Hi everyone,
Firstly I'd like to say, I have no real knowledge of cars and their workings, so I really have no idea where to start looking for the faults I'm about to describe. The main reason I thought I'd post here is just to get an idea of what people with more knowledge than I have might think, so I can suggest some problems/solutions when I take the car in to a garage on Wednesday.
A bit of background- we bought the car back in November, and I passed my driving test a week and a half ago. We had it MOT'd the day after and had to have some work done to it. The front suspension coils were replaced, as well as the tracking rod. After that, the car was OK and I drove my girlfriend to work and got to work myself. After having picked my girlfriend up last Wednesday, the car suddenly started juddering and shaking and the engine constantly felt like it wanted to stall, and the check engine light flashed on and off. I managed to get it home and took it to a garage in the morning to get checked out. The car felt fine when I drove it there on Thursday, and the engine light wasn't coming on, but to be on the safe side I got it looked at anyway. Their tests found a fault coil pack, so they replaced that and all of the spark plugs, and the car felt fine when I picked it up.
This leads us into today.
This morning whilst taking my girlfriend to work, the engine suddenly cut out and the warning light came on on the dashboard. After a few seconds it kicked back in and the car was absolutely fine. I dropped my partner off at work and as I left it happened again, and I decided it was probably quite dangerous, so called out our breakdown service to come and have a look. The guy checked under the bonnet and couldn't see any visual problems, other than the coolant level being low. He popped the car on his truck and drove me home. I've topped up the coolant now, but am curious as to what other people think the cause of the engine cutting out and kicking back in might be. From the very little I know about cars, that seems quite strange. My main thought is that something the garage did when they worked on the car last Thursday might have caused some other issues?
I also have a few bonus problems/questions if that's allowed!
After topping up the coolant today, I took the car for a short drive and noticed the fuel gauge is saying the tank is full, when I know for a fact that it was only at the three quarters mark. Any ideas what might be causing that?
The other fault we've noticed for a while is that the dipped lights seem to come on every now and then when driving around. I think this is probably a loose connection in the switch for them. When the lights are on they make quite a loud buzzing noise, too.
If anyone has any ideas about what might have caused any of these things, I'd greatly appreciate your input. Like I say, I know very little about cars and their inner workings, so I'm ready to listen and learn!
Thanks very much,
Matt.
Firstly I'd like to say, I have no real knowledge of cars and their workings, so I really have no idea where to start looking for the faults I'm about to describe. The main reason I thought I'd post here is just to get an idea of what people with more knowledge than I have might think, so I can suggest some problems/solutions when I take the car in to a garage on Wednesday.
A bit of background- we bought the car back in November, and I passed my driving test a week and a half ago. We had it MOT'd the day after and had to have some work done to it. The front suspension coils were replaced, as well as the tracking rod. After that, the car was OK and I drove my girlfriend to work and got to work myself. After having picked my girlfriend up last Wednesday, the car suddenly started juddering and shaking and the engine constantly felt like it wanted to stall, and the check engine light flashed on and off. I managed to get it home and took it to a garage in the morning to get checked out. The car felt fine when I drove it there on Thursday, and the engine light wasn't coming on, but to be on the safe side I got it looked at anyway. Their tests found a fault coil pack, so they replaced that and all of the spark plugs, and the car felt fine when I picked it up.
This leads us into today.
This morning whilst taking my girlfriend to work, the engine suddenly cut out and the warning light came on on the dashboard. After a few seconds it kicked back in and the car was absolutely fine. I dropped my partner off at work and as I left it happened again, and I decided it was probably quite dangerous, so called out our breakdown service to come and have a look. The guy checked under the bonnet and couldn't see any visual problems, other than the coolant level being low. He popped the car on his truck and drove me home. I've topped up the coolant now, but am curious as to what other people think the cause of the engine cutting out and kicking back in might be. From the very little I know about cars, that seems quite strange. My main thought is that something the garage did when they worked on the car last Thursday might have caused some other issues?
I also have a few bonus problems/questions if that's allowed!
After topping up the coolant today, I took the car for a short drive and noticed the fuel gauge is saying the tank is full, when I know for a fact that it was only at the three quarters mark. Any ideas what might be causing that?
The other fault we've noticed for a while is that the dipped lights seem to come on every now and then when driving around. I think this is probably a loose connection in the switch for them. When the lights are on they make quite a loud buzzing noise, too.
If anyone has any ideas about what might have caused any of these things, I'd greatly appreciate your input. Like I say, I know very little about cars and their inner workings, so I'm ready to listen and learn!
Thanks very much,
Matt.