paul.h

Most likely the rear pads are just seized in the caliper - mine were and the car was still in use. Pad replacement and some copper grease down the sides may be sufficient. Pads are about £60. If the discs are also being replaced, I would guess about £100 for the pair (need to do both sides). Buying from such as Eurocarparts will reduce these prices. Labour probably at least a couple of hours so I would guess at least £300 for the job at a garage. Since the brake has been overheated I would also go for a brake fluid change. You should also have the calipers removed and some copper grease applied between them and the suspension arms to avoid corrosion between the 2 which leads to squealing and eventually the calipers could be pushed out to touch the wheels - this is a common problem as noted by Randombloke.

May be worth checking the new 21w bulb is ok by fitting it in one of the indicator positions. Have you tried with the 21w bulb in place and the radar disconnected to see if the radar may have the problem. Some of the odd voltages reminded me of when I fit the towbar to our C5, the voltages at a trailer connector were odd and totally confusing.

I think at the side of each door there is a small round sticker covering a hole, use a key to turn inside here and it will lock. I would try one door first to see if this works. There may be something in the manual but I can not recall where I got this from.

Some general things since I have not seen a C2 brake caliper. Could be the piston seized in the caliper - does the car pull to the other side when gently braking ? Also when replacing the pads were these free to move or seized - copper grease on the metal backs and sides where touching the caliper help prevent this. Without the pads in, could the caliper slide easily and was not seized ?

Does the light stay on when both front seats are occupied, is there something on the passenger seat ? For more specific help you will have to give details of your car - model, engine, year, mileage will all help us with your problem.

Cleaning inside the throttle body and plate with carb cleaner and a rag to remove carbon build up may help (at least it has on my previous petrol cars where idling has been poor). Maybe also check the air filter is clean. How many miles have the cars done, could there be a worn spot on the accelerator pedal electrics ?

The Alfa being X reg will not be affected by the new tax bands so could be more desirable in 1 or 2 years. May be about £200 per year less to tax than a Y reg or later equivalent car, depending on CO2 emissions of a newer car.

To use the Picasso forum you will need a separate registration to this forum (if you have tried to log on using the same id and password as for this forum without registering).

I have found that if I do not use our C5 for 3 or 4 weeks, the battery voltage drops low enough to then not start the car. 2.2 hdi, 11½ volts is too low. Last time jump started it from another car. Service light comes up due to low voltage but goes after running for a few miles to charge battery and then restarting.

This could still be a poor earth or other connection which is not letting enough power through. If you can find the earth connection for the light give it a clean. Also check the bulb holder and wiring connector to the light unit are making good contact and are not corroded. In the bulb holder check the middle contact is pushing up enough against the bulb. Are the other lights on the same light unit bright or are these also affected - try the brake lights, indicators and fog lights which are also 21w bulbs. If it is an earth fault for that light unit they should also be showing the same problem. If these are all ok then also consider the reverse light fuse spade connectors (not the fusible bit which is obviously ok), could also be a poor relay if one is fitted - need to look in the car handbook to check.

Not sure of the translation but it is something along the lines of: - turn on the ignition to ensure air bag light works ok. - turn off ignition and remove key. - disconnect negative battery terminal. - wait at least 10 minutes. - under the steering wheel centre bit there are some holes. In these use a screwdriver to push to the outside the clip fittings and the air bag should then be able to be lifted out. - wheel nut torque 20 Nm.

Before you start spending money on your car, I would estimate the cost of all the changes you are going to make and then see if you can get the car you are trying to make at a lower cost and in better condition than yours (if the floor is rusting requiring welding then more of the structure may be in poor condition - have a good look inside sills, lift all the carpets, etc). Then in the future, keep it as a second car and get a family sized one for if/when married and have off spring - you will want one with a high NCAP rating to protect them and then there is all the stuff you need to take everywhere.

A few general questions that may help (I have not done a C3 clutch): - did the car drive ok before clutch replacement ? - were the replacement clutch kits identical to the old one including thickness of plate and bearing ? - why did the old bearing fail and did it cause any damage or wear ? - is the gearbox going fully into gear when using the gear lever - if not the lever mechanism may need adjusting. - is the slave cylinder installed properly and not holding the clutch partly dipped ?

