Does your car have a dipstick?

[diy_fun_uk]

Do you honestly think that the "Full" mark is so accurate, that your days of faffing (to hit it, spot on) make any material difference?

I get you're referring to 'faff' in terms of ensuring the oil level is on its full mark, however when it comes to checking levels in general I don't find it a faff at all.

Lift bonnet, quick visual check of coolant, brake and windscreen washer levels. Pull dipstick, wipe, reinsert, pull, visual check, reinsert.

Assuming all's okay, the check from bonnet up to bonnet down takes around 2 minutes. I get there are sensors etc checking these things when the car's 'on', however I prefer being able to check them and if required refill levels myself between servicing.

Of course the garages (especially main dealers) would be cock-a-hoop if you booked your car in every time you wanted something checked beyond what the dash is telling you.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Surely you just put in the recommended amount?

I use the recommended amount as a guide, for how much as a basic, I will need and engines do vary slightly. My engine takes rather a lot of oil, for a refill.

I bring it up to near full, run the engine, to fill up the filter and galleries, leave it to drain down, check it, top it up to near full, then add a little at a time over subsequent days to get it on the nose.

When I do my regular checks, after that, under the same circumstances, I expect it to show precisely on the F, if not I need to worry about where it has gone.

I am similarly precise about my tyre pressures. I use an expensive PCL gauge, with a calibration certificate, which reads to 0.1bar. I regularly check and set my tyres within 0.1 bar. I have a list of all my tyre pressures, for all of my tyres, chalked onto the wall of my garage, for reference. It is similarly, no great bother to get it right.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

For a number of reasons, regardless of advancements in tech (maybe because of them), I think the annual MOT check should remain.

I agree, there are those who just drive in complete ignorance, have zero mechanical sympathy - and those like me who make sure everything is absolutely as it should be, for whom an MOT is just a waste of money.

I go to the same MOT garage, as I have done for decades, because he only does MOT's - he has no vested interest in failing a vehicle and I pay full price. We are on first name terms. He well knows that I only present my car in first rate condition, and already much more thoroughly checked than he will do. Better to pay full price, than have it failed on some trumped-up reason, as a money earner. All of the free MOT's, are just free, as an opportunity to earn money on doing remedial work.

 

[Brigadier]

I am similarly precise about my tyre pressures. I use an expensive PCL gauge, with a calibration certificate, which reads to 0.1bar. I regularly check and set my tyres within 0.1 bar. I have a list of all my tyre pressures, for all of my tyres, chalked onto the wall of my garage, for reference. It is similarly, no great bother to get it right

My tyre pressures vary throughout the day and through use: lower on a cold morning, and increasing with increasing temperature, higher speeds, and / or cornering.

Still, keeps you busy I suppose.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

My tyre pressures vary throughout the day and through use: lower on a cold morning, and increasing with increasing temperature, higher speeds, and / or cornering.

Still, keeps you busy I suppose.

As do mine, but I always check them cold, just out of my garage door - which is when they are supposed to be checked.

 

[Brigadier]

cold

I'm surprised at your slapdash attitude

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I'm surprised at your slapdash attitude

Feel free, to carry on risking your neck on badly inflated tyres, just please try to avoid sharing the road with me.

 

[Brigadier]

Feel free, to carry on risking your neck on badly inflated tyres, just please try to avoid sharing the road with me.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

You are the joke, the one who suggests taking risks with the lives of others..

 

[Phil3012]

No dipstick on my car, to be honest it's probaby better as the system makes sure you're checking it under the correct conditions e.g temperature not on a slope which can impact the reading. Also I assume it would alert when low, which a car with a dipstick doesn't until it's far too late.

 

[noseall]

Of course the garages (especially main dealers) would be cock-a-hoop if you booked your car in every time you wanted something checked beyond what the dash is telling you.

Mine would eventually get ****ed off and tell you to do one.

Which garage do you go to to check the fuel tank?

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

Also I assume it would alert when low, which a car with a dipstick doesn't until it's far too late.

Which is the whole point of doing your regular checks. The regular checks also give you the chance to spot any developing issues, before damage or breakdown.

 

[Diver Fred]

I'm beginning to think people aren't taught anything about their cars nowadays.

Today, Schoool mum in her brand new Chelsea tractor (LR defender – the Discovery replacement) Parked on the roadside, blocking the view down the road, engine running, headlights on so blinded and unable to see if there is any other vehicles coming along the road to pass her. Risked pulling out so when I was level with her asked her nicely to switch her lights off. Her reply - “There're Automatic and can't be switched off without stopping the engine”... WTF.

But it's not the first time I've had this argument with a School Mum. They care less about causing an accident than they do about their kids walking a few extra paces from the school gates or the car interior being nice and hot so they don't get cold (But they could put a few extra clothes on!).

Why is it when people buy new cars they aren't properly taken through the controls, bonnet & fuel filler cover releases, dipsticks, water levels and battery condition.

When learning to drive why aren't they taught to Operate (put their foot on) the clutch before starting the car, Know the priority on hills, Leave a vehicle in gear as well as the handbrake on when parking.

Or don't they take any notice?

 

[Roy Bloom]

When learning to drive why aren't they taught to Operate (put their foot on) the clutch before starting the car, Know the priority on hills, Leave a vehicle in gear as well as the handbrake on when parking.

I think a lot of modern vehicles require the handbrake on or the footbrake pressed in order to start them.
Maybe the clutch depressed is a valid alternative on some vehicles.

 

[Diver Fred]

I think a lot of modern vehicles require the handbrake on or the footbrake pressed in order to start them.

Footbrake on recent Automatic transmission cars.

Maybe the clutch depressed is a valid alternative on some vehicles.

Modern Manual Transmission cars.

But it eases the load on the starter motor.