Where do I find tow car data
Hello,I'm looking to replace our old Piccasso 'Desire' towcar for something a bit newer, but certainly not new. Our current van weighs in at a lightish 1000kg though we intend changing this in a couple of years
time, we intend staying at the light end of the scale but notice that vans seem to be getting heavier rather than lighter. We don't want a 4x4 and would like to keep the 'new' car as small and economical as possible as it will spend 90% of its time not towing.
I seem to remember last time I was searching for towcars there was publication that listed vehicle weights, engine power, towing ability etc.(This would need to cover used cars) Does anyone know what the publication might have been, and if so is it still
available. Thanks
Paul
Comments
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Try this website it should help
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If you are a member then you can use the clubs matching service. You put in the details of the car you are thinking of add your caravan and you will have a complete set of data for the car and caravan including all the weight and power information.
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Not all SUV's are actually 4x4s, so don't discount them all out of hand. If you are planning on sticking to a MTPLM of around 1200Kg then perhaps something like a C-Max or Quashqai might suit.
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Thanks for the replies folks, I'm in a bit of a fix because I'm not really ready to change cars at the moment, but the Picasso Xara 2Lt HDI that we have just seems to have become gutless.The last time I towed with it I spent most of the time in 2nd and 3
rd gear as in 4th it refused to pull even on the slightest gradient, and in 5th it just slowed down even on a flat road. It's only done 120000miles so should have plenty of usefull life in it. Our garage has had a look at it and seems unable to find anything
wrong. So the choice is throw (possibly) a load of money at a 10yr old car to try and fix it, or put that money towards a newer one.If I could fix the old car for £500 I would, but as no one seems to know what the problem is the bill for finding the problem
and then repairing it is worryingly unknown.0 -
When I lived in France I used to tow a Fleetwood Colchester (think 1000kgs weight) with a Zara 2 ltr hdi. It had loads of oomph; up and over the Alps, cruising at the max limit, economical and, yes reliable! It too had done over 100k miles so think there
is something wrong here. Suggest you take it to a diesel engine specialist, it might be something as 'simple' as blocked injectors or filters. Sold my car to a french couple and it is still going strong 6 yrs later albeit it has a few scratches on it!!.0 -
Try disconnecting the air flow sensor and trying it? With it disconnected it usually drops into default values
.Done that.. and it made no difference. The garage also replaced some other kind of sensor that their equipment said was faulty but that made no difference either.
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being an ex technical trainer for Bosch automotive and having experience of the citreon hdi i would suggest one of two problems neither of which are expensive if you go to euro car parts , firstly change the mass air flow meter as they are a common failure and give the symptoms described.. if that does not work then change the EGR valve as this will give the same symptoms as the air flow meter i wont go into the technicalities however trust me when i say the other options are expensively prohibitive and also unlikely unless the vehicle has done mega mileage(please ignore what a lot of other posters say on here as they generally have no experience of this system)
Jeff Cook LAE MIMI
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Try disconnecting the air flow sensor and trying it? With it disconnected it usually drops into default values
it does not do that it drops into cold running values to protect the engine please if you do not know the system do not comment.
I would like to point out over 20 years repairing cars, I think I do know a little bit about these systems, working in a garage
that has being trading over 34 years, were actually working at the sharp end not in a lecture enviroment, I'm also fairly certain on one of the Bosch courses I took the reference value was refered to as a default value. I was just trying to suggest something
easy to try to someone without spending money, but I guess in the future, i'll leave it to geoff to fix everyone's problem! I'll be honest i'm not brilliant at putting things into words, but i'm sure we would have the diagnostic equipment to solve your cars
problems
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At the risk of redress from others you might consider the catalytic converter. A) blocked or,
dependant on the type, if it's ceramic. It may have broken inside and turned to block the flow of exaust gases. This can just happen or by hiting something under
the vehicle whilst travelling. As it's just stuck in the metal casing.http://www.gsfcarparts.com/parts/body-exhaust/exhaust-system/catalytic-converter
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Another thing but very unlikley, only come across it once.
The Air Mass Sensor (hot wire type) found a fly stuck on the wires. How it got in I don't know, air filter in and all pipes connected.
P. S. don't poke at the wires you WILL damage them.
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Thanks again for all the great advice. The suggestions on here and on the other forums/fora all point towards the same kind of faults. All stuff that I'm not really confident about fiddling with myself, as the car is needed every day by my wife, so I don't
want to mess anything up and make matters worse. So I think I'm going to bite the bullet and take it to our local Citroen dealer, but try and get an idea up front on the possible costs involved, as it seems to be anywhere between a few pounds and a fortune.
Just for comparison, I had a Peugeot Expert van with the same engine, albeit with slightly different gearing. This towed a boat weighing around 1.5 tons on its trailer with no problem at all, so I should expect the same or better performance from the car pulling
something way lighter. I'll report back, if all fails it will be back to looking for a replacement.Thanks again, Paul0 -
psmiffy,
The trouble with the main dealer approach is cost. Fault finding may take hours and with their labour rates it soon stacks up. You might be facing a bill of hundreds of pounds just trying to establish waht the fault is.... I`ve been in this situation with
a Zafira a few years ago.In the end I cut my losses and moved it on, vowing never to own a Vauxhall again.
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psmiffy,
The trouble with the main dealer approach is cost. Fault finding may take hours and with their labour rates it soon stacks up. You might be facing a bill of hundreds of pounds just trying to establish waht the fault is....
But he other side of the argument is that being a main dealer they should have the gear & expertise to fix the fault first time.
Having said
that, my Citroen main dealer has no idea on why my wife's C3 auto stalls at the same place when the weather is cold and from time to time it flashes the message 'Engine fault' ...... I just put it down to being a Citroen!0 -
But the other side of the argument is that being a main dealer they should have the gear & expertise to fix the fault first time.
If only that were true!
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But the other side of the argument is that being a main dealer they should have the gear & expertise to fix the fault first time.
If only that were true!
I know that only too well ..... if you stumble across the threads containing my Mercedes and its leaking air suspension ..... returned 3 times after they 'fixed'
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Why don't you try a good independent, someone who has the diagnostic equipment to run live data etc and a reputation for solving problems, I'm guessing it's driveable at the moment so suggest booking it in at a time they will have time to cope with, also
most good garages these days run service loan cars so if you can borrow one it saves putting the garage under pressure to complete the job in a day, a garage that uses autologic diagnostics is a good starting point, it generally means there interested in sorting
problems, what area are you in? Hope this advice is ok Geoff!0 -
I've managed to find a very helpful local garage with a Citroen trained mechanic, who from speaking to him appears to know the engines and their problems inside out. They have the relevent diagnostic kit to do the job so it will be booked in in the next
few days.......watch this space. and thanks again everyone for all the help and advice..Paul
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I promised to report back, so here goes.... I found a local garage with a Citroen trained mechanic who was excellent. It seems the main culprit was the MAF sensor after all. This seems to be the most common fault when lack of umph is the problem with this
engine, though the previous garage didn't seem to think it was faulty. The issue of supermarket versus 'higher spec' fuels was highlighted by the garage, and we've currently got a tank of the top notch/top price stuff in it, as this could/should clear out
any build up of gunk that the cheaper additive free stuff may have left behind. (though I'm a tad sceptical about of the claims of enhanced power mpg etc that some claim) The car is much improved, though at 90bhp it
will never be a 'rocket ship' . Hopefully it will get us round France and back this year and that's all we ask. Thanks again for all the tips, help and advicePaul
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