Service intervals after an engine rebuild?
Discussion
I'm a little unsure how servicing intervals work after an engine rebuild, can anyone help me?
I had a major engine rebuild (and gearbox) on my T350c at the beginning of the summer this year. I've run the engine in and had the oil change and adjustments all carried out on the engine after the running in period (1500 miles). I've since taken a trip across Europe in the car and put more miles on it.
Prior to the engine rebuild the car was off of the road for 11 months while trying to work out what to do about the engine. During this time the annual service period came and went as obviously it isn't worth servicing a car which is off of the road with a dead engine. The car has now nearly done 18k miles (last service at 12k, I've owned it since about 15k) and is in theory not only overdue an annual service (12k service was 2 years ago!) but also an 18k service. Unfortunately in 18 months of ownership I have only been in possession of a working car for a few months and feel like I have had half the car replaced at great expense. Almost immediately after running the car in and getting it serviced I went to Europe where I had problems and since then the car has been off of the road (again!).
The service intervals have now gone out of the window and I am not sure what to do. I am worried about the car loosing value due to what appears to be gaps in the servicing. I'm guessing I just have to bite the bullet and pay the money for a complete 18k service despite the engine having a service only a short while ago and then hope people understand the history of the car which explains why it doesn't appear to have been serviced annually.
I hope TVR ownership becomes easier (and cheaper) for me very soon otherwise I think I will end up having a heart attack from the stress!
I had a major engine rebuild (and gearbox) on my T350c at the beginning of the summer this year. I've run the engine in and had the oil change and adjustments all carried out on the engine after the running in period (1500 miles). I've since taken a trip across Europe in the car and put more miles on it.
Prior to the engine rebuild the car was off of the road for 11 months while trying to work out what to do about the engine. During this time the annual service period came and went as obviously it isn't worth servicing a car which is off of the road with a dead engine. The car has now nearly done 18k miles (last service at 12k, I've owned it since about 15k) and is in theory not only overdue an annual service (12k service was 2 years ago!) but also an 18k service. Unfortunately in 18 months of ownership I have only been in possession of a working car for a few months and feel like I have had half the car replaced at great expense. Almost immediately after running the car in and getting it serviced I went to Europe where I had problems and since then the car has been off of the road (again!).
The service intervals have now gone out of the window and I am not sure what to do. I am worried about the car loosing value due to what appears to be gaps in the servicing. I'm guessing I just have to bite the bullet and pay the money for a complete 18k service despite the engine having a service only a short while ago and then hope people understand the history of the car which explains why it doesn't appear to have been serviced annually.
I hope TVR ownership becomes easier (and cheaper) for me very soon otherwise I think I will end up having a heart attack from the stress!
I have had the gearbox rebuilt along with the engine (a few thousand miles ago) and am getting a new clutch fitted as we speak though so surely I am paying money for work which does not need to be carried out?
I've spent a small fortune on my car (it adds up to over £10k just on repair bills now) for only a few thousand miles worth of use. I'm getting fed up throwing money at it!
I've spent a small fortune on my car (it adds up to over £10k just on repair bills now) for only a few thousand miles worth of use. I'm getting fed up throwing money at it!
Thanks for the suggestion. I want to look after my car to prevent any failures in the future but also don't want to be wasting money I don't have!
Looking at the servicing schedule on TVR Power's web site there are items on there which would have been done as part of the work I am having done on my car at the moment. I shall ask TVR Power (who have the car at the moment) if they can do a "custom" service for me. Unfortunately I think Dom is pretty flat out with the take over at the moment so I am not getting very far!
Looking at the servicing schedule on TVR Power's web site there are items on there which would have been done as part of the work I am having done on my car at the moment. I shall ask TVR Power (who have the car at the moment) if they can do a "custom" service for me. Unfortunately I think Dom is pretty flat out with the take over at the moment so I am not getting very far!
NickT said:
Thanks for the suggestion. I want to look after my car to prevent any failures in the future but also don't want to be wasting money I don't have!
Looking at the servicing schedule on TVR Power's web site there are items on there which would have been done as part of the work I am having done on my car at the moment. I shall ask TVR Power (who have the car at the moment) if they can do a "custom" service for me. Unfortunately I think Dom is pretty flat out with the take over at the moment so I am not getting very far!
Looking at the servicing schedule on TVR Power's web site there are items on there which would have been done as part of the work I am having done on my car at the moment. I shall ask TVR Power (who have the car at the moment) if they can do a "custom" service for me. Unfortunately I think Dom is pretty flat out with the take over at the moment so I am not getting very far!
Who did the work on the engine and gearbox?
Have you challenged the dreadful decison not to fit a new clutch when the work was done, and would the same people not do the service at a reasonable price in recognition of the previous error.
I would certainly go the route of a custom service, and request valve clearances are checked, noted and reshimmed as appropriate.
Best of luck with your service, and I do hope your fortunes change for the better soon.
I had a rebuild done on my Tuscan at 10,750 miles, some 3k after it had had its 12k major service (first 7k miles took 18 mths to do by prior owner). At that stage, I basically then treated the engine/car as completely new and had a 1k service (at 11,750 miles), a 6k service (at 16,750) and recently a 12k.
All the work was carried out by TVR Power. The initial work was just for the engine rebuild but as the gearbox was out of the car I decided to get the gearbox rebuilt after asking how best to resolve a very "crunchy" 5th gear and being told a complete gearbox rebuild was required.
