Buy it or steer well clear?

It needed the same - it didn't need the oil changing four times, it needed it changing once, for example.

Reply to
Adrian
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I suppose it must happen once in a while. ;-)

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

Exactly and who do the Vauxhall dealers represent vauxhall

No i didn't pay for an Engine flush.

ER the Ford dealership would be sough ting it under warranty

Reply to
steve robinson

Agreed, but they certainly wouldn't flush an engine if its likely to damage it, the vehicles new, under warranty , be commercial suicide for a dealership to perform an operation on a vehicle which would invalidate the warranty .

In any event as its an option i refused it

Reply to
steve robinson

Oh, indeed. I can still remember reading with awe a report in a motoring mag of a Volvo that had done 100k miles on one engine!

However, compression ratios were lower, cam timing was mild, valve springs were weaker - all things that reduced loadings on bearing surfaces that would otherwise broken down the oil film. At the same time, if you compared say a con rod, piston or camshaft from that era with a modern one, the modern one would look like it was from a model engine.

Chris

Reply to
Chris Whelan
[...]

To the public, yes.

In legal terms, their relationship lets them get away with murder.

[...]

Do you know, I think you actually believe that.

Sadly, so would most of the rest of the car-buying public.

Chris

Reply to
Chris Whelan

In message , newshound writes

Yes, I would hope so, but the problems I listed included, for example, the swirl valve actuator in the Mercedes engine. Son is certain that the EML light was not on when it was last driven by him just before it was put away for the year. Similarly, a lot of the brake pipe, pad and disc problems would surely be generic.

Also, no-one else has raised the question: has the Lexus got all the right documentation about the LPG conversion?

Reply to
Bill

I do and could back it up legally

Reply to
steve robinson

Agreed, surely that's just down to the delay in refilling the filter housing after an oil change. That said, cars seem to survive that all the time.

Reply to
newshound

My point was that an engine that has not run for a long period of time is likely to have some corrosion of bearing surfaces. Changing the oil and filter before attempting to start it would starve those surfaces of oil for a short period; running it initially on the oil that was already in it would prevent further damage.

Chris

Reply to
Chris Whelan

They can charge you for it - but not do it. How would you know?

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

If the engine hasn't been run for an extended period and bearing surfaces are suffering corrosion those areas are already starved of oil as is the top of the engine and cylinders , far better to replace the oil first and pour a little into the cylinders that at least will see cams, valves, top end get some lubrication as well as the bottom end via the oil ways.

Infact if you intend to leave the vehicle unused for extended periods some say you should change the oil filling cylinders and overfill the engine drain and replace prr to using it again

Reply to
steve robinson

If you just replace the oil, then it won't make much difference either way. If you change the filter as well, there will be a negative impact.

Pouring oil into the cylinder(s) will only get some to the bore and piston; it won't get to the valvegear. It may also cause the plugs to foul, making a start impossible.

But that has nothing to do with what we are discussing here.

Chris

Reply to
Chris Whelan

John submitted this idea :

Well thanks for all your comments but decided that that particular was was very dodgy. I found the same car listed in Autotrader as a Cat D insurance jobbie, whereas the dealer website I was looking at made no mention of that, so I've left well alone :')

Reply to
John

I spent summer '79 after the winter fireman's strike, fitting new brakes and wheel bearing seals to AFS Green Goddess.

They were filled with the normal amount of a Shell 20 preserving oil. Then it was run up until fully warm and parked up. It could be driven up to 50 miles on that oil without affecting the preserving properties of the oil but if was used longer than that it was supposed to be changed before going back to storage.

As it was a vintage 50's Bedford SP chassis (4x4) it didn't have a multigrade oil spec.

Reply to
Peter Hill

If you intend to take it through the tunnel to France, check Eurotunnels restrictions first. They used to ban non-factory LPG conversions because the risk of a leakage inside the tunnel is too great.

Reply to
Andrew

It would cost you their costs.

You would have entered into a contact. You contracted them to carry out the flushing operation. They would have performed to contract. Then you pay them the contracted fee.

Should they have told you it voided the warranty? Failing to do so shows a lack of integrity but the fact is if its not illegal they don't have too and you got what you asked for and paid for.

Now if they outright told you it needed an engine flush (not a fuel system flush but that's crap too) then and only then would you have a case. To prove it you would need a letter from them advising that an engine oil flush should be carried out. They will NEVER write that letter. They will always write any quotation in words to effect of "To undertake task as per your enquiry", so it's you that asked for it to be done even if you think it wasn't. But that is what forms the basis of the contract.

You can contract them to take the engine out and disassemble it. They will do it for an agreed fee. Do you think they will re-assemble it under warranty?

Reply to
Peter Hill

Old mushroom headed tappet, split valve guide, side valve Ford's that were in 50's Ford Pop etc were replaced on annual basis 10-15K miles. It was cheaper (£10/12 = weeks wages) to buy an engine than have the valves re-seated.

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It wasn't until the 70's that 70K miles was common. But not for Ford's, the Pinto had reputation for destroying its cam and rockers before 50K. Motor factors always had a lot of Ford cam and rocker kits hanging up ready to go in the 70/80's.

The Nissan "L" series in the Datsun Bluebird (licensed from Mercedes before Nissan made it better and stopped paying the fee) was a revelation as they went well over 100K. Body didn't. Between me and my Father we scraped 3, 710, 810 and 910, all went over 100K, highest was

120K. Everything still worked, just the body was past hope at about 10-12 years old. We sold a 4th but couldn't believe that anyone would want it.
Reply to
Peter Hill

A modern car can also give 250,000 on it's original clutch. The life of a clutch when I first took up driving in the 1960s would be around 30,000.

I live out in the sticks now but do you still get these clutch fitting places in cities which used to claim to replace a three piece clutch but often just used to change the center plate?

Reply to
Norman Rowling

With some engines, removing the distributor will allow the oil pump drive to be accessed and the pump spun with a battery drill to lubricate everthing before you turn the engine over.

Reply to
Steve Walker

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