Fixing advice from our garage proprietor Steve Rothwell
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
HONDA CIVIC
Running issues
The owner of this 2013 Honda Civic diesel had read off his own fault codes by the time he got to me and so was aware that he had a couple of issues that needed resolving. The motor was feeling a little rough when accelerating and with the two codes he had was unsure where to start.
The codes he had read off were P16CD and P049B. These were showing two different issues and I suspected the last code P049B was the one giving the poor acceleration. This was referring to the EGR valve and indicated insufficient flow. The details on the other code refer to the glow plug circuit (P16CD) and although these issues also needed addressing, the EGR valve was the one I was going to start with.
The EGR valve on this engine is very accessible and easily removed and cleaned, so this was my first step, I did also check the continuity of the glow plugs circuit using an ohm meter and found the poor connection that was causing the code. A good clean of the EGR valve and with the glow plug wiring problem rectified the EGR valve was replaced, and the codes cleared. Starting up the engine and giving it a good run, I was pleased to see that the EML stayed out.
LAND ROVER DISCOVERY
The steering on this 2006 Land Rover Discovery 3 TDV6 had been feeling a little shuddery for a while according to the owner, but it was just something he had put up with and paid little attention too. The MOT tester did pay attention to the problem finding that there was excessive play in the track rod, inner joint. Other than this and a couple of brake pipes that were noted as corroded, the Disco was clean, and no major issues found on the rest of the test.
The job time on this one was 0.7 hours, and the replacement went smoothly. The original steering rack boot looked a little worn and so I thought it was a good idea to replace this as part of the job, to prevent it needing looking at in a years’ time when the next test was due.
With the new track rod in place and the corroded brakes pipes replaced, this Land Rover had a ticket for another year.
AUDI A1
The owner of this 2010 Audi A1 1.4 TFSI Sport had just had the front tyres replaced after noticing the inner edge on the nearside had been wearing badly. The tyre centre he went to advised him to have the tracking done, but when he agreed they gave him the bad news that he had wear on the inner bush of the lower front arm. They were good enough to not charge him for the attempted tracking job and agreed to have another look a
