Manky Monkey Motors

My much loved & well travelled Ford Fiesta seems to be finally dying, (terminal gearbox trouble -more than the car's worth to replace).
So I'm looking for a cheap, couple of 100 quid -hopefully reliable -car. If you know of anything, give me a shout please.

Might have something you may be interested in Andy
Give me a ring after six today or I am in all day tomorrow.

Hmm MM, not sure I agree with your easoning as far a "cost more than the car is worth", if you know the car,and it doesnt have other issues, very often the cheapest in the long run is to fix it. Unless of course you're planning to flog it.
You could buy a cheap run around, obviously privately with no warranty, for the clutch, headgasket or even gearbox to fail.
Each to his own of course.

,,festa,, s/h  gear box,s are pretty cheap ,,

Cheapest I've found is 700 quid, plus a clutch, 50 -100 quid, plus labour, 300 ish at the local garage. The car's 11 years old & done just under a quarter of a million miles. Trust me, it's not worth it.
Will ring you soon Andy.

Hopefully sorted with a Fiat Punto, thanks to Mr Dslam's neighbour.

Nice little car, the Punto, think of it as a n4 Wheeled Ducati Desmodecci! well, maybe not, but still, a very nice motor, we have a few in our family, Punto's not Duke's... ;D ;D

 :D Fingers crossed it works out alright.
Won't be for a week or so. So in the meantime I'll be walking to work, (about half an hour), walking for 5 or 6 hours at work, then half an hour home again -& you can guarantee it'll rain every day! Also means I've got no way of getting to Loon's workshop to work on my truck, (about 5 miles away), so guess I'll be having an enforced rest from it for a little while.

can you not get a postie pushbike?  Always fancied one of the old ones :)

,,leccy,, bike  ????

Not sure of your local terraine Manky, but if its flatish a pushbike is surely better than walking. Get down to your local recycling centre, plenty there usually.

We haven't used bicycles at work for years. Carrying too much Mail now, so it's all done by van & trollIes, (like golf trollies), that take 2 bags of Mail at a time. 2 Posties in a van, sharing 2 deliveries, 14 - 16 bags of Mail, each weighing 20 kilos, plus all the larger parcels, Special Delivery items, (guaranteed delivery before 1pm), etc. We also empty all the Post boxes on our routes.
Used to be able to buy the old bikes. I had a Pashley with rod brakes & no gears. Cost me 11 quid. We weren't allowed to have the trays that fitted on the front & they were brush painted a different colour before they were sold off to prevent people impersonating Posties to rob Post Offices or whatever. Mine was black.
For a while the old bikes were donated to a foreign aid charity -don't send them food or medicine, give 'em bicycles. I used to watch the news reports of famines abroad, expecting to see some guy peddling past in the background on one of our bikes. That was stopped because of health & safety or something, so in the end they just used to cut the old bikes up. Royal Mail regularly goes round in circles so some manager will probably get a huge bonus for coming up with the idea of giving us all bikes at some point.

Should hopefully only be a week or so & I'll have a car again. Don't mind walking at all, but it takes so bloomin' long to get anywhere -could lose half a day just walking across town & back.

I can hear violins playing in the background ,ee by gum when I was a lad we had to walk 200 miles to get to school ? Kids don't know their born nowadays ? ::)

Aye, try tellin' 'em that & they won't believe you.

Drove my Fiesta to work this morning, expecting it to grind to a halt at any moment -it really was making some 'orrible noises. I'd planned to go straight to the local scrapyard after work, but a collegue was after a bonnet for his girlfriend's Fiesta. 50 quid & you can have the whole car.
Sorted, as we say at the depot.

But did he want the whole car ?.."look what I bought you today darling ? eEK!!" :o

"And it doesn't go. I bought it cos I love you".

Better be thorough when you empty the parts department before handing it over. :D

Already done -it's amazing how much junk you can fit in a hatchback!
I read somewhere once that the most common car for lottery winners to buy is a Ford Fiesta. I guess when you've got plenty of money you don't have to prove anything, so you buy something practical. I'd definitely buy another. Best car I've ever owned. Really nice to drive & went on, almost, forever. Drove it to Scotland & back, Holland & back -all over the place. I'm gonna miss it.  :(

Don't get all quivery lipped it's a FIESTA!!!

