners, golfers and other outdoor pursuers which include the motorcyclists.

I know that we often see the motor bike guys during winter time, riding their bikes, but most are fair weather riders who tend to park their bikes away until the better weather arrives in spring. I do not intend any insults when I say fair weather riders, but who wants to ride about in ice and snow on a motor bike, as I say they usually wait for the better weather, before they think about getting their bikes and their motorcycle battery out.

First thing to check is your motorcycle battery

This is the start of the busy season for outdoor pursuit batteries. UPS batteries and lawnmower batteries, as well as motorcycle and related machines, such as jet skis and quads. All the users of these types of machines start to look at their batteries, to check the condition after the winter break.

I normally recommend a straight replacement battery but I have been impressed by the quality and safety aspects of the Odyssey batteries. These batteries are just the thing for the modern high powered bikes and a new battery often makes the riding life much easier.

I am not going to harp on about the care of your

Motorcycle Battery

through the winter time; this article is aimed at the person who will need to replace their battery, either through the age of the old battery, or the simple fact that your old battery has just had it and a new one is required.

Odyssey

Motorcycle Battery

are not your run of the mill battery. They are often used in racing and rally cars, because of their high power and sealed safety issue. They are made to higher and stronger standards that the normal lead acid bike battery and therefor can take bigger knocks and vibrations.

AGM batteries are fast becoming the battery used in many modern applications. One of the latest uses for the AGM battery is on the Start-Stop cars, where high power is needed and a deeper cycling mode for the battery. This is where Odyssey come in, they are in fact sealed AGM batteries, and will not require any topping up in the life time of the battery. I am not going into the details of how they are made, but you only have to feel the weight to realise how well packed the battery is with its cells.

These batteries can be installed on their sides or in rally and race cars inside the cabs, because the battery will not spill out any acid if tipped over, because it is completely sealed. An Odyssey Motorcycle Battery will fit straight onto the bike, but some may require a clamping kit which is available.

Charging the Odyssey battery is very similar to the standard lead acid battery, but requires a faster charge rate to keep the battery fully charged at all times, this is not a problem as your charger will take care of that or your bike if you go on long distances, but for local short trips then you should always use a charger for any battery that you choose for you motor bike. All charging information is available on the Odyssey battery web site.

Make sure that your terminals are clean with no broken cables

Replacement motorcycle battery tips.

Because of stricter recycling laws, it is always best practice to return your old battery to the place of purchase, if you buy the battery online, then you can take it to your local council waste site where they have special area set aside for your old lead acid battery.

Always check your battery terminals and cables for acid damage and replace them where necessary.

Make sure that your Motorcycle Battery hold down where you fix the battery to the bike is secure, if not them please make it secure before using your bike.

Make sure that the terminals and any other nuts and bolts are correctly tightened when fitting your new battery.

Finally we sell many types and makes of batteries at www.batteriesontheweb.co.uk and we recommend Odyssey batteries as a safer alternative to the normal lead acid Motorcycle Battery.

Mitsubishi Shogun with smell problems? Brakes blamed but were not the Culprit?

21st June 2018/0 Comments/in car brakes, mitsubishi shogun /by Eric

Mitsubishi Shogun with smell problems

The smell problem that came into my garage was on a 1997 Mitsubishi Shogun 3500 petrol model. The owner said that he could smell odours that he thought were coming from the outside. We went out on a test run but typically we could not smell anything that was until the end of the test drive. We could smell a burning brake pad sort of smell.

Leaking fuel pipe

This vehicle is made in Japan and is classed as a full sized SUV. The Shogun comes in all sorts of names depending on which country you are from, in our case the British version is known as the Mitsubishi Shogun. In other countries it is known as the Pajero or Montero. In fact the Pajero is now a common import into the UK market. The Mitsubishi Shogun began life back in 1982, when it was produced in a shorter version, with the full sized version coming out in 1999.

This car is a very robust and trustworthy vehicle and can be used on or off road and is a popular vehicle here in the UK for towing the larger caravans, because of its power and strength. The Mitsubishi Shogun can be prone to some problems that are well listed on the internet, but these are not the case on the vehicle that we are looking at today.

Mitsubishi Shogun with smell problems, first the brakes.

The first thing we did was to have a sniff in the front brake area, to check for burning smells and sure enough, we could smell something wrong with the driver’s side front Disc Brakes . To anyone who owns a Mitsubishi Shogun they will know that the brakes are not the easiest to do and we had to strip the hub to get at the brake units.

Sure enough we found that the driver’s side brake caliper was seized up and we proceeded to strip down that side for further investigation. The brake caliper was in fact seized up and the pads had worn unevenly and needed to be replaced the discs were worn but OK to refit. After we freed off the caliper we ordered a set of new pads and built the brakes back up.

