checking oil & coolant..wooden spoon...how...?

[mach1]

Ok, so a month into TVR ownership and from what I read on the forums (great resource btw) its a good idea to check oil & water at least weekly.

I've heard mention of using a wooden spoon to check the water and I assume that to do it I'll need a spoon (which I have) and some markings (which I don't). Can anyone tell me how I should go about marking my wooden spoon?

Also, when checking the oil, do I unscrew, wipe it & then screw all the way back in to get a reading? or do I unscrew, wipe & then just drop the dipstick assembly loosely on top?

Cheers,

M

[madbadger]

Congrats, by the way.

With the spoon first check the head doesn't fit into the coolant tank, and then just drop the handle bit in.

You should have a dry couple of inches between the head and the coolant mark. If you wan't you can put a mark round the handle at this point with a marker or a knife but I don't bother. There is enough ambiguity to the exact level required that I'm happy with a ballpark. Each car seems to have it own level anyway.

With the oil I'm not sure it makes a huge difference, as the thread is not very deep on the dipstick. I tend to screw it in anyway. More important is to wear a gardening glove!

Oh - and don't forget - coolant cold, oil hot.

Good luck.

[mach1]

That's great, thanks for the reply.

I guess the spoon check is just to make sure its not loosing any water, not necessarily getting an exact reading.

[purpleperil]

mach1 said:

I guess the spoon check is just to make sure its not loosing any water, not necessarily getting an exact reading.

Beware that it will 'lose' excess coolant should you over fill it!

>> Edited by purpleperil on Tuesday 10th January 18:53

[mach1]

Thanks for the warning.

Absolutely love the car, even though the oil pressure sensor & some ecu thing have already failed, the drivers door keeps sticking & some of the trim is falling off. One press on the load pedal and all is forgiven, wouldn't swap it for anything....

[purpleperil]

mach1 said:

the drivers door keeps sticking

Is the window dropping enough? Mine didn't and the dealer traced it to the ECU being wired incorrectly! Quite embarring to ask your passenger to lower the window to let you in

[phoenix-pete]

Hi mach1
I take it your T350 has not had the extra coolant bottle mod? Had mine done and it makes checking the water a lot easier as the extra bottle is on the offside engine bay by the bonnet stay, and the car runs a bit cooler aswell.
Ask your local TVR dealer to do it if you can, well worth it .

Pete.

[mach1]

Purple peril, funny enough I do have an intermittent fault where the window doesn't drop and I was going to ask the dealer to look at when it goes in for its next service.

Phoenix pete, I don't have the extra water bottle but it sounds like it could be useful. Do you have any pictures of the mod? I can ask the dealer to do it when it goes in for service.

[phoenix-pete]

Sorry have'nt figured out how to post pics, but I am sure somene else can do one for you.
If you look at any of the latest TVR's they will have it.
Enjoy.