DaftMule

I have an interesting intermittent issue with my speedo. Sometimes it registers the wrong speed and gradually gets more out of whack as I go along. Other times it just doesn't work at all. Most of the time it's fine though but I have noticed that it moves in a fairly jerky manner pretty often. In all cases, if I pull to a standstill (e.g. at a junction or traffic lights) then pull away, the speedo starts working correctly. Not sure if the speedo is mechanical or rigged to a gearbox sensor? Anyone else hav or had this issue?

Another featurette that has started cropping up fairly regularly with my S-Type (diesel) is, when accelerating hard, it sometimes clunks into reduced performance mode....no turbo, nothing. A couple of things I have noticed when this happens: It tends to happen if the engine is not fully up to temp and I need to overtake although it has happened later into journeys If I drop her into neutral and then engage D again, the turbo is back and performance is as before although the trip still shows the reduced performance warning until I turn the engine off/on again. I used to have an old Skoda that did this and that was because the turbo was over boosting due to sticky variable fins in the turbo. Not sure if this is the same sort of thing. The odd thing is why does putting it in neutral then back into drive again return power? Could it be gearbox/clutch related? Only other thing to mention which is probably entirely unrelated. At times my speedo goes haywire (not at same time as reduced performance though, that I have noticed anyway). Just sometimes the speedo either doesn't work or is definitely not showing the correct speed. If I pull to a stop and then pull away again, say at traffic lights, the speedo usually sorts itself out. I believe the speedo is connected to a sensor on the gearbox and I guess the sensor may be faulty? Yet another thing for my man at the garage to look at but I have to take it in when the reduced performance has happened otherwise the fault code will be cleared when he gets it.

Cheers for the pointers. A broken adjuster sounds like it might be it. I'll take a look tomorrow and see what I can find!

Hi, My 2005 S-Type has started to have a problem with one of it's Xenon headlights. When ignition goes on, the lights do their dip/rise self-levelling thing however, once or twice, the left hand one has not risen so it ends up pointing at a spot on the tarmac about 10' in front of the car. This has always corrected itself when I get in it next time. Now though, every time I start up, the left hand one seems to only rise up half way to it's normal position when it's finished the dip/rise motion. This is not correcting itself when I start up next time. Not sure quite what could be causing this? Maybe something in the light housing is loose or the motor that controls the self levelling is not working properly? Have no clue how that stuf works and I gather getting at the light fixture involves removing the bumper? Anyone got any ideas?

Hi, Just thought I's post some thoughts having had a "balanced" remap + carbon clean back in March. So, 6 months on: Performance: I don't see an appreciable improvement in performance but then the balanced remap is for a balance of fuel economy and performance. She could lift her skirts pretty well already TBH and maybe she's a little more lively but nothing particularly obvious. Fuel economy: Here I have seen a definite improvement. My normal use is 15 miles of back roads to work over the downs in the morning and a similar distance up the A34 dual carriageway in the evening...so mixed. Before the work the trip would average about 31.5 to 32 mpg and having worked it out on paper a few times, it's pretty accurate to +/- 0.5 mpg or so. Since the work, it has now settled down to around 34 to 35 mpg on average. On one long motorway journey, I even had her up to the dizzy heights of 40 mpg (I'm not an aggressive driver but I like to get on with the job!). So, not sure whether it's the remap or the Carbon Clean or a combination of the two that has improved my economy but there is an improvement. Worth the £325 or so to have it done? Well, maybe, although having the remap does place a restriction on the number of potential insurers to choose from which is a side effect one has to consider. In hindsight, it would have been interesting to do the remap and carbon clean separately so as to establish which has contributed most to the fuel economy.

I have literally just had an "Balanced" ECU remap done on my S-Type and while they were at it, they did a Carbon Clean. The results, well, no sign of improved fuel economy as yet, although I'm only half way through the first tank since having it done. Car does feel marginally more lively but whether that is due to the remap or the Carbon Clean, I obviously don't know. Was it worth it? Well, cost me £325 for the remap and the Carbon Clean. She did start blowing out quite a lot of black smoke half way through the carbon clean, a good sign, and if I floor it she still does. He said that would likely be the case for a few weeks. The proof longer term will be whether the fuel economy picks up a bit....we shall see.