Yeah, but it was my Fiesta & I liked it.  :P

Hired a fiesta in Spain last week..gutless uphill with the air con working ? But I had a few MK 1 fiestas which we're very good fun cars..but I can't get exited about front wheel drive cars

Yeah, they're not as God intended cars to be are they.

I remember when Customcar did one up once..they didn't have a clue ?  :-\

I loved my Fiesta XR2, not the 2i, but the older Mk1.
The only thing it missed was a fifth gear

40p! Yup, I remember buying that issue too.

Obviously going for the Custom Van look?

i had a mk1 fiesta van years ago  i put a 1600 x,flow in it  ,===== the best little van i ever owned

and  mk1 vans are worth a fortune  now,,

Thanks to Mr Dslam, who hooked me up with his neighbour's car, I'm now the proud owner of an 1100cc Fiat Punto. 9 months MOT, 275 quid & only slightly pink. Wallowy suspension, like driving a bouncy castle & flat out at 70mph, but I kinda like it.
Thanks Andy

Glad to be of help. Saw pink and thought of you :-*

Oooh that's fighting talk ?z ::)

The Pink Punto is my Mexican wrestling name.

 :D ;D :D ;D :D ;D======= :o  its a hair dressers ,,, chariot,,,, ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D


it just needs some yellow daisy,s sticking on it ,,, and maybe some of them fake ,,eye,brows , on the headlamps ,, :D :D :D :D :D :D ;D

He's right you know - I can see it now!

Like this? (in the local supermarket carpark).

Pink sky at night -matches my Punto.

Well I managed 2 days before it packed up.  :(
Spins over on the starter motor absolutely fine, but won't fire. Fresh plugs -very intermittent spark. Poo.
Just ordered a pair of new coil packs from Ebay for 30 quid so we'll see if that fixes the problem, though a local mechanic mate says if the coils go down they often take the ECU with them. They're another £30 or so. It's a 200 quid, 20 year old car -I'll throw 100 quid at it if I have to, but any more than that & it's heading for the scrappy.
Looks like I'm walking to work again tomorrow then.  

So sorry to hear this Andy. Bloody typical. That car has been the epitome of reliability. If I had any suspicions it was going to give you grief I would not have mentioned it. Let me know if I can help.
The key thing has been explained. For those reading who don't know, the car came with three keys. A original transponder key and two others. The original owner, an elderly lady who was having memory issues, hid a key in the car and had two non transponder keys cut which she left with a neighbour and the garage so when she forgot where her keys were she could get the garage or the neighbour to bring a key which opens the locks but wont start the car so she could then access the hidden key. Needless to say as time progressed she forgot where the key was hidden in the car and who had the access keys. Sad but amusing in a politically incorrect way.
You may find hidden somewhere a second transponder key in there. No help with the current problems I know.

The old Maestro I had was a similar circumstance - old lady went dollally, threw out the keys to car AND garage, and all the paperwork.  Her son said "if you can get it out of the garage you can have it".  Well that was the easy bit cos our garages have mickey mouse locks, luckily the car was unlocked so we took the barrel out of the door lock to a locksmith and got a key cut (it was before transponder keys).

:) Not your fault at all Mr 'Slam. Just old cars -it's what they do. I did wonder if it was a transponder/immobilser problem, (when I collected the car from Andy's neighbour I tried one of the spare keys & it'd turn over but not start, as it's doing now). When I tried a spare plug in one of the leads yesterday though, it sparked once in half a dozen goes at turning it over, (I could only try one lead cos I was on my own & couldn't earth any other plugs against the engine & lean into the car to turn the key).
The problem started the day I put fresh fuel in it so at first I assumed I'd stirred up the sediment in the tank & blocked the filter, but I'm going with the no spark thing for now.
Unfortunately I need reliable transport for the next couple of weeks cos I've got a couple of big family events to attend, as well as trying to get as much work done on my truck as I can before Loony moves workshops, so I may have to rent something for a while.
Love cars, don't you?! :)

O.K, I give up.