It was never suggested that the clutch be replaced. I seem to remember being told that the clutch was fine and did not need replacing. TVR Power were aware that I was trying to save as much money as possible after only owning the car for a couple of months before the engine went and not expecting a bill of £8k+ after such a short period of time (had also expected Warranty would pay for a large amount which was not the case!). So maybe they were trying to save me money.
The clutch had done a maximum of 18k miles. Shouldn't clutches last longer than this? I have been charged for 10 hours labour to replace the clutch as well as a clutch assembly and other parts including cylinder sleeve, clutch piston, bell housing etc. It has worked out pretty pricey! The clutch in the state it was in prior to taking the car to TVR Power still got me back from Italy so I was hoping it would be just a bearing, not the whole clutch
I've also had an issue with the cooling system blowing water from the expansion tank so am getting the expansion tank mod done, TVR Power are paying for labour but I am paying for parts.
This car has been a nightmare! I wont even start on what happened with the paint while being stored by the garage I bought the car from when they were quoting for the work on the engine!!
It was never suggested that the clutch be replaced. I seem to remember being told that the clutch was fine and did not need replacing. TVR Power were aware that I was trying to save as much money as possible after only owning the car for a couple of months before the engine went and not expecting a bill of £8k+ after such a short period of time (had also expected Warranty would pay for a large amount which was not the case!). So maybe they were trying to save me money.
The clutch had done a maximum of 18k miles. Shouldn't clutches last longer than this? I have been charged for 10 hours labour to replace the clutch as well as a clutch assembly and other parts including cylinder sleeve, clutch piston, bell housing etc. It has worked out pretty pricey! The clutch in the state it was in prior to taking the car to TVR Power still got me back from Italy so I was hoping it would be just a bearing, not the whole clutch
I've also had an issue with the cooling system blowing water from the expansion tank so am getting the expansion tank mod done, TVR Power are paying for labour but I am paying for parts.
This car has been a nightmare! I wont even start on what happened with the paint while being stored by the garage I bought the car from when they were quoting for the work on the engine!!
Mustang Baz said:
I had a rebuild done on my Tuscan at 10,750 miles, some 3k after it had had its 12k major service (first 7k miles took 18 mths to do by prior owner). At that stage, I basically then treated the engine/car as completely new and had a 1k service (at 11,750 miles), a 6k service (at 16,750) and recently a 12k.
That was what I was hoping to hear as a suggestion from TVR Power. At the end of the day I have had new engine, new gearbox, new clutch (with fluid which is also brake fluid), new cooling system mod (so new coolant), also a new radiator, new front wheels and tyres... about the only things left on the service schedule is to check the brakes and grease the door hinges! I know the brakes are fine as I would change the pads / disks myself if they were low. So maybe I don't need a service!?
NickT said:
All the work was carried out by TVR Power. The initial work was just for the engine rebuild but as the gearbox was out of the car I decided to get the gearbox rebuilt after asking how best to resolve a very "crunchy" 5th gear and being told a complete gearbox rebuild was required.
It was never suggested that the clutch be replaced. I seem to remember being told that the clutch was fine and did not need replacing. TVR Power were aware that I was trying to save as much money as possible after only owning the car for a couple of months before the engine went and not expecting a bill of £8k+ after such a short period of time (had also expected Warranty would pay for a large amount which was not the case!). So maybe they were trying to save me money.
The clutch had done a maximum of 18k miles. Shouldn't clutches last longer than this? I have been charged for 10 hours labour to replace the clutch as well as a clutch assembly and other parts including cylinder sleeve, clutch piston, bell housing etc. It has worked out pretty pricey! The clutch in the state it was in prior to taking the car to TVR Power still got me back from Italy so I was hoping it would be just a bearing, not the whole clutch
I've also had an issue with the cooling system blowing water from the expansion tank so am getting the expansion tank mod done, TVR Power are paying for labour but I am paying for parts.
This car has been a nightmare! I wont even start on what happened with the paint while being stored by the garage I bought the car from when they were quoting for the work on the engine!!
It was never suggested that the clutch be replaced. I seem to remember being told that the clutch was fine and did not need replacing. TVR Power were aware that I was trying to save as much money as possible after only owning the car for a couple of months before the engine went and not expecting a bill of £8k+ after such a short period of time (had also expected Warranty would pay for a large amount which was not the case!). So maybe they were trying to save me money.
The clutch had done a maximum of 18k miles. Shouldn't clutches last longer than this? I have been charged for 10 hours labour to replace the clutch as well as a clutch assembly and other parts including cylinder sleeve, clutch piston, bell housing etc. It has worked out pretty pricey! The clutch in the state it was in prior to taking the car to TVR Power still got me back from Italy so I was hoping it would be just a bearing, not the whole clutch
I've also had an issue with the cooling system blowing water from the expansion tank so am getting the expansion tank mod done, TVR Power are paying for labour but I am paying for parts.
This car has been a nightmare! I wont even start on what happened with the paint while being stored by the garage I bought the car from when they were quoting for the work on the engine!!
TVR Power would be aware that an 18000 mile clutch had very little life in it.
Like I said before, it was a dreadfull decison to make. Given the mileage, Power should have put an excellent case to you for changing the clutch while the box was split.
I would suggest you've been done up like the preverbial Kipper. All IMHO of course.
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