Other Non LR........

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So, yesterday I drained the coolant, cleaned the tank of the black oil. (it was black).

Today, clean tank refitted, Forte bio degreaser and cleanser (pre-mixed in 6 litres of clean water) thrown into the system, burped it and ran it at fast idle for the stated 30 minutes.

Drain that out, refilled with fresh water and ran for a further 10 minutes, drained that out.

Fresh new anti-freeze put in and ran to temp, cooling fan cut's in nicely, temp gauge sitting perfect on the half way point.

Really it needs to be left overnight to see if oil appears, but I returned car and instructed her to check for oil over 2 or 3 successive mornings and report back to me.

If the oil does NOT reappear then I haven't influenced that result by doing what I've done.

If the oil DOES reappear, then on her instruction I shall use that expensive 'liquid head gasket repair snake oil' and take it from there.

So, in summary....

Degreased coolant system.
Rinsed.
50/50 antifreeze put in.
Thermostat opens nicely.
Fan cuts in nice at correct temp.
NO steam from exhaust.

Simple stuff really (suits me just Dandy, can't be doing with thinkin'...)


Now, theoretically, fast forward 3 days, I get the call, Hello you handsome SOB, there is NO oil in my coolant, what would you do?

Remember, owner checks things regular, it was a Garage that said HG!!

Ooooo, I do hope the oil doesn't return, I H8 dodgy garages!
 
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If all ok then next job is oil and filter I reckon just for kicks
Did the oil on the dipstick look as black as the oil in the coolant tank?
 
Au contrare HC,
It had a service 4 days ago, and the engine oil, whilst still dark in colour is nice n sticky 'tween fingers' (Hello Alan;)).
The oil filter is also new.

I'm leaving everything just as it is, if NO oil returns into the coolant overnight then I may have a 'talk' with the garage owner, and see if he blames his underling.!!
 
Jolly hockey sticks, that is what i was getting at, if the oil in the engine is like alan's 'cat's cradle' and the oil in the coolant tank is black then even more suspicious...o_O
and yes, go round and fill the ****ers in i think is what you meant
 
All talking aside, I'm probably unlikely to use violence (great fun in print though).
I may yet end up with egg on my face. (I hope not)

This Pug is a campervan (for dwarves), quite desirable if you like that sort of thing, maybe the garage thought so too, and thought they'd have a go at defrauding the woman owner. either out of doing the unnecessary work or 'making her an offer'!!!!!

If all plays well in my favour, I'll see how good her acting skills are and if she's willing to go back to them, all innocent and unsure if it's worth spending money on it, maybe going as far as asking them if they are interested in buying it????
I'd have to put some manky black oil BACK in the coolant tank though..
 
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If it turns out that they have been less than honourable then I think you could always pop down to the garage and ask them to explain their diagnosis. You are sure somebody didn’t top the oil up in the coolant tank ?
When my sister was a young 18 year old, phwoarrr , oh hang on, she went on an RAC course for women drivers on basic maintenance, not the sort you pay for leaving them with your children, although she would probably let me off as she is my sister , and long story short, a woman was chuffed to say she changed her own oil but it took her ages to get the new oil back down the dipstick tube !!
 
IF you find that there is no ongoing contamination and you suspect some "sharp-practice" might have occurred then report it to trading standards, it goes on file and enough "tickles" makes them do something eventually.
A friend of mine was a very particular person about MPG measurement and he always recorded each fill-up and miles between fill-ups.
He noticed that whenever he got his car serviced his MPG would take a dip that week. He reported it and an investigation showed that the garage was systematically stealing petrol from clients cars.
 
A female friend many years ago called me to ask for help starting her mini.
Said "it was fine until my boyfriend topped the oil up"
Removing the filler cap showed that he had filled it to the top.
Apparently, he gave her a right old rollicking for letting it get so low that he had to use almost two gallons to fill it!
 
Ah, maybe it has an oil cooler then,,,

Good news is I haven't received a call this morning that the oil has returned.

Duly noted it may take more than a couple of days to return, if at all.
 
I also think it is good that the most interesting thread is about a Pug !
I have to agree. Part of my reason for finding it interesting, is the contrast of how quickly something can be sorted on the Pug.If I was 8 inches shorter and 30yrs younger I might even have bought one. In fact when I was 30yrs younger, I nearly bought a little 1.9 205 GTI. However, even 30yrs ago I was still 6' tall. So it was not to be. :(
 
I have to agree. Part of my reason for finding it interesting, is the contrast of how quickly something can be sorted on the Pug.If I was 8 inches shorter and 30yrs younger I might even have bought one. In fact when I was 30yrs younger, I nearly bought a little 1.9 205 GTI. However, even 30yrs ago I was still 6' tall. So it was not to be. :(
If you were 30 yrs younger and 8 inch shorter you would be riding shotgun with me, forget holidaychicken. ;):D:D
 
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