Very scary! My car suddenly lost all power while driving at about 50mph

stumpjumper

Possibly could be the ignition coils, it's very common on french cars of this age. Good news if it is that, is that it's prettey cheap to fix and no long term damage.

booklover

PasturesNew wrote: »

Also: 160 miles/day = £16+ in fuel alone. Then all the running costs. Probably £30/day. If it were me I'd look at getting a local bedsit and staying there 4 nights a week.

I wish i could stay up at the uni but I'm a mature student and have to be home for my 16 year old son and husband as they would be very annoyed if I stayed up.

yes I think its very dear and tiring to drive to the uni and back each evening; it takes about 4 hours altogether. :eek:

I don't know much about cars, oh well I might have to be in debt now.......... and buy another one..

No it doesn't drive at all now, there has been no power at all since this happened and my husband told me I cant get anyone from the garage to look at it until next week.

I know it makes me seem really lazy and spoilt but I really need the car as getting the bus isn't good, it will add at least another 2 hours on to my day and its £15 per day on the bus..

Many thanks to everyone who has read this.. :grouphug:

Fiona

anewman

booklover wrote: »

I wish i could stay up at the uni but I'm a mature student and have to be home for my 16 year old son and husband as they would be very annoyed if I stayed up.

Respectfully, they're all old enough to care for themselves It would seem to make sense if the total cost of renting and maintaining a property is much cheaper than the total trip cost minus the cost of one return trip for the weekend.

I would remain hopeful for a cheap repair rather than rushing to buy a new car.

Conor_3

anewman wrote: »

Not at all according to above post.

Someone told me they managed to have their cam belt changed at the side of the road on a Ford Sierra. I couldn't believe that, but the person who told me is trustworthy so I can only assume the Sierra cam belt is easy to swap out.

It is. I own a Ford Capri with the same engine. Then beauty of them is that it's a big engine bay and rear wheel drive so it's not a case of trying to change it with an inch of room to work in. Can be done in 20 minutes taking your time or 10 minutes in a rush.

goldspanners

Conor wrote: »

It is. I own a Ford Capri with the same engine. Then beauty of them is that it's a big engine bay and rear wheel drive so it's not a case of trying to change it with an inch of room to work in. Can be done in 20 minutes taking your time or 10 minutes in a rush.

i'll second this,i sold my capri 3 years ago,it was only a 1.6 so you could swing a cat or 2 under the bonnet whilst changing the belts.

BRING BACK THIS SIMPLICITY!!!!

dominicadatia

I had a similar problem with my old car (P-reg citroen AX 1L) .. was driving along, and suddenly radio went off, indicators stopped working and other gauges went flat...

RAC guy comes and tells us we have a duff alternator (but I remain skeptical and just ask him to tow us home) ... cleaned the contacts on the battery and hey presto car is fine after a jump start (still going 2 years later)

darich

i had a similar experience in a Vauxhall Nova GTE.
When changing from 1st to 2nd gear, my clutch hit the floor and loads of smoke came from the dashboard.
Radio switched off too.
I phoned the AA and when i explained to him what had happened he said my earth strap had snapped before he even lifted the bonnet.
He was right - the car earthed itself through the clutch cable and it melted - that's why my foot hit the floor and i got lots of smoke.
He took me to a nearby vauxhall garage, and they had the parts in stock.

He fitted the new clutch cable and earth strap in about 15mins and i was driving again around an hour after i broke down.

Very simple but it's a nightmare to do anything these days.

Wig

Update?.........

anewman

Was in the other thread http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=604427 It seems the cam belt snapped and OP paid £1k for rework of cylinder head, new valves and a cam belt.

L2nus

I found this site after googling my car lost power....

It happened this time last year after annual service. After returning to the garage, they stripped down the ignition but could otfind anything wrong, surfice to say after a spate of cutting out, it finally decided to be good. I have not had any cutting out until 2 days ago,
It has not reached it's 12000 miles since the previous service (11 months ago)
However it cuts out and there seems no apparent reason.

It is a Mercedes SLK 230 Kompressor - year 2000.

Any one who ould advise, I would appreciate.

Thanks in advance.x