New plugs & coil packs fitted, (took longer to walk across town to my lock-up garage & back to get the tools than to do the job). Result -no difference.
Don't know if it's an ignition fault, an immobiliser problem or fuel, (the interior smells vaguely of petrol but might just be that classic car smell).
275 quid for the car, plus a year's road tax & 40 quid's worth of parts & I'm still walking to work. After pouring a fortune into cr*p vehicles over the years, I recognise the point where it's best just to cut your losses & move on. I'll punt the Punto to the scrapyard, but not sure I can yet with just the temporary logbook slip.
My motivational screen saver isn't working.  :(

Vauxhall Corsa's are as cheap as chips and if you get an early eight valve engine, easy to repair with an abundance of spares available. Mum recently sold her one for 200 quid and it only had 38000 miles from new.

andy  have a look at the  , puegoet,, drive n, go deal  ,,,JUST ADD FUEL,,,,  i thought it was a con/flash in the pan  thing  but got a few mate,s  truck drivers that are using  them as daily commuters to the haulage  yard   £25 a week  all in  just ,,add fuel

on the immobiliser front...

crack open all the keys you have and find the chip (usually like an oversize grain of rice)
gaffa tape this to the steering column near the ignition switch (and therefore the transponder ring) and try any key.

Gotta be worth a go? Sounds like immob to me.

VW's/Skodas/Seat/Audi's have a nice thing where the immob will let the engine fire for a few cycles and then die, you get used to knowing the symptoms with those.

I once got a family going when "broken down" in a top spec'd merc ML towing a huge caravan in the motorway services.... They had called the rac when I wandered over and suggested they close all the doors before trying to start the car..  Some Mercs (and some VW TDi's I have owned) have carjacking immobs that require you have all doors closed before starting!

I have a mate who can burn out the immob circuit of some ECU's - I do a few VW transplants into campers and this is always a sticking point.

Talking of Mercedes cars,STIX is having problems with his ? Maybe somebody on here could help ?
ANDY I purchased a nice little Ford KA in January for my stepdaughter ..one old lady owner,low mileage..you can find good ones out there ?

Andy could you try one of the fault code readers if you know someone that has one may be worth a try before you scrap the car just a thought

Well he does know someone who has one. It's only a cheap one cos the screen on my old system went fubar.
You are welcome to borrow it Andy.

Might be worth a try Sir, although I've really already lost patience with this one. I'm not a mechanic & think I've reached the point where I just don't enjoy this kind of hassle any more.

Yes it gets you down mate,I'm keeping the trike as a tinkering project but no more for me now..Spain is calling me 8)

Hey, Senor, you wanna maybe buy some 'oles??  :D

Ole' !

Everybody out there seems to know me ? The locals all say HOLA when they see me ? ::)

 ;D
Well, Mr Olds very kindly leant me his diagnostic code reader this afternoon. Undid the access panel in the dashboard -hmm ...fuses, relays, etc ...but no sign of a plug socket. It's a 20 year old car -maybe they just didn't have them.

I was going to pull a fuel pipe off the carb & check there was actually fuel getting through, but it's fitted with crimped on clips, so I need a pair of pliers to get them off & jubilee clips to replace them -which means another walk across town to the lock-up to fetch them. I hate cars.  

Sorry MM didn't realise how old the Punto was and it looks like Fiat didn't do the std obd port until about 2000 in europe.

Andy,Have a look on the left hand side.
http://www.wikiobd.co.uk/vehicle.php?vh=603

You realise that's a left hand drive car don't you?!

And the Punto is a 1996/7. Think there are three pin connectors scattered around the engine bay for diagnostics, so not compatible with the reader. :(

diag,, point will be under the bonnet  on early  models    ,, pity  that  me or toad arnt closer ,,

Starting to think it might just be as simple as a blocked fuel filter, but need to walk across town & back to get the tools just to remove a fuel pipe to see what flow it's got. Not ideal trying to do stuff in the street outside the house.

How far did you drive after filling with fresh fuel Andy ?

