24 hours into new ownership - engine trouble already!

[olliedrew]

Hi All,

I took delivery of my newly acquired Superlight R yesterday and drove 100 happy miles before putting it in the garage, and saw no oil anywhere. Today i went out to the shops and then pulled into my drive and carried out a 3 point turn before putting it to bed and noticed a fluid line where i had just driven over. It turned out to be a loose oil pipe union on the front of oil filter housing. tightened the nut and problem seemed to be cured.

I then went to check the oil level by unscrewing the cap from the dry sump conning tower and thought i wasn't paying attention during my handover the day before as there was no stick. After double checking it seems the dipstick has broken off the conning tower cap. I can see an oil level through the small hole to some degree but am worried the stick could be damaging something in the dry sump or some other component.

Any advice on remedies or how to get it out would be much appreciated.

[mickrick]

Sorry to hear of your woes!
Magnet on a stick? Most car accessory shops stock them, on an extendable stick like a car antenna.
Or one of those springy grippy things ?

[dsl2]

If you have a look underneath the drysump bellhousing there should be a demountable blue plate you can remove to see if its in there, bare in mind that you will at this point loose all your oil over the floor!

If I recall & its been years since I had a K series 7, the coning tower section you refer to has the small screw top you mention, also under that the large alloy shiny section that had a series of bolts around it actually unscrews, then you will have a much larger hole to pear down into. (Maybe wait for someone else to confirm I'm right on that before dashing off to try though!)

[Darumvej]

olliedrew said:

Hi All,


I then went to check the oil level by unscrewing the cap from the dry sump conning tower and thought i wasn't paying attention during my handover the day before as there was no stick. After double checking it seems the dipstick has broken off the conning tower cap. I can see an oil level through the small hole to some degree but am worried the stick could be damaging something in the dry sump or some other component.

Any advice on remedies or how to get it out would be much appreciated.

This is quite a common problem, why not speak to the person you bought the car from maybe it's been missing for a long time and they could have removed the broken part, my dry sump system does not even have a dipstick I just tend to overfill slightly and any excess will blow off to the catch tank.

Edited by Darumvej on Sunday 11th November 19:03

[BertBert]

The sticks all seemed to break or come off, but there's really nowhere for them to go, so I'd not be too worried about that. They never seemed very good at checking the oil level with anyway. Other than the overfill method (which I don't personally like) you can dip the tank from the bottom with a home made dipstick. There is a specific measurement from the bottom 8 1/2 or 9 1/2 inches. I can go in the garage and measure mine if you want.

I'd be more interested (was going to say worried, but didn't want to worry you) about why a union was loose. I'd be asking the prev owner as it must have been off as they don't seem to have a habit of spontaneously undoing!

Bert

[olliedrew]

Thanks for the information, it's reassuring to know the loose dipstick isn't causing damage to the engine. Believe it or not but I bought it yesterday from Caterham south and in their defence the dipstick was there when the salesman demonstrated it to me and it also wasn't leaking oil until my third outing today.


I know 7's are a life experience but I really do hope my luck doesn't continue the way it started!

[Johnfrancis]

olliedrew said:

Thanks for the information, it's reassuring to know the loose dipstick isn't causing damage to the engine. Believe it or not but I bought it yesterday from Caterham south and in their defence the dipstick was there when the salesman demonstrated it to me and it also wasn't leaking oil until my third outing today.


I know 7's are a life experience but I really do hope my luck doesn't continue the way it started!

Took mine out for a first proper drive today, lost about a pint of oil through the spitting Webber's, about 2 Gallons of unleaded through the exhaust on the overrun with flames! and about a pint of coolant when home, love it.

[BertBert]

olliedrew said:

Thanks for the information, it's reassuring to know the loose dipstick isn't causing damage to the engine. Believe it or not but I bought it yesterday from Caterham south and in their defence the dipstick was there when the salesman demonstrated it to me and it also wasn't leaking oil until my third outing today.


I know 7's are a life experience but I really do hope my luck doesn't continue the way it started!

In which case I'd phone them up and ask them what work they had done and how they can make sure nothing else is going to be lose.
Bert

[grenpayne]

Not the best start admittedly but you'll not regret Caterham ownership at all. I took mine out after lunch today for a 90 minute hoon on some lovely quiet B roads and it was simply amazing, if a little chilly!

If you bought from CC south you'll have a 3 month warranty. Keep a list of everything (and I really do mean everything!) then a week before the 3 months are up, phone them up and get them to sort it all out. I had a list of a dozen or so things and CC Mids came and picked it up on the Monday on a covered trailer, sorted it out and delivered it back to me on the Friday ready for the weekend!!

[olliedrew]

They're great cars when going well that's for sure. When I notified them of my problems today I wouldn't have said they were over helpful but rather eager for me to sort it myself! Perhaps I was too laid back and should made a stronger complaint.

[BertBert]

olliedrew said:

They're great cars when going well that's for sure. When I notified them of my problems today I wouldn't have said they were over helpful but rather eager for me to sort it myself! Perhaps I was too laid back and should made a stronger complaint.

Phone em up again and make them work for it!
Tell them you think the engine might have seized and could they sort it out. That'll get some action!
Bert

[viper blue]

I assume your engine is a k series. I have a duratec withe the dry sump & swirl tower and whist most likely slightly different to yours the dip stick can not do any damage. It will simply rest on the bottom of the oil tank. I would follow the 3 month warranty advice already given and get Caterham cars to fish it out. I use the dipstick marker on mine as I know when it's full enough prior to spitting into overfill from trial and error.

Give the car a really good look over and make a list for the warranty, you may well have to push so stick with it..

Might see you around the south coast..