Midlands Mazda - Paul Dowling Automotive

26/06/2026

23/06/2026

What a busy few weeks we've had, and there's no end in sight 🤯.

Kia Sportage - Clutch.

We had this Kia pop in a few weeks ago, he was referred by another customer. He has been to other garages with concerns of difficulties selecting gears. One garage told him he needed a new slave cylinder. So, they replaced it. Another told him it needed bleeding so, they re-bleed the system, but it was still the same.

I jumped into the cockpit and immediately noticed how heavy the pedal was. I told the owner it needs a new clutch fitting. He booked the car in and we got the clutch swapped. We noticed upon removal of the old one, that the pressure plate fingers were distorted and the friction plate worn (hence the heavy pedal & poor selection).

After installing the new clutch and rebuilding the car, we sat in the cockpit and immediately noticed a difference. The pedal was light to operate and the gears engaged flawlessly. A quick roadtest confirmed the gears selected as they should, and the onwer was informed.

I received a thank you message a few days later to say how much better the car drove, and requesting further work 👍.

20/06/2026

Ford Transit - DPF Clean.

We broke free earlier in the week. We we're called out to an extremely blocked DPF. Apparently, it had already had a forced regen attempted, but it failed.

We arrived at the van and checked the DPF, we found around 180% blockage. It was over 200% before the forced regen. We wasted no time fitting our on car DPF cleaning equipment.

Once the process was completed, we carried out the necessary data resets, forced regen and then roadtest. We also advised they have the atomiser replaced. However, this Transit is now back to 0% blockage, 100% power and no more EML 👍.

19/06/2026

Honda Accord - Hard starting.

This Honda was sent in my direction after a few failed attempts of resolving the issue.

The owner contacted us with a concern of difficulties starting the engine. After a back and forth conversation via WhatsApp, we suggested they bring it in so we could see whats happening.

Once the car arrived, we took a quick look. We found that the engine struggles to start and idles lumpy. The owner has been to a few garages who a have replaced parts to no avail. Apparently, it's had new glow plugs, new injectors and so forth. He was then told to source an auto electrician, as they suspected a wiring fault 🤔.

So, we plugged in the computer and found zero faults. This told us the issue is not electrical, and as we suspected, a mechanical issue. Next thing we did was hook up the and performed a relative compression test (this is a non invasive test). Immediately, we saw that the current draw for the starter motor was erratic.

Within 10 minutes of being here, the owner saw the evidence to prove it was mechanical (not a single part or penny used). We advised the owner that the next step is to peform a physical compression test and leakdown.

A couple of days later the owner returned for the tests. So, we carried out the compression test and confirmed the initial findings. We discovered that cylinder 1 & 4 were ok with 400 psi. However, cylinder 2 & 3 were poor at 120 psi. We then carried out a leakdown and found when charging cylinder 2, the air came straight out of cylinder 3 glowplug hole, with over 45% leak.

We fitted a glowplug into cylinder 3 and found we staill have a leak. We searched around and found when removing the coolant tank cap, it was pressurised. This tells us not only has the headgasket failed between the cylinders, its also failed across the coolant channels.

We informed the owner, who now has a decision to make.

18/06/2026

Audi RSQ3 - MOT.

We had this beauty stop by earlier this week. It was a welcomed break as it just needed it's annual MOT. Happily it passed, without any advisories 👍

18/06/2026

Ford S-Max - Juddering when starting.

This Ford came in with a concern of a judder when cranking. The starter motor has already been replaced (elsewhere). Now the owner has been referred to me.

When the car arrived, we quickly discovered that the starter motor appeard to be stuck engaged. We checked the starter signal in the hopes it was just a bad relay. However, the signal was working as it should.

Next, we removed the starter motor and did a bench test. The motor appeard to work ok however, the pinion gear looked shiney and rough. So. We decided to take a look at the ring gear, we noticed that there were parts of the gear that looked shiny and worn, but other parts were dusty and looked like they had never engaged.