Dunno, 10 - 20 miles maybe.
Nice to talk to Mr Toad on the phone this afternoon -'ello mate.  ;) Bizarrely, he was in Basingstoke, in the next road earlier today but didn't realise it ...well, he realised he was in Basingstoke I think. Trust me, you know when you're in Basingstoke.
He gave me lots of hints & tips, (he's an ex breakdown/recovery guy), but I'm not really any further forward.
If it's the immobiliser, I now know how to re-set it, but need to go through the service paperwork & see if I've got the code for it. He spoke about the engine management light, which should come on when I turn the key, before I start it up -or don't in my case. Doesn't appear to be one coming on. Battery, oil, handbrake -haven't seen an engine management one.
Simple fuel blockage check -take the air filter off & pour an eggcup full of petrol down the carb & see if it fires -why the hell didn't I think of that. No it doesn't.
Next step is to beat it soundly with a baseball bat before it accidentally spontaneously combusts.

Worked for Basil Fawlty, Mr. M................ :D

 ;D

He didn't use a bat ? :-\

That's where he went wrong.

Well, at least I know what the problem is now.
A neighbour came around to give me a second opinion & we went through everything again. Nothing mechanical/electrical/fuel related, so at least it wasn't just me being stoopid.
Warning lights on the dash all come on when you switch the ignition on, then go out again, but a light comes on for a few seconds showing fuel injectors & occasionally one saying Code. It's the factory fitted immobiliser. Cuts off the injectors so the engine will turn over but not start.
When I bought the car the previous owner was using the large red bodied key that has a transponder inside it, (no battery in it, so not just a flat key fob battery as we'd wondered). The owners manual says that one should be kept safe & only used when the car immobiliser code needs re-setting. I'd tried the spare key when I went to leave the seller's house & it wouldn't work, but that's the one you're supposed to use.
So, it only ran when the transponder key was used, then started faltering after 2 days & by the next day wouldn't start at all.
Great -so we just need to follow the re-coding procedure using the 4 digit code number on the card in the manual ...no card. Bugger. Unless the previous owner's got the card tucked away somewhere or I can find a list of code numbers on the 'net somewhere, it ain't starting.
No idea why it should suddenly immobilise itself after a couple of days but at least I know it wasn't something daft I'd done. Maybe.

get in touch with youre friendly second hand fiat dealer ,, try not to use a main dealer ,, a registered ,motor trader,, can get the code from fiat,, using the vin , number  there are a few people that specialise in recoding that are not to expensive..

Cheers Mike. Guess I should check with Mr Dslam first in case his neighbour, who owned the car, has got the card.

Fingers crossed!

 :)
Proper key -the one you're supposed to use all the time, plus a spare the previous owner had cut. These will turn the engine over, but won't start it.

Transponder key, with the little gizmo inside it. The owners manual says this should only be used to re-set the immobiliser code, not for normal driving. The previous owners said they used this one all the time, so so did I, (cos the other didn't start the car when I tried it).
Re-coding involves putting this key in the ignition, then pumping the pedals in a certain order a set number of times, (the 4 digit code on the card I haven't got). That re-sets the immobilser to recognise the key.
So presumably using this key all the time has confused the immobiliser -maybe after 2 days of driving, I've got lucky, (or rather unlucky), & hit on the correct sequence of pedal movements to re-code it?
Who knows -the conclusion's the same. I need the code to re-set the immobiliser then everything should be fine. I'm still going to trade this in & buy something newer cos I just don't trust it now & I've had enough of messing about with it, but a low mileage car with 9 months MOT's worth a lot more than the scrap value of a non runner.

i maybe wrong and it maybe worth checking but i think thers something missing out of that key.

Yeah, does look like it doesn't it.

Interesting discussion here Andy:

http://community.preloved.co.uk/forums/discussion/9620/punto-immobiliser-security-code-light.html

Hmm, a whole lot of owners there with the same problem & also with only one of the original blue/black keys.
One guy suggests putting the red one in the ignition, waiting for the Code light to go out, then taking the key out & putting the blue one in. He says to do it for both normal keys but I've only got one. Worth a try though.

