Threaded sump plug

[Deev]

Argh. It's all gone horribly wrong.

Tok my car to Ted Johnson's this morning for it's 60k service. Just had a phone call from them to tell me they can't remove the sump plug - it's just spinning - so I need a new sump at £240.

Oh and they also told me the clutch on my aircon is knackered.

And the yellow paint has peeled off my rear indicators making them non-road-legal.

And all four of my tyres are "borderline".

And that's before I even think about the cambelt change due in 2000 more miles.

I knew I shouldn't have got out of bed this morning...

 

[Jay20VT]

hmm, i would ask them to remove the sump and see if they can take out the sump plug on a bench. Very weird, first I have heard of such a thing..

 

[INSIDER]

who did the last service and have you taken it out since

 

[Jonny_Paul]

who did the last service and have you taken it out since

yeah im thinking the same thing, if it was there for its previous service then they have obviously stripped it.

You could try remvoing the sump and fixing it, without replacing the sump. But id say its down to whoever had it out last, they've put it in too tight.

 

[Tom B]

They'll probably charge about £200 to repair the sump (what with the time involved) and thee's no guarantee it'd be fixed.

Are there no pattern sumps out there?

 

[WeeJase]

there's a clutch on the air con?
btw rear lights don't have to be orange,just as long as they flash orange,ie orange bulb. my fronts and side reapeaters are clear so why should my rears have to be?

 

[RobM]

btw rear lights don't have to be orange,just as long as they flash orange,ie orange bulb. my fronts and side reapeaters are clear so why should my rears have to be?

This is very true, so get yourself some of those Silvatec silver indicators that glow orange and that should save you the hassle of buying new lights!

 

[Deev]

Yeah the general concensus is that the last person to service it over-tightened it. It was last serviced by Wills and Ellis in York, and I've not touched it since. Of course I know exactly what their reaction would be if I approached them about it...!

I've also since been told the aircon clutch is part of the compressor and not available seperately... which is about 800 quid...

I'm seriously considering part-ex and leg it...

 

[stpete]

sump repair plugs are around, you screw bolt in once and for all then use smaller bolt set into this to drain oil! have a google!!

 

[WeeJase]

whats a garage doing dropping the oil that way anyway?don't they all suck it out the dipstick these days.

this is spooky,i have just suggested someone buy a pella pump on briskoda.

 

[Jonny_Paul]

Yeah the general concensus is that the last person to service it over-tightened it. It was last serviced by Wills and Ellis in York, and I've not touched it since. Of course I know exactly what their reaction would be if I approached them about it...!

I've also since been told the aircon clutch is part of the compressor and not available seperately... which is about 800 quid...

I'm seriously considering part-ex and leg it...

I would question this, this time of year you might not know if your air con is working or not, but this can stop working if you need a regas. from experiece if theres a problem on the air con, and more specifically if the clutch isnt kicking in, i would check the gas in the system, so ask them if they have done this. And if i thought the pressure was low id do a regas and see what happens from there.

I would want proof of why it isnt working before i spent the money. especially if you havent reported any problems.

 

[Tom B]

Do you mean the paint has peeled off the bulbs? If so, the bulbs are a matter of pence each. If not, as long as the light emits an orange shade, it'll be fine. Orange bulbs in clear lamps is legal.

Jase, all the garages round here drop the oil the traditional way. They've spent hundreds on drainage tanks and they won't stop using them til they leak all over the workshop!

 

[Deev]

I'm pretty convinced that my air conditioning, if it didn't work before, certainly doesn't work now, as I discovered the technician has left the clutch plate in the centre console tray! (I only noticed when I was scrabbling for my phone when I got home!)

 

[Jonny_Paul]

I'm pretty convinced that my air conditioning, if it didn't work before, certainly doesn't work now, as I discovered the technician has left the clutch plate in the centre console tray! (I only noticed when I was scrabbling for my phone when I got home!)

that is odd!! and abit concerning, its must have just fell off????

 

[CupraUK]

And all four of my tyres are "borderline".

The law is not boarderline, they either need replacing or not. Do you know about the little ridges in them that mark the legal limit? Very handy, I was told that mine were boarderline, when you look at the ridges there must have been 1.5mm above them, i.e. 3.1mm in total, another 6 months or so for me.

 

[DPJ]

Doing a search reveals several similar sump plug problems - and many cheaper solutions than replacing the sump.

 

[CupraUK]

PS: and before I get flamed for suggesting running tyres down to the legal limit... if you don't like the lack of grip in the wet, drive slower.

 

[CORDOBA WRC]

I would question this, this time of year you might not know if your air con is working or not, but this can stop working if you need a regas. from experiece if theres a problem on the air con, and more specifically if the clutch isnt kicking in, i would check the gas in the system, so ask them if they have done this. And if i thought the pressure was low id do a regas and see what happens from there.

I would want proof of why it isnt working before i spent the money. especially if you havent reported any problems.

the usual problem with air con clutches is they fall off, the spline/threads stripp off the end of the shaft in the compressor and when you take off the under tray (if you have one) the clutch is lying there! in my experience the clutches dont fail they just fall off

 

[WeeJase]

The law is not boarderline, they either need replacing or not. Do you know about the little ridges in them that mark the legal limit? Very handy, I was told that mine were boarderline, when you look at the ridges there must have been 1.5mm above them, i.e. 3.1mm in total, another 6 months or so for me.

i thought tread wear indicators were above the legal limit?

 

[Deev]

Yeah I think the clutch had fallen off. Reading that, it does sound like what the mechanic said to me on the phone (I'd started to glaze over and think of little more than enormous pound signs at that point) - he'd removed the sump guard - and I suppose that makes sense as to why he'd left the clutch in the car for me! Seems a horrendous design flaw though. What would make it fail so catastrophically?

As for my tyres - yes I already knew they were getting a bit low (the car seems quite heavy on tyres - it was little over a year ago I replaced all 4 last time). The fronts are maybe 1.5mm above the tread wear indicators, and the rears maybe 2-3mm above. So I've probably got a month or so of gentle driving left on them. I'd kinda budgeted to replace them soon - or rather I had done before the rest of this damned expense turned up