Newbie with a couple of questions.

[marino500]

Hi everybody.

Bought a Griffith 6 weeks ago and am enjoying every minute of it, especially when I can prise it out of my girlfriends grasp (Waitrose, hairdressers, friends etc). We did consider a Chimera but we are on the younger side of 50. Anyway, can anybody help with a couple of questions.

1. The remote central locking and alarm works perfectly, but I always have to use the alarm fob to deactivate the immobiliser. Does the immobiliser have to be synchronised?

2. In 2,700 miles the car has used 4 litres of oil and the expansion tank constantly needs topping up with water. There are no obvious signs of leakage and both the oil and water seem clear of gunge (head gaskets OK?). Ideas?

Thanks, Dave.

[gerjo]

Hi everybody.
2. In 2,700 miles the car has used 4 litres of oil and the expansion tank constantly needs topping up with water. There are no obvious signs of leakage and both the oil and water seem clear of gunge (head gaskets OK?). Ideas?

Thanks, Dave.

4 liters of oil for 2,700 miles sounds normal. My 500 uses about 1 liter every 600 miles.
The water usage though might indicate that there is a radiator leak. You could use one of these liquids that stop leaks, I used it and it works fine till now.

good luck with the new toy!

[mongoose]

hi marino,nice to hear that your enjoying your new toy!in reply to your questions:-the security will only allow you to start the car within 15 or so seconds without you having to press the keyfob to release the immobiliser,so if your not trying to start it within that time after unlocking doors then thats why youre finding a problem(this applies to the meta security system).the oil consumption you describe is very high.read the thread 'oil consumtion' a couple of pages back on this griff forum.mine doesnt use water like you describe either,so you should check for leaks,but its worth bearing in mind that you could be replacing just air in the system if its recently had its cooling replenished i.e. before you bought it? hope this helps-mv

[jigs]

My Griffith uses about half a litre of Mobil 1 Motorsport per 1000 miles depending on type of driving. Maybe your car has had a lighter, thinner oil used at it's last service. Try Mobil 1 Motorsport next time.
I hardly ever have top up coolant so that would need to be checked.
Welcome to the wonderful world of Griffiths.

>> Edited by jigs on Sunday 4th May 12:51

[marino500]

Thanks for the replies.

It seems that the oil use is not too extreme. I am using 0W-40 at the moment and will change to the motorsport version at the next service.

The car is garaged and there is no evidence of any leaks on the floor or in the engine bay. I will monitor the quantity used.

It is the Meta type (late 99 Griff.). The immobiliser LED hesitates on opening and starts flashing again immediately. I have tried blipping the remote when the key is in the ignition, etc to no avail. I assumed that the fob needed synchronizing(?) as I have to do this on my SAAB if the battery has been disconnected. It all works fine, but it is a pain to have to always use the fob.

Mind you, if we many more days like today, the next service will be appearing very rapidly.

[Ballistic Banana]

marino500 said: Thanks for the replies.


The car is garaged and there is no evidence of any leaks on the floor or in the engine bay. I will monitor the quantity used.

Hi Mate and welcome to Griff ownership.

Re the water usage have you looked right under the rad as there is a lip that water will sit in.
There is a hole in the GRP at each end of the sill/lip and found that when i parked at work which was a slight hill that the water would drip out these holes but not on my flat driveway, so worth a look.


BB

[Ballistic Banana]

Forgot to add some characteristics of the car may mean it has found its own level, The manual suggest it should be a couple of inches from the top but mine and i know of a few others are near the mark half way down.
As long as its not empty and u keep an i eye on it, it should be ok.

BB

[manek]

Er -- the expansion tank is supposed to be half-empty. Fill it up, and the system will just chuck it away, diluting your anti-freeze. I think.

No doubt an expert will be along shortly to give you the real answer...

>> Edited by manek on Sunday 4th May 22:51

[marino500]

Thanks BB, I will check.

Thanks Manek, but I realise that the expansion tank is to be filled to the halfway point. The level is moving down from this point, not in vast quantities just down to the pipe bit. Initially I thought that the oil and water usage may be related, but the oil drinking seems to be acceptable. It's used about 2 litres of water in 6 weeks. I will do what gerjo suggested if it continues.

Dave.

[jigs]

The definite and absolutely essential solutions to all your 'problems' are:-
Willwood 4 pots, Nitrons, ACT trumpet base,Mark Adams chip, etc.,etc. The absence of these upgrade items DO result in water and oil loss, honest.
Make sure your girlfriend knows that these are mandatory.

[manek]

Oh dear. We're not being very helpful, us lot, are we?

[marino500]

Thanks jigs, I thought that may the case, although I now prefer to call these items "Enhanced Security and Safety Features", apparently a new EU directive.

[simon.b]

Hi Dave,

welcome to the grin factor.

These motors do tend to use oil, in general the thinner it is the more you use. If your not seeing smoke or mayonnaise then I wouldn’t worry just keep a eye on it. Go for the Mobil 1 motorsport 15W50 or if you can get it Valvoline Synpower 5W50 which is cheaper and has better cold starting properties.

If your cooling system is working correctly then you shouldn’t need to top up the coolant and I personally would never use any form of coolant additive to stop leaks in this type of engine (a knackerd old euro box maybe). Find the leak and either fix it properly or just live with it, providing you don’t get any overheating problems.

I have re-cored my Griff radiator a few times now and its leaking again though slightly and only under certain conditions, so until it gets any worse it just top it up now and then. The problem with some Griff’s seams to be getting the thing mounted such that the radiator doesn’t pick up the body flexing and hence cracking the core, either that or the people building/fixing the radiator don’t do it properly.

If you cant see any signs of a coolant leak, then it could be the expansion tank cap (the blue one) that needs replacing. Again this is a common problem and these can be quite cheaply sourced from a VW AUDI dealer. It may be worth trying this first.

Not sure about your alarm, do you mean the remote doesn’t activate or deactivate the system and hence you have to use the key, if so I have the instructions that allow you to add or remove remotes from the system, it may also resynchronise I don’t know I’ve never tried it. I’ll mail you the instructions direct.

Cheers,

Simon.

[marino500]

Simon, the procedure worked OK, but still the same problem, i.e. use the remote to lock and unlock the car, but the immobiliser is not de-activated. Therefore have to insert the fob thing everytime. As you kindly e-mailed the web site details for Metasystems, I will now contact them this week.

Thanks.

[simon.b]

The only time mine has ever miss-behaved like that the alarm has gone off as well, quite embarrassing driving along with all hell breaking loose, but it was my fault after having got too many button presses in.

Maybe its been deliberately set up this way, after all I normally never use the key.

Good luck with Metasystems, let us know how you get on.

Cheers,

Simon.

[marino500]

I have left a message with Metasystems, will let you know.

Good advice Re. expansion bottle cap. The problem may well fit in with this as a cause. Sometimes when driving, not necessarily hard, I can smell radiator water (fairly distinctive!) although this only lasts for a short time. Do you know the temperature/pressure that the cap is supposed to operate at?

Thanks, Dave.

[simon.b]

Sorry no, but if you clean around the cap on the top of the tank, if it has been leaking you should be able to see signs of staining from the antifreeze.

Cheers,

Simon.

[icamm]

On the oil front you don't need to wait until the next service to change to Mobil 1 Motorsport. It is compatable with normal Mobil 1 so you can use it to top up. Don't throw any existing Mobil 1 away but next time you buy a can get the Motorsport stuff.