Faultfinder

[Sooty]

It's just a thought, but how about a quick reference faultfinder for all of the more common technical problems that crop up on this site?
Not everyone has got a Bentley's Bible or a Haynes Comic and, without wishing to appear condescending, some of the newer members (or even the older ones!) that haven't got a technical background could find it extremely useful, especially if the person with the right knowledge isn't around when you need that quick fix to get you going again.

Something along the lines of:
1 - Fault or Symptom (what's the car doing...or not as the case may be)
2 - Possible causes (what have members found to be the cause of the problem in the past)
3 - Solution (how do you go about looking for the fault & how is it fixed)

I don't mind having a go at compiling this, but it would need a bit of feedback from the experienced members.

What do you think

P.S. Hope I've got the poll thing right....never done one before.

[Ant]

good call Iain

Poll works fine BTW, I just voted

[Simon]

Great idea Ian, it would take quite a lot of work to go into things in depth, and that's where the current setup of the tech section is really handy, as you can go into depth to what the problem is and what symptoms there are, and get someone with experience to reply where as a fault finding guide can only go so far.
Like you say though it's a pain if there's nobody around to reply! For the simple/common fault's I suppose it would be really handy though, I wouldn't mind contributing either.

[Lizzie]

Brill idea Ian!

Polls works fine too - I've just voted too!

[BadDave]

Good idea.
Just voted
Could be a lengthy "work in progress" type thing.
If everyone were to contribute,then,Yes,IT would be very usefull

[E30Adam]

It's a good idea but I don't think it's necessary with the new forum.

With the old forum we lost a lot of posts, we'll lose nothing with this one so the search function will be much more powerful.

[Sooty]

Good point Adam, but the only drawback with the search function (which IS a good tool; don't get me wrong) is that it is dependant on you entering the right words.
An instrument fault, for instance, could be titled 'Crazy Speedo' or something other than what you are looking for.
There is no logical sequence to work through.

[Simon]

Good point Adam, but the only drawback with the search function (which IS a good tool; don't get me wrong) is that it is dependant on you entering the right words.
An instrument fault, for instance, could be titled 'Crazy Speedo' or something other than what you are looking for.
There is no logical sequence to work through.

How about the mods edit the titles in the tech section to a common word to relate to the fault, that way search would be 100% then.

More work for the mods..pull your fingers out!!

[E30Adam]

How about the mods edit the titles in the tech section to a common word to relate to the fault, that way search would be 100% then.

More work for the mods..pull your fingers out!!

Sooty, I see your point, well volunteer'd, let me know when you've finished and I'll host it onsite for you

[nwmlarge]

it would be a very good idea i think

[Sooty]

OK all you experts out there....let the mayhem begin.
If you've ever had a problem that you have (a) managed to fix (b) know how to fix or (c) know someone who did, then let me know.

Try to keep it in the same suggested format as my first entry on this thread.

If you can't pm me, then my email is islat@ntlworld.com

Adam...I'm not a wizard with the computer like you Mods, so any suggestions on the best format for collating all of this so that it doesn't give you too much hassle? Word document, PDF, what?

Many thanks guys.

[E30Adam]

Adam...I'm not a wizard with the computer like you Mods, so any suggestions on the best format for collating all of this so that it doesn't give you too much hassle? Word document, PDF, what?

Many thanks guys.

I think a nice table in Excel format would probably be most user friendly. We can always adjust anything when it's all finished. Fell free to put a post up in the tech section too to try and get more responses.

If you zoners want to see something, we'll try our best to give it to you!

[Sooty]

[nwmlarge]

one to start you off

Problem:water in the left recess in the boot.

source: seal around aerial is loose.

solution: tighten seals if possible or replace aerial assembly.

aerial can be sourced from halfords for less than Ԛ£20.

[hoshy]

Not everyone has got a Bentley's Bible or a Haynes Comic ...

Are the Bentley Manuals worth getting hold of? I already have the Haynes.

Voted yes btw.

[Simon]

Not everyone has got a Bentley's Bible or a Haynes Comic ...

Are the Bentley Manuals worth getting hold of? I already have the Haynes.

Voted yes btw.

Most defintely!

[johnono]

v.good idea something that offers a clearer expaination, probably better that the manuals too!
itԚ´ll be like writing our own manual

p.s, on a separate isue, is it too far fetched to consider a possible monthly production by the zone, entitled the e30zone or similar, or would this be a difficult market.