Hilux2400

Yes - thanks - I put on a new mounting block recently.

If it were just one, I would drill it from the top and replace with a bolt and flange washer. It's not hard to replace the strut top mounting and it will come out with just the removal of the caliper, as otherwise you will overstretch the flexible brake hose. You will also need to disconnect brake pad warning wire and the ABS warning wire as these are connected to the back of the strut. Jack up both side of the car so that the sway bar is evenly loaded and release the bottom and top swivels from the sway bar drop link. The top through bolt from the sway bar drop link clamps the strut in place. You will need to make sure it is free and remove it. After you have done the above drop the whole lot down after having released the three top mount nuts.. Mark the position of the flange nuts so that the top link goes back in the same location. You will now need two items: a coil spring compressor and two ratchet straps. Compress the coil spring and as you do it keep the compressors tight against the spring with one ratchet strap applied horizontally. When this is done you will see that the top mount protrudes from the spring as it is held out by the shock absorber. Now use the other ratchet strap to compress the shock absorber to reduce the height of the turret, pushing the top mount back into the spring. The strut will now be short enough to swing out below the wheel opening in the wing, without removing any other suspension components. You can now take out the strut from the hub carrier and put on the new top swivel. It is possible to replace the top mount without taking the strut out from under the wing. Bit it's very awkward and you risk jamming fingers if the spring releases suddenly and clamps your hand under the wing. Remember to wear gloves and safety goggles. PS Remember to apply rubber grease between the cone washers and the rubber bush. It stops them squeaking.

911 Carrera C2 2003 - 65,000 miles UK Car - Tiptronic. Hello everyone For many years I have been trying to trace an elusive rattle. Sometimes I think I have it and then, alas, it returns. It's mainly noticeable at low speeds on a roughish surface. It might be happening at other times, but I can't be sure. I've tried many things and I know what's not causing it. The noise seems to come from the driver's side front wheel area (UK Car). Any thoughts after reading the following will be gratefully received: It's not the fuel cover or cap. It's not anything below the fuel inlet as I've looked and checked all the pipes behind the cover. It's not the drop links on the sway bars back or front, or the pivots, as these have been replaced and they are tight - this was the cause of one rattle. It's not anything in the trunk or tools or spare wheel. It's nothing in the bulkhead recesses. It's not the battery or any nearby wires. It's not the shock absorbers or top link swivels (replaced recently) - the joint between the domed washers and rubber used to squeak, but rubber grease cured that. It's nothing in the front shroud or anything near the rads. There are no loose fittings near the pedals. Nothing loose in the doors or behind the rear side cards. It's not the window motors It's not the exhausts (replaced) Nothing in the seats or underneath the seats The ties bars and suspension bottom links are tight with no movement. The brake pads are tight (new) and the calipers firm and so are all the pipes within the front arches. The wheel lug nuts are up to torque The wiper motor is firm and so are the drive arms. It's not the CD holder There's nothing loose in the headlight cowls Under trays are fixed I've had a good poke about in all sorts of areas expecting to find something, but no obvious causes. I'm beginning to wonder if this noise is in my head, as I mainly hear it when I'm in the car going up my driveway. Perhaps I should move! Thanks for reading H

Well done H

The good news is that you'll only ever do it once. However, I have also done this, but now many years back. I had taken out the sparking plugs on an engine and then started to take off the rocker cover, held down four Philips head set screws. I watched, almost in slow motion, as the first screw fell down the plug hole. A magnet worked for me that time. Best of luck. There are some pretty good magnets available on flexible stalks.

When you say it pulls to the right, does that happen when the brakes are applied or just occasionally when driving normally? If it pulls to the right when braking it could be sticking pistons on the left side so that braking power on the left side is decreased.

Could be just be the switch has failed. Change the switches over side to side and see if you get the same result. The passenger window switch is infrequently used and it could just have corroded contacts.

20003 - 996 - 64K Miles - Mobil One 0-40 - Oil 12 months old and done about 5K Stop worrying. I drove my 996 yesterday. It had been standing for 6 weeks as we have been away on hols. It was ticking on start up, but the noise soon disappeared. The air temperature was about 20 Deg C. As Loren said I wouldn't see this as unusual. I used to have a similar noise with a VW Golf some years back. The hydraulic tappets used to clatter like blazes on start up but the noise soon disappeared after a few moments. H

A friend of mine has a Boxster (2011) which he bought from a main dealer last year with a warranty. Last week his battery packed up and to keep his warranty the dealership replaced his battery with a Porsche battery. The eye watering cost was £288. An equivalent good quality over the counter unit of 800 CCA with a 4 year warranty would be about £80 - £90. These main dealer prices are unbelievable.

Looking at this another way the 5A drain every 45 mins is equivalent to 6.66 A/hr. This is a power drain of 6.66A X 12V = 80 watts/hr. This is like having all your running lights (both front sides and rears (20w)) on for 4 hours, or all your lights (running and dipped) on for about an hour. That's a substantial drain and enough to cause a decent fire if it's the result of a short circuit or poor connection. I had a drain on a vehicle recently that was caused by a poor spade connection in a fuse holder. Heat was being generated which caused the plastic in the fuse holder to melt and enough heat to distort a nearby plastic shield. The advice you have had about isolating the source is very sound. The other way to track the source is to charge up the battery. Leave it settle for about 30 mins and check the voltage. Start removing fuses and see if the voltage rises. If you remove a load the voltage will rise slightly. This will give you a clue as to where the leakage might be located.

