It sounds as though it hasn't had an oil change in 280,000 kms either if it was that badly caked up inside. A bit of tappety noise on a cold start is very common as the oil pressure in the hydraulic followers has drained down while standing so has to build up pressure before they take up the slack. It might be worth putting some high detergent oil in, something intended for diesel engines, and running it for a while to wash out the internals before giving it an oil change. Depending on your ambient temperatures, you might want to put in something fairly thick, I use 10W-60 in mine, but you shouldn't need to use any additives with good quality oil.

Ahh, that's different. It always annoys me that people wouldn't drive around on 15 year old tyres but complain that EAS is unreliable when air springs, which are made of exactly the same stuff as tyres, start to leak after 15-20 years.

Although they will be past their best in terms of grip, I wouldn't expect sidewall cracking to happen until they are over 10 years old or had been left flat for any length of time. Different makes vary but I know that BF Goodridge are well known for premature sidewall cracking. I wear them out well before they reach that stage though.....

That's similar to what I have on mine but with an external 20dB gain pre-amp. The signal still drops out in places, notably the M11 between Duxford and Stansted, but works well in most other areas. I expected the screen aerial to be pretty poor when I put it on the SE but as it came with the head unit I figured I might as well give it a try and it works far better than I thought it would.

If you stick it right at the very edge on the passenger side, the elements don't go right to the edge of the screen. I fitted it there on our 4.0SE and it only drops out in the same places as mine (in a dip surrounded by stone houses next to where the step daughter works) with an amplified whip aerial on the roof.

One other thing you can check which can cause a similar noise is the flywheel. The noise will sound like it is coming from everywhere and anywhere but will be louder from underneath the car. On a GEMS you've got the tags that sit either side of the crank position sensor and it is easy to bend them slightly when doing the flex plate bolts up. Drop the lower cover off and slowly turn the engine over with a big screwdriver in the ring gear. You are looking for a tag that is slightly out of line with all the others.

If the oil has been in there while it has been standing, a change isn't a bad idea anyway. If you put some high detergent oil through it, something intended for use in a diesel, that should wash out any residue or gum.

Definitely sounds like lifters to me or a worn rocker or rocker shaft. I agree it is at camshaft speed. If it was a hydraulic lifter leaking down, it would be worse on initial start up and then get quieter as the oil pressure builds up. What oil do you have in it? If it is too thin, it may be OK when cold but thins down too much when it gets hot and the oil pressure drops. Anything less than 10W-40 is too thin.

Does the little flap close over the keyhole? That flap is what operates the microswitch so if that is sticking that is why you are still getting the message.

When you turn the key to the off position, the centre of the barrel should pop out by a millimetre or so and you hear the clunk from the steering lock. As it moves out, it operates a microswitch. What happens is it doesn't fully pop out so the switch doesn't operate and the steering lock doesn't engage.

Spray brake cleaner into the lock and work the key in and out a few times. Keep doing that until it returns fully every time. Then, once the brake cleaner has evaporated, spray some graphite powder into the lock to lube it. Don't use anything like an oil or WD40 as dust will stick to that and it will gum up again.

Yes, after 3 minutes of the brake on, it will move. If less than that, it sits there showing Motorway height steady and Standard flashing and rises as soon as you come off the brake. Whether it will drop to Access after 3 minutes though I've no idea and have never tried (although will now).

No, or at least there's no setting for it, so it doesn't look like it.

I've got a query that has intrigued me for a while too. Why is EAS movement inhibited when the brakes are on? I can understand why it won't move with a door open as you wouldn't want to lower to Access if you have a door open and you are parked next to a high kerb or similar or you could crunch the bottom of the door. But if you pull up and want to drop to Access to allow someone to get in, you have to put it into Park and take your foot off the brake pedal. It would be so much more convenient if you could just stop, drop it, allow your passenger to get in and then drive off (I'm thinking airport pick up and drop off where they only give you milliseconds to get in and out).

I hadn't noticed that the gearchange wasn't as smooth as it should be until I drove the red one and thought it was smoother than mine which is what made me check the fluid level in the first place. Now it does definitely feel smoother. Torque converter lock up happens earlier too.

