Dear all,

I recently bought a X reg 1.2 8V ELX, FSH, 75,000 miles for £800 (haggled down from £1000) and it's a wonderful first car. I have a few niggly problems.
The headlights are very weak, I've read up on this on the forum already however, for some reason the off-side headlights aren't coming on and I cannot find any threads that cover this.
Secondly, I don't know whether this is normal, but when the wheels are straight, the steering is slightly off centre... it would be a great help to know what this is.
The other niggle is the previous owner had the brakes changed. These work fine, but every so often the handbrake light will come on. He said that the sensor was not reset and takes about five minutes if jacked up. Can someone clarify this?
I am loving the car, and fixing these stupid problems will be a brilliant help. I'm only asking these questions because I cannot find them on the forum!

I think you have the same car as me!
My steering wheel is slightly misaligned so I have to steer a tiny bit left to go straight on but its not a big problem.
I also have the handbrake warning light on. However when it is parked on a REALLY steep hill unless I pull the handbrake as high up as I can it will slowly move. Might be worth checking this with yours as it might just need tightening up (I haven't got around to doing it yet).

make sure master cylinder is full of brake fluid
get a tracking done by someone competent and knows both steering arms should be adjusted rather than all at one side
headlight issue is probably a poor earth get into the back of the light attach a wander lead to the metal light frame and the other end on battery earth then try it
obviously you did check the fuses under bonnet and insidea the car

henrysaunders94, does your sub work? Mine doesn't and thank you s and b I will check these later this week since I'm still at school - and will report back, but to clarify, what is a wander lead?

I don't have a sub so still similar

hi the hand brake light also indicates the reservoir is low so check you top it up pull out the filter cage make sure. top up and it should go out. with regards to handbrake you can adjust that, if can not adjust it then you need to change the rear shoes.

the head lights are they just dim or not working, check your fuses, if its the not that then you might have loose cable or just a blown bulb.

Thanks for all of the help, as it turns out, the person who previously owned the car had not aligned the headlights correctly, hence why they appeared dim. I had the wheels re-aligned, which ended up costing a bit because the tyres were unevenly worn on the inside of the wheel (couldn't see from looking around the car).

Just one question though, my power steering has gone, and I wondered whether it would be better having the ecu motor replaced or the whole steering rack in the long run?

Thanks

A search should turn up a company that reconditions them. That'll probably be a lot cheaper. Look for a guarantee.

fingers99 said:

A search should turn up a company that reconditions them. That'll probably be a lot cheaper. Look for a guarantee.

Click to expand...

Thanks fingers99, I found a firm called Western Power Steering down in Bristol that did the complete job for £250 with 2 years guarantee on parts & labour.