I bought my 911 at the end of 2012 when it was 9 years old and it's a car with very few extras. It wasn't in top condition and had done just 45K miles. However, up to 2012 it had depreciated close to £50K in 9 years or put another was: £462/month. That pretty hefty and the rate was probably twice that in the first three years. Now it's in better condition and worth close to what I paid for it, give or take about £2k, but it's also a 15 year old car, still a head turner and I enjoy getting into it and driving it. In 1990 I bought a brand new Morgan, because I had always wanted one. I think it was the worse car I have ever owned, but if I had not bought it I would still want one. So don't worry too much about depreciation. Buy it, and enjoy it while you can, and you'll always live with the great memories of driving a truly spectacular vehicle.

I am unworthy - I will go out and polish mine immediately. Nice One H

I agree - it's much easier without the silencers on.

I carry a few spare relays around with me. The fuel pump relay is in the main panel near the fuses. There's a post somewhere showing the relays and their functions. I've been searching but can't find it. I think it's under Relay Location posted by Richard Hamilton May 2012.

If you think it's from the cap, put on a new cap. They are not expensive. When the rubber seal in the cap fails, or when it has not been tightened, the engine will run at a slightly higher temperature. Coolant will also be lost through the cap seal in the form of steam. As these leaks occur around the cap you will see red deposits left by the evaporating coolant. It could be coming from the valve head, if the screws are corroded. See the attached pics. I can't offer any advice on the replacement of the Boxster reservoir as I am a 996 owner. I have replaced the reservoir on the 996 as it was leaking and I dropped the engine slightly to give extra space and removed a few other things.

Thanks JFP that's very interesting and not something I knew about or had even considered. I thought that mainly AGM's were developed for multi-angle applications. I wonder how long it will be before we see very small light weight Li-ion batteries in cars. I have an emergency jump starter which has Li-ion batteries and it's hand held in size. H

I would go for the biggest conventional battery that you get into the battery compartment. There are many reasonably priced conventional batteries about with 4 or 5 year warranties that will do the job. As others have said, keep it on charge when left for more than a few days. One of the main advantages of absorbed glass mat (AGM) batteries is their potential to be used at various angles and maintain their output characteristics. This is not really a necessary requirement in a conventional vehicle on normal roads. Although it could be useful in a military vehicle or quad bike that might get up ended occasionally or perhaps a tracked vehicle frequently travelling on steep inclines. H

Decreasing the offset (ET) moves the wheel further out as the offset value is the distance between the vertical rim centre line measured inwards from the hub mounting face. As an example your current front is 8.0" with a 52mm offset. Moving to an 8.5" wide rim will push the outer surface of the wheel outwards by 6.25mm (half the wheel width increase). Further decreasing the offset to 45mm will add a further (52 - 45) = 7mm to this position pushing the wheel further out again. The final result would be a tyre which has its outer surface: (7 + 6.25) = 13.25mm further out than your present wheel. The calculation for the back wheel would be: 6.25+(65-55) = 16.25mm further out. On my 2003 996 C2 the back wheels are 18 X 10" with a 65mm offset (Stock wheels) with 285 tyres and the tyres are close to the wheel arch opening. I did have wheels on with a 55mm offset (fitted by previous owner) and the tyre wall was too far out. Hope this helps H

I agree H

We have become so used to plugs with a long life it's easy to forget that these things take a real pounding. I can still remember when it was routine to change plugs at 10K miles and do ignition points at 3k miles. Really, it's never wasted money changing plugs and as the ignition coils are in such hostile location in terms of exhaust heat and surface water I am really surprised they last so long.

These cars are great fun, but they are not cheap to run. Why bother to make a fuss after all this time. 996's are now, at best, at least 11 years old. What can you expect from an 11 year old car? Already I have had to replace some brake lines, air con tubes, air con rad, coolant reservoir bottle, air oil separator, alternator, oil filler tube, exhausts, suspension drop links and the shock are to be changed this year. Compared with Toyota longevity (I have two), they are toast, but they are ten times the fun. I smile every time I get into my 996. My 2003/996 has done about 67K of which I have done 22k enjoyable miles. Although it did have a replacement engine by Porsche at about 25K (reason unknown). If it gets to 100K I will be happy and at that time I will consider some major engine works including an IMS bearing upgrade, chain tensioners and complete replacement of coolant hoses. I hope I live that long. Just buy/drive it and enjoy it while it lasts. H

Clean out the debris from the front air intakes. Leaves build up in the corners and the rot and moisture promotes the failure of the engine coolant rads and air con heat exchangers. I would change the coolant and make sure the car has regular brake fluid changes (2 years) as it can retain moisture which will rot the internal metal surfaces of the system and decrease braking efficiency through fluid boiling. I would put on new brake pads as over time even if the pads have plenty of friction material remaining they can have problems with friction material splitting away from the backing material. I have had this problem on other cars.

I would say it's not worth bothering. If you look at the hand book it will give you the wheel sizes. I have a 2003 C2. The back wheels are 18x10 with 285.30's. The wheel offset is 65. This is the correct offset and with this size tyre and rim the wheels sit comfortably within the arch. When I bought the car it had MM Turbo Twist 18's with a 52 offset and they stuck out. The car looked dreadful.

On the same model as yours I have had this happen a few times. It's been linked to either the battery running low or disconnecting the battery. But you won't need the code as this model automatically finds it.

If you take the seat out you there is a delay time after switching off the ignition to avoid detonation of the air bag. There is a set procedure.