That is one thing that has always intrigued me. I live just over half a mile from the A1(M) so all of my journeys start with a slow run through the village before getting on the motorway. If I sit at around 60mph, after 2 or 3 miles, the torque converter lock up can be felt and the revs drop by a couple of hundred but at the same time the exhaust note changes as if I've given it more throttle, even though I haven't, and it starts to slowly accelerate. That is now happening sooner than it was. You can tell if lock up has happened. If you lift off the throttle and the revs drop, it hasn't, once it does the revs remain the same.

Spent the weekend doing a bit of a service on the gearbox. Recently checked the fluid level and wasn't happy with what I saw. Rather than being a nice red colour, the fluid on the dipstick was the colour of strawberry milkshake. Then realised it was self inflicted. The difference between min and max on the gearbox dipstick on a GEMS is only 250ml but I had previously assumed it was 1 litre so had inadvertently overfilled it. That meant that the excess was being blown out of the breather which is at the bulkhead on the far left of the car and I had fluid dripping off the front mudflap, not a good look. I put a small catch bottle to collect it and forgot all about it. Unfortunately, it had also been catching rainwater so the end of the breather was under water meaning that when hot, air and excess fluid was blown out of the breather but when it cooled down, it was drawing water into the gearbox.

Removed the catch bottle, bought 5 litres of fluid, drained it out, refilled with fresh but after the engine had been run for a short time, it was better but still not clear as it should be. The whole gearbox/cooler/pipes and torque converter holds 11 litres but when draining it, only 6 comes out. What came out didn't look pretty though.....

While poking around I also noticed it was damp at the front left corner of the car and it appeared that the transmission cooler had a slight leak. One thing that I dislike intently is a car that leaves drips underneath it so although it hadn't got that far, it would do eventually so decided I would do that too. Dropped Dave Ashcroft an email asking if there was a way of flushing the system and his advice was to drain it, refill, run for 100 miles or so, then drain and refill until it is clear again. Ordered a cooler and 20 litres of Dexron 3 and set to it on Saturday. Figured that as well as draining the gearbox, this would also drain the pipes and cooler, which it did, all over the ground under the car.....

Using a hand pump, pumped fresh fluid down both pipes with the drain plug out of the gearbox so that would flush the pipes too. Went to fit the new cooler only to find that it didn't have the holes for the self tapping screws that hold the temperature sensor to the side. Oddly, RAVE doesn't mention this sensor when talking about changing the cooler on a pre-99 car but does on a 99 or later yet both of my 98 cars have it. Had to grind the heads off the screws holding it on to the old cooler and then try to work out a way of fixing it to the new one. The only way seemed to be with self tapping screws but drilling holes in the end of the new cooler that would be deep enough for a self tapper to grab without drilling right through and causing a leak is a twitchy bum moment..... Having recently put together a gaming computer for my step daughter, had a big bag of short self tappers and a tube of silver heatsink compound so that sorted the sensor. By which time it was getting dark so gave up for the day.

Sunday morning fitted the new cooler coating all the bolts with Graphite grease so should I ever need to take them out again, they won't be seized in place. New O rings, do up the unions and, before going any further, started filling it with fluid. Being wary of overfilling it again, put 7 litres in so that allowed for 1 litre in the cooler and pipes. Started it, checked for leaks and checked the level after cycling through the gears and the dipstick showed nothing. Switch off, put another half litre in, still nothing so kept going at half a litre a time until it was up to the max. That used up the first 10 litre drum of fluid but although the fluid does look slightly opaque it is nothing like as bad as it was, so a couple more drain and refills and it should be back to how it should be. I've still got another 10 litres of fluid so will be doing that over the next few days.

Cable ties will be fine. The reservoir is surrounded by so may other bits of car that it will never fall out even if not held in with anything.....

Absolutely no idea but as your friends car is running fine, then ignore it.

That's what RAVE says......

It's C192 on a pre 98 car (so you are looking at the wrong version of the ETM), on a later one like yours, it's designated as C0620 and the ETM appears to show it as plugging into the sensor and not on a flying lead (although pics of the sensor online show it to have a flying lead?).

If you have unplugged it, has that stopped the warning message? What colour wires do you have on the plug as there are other sensors around the front (autobox temperature sensor and possibly a sensor on the AC condenser) that also use blue 2 way connectors. You should have Yellow/Black and Black/Purple.

Diagram doesn't show whether switch closed or open is showing full, so if unplugged stops the low level warning, shorting the plug will bring it back. The other thing that stops if it thinks it is getting low is the timed wash, it only washes while you are pressing the button.