Hi, Just replaced the near side wing mirror glass on my S-Type. The one in place was a flat type which gives a ludicrously small field of vision so I wanted to replace with a convex version. A few things cropped up in the process so I thought I'd write a little howto post, just in case anyone else needs to do the same. First issue was what type of mirror did I have. I knew it was heated but I didn't know whether it was an auto-dimming variant. Couldn't really find any info on how to tell so I took a punt on it just being a standard heated mirror. A hunt around on ebay turned one up for £9.99. Worth noting that there is no difference between off-side and near-side mirrors for my 55 plate S-Type. Cannot vouch for that being the case for earlier or later variants though. Next issue was how to remove. The workshop manual that I sourced via this forum was not too clear. It basically indicates that the mirror should just pull out. I initially tried pulling on the inside edge but found nothing would budge. Worried i was going to break something, I rotated the mirror glass so that the outside edge was proud of the wing mirror case and tried pulling on the outside edge. The mirror then came away pretty easily. As soon as I had removed the glass I knew I had made the wrong decision re replacement. Turns out I do have the auto-dimming ones after all! As you can see from the pics, the auto dimming ones has an extra cable splitting into a pink and black wire which attach to the edge of the mirror itself and must do the autom dimming magic. It is also slightly thicker and heavier. Without removing the glass you can see the extra thick, black cable if you have a torch and look behind so that is probably the way to tell if you don't know. Ah well, in the short term I can put up without the auto dimming so I taped over the end of the connecter to try and prevent too much moisture getting in and just connected the heating wires back on to the new glass. Fitting the glass back in was a bit fiddly. You cannot really just push it back on as the electric motor and "holder" frame moves around. Best way in the end that I found was to insert the inside edge onto it's clip bit and then getting my finger behind the outside clip section to give something to push against, the glass popped back into place (although I nearly got my finger stuck...lol!) There you go. slightly fiddly getting on/off but other than getting the wrong type of mirror, it was a pretty easy job.

The trip on mine usually says an average of about 31.5 mpg. I reset it every time I fill up and it's always around that figure 450 miles later which is what I can get out of a tank (fuel warning light is well on by then though!).

Ahha...I am not alone! I have that gurgling noise in my dash too!! Sounds like you know how to solve the noise? Do you have to remove the dash to do it?

Thanks Russ. I was wondering if it was something as simple as a stone, but with the dodgy drumming noise I get on occasion too, I'm worried it might not be that simple. It's due it's service this month so I'll get them to give the frontend a good going over while it's up on the ramp.

Hi, I was at Soton airport a few weeks back and when going up the spiral between car park floors (left hand cornering) with the windows open, I noticed a clicking noise coming from the front. I think it was near side but bit difficult to pinpoint. I guess I heard it because the ramp was enclosed with walls either side so all that noise was nicely reflected back to me. First thought was CV joint going but then, it's rear wheel drive right so no drive shaft to with CV joints to front wheels. Didn't notice the noise when driving straight. Thoughts? Did recently have the lower spenny arms replaced on the front. As an additional thing, I have twice now had a real drumming noise occur from the front while driving along on my commute home. Not all the time, just at one stage for a bit and it intensified when breaking it seemed. I immediately assumed that it was wheel bearings going but it's odd it has only happened twice and is not constant?

My S-Type has the brushed aluminium dashboard and door insets rather than wood so my gear knob is chrome with black leather and I love it! Don't talk to me about the auto wipers though. I agree that they are way to over zealous and I never use them. Actually, the "normal" wiper speed (not on auto) on mine is much faster than any other car I have owned.

Here's a pic of the left foot rest on mine (excuse the filth! Note to self...must hoover footwell!) Definitely part of the foot well, not an "extra"

That's odd Steve as I have an auto and I do have a foot rest on the left, basically where the clutch would normally be? Maybe that was something in the slightly later models? Mine is a 2005 vintage. I used to have a T reg Seat Toledo V5 (affectionately christened "Twerp" by my eldest daughter as it's plate was T332ERP) and that had a rest for the right foot beside the accelerator.

Funny you should mention the house keys. I have exactly the same with them tickling my leg! On the comfort side, the only annoying thing I find, other than the keys, is there is nowhere to put my right foot when I am, as the yoof of today would say, "Ghost-riding my whip" (kids eh!), i.e. have cruise control engaged. It needs a foot rest on the right. Due to the low seat level, it's not comfortable to put the foot flat on the floor in front of the pedal and so the only option is to have it hovering on the accelerator which is not really restful. But those are very minor things. :)