We now suspected that the ring gear is worn in a specific spot. After looking into the system, we think the stop/start feature is the root cause, as it stops the engine in the same position, causing wear in one spot.

We informed the owner, who then authorised a replacement clutch and flywheel. They also requested a new cam belt & water pump.

We started by replaceing the flywheel & clutch. We noticed an oil leak from the rear crank seal and fuel pump. So, with the box out we replaced the main seal too. Then once we confirmed the starting issue was resolved, we replaced the cam belt, water pump and fixed the oil leak from the fuel pump 👍

Unfortunately for the owner, this one took a bit longer than our estimated time frame. So, as a good will gesture and apology, we carried out a complimentary oil and filter change.

17/06/2026

Ford Ranger - ABS light on.

This was another one for 4D Automotive Solutions Ltd today.

This Ford Ranger has been plagued with an ABS warning. The vehicle has been to numerous workshops with no real resolution. Simon asked us to take a look as it has previously has a sensor but is no different.

Once we got the vehicle into the workshop, we read the codes and confirmed the fault. Next, we got the multimeter out, and volt drop tested the Left Front sensor. We found there was only a 0.5v drop across the sensor. Then we disconnected the sensor, and the voltage jumped to 3.5v. Unsure whether this is a 5v or 12v system, we tested the opposite wheel, this confirmed it should be 12v.

Armed with this information, we went back to the offending wheel. We reconnected the meter and started to wiggle the wires, we found the voltage jumped to 5v. However, this still isn't enough, and this told us there is a high resistance somewhere.

The next step now, was to resistance test the circuit. So, we disconnected the ABS unit and gained access to the back of the plug. With the sensor disconnected, we tested the resistance of each wire between the ABS unit and speed sensor. We found that one wire had a good value of 0.5 Ohms. However, the second wire had a whopping 40 Mega Ohms (40 Million).

With the information we had, we offered the owner a few different options.

Option 1: Replace the harness with a new one (this would be parts & labour intensive and very expensive).

Option 2: We could start to pull back the wiring harness to find the exact point of failure and repair (again very labour intensive and expensive).

Option 3: Not the nicest looking repair, but definitely the most efficient. We could cut the wire at each end and then add our own wire in place (overlay the wire). This saves hours of labour and is ultimately the cheapest and probably the most reliable repair (without replaceing the entire loom).

Armed with the information, the owner opted for option 3. This is the most cost effective method and usually the preferred method by most owners. So, we cut the wire, and added a new length between the ABS unit and sensor. Once the repair was made we retested the system and found a full 12+ volts at the sensor.

A quick road test confirmed the fault was fixed and no more warning on the dash 👍.

17/06/2026

We spent the day at 4D Automotive Solutions Ltd today.

Simon had a few jobs that required our particular expertise. We arranged to have all the jobs there on the same day 👍.

First to start was this VW Polo.

This car belongs to a young enthusiast, he was looking for a little more power and some ecu corrections.

They had already had the hardware removed, and just wanted the software doing. So, we commandeered the office, and turned it into our tuning studio 🤣.

Now this Polo is a little pocket rocket 🚀.





Musketeer ReMapping & Tuning

17/06/2026

Vehicle Remapping and ECU solutions.

Are you looking to increase the performance of your vehicle?

Or having trouble with DPF, EGR or Adblue?

Call or message now for a free non obligatory quote!

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Plus, much, much more.

13/06/2026

Audi A4 - MOT.

Lee from LS Autobodys swung by with one of his customers cars. We carried out the MOT whilst he waited.

The next day Lee called to ask if we had any availability to do the advisory work. So, the following day we got the car back in. We replaced both front lower, rear control arms. Both front anti-roll bar links and the exhaust clamp.

Once we had carried out the repairs, we carried out a wheel alignment. This is a vital procedure after suspension work, it will ensure the car drives straight and also, give the owner maximum return from his new tyres.