Garage servicing

[Peter Calver]

I must vent my anger at Garage goons. We have recently acquired an Elise so I am giving it a thorough Service. This entailed taking off the undertrays. I had to fight them off at every bolt - why Oh why can't the garage goons learn to put some grease - prefereably Copaslip - on the bolts so that next time its easy to remove them. I've had to tap all the fixings out to clean the threads and fit new bolts. I have paperwork to show the car has done 4k miles since the last service - I won't embarass them in revealing who they are a large dealer. The car requires service on elapsed time not mileage covered.
Is it that they are not likely to work on the car again or is so that they can charge for extra time to remove the undertrays. It would be cheaper at current labour rates to replace the bolts every time the trays are off!

[Martin_S]

Fair comment, but remember that Elise undertray bolts are prone to vibrating loose and leaving your undertray clattering along behind you at a hundred miles an hour.

If you copaslip the bolts, therefore, remember to check them regularly to make sure they are not becoming loose.

[fergusd]

Never, ever, seen undertray bolts loosen themselves because they have been coppaslipped . . . ever . . . have seen tens if not hundreds of knackered spire nuts in the undertray caused by seized bolts caused by lack of any kind of anti-seize compound being used (eg. coppaslip) . . .

Unfortunately main dealers work to a time sheet, this time sheet does not allow them to give a sh*t about your car (and even if it did many simply don't), hence everything is shoddily done.

The simple answer is simple, don't waste your money using a Lotus main dealer, use an independant or DIY . . .

Fd

[Martin_S]

fergusd said:

Never, ever, seen undertray bolts loosen themselves because they have been coppaslipped . . . ever . . . have seen tens if not hundreds of knackered spire nuts in the undertray caused by seized bolts caused by lack of any kind of anti-seize compound being used (eg. coppaslip) . . . Unfortunately main dealers work to a time sheet, this time sheet does not allow them to give a sh*t about your car (and even if it did many simply don't), hence everything is shoddily done. The simple answer is simple, don't waste your money using a Lotus main dealer, use an independant or DIY . . . Fd

I'm doing a tour of the West Coast of Scotland at the end of this month, Fergus - I'll drop in and show you the two empty holes where a couple of my undertray bolts used to live, if you are that interested!

I've seen plenty of bolts which have vibrated loose due to coppaslip, including the the aforementioned on my undertray. I can only imagine that you've never seen the same because you haven't seen that many that have had anti-seize used in the first place.

I'm slightly disturbed that someone involved with servicing of performance cars can be so blase about the use of anti-seize...ok, I know that an undertray bolt working loose is unlikely to be fatal, but there are plenty of other bolts which could (best one was the clown of a previous owner who'd thought it was a good idea to copaslip the threads of the knock-off hubs on an Elan I once bought!). Never use copaslip on torque or safety critical components, and check the security of non-critical components regularly (and/or use suitable anti-shake washers).

I agree wholeheartedly with your comments about independent or DIY in preference to main dealers, though!