Mitsubishi Shogun with smell problems, next a fuel leak

When we lifted the ramp to remove the axle stands we noticed another smell of petrol. This The smell problem that came into my garage was on a 1997 Mitsubishi Shogun 3500 petrol model. The owner said that he could smell odours that he thought were coming from the outside had two smell problems at the same time. The owner had not noticed any fuel dripping

Shogun leaking fuel sender

in the place where he parked the vehicle. Garage owners will only be too familiar with such double barrel problems, you fix one thing only to find another problem, this was the case with this Shogun, and one smell had masked the other. The customer called in to look and accepted our explanation and gave us permission to deal with the fuel leak.

The first thing that we could see wrong was that the fuel pipes were rotten and leaking slightly, but the worst leak was coming from the fuel pump. We priced the job up and a new pump was going to cast more that the guy could afford. Debbie our depot manageress then tried the internet and found a breakers yard in Sheffield that had one in stock. We contacted our customer and he gave us the go ahead to carry on with the work.

Apparently second hand sender pumps are like the proverbial “rocking horse s..t” and so the guy was lucky. After finishing the work off the car went out with the smells both cured.

Pellon Tyre and Auto-centre offer car and van servicing and repairs to all makes of vehicles. We are members of Unipart Car Care centres and give a nationwide guarantee for all our work and parts. We also sell Michelin Tyres online from our website www.pellontyres.co.uk by using the tyre selector and choosing your tyre size. We offer courtesy cars to local motorists who need to go to work and leave their car with us for work doing. We are also an official MOT testing station and are members of Motor-codes, who carry out checks for high standard of equipment and workmanship.

Peugeot 307 ABSABS Problems a common fault

20th June 2018/1 Comment/in abs brakes and warning lights, car brakes /by Eric

As I have stated in other Peugeot 307 related posts that I have written, then the garages that are scattered around a main dealer will inevitably get spin off work, when the cars become over two years old and out of the care of the main dealer. We hear in Halifax are no different and the Peugeot is one of our main supplies of business.

I am not complaining and I happen to like Peugeot as cars. They can have many problems but I like the way that the French car company change their models around and make them interesting to their followers who buy them. One of the commonest problems that we come across on the 307 is brake problems, especially with the ABS warning lights. The other day we had the pleasure of two Peugeot 307 with the same problem.

ABS warning lights are now an MOT test failure.

The first 307 that we looked at were in fact in for an MOT test and was in good condition except for a well-worn tyre and the fact that the ABS brake warning light was on? We contacted the lady customer, who said, “that she wondered what the light was, but just thought it would go out on its own”

The lady gave us permission to see to her car. When the ABS light is on it means of course that the anti-lock function is not working and one of the most common causes is the ABS sensor or dirty wiring connections, which can include a break in the wiring. These wires are after all hanging in all the dirt and slush and can easily perish and/or break.

We start off by plugging the car into our Solus Pro diagnostic code reader. This will give us a code error, which will usually lead us to the problem. This code came up that we had a problem with an open circuit on the off side rear. We then carried out a hard test with a ohms meter and found a fault on the wiring.

In fact the wiring was broke where it goes to the Peugeot 307 ABS sensor, before the wiring loom. This was a relatively easy thing to repair ad also a low cost repair for the customer, who was very pleased that it was not something more serious. We plugged the car back into our fault reader and re-set the code to clear the fault light and the car passed the MOT test having also a new tyre fitted.

Aaron inspecting 307 ABS system

The second Peugeot 307 with an ABS fault was more complicated

The second Peugeot 307 ABS was also left with us to solve an ABS warning light problem, but turned out to be a little more complicated. Once again the car belonged to a lady customer, who had complained about her brakes juddering through her brake pedal, combined with a noise from underneath the bonnet. She was not one of our regular customers, because we always check the past history of a car on our customer data base.

She said that the car went into a famous fast-fit centre, who recommended that she had all the discs and pads replaced, which would cost around the £500.00 mark. She wanted us to look at the car because she just did not have that kind of money?

We do often get this, but we grit our teeth and just get on with diagnosing the job and telling the driver the truth, whether good news or bad news. This Peugeot 307 car was to have a different ABS problem to the other one. We plugged in the code reader and it and it came up with, “Rear air gap too large” and a fault code. Fortunately we have come across this one before proceeded to check the area at the rear where the Peugeot 307 ABS sensor bolts were connected to the hub.

The hub area corrodes, thickening the steel, which pushes the sensor away from the magnetic ring, and therefore not making a proper contact which stops a reading. To rectify this all we do is to clean the whole thing up removing any rust and the jobs a good one. We then reset the code with our code reader and cleared the ABS fault light. The lady was over the moon and we hope will become another of our loyal customers in the future.

Pellon Tyre and Auto-centre offer, Peugeot 307 car and van servicing and repairs to all makes of vehicles. We are members of Unipart Car Care centres and give a nationwide guarantee for all our work and parts. We also sell General Tyres online from our website www.pellontyres.co.uk by using the tyre selector and choosing your tyre size. We offer courtesy cars to local motorists who need to go to work and leave their car with us for work doing. We are also an official MOT testing station and are members of Motor-codes, who carry out checks for high standard of equipment and workmanship.

