What a dipstick!

neilc

Member
Be very careful when some well meaning person starts saying nice things about your pride and joy when you are doing your pre/mid flight checks at a petrol station.

There I was checking oil,
(Gentlman in Silver Astra - You don't see many of those these days. I said you don't see many of those these days)

check coolant top up

(Gentlman in Silver Astar Is it a 2600 or a V*? Is it a 3.5 V8

No - actually is a 3.9 V8 - its a got a Discovery EFI engine (just about 1mm coolant needed!)

(Gentlman in Silver Astra - Oh I see its a Vitessee - looks good in Red - its very shiny isn't it)

Yes - it had a good polish three or four weeks ago (remove dust caps)

(Gentlman in Silver Astra - They don't make cars like that anymore - we used to have a 23000 in the eighties)

Set pressure on air line - insert 40p and .....

....well you get the gist - the comments and so on go while everything is checked. Finally a polite goodbye - "Nice talking to you" etc etc, Uneventful crawl out of Sunbury - traffic OKish. Quick zoom down the M3 and pootle round the M25 and hitting the A3 the coolant warning light comes on. Not just a flicker - full on. Engine temp steady though and then on slowing down it goes out. Speed up on and off. As it was going off as well I guessed there was at least a level of coolant in there, but thinking "oh no here we go again - what's up now - another leak? I really thought we had nailed these shake down problems. Pulled into BP station. Flipped the bonnet and there it was. Expansion tank filler cap still sitting pretty as you please on the battery. I'd forgotten to put it back thanks to the nice gentleman in the silver Astra

So here's hands up to me a being dipstick and not concentrating. Topped up and off the Big Red Monster sped down the A3 - behaving well despite my attempt to cook the engine
 
When i first got my p6 i kept leaving the fuel filler open and driving off because every time i filled up someone came over talking and i was distracted. One time I drove off with it open and a guy behind saw petrol spilling on the road when I went round a roundabout. He started flashing his lights to attract my attention. I stopped and got out thinking is this what its like with a classic car! Very embarrassed when he said 'your filler cap is open mate'!
 
Makes me glad I am such a grumpy looking sod - a scowl usually works wonders in these situations.

All the same, I have been in Pat's position on at least one occasion and am thankful that in our cars at least, the cap can't be left on the roof of the car.

pat180269 said:
Very embarrassed when he said 'your filler cap is open mate'!

This reminds me of a great bit of lip-reading between me and another driver at great speed at the Kilsby fork - I was heading for the M45 and he was staying on the M1.

Your exhaust's hanging off, mate
 
Done that as well ! Filled up the water the night before the SARR a couple of years ago, then drove home parked up for the night and the next morning drove 76 miles to Edinburgh. Only when I opened the bonnet to look at something else I noticed the radiator cap still sitting in the engine bay :oops: :mrgreen: Must say despite it being a hot day I didn't notice any difference on the run down and just stuck the cap back on :|
 
Tam said:
Done that as well ! Filled up the water the night before the SARR a couple of years ago, then drove home parked up for the night and the next morning drove 76 miles to Edinburgh. Only when I opened the bonnet to look at something else I noticed the radiator cap still sitting in the engine bay :oops: :mrgreen: Must say despite it being a hot day I didn't notice any difference on the run down and just stuck the cap back on :|

I think this varies between cars - some are quite happy with the cap off and others will spew over with rage at the slight. Ethel has always been placid - she runs quite happily with the rad cap off - I once drove 80 or so miles from Shap to Manchester with it in my pocket.

This was because I was the biggest dipstick in the world when I took out a multi-car insurance policy with Admiral and allowed the agent to upsell me some breakdown cover.

When the temperature gauge suddenly jumped from the white to mid-green, I left the motorway suspecting a hissy hose. In fact the radiator had sprung a leak and it was when I rang for breakdown cover that I was told that only one of my cars was covered and it wasn't the one I was driving.

Silly old me - what a dipstick for thinking that a breakdown add-on for a multi-car policy would also be multi car.



There was nothing for it but to buy as much water as I could in the Co-op in Shap and drive gently along the A6. All my water was gone 20 miles later in Milnthorpe but I refilled my bottles and kept going. Loads of friendly folk warned me of the flood I was causing on the A6 through Carnforth, Lancaster and Preston. It took me 9 hours to get home and the next day I managed get a 100% refund of my insurance policy from the start date.
 

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pat180269 said:
When i first got my p6 i kept leaving the fuel filler open and driving off because every time i filled up someone came over talking and i was distracted. One time I drove off with it open and a guy behind saw petrol spilling on the road when I went round a roundabout. He started flashing his lights to attract my attention. I stopped and got out thinking is this what its like with a classic car! Very embarrassed when he said 'your filler cap is open mate'!



I done this the other week !!
 
Never had this happen to me.. as I'm rude and unsociable, and glare at those who come too close to me while I'm at the gas station :)
 
At that point you curse that fact the V8 cooling system runs at 2-3x the pressure of other cars of that era.
 
Years ago I managed to forget the oil cap on my Mk.I Cavalier. I drove 5 miles, noticed the smell of hot oil. Let's just say I never had a rust problem around the engine bay after that. :(
 
Left the oil cap off my MX-5, on the way to the NEC, and covered 15 very fast miles, until I arrived at the petrol station, and noticed the oil, everywhere. Someone had phoned me when I was checking the oil. Needless to say, a lot of blue paper was used, and it needed a bit of a top-up. Drove it very hard for the rest of the weakend, and had no problems, and, the car still goes today, I believe. Good job I noticed before getting on the road properly.
 
I have done this too! Must be a P6 thing, it was a hot day and I had offered to drop a work colleague of at a local garage to pick up his freshly MOT'd Vespa. Before we left I topped off the coolant, we got stuck in some traffic and by the time we got to the temporary traffic lights that were causing the hold up I had a slight wisp of steam from the drivers side.

My colleague asks "is that normal?" I reply "its probably just dumping out a bit as it gets up to temps and expands". My cool exterior started to wear off a bit when it was still steaming two minutes later as we pulled away. "I'd better just check" as I pull over...

Lo and behold the rad cap was on top of the radiator still! :shock:
 
I can remember driving from Eden Camp to Barnsley (70 miles) with the cap loose. The top hose had developed a small leak and the pressure was spraying the engine compartment and causing a lot of coolant loss.

I loosened the cap and it stopped spraying out. Drove in home with no problem, no overheating, and no more coolant loss.

I did have the heater on all the way though, just to aid the rad :shock: (swelter)

Richard
 
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