OK,, andy i will admit ive sorted this on a fiat before  but its not for general knolwedge and its so complex it takes days to remove the whole system but its days of a job with a ,multi meter,, taking each bit out of the complete loom,, on cheap,,, garage rates,, it would still out vale any car,, including, a new one,,

but you would end up   with  a useable  ,, basic,, car

Checked with Maggie and they don't have the card.
Really sorry about this. I feel guilty as hell. As I mentioned in a previous post, the car had been perfectly reliable. Seems to be a problem for a few looking at the Fiat forum and lots of potential remedies.

I had a FIAT once - it was a wonderful car till anything went wrong cos getting the right part from the Fiat dealers was worse than doping jigsaw puzzles.  That was a long time ago but........

I think it's illegal to dope jigsaws these days Bobbi.
Not your fault at all Andy, just one of those things. I'm going to go to a dealership, (probably Ford cos my Firsta was a great little car), & look for something 2 or 3 years old. Remember that guilty feeling when I bring my bike over to have the carbs tuned though! :)

Guilty yes, but not that guilty ::)

 ;D

When we bought an old Fiat the manual said it should come with an emergency start code number card, but it didn't. Main dealer said that in the UK, for some years, they were not actually issued to owners due to insurance companies having issues with this. They wanted proof of ownership, the vin number and a fee to provide the code. We didn't bother as the car was ok at the time.

any news on this yet ??

Just about to arrange scrapping it Mike.
It's a nice clean, low mileage car & runs very well when it's going, but now won't start at all so is just sat in the road outside the house, annoying the neighbours. Even if it fired up & ran perfectly right now, I don't trust it any more. It's really not worth spending more money on trying to sort it out.
I do a lot of miles & just want a no hassle car I can jump in & drive without worrying about, so I've just booked a test drive at a local dealership in a '14 reg Ford KA with 6,000 miles on the clock. Don't need a big car cos it's just me in it most of the time, so a good condition small hatchback will do me.
So the Punto's going. Free to anyone who wants to collect it, (Basingstoke, Hampshire).

bung it in the for sale section ,,you never know it may make a few ££££,s

if you or anybody you know uses face book in youre area you can sell it on there  anything in any condition sells

New car sorted. I'm now a Ka driver. Picked it up from the dealership this afternoon.
Still got the damn Punto. It's still sat in the road outside the house, fully insured, taxed & MOt'd but going nowhere. The local fire brigade have a website where you can donate old cars for them to practice on. They tell you to leave your contact details & they'll get back to you. I did, a week ago, but heard nothing yet. Can't give the thing away.  :(

Our local Fire Brigade don't have their station at the moment, as it's being rebuilt. I doubt that they have anywhere to put the Punto.

Why not advertise it here.
http://www.750formula.co.uk/forum/index.php?sid=2ca12a8068ef578288e063375221aef3

My daughter had a Fiat 127 - we bought it for her when she was still at school, in the 6th form.  Someone said to her one day "Crap car Rose" - so she said "Oh yeah - where's yours then?"    No answer to that.

She drove that old thing for years and when it finally - and totally! - failed its MOT, she took it to the local scrapyard.......  and they wouldn't take it!   Luckily she was contacted by a Fiat enthusiast, who gave it a home and put a complete new floor in it, cos the old one had rotted everywhere!   What would she have done with it otherwise?

 :)
This is the page I found -covers Surrey & Hampshire. I saw their advert outside the station in Camberley, Surrey a few weeks ago.

http://www.carsfortraining.co.uk/donate_cars_for_training.html

A new start for you then sir ?

He's hoping for any kind of start!

Oh how cruel ! :o

 ;D Punto finally collected by the local scrapyard at 8.0.clock this morning -luckily, today's my day off. Good to see the back of it.  :)

Got a refund on the road tax for 120 quid yesterday. That's handy.
Drove up to Bedfordshire in my new Ford Ka today, a stone hit the windscreen & put a 6" crack in it. That's that money gone then.  :(

Your a lucky sod?  ::)

Aren't I just.  :(

 ::) bet your mates are out when you come round Andy ? :D :D

 :D

FFS :(

Mr M, you are undoubtedly a very nice fella! but please don't become a hospital visitor!! ;D..............at least not if I should be the one being visited!!!...Morrag

I could bring my mate, Jim Reaper, with me.  :P