Breakdown Cover-Car and Van Drivers are running around without any?

20th June 2018/0 Comments/in car breakdown cover /by Eric

Car Drivers are Driving without any Breakdown Cover

This is the sort of thing that never crosses your mind as a problem? I actually thought that breakdown cover was nothing much to do with me and that the general motorist would be sensible enough to take cover out, especially when considering a long journey.

However I have now changed my mind, primarily because of the advent of cars that are now without spare wheels. Today’s cars come with all sorts of mismatch spare wheel systems and some of my customers did not even know this and have been driving around without a spare for ages, not knowing that they could get stuck anywhere they traveled, especially without

Mass air flow sensors are now a common problem for cars breaking down

the breakdown cover insurance to protect them.

Fortunately for ourselves we are finding that many of the tyres that we are getting in for puncture repairs are just too damaged to repair and require a new tyre and in some case’s a new wheel. This is because they have had to run their car with a flat tyre and they called a relation or friend up to change the wheel, because they do not have a spare.

We have noticed that in the past couple of years that the motoring organizations such as the AA or RAC here in the UK, are attending more and more call outs to motorists with tyre related problems. A few years ago the driver would just stop and fit his spare wheel, until he could get the tyre repaired; now many of the cars on our roads do not carry a spare wheel.

So the real issue would be to join one of the breakdown schemes that are available, to me it is the sensible thing to do, but according to a recent report for the Halifax Bank, one in seven motorists do not have any breakdown cover and so risk getting stranded this winter.

Another problem that is more prevalent on our modern cars is the computer systems that now control our emissions are breaking down. Practically all cars now have these computers (known as ECU’s) and they are creating their own problems for the motorists. Not a week now goes by without a car with that is having electrical engine problems coming in to the garage with a problem.

If the car is stranded in Halifax then we can attend to it with one of our own breakdown vans, but it when the car is away that the customer will get stuck if they do not have sufficient breakdown cover, the survey also says that almost a ¼ of the drivers questioned say that they have been unable to get to work because of car problems, and in my opinion this figure will rise unless more drivers take out breakdown cover.

Young drivers are more likely NOT to take out breakdown cover

As with most things that are driving related it is young drivers that fail to take out any breakdown cover. It is the same as most car related things, the young drivers are also more likely

Breaking down in winter time is not a pleasant thing so consider breakdown cover insurance.

to buy a part worn tyre and skip on car servicing, it appears that the car is not one of their priorities inn life and they would rather look good and have a good night out than spend money on their car. The figure for young drivers was 23% of 18-24 year old’s did not have breakdown cover for their cars, no surprise their then.

Jeremy Ward, spokesman for Halifax, said: “Many motorists could find themselves left out in the cold this winter as they fail to carry essential items on long journeys, or check their car is roadworthy. We’d recommend drivers ensure they have an adequate level of breakdown cover in place, and also make some monthly maintenance checks such as tyre pressure and tread depth to stay safe.”

The breakdown cover issue was not the worst thing that drivers came with. Over a third of drivers said that they last checked their tyres over a month ago and more that I in ten had not checked them for over six months. This is why I am always harping on about tyre safety, these drivers are a danger to themselves and other road users.

Pellon Tyre and Auto-centre offer car and van servicing and repairs to all makes of vehicles. We are members of Unipart Car Care centres and give a nationwide guarantee for all our work and parts. We also sell Michelin car Tyres online from our website www.pellontyres.co.uk by using the tyre selector and choosing your tyre size. We offer courtesy cars to local motorists who need to go to work and leave their car with us for work doing. We are also an official MOT testing station and are members of Motor-codes, who carry out checks for high standard of equipment and workmanship

Peugeot 206 has misfiring and pulling problem-Fuel Injector problems?

19th June 2018/0 Comments/in peugeot 206 /by Eric

Peugeot 206 with engine problem

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

Scanner showing the injector fault

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

Peugeot 206 new injector to be fitted

Peugeots; 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, and came up with a fault code R0270 Injector cylinder 4 circuit. This was a very clear indication what the problem was, and we

Peugeot 206 with faulty broken injector

contacted the customer with a price so that we could go ahead with the job. One important thing to remember about these injectors is that on French cars such as the Peugeot 206 they are changed as follows, the number 1 injector is at the gearbox end and the number 4 is at the driver’s side, 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. We are members of Unipart Car Care centres and give a nationwide guarantee for all our work and parts. We also sell Peugeot Tyres online from our website www.pellontyres.co.uk by using the tyre selector and choosing your tyre size. We offer courtesy cars to local motorists who need to go to work and leave their car with us for work doing. We are also an official MOT testing station and are members of Motor-codes, who carry out checks for high standard of equipment and workmanship.