There are some posts on fuel use on the C5 pages that may help. We have a 2.2 hdi 6 speed manual hatchback which returns more than you have stated - about 50 mpg on motorways sticking within speed limits (more if lower speeds used), may be 40 round town depending on queues. Things that could increase fuel include binding rear brakes and need for replacement of the exhaust particle filter.

If you look carefully at what looks like a black seal around the edge of the unit, at the bottom there are 2 small pin size holes. At these points slide something like a credit card under the seal to release the 2 clips and then pull/lever unit towards you best you can and it should come out.

If you fit a second hand speedo, beware the odometer will go to the highest reading of the old/new speedos so best to get one with similar or lower mileage.

Our 1.4 petrol 2003 sx does not have this rattle. As a temporary measure rolled up paper or card or sponge may be better than the stick in case the air bag goes off and sends it flying around the car.

The washer reservoir is 4 litres or 6.5 if you have headlight washers. There must be a level sensor fault, probably fastened to the reservoir, maybe just needs a clean.

Sounds as if something is loose or worn. Since this garage has not found the cause I suspect a second opinion/other garage may be your best option. Possibilities include loose wheel, steering rack mounting bolts not fully tight (I have had this and it gave a loud knock at low speeds on a Saab), worn steering rack, loose wheel hub nut, worn wheel bearing, worn cv joint, worn track rod end joint, worn ball joint, worn suspension arm mounting, loose mounting bolts, worn rubber parts in mountings, worn shock absorber, loose brake caliper. How many miles has the car done and is the noise worse when steering in one direction - if so the wear (if any) is likely to be on the outside of the turn side eg if turning left is noisier then the wear is likely to be the right side since the weight of the car is more on this side.

Intermittent starting/running is often a symptom of failure of the crankshaft position sensor on many cars. This does not always give a fault code so may be hard to detect with a fault code reader. Easiest option is often to just replace it.

Welcome to the forum. There is nothing like this on our 2003 1.4sx petrol. Is the floor mat/carpet getting in the way ? The clutch pedal and accelerator pedal are completely separate. The accelerator one is held on by 2 bolts and has wires coming from it that give its position to the engine control unit. It will have an internal spring that causes it to go up. A new one is about £40 if it is faulty.

The front suspension coil springs could be worth a check to see if one has broken.

To access the one on the side, I had to remove the air filter housing since it is a bit low down, can not remember its colour. The wiring diagram shows this one to have a single wire to it so if the connection is removed it will be a case of earthing the connector to put it on full temperature and starting the fan. Both sensors go through the same wire to the engine management system to start the fan so I would have thought by-passing the top sensor should have started the fan.

Welcome to the forum. If your car is like our 1.4sx petrol, the car does not have an accelerator cable. The pedal is wired to the car so presumably its position is taken from a potentiometer at the end of the pedal - there could be some wear in this if the car has done a lot of miles. A new pedal is about £40 and held in place by 2 bolts. I replaced ours since the engine revs did not increase steadily over the initial part of the pedal position making it difficult to control when setting off. When we got our diesel Picasso, that would sometimes accelerate slightly if in a high gear but at low revs but this seemed to go after a service.

Disc runout and warped can be the same - it is where the disc outer edge moves sideways as it is rotated. If the movement is excessive, the moving in/out of the brake piston will be noticed when braking. When a new disc is fitted or an old one is being checked, a dial gauge should be rested against the flat face of the disc near to the outer edge. Turn the hub/disc and watch the change in the gauge reading - similar results can be found by holding something like a pencil point against the disc and the change in gap measured with feeler gauges. There will be a maximum allowed such as 0.05mm - actual values may be in the disc fitting instructions or Haynes type manual. If the disc is newly being fitted, cleaning the disc and hub contact faces so the disc is fitted flat against the hub should be enough to keep the runout within tolerance. If the disc is warped due to overheating/wear, then it will probably need replacing.