Guest Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 Not been blogging much recently as I've been mega busy with work commitments, and have had a problem with a gearbox leak... All on the blog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James.S Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 You ran the car on a trackday knowing it was leaking gear oil? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 Yes. As there's only a litre of oil (roughly) in the box, and only a fairly mild weep, I figured it'd be ok-which it was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveMorris Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 Possibly the question was being raised not questioning the potential effects on your gearbox, but to the spreading of oil behind your car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BBL Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 I thought all Caterhams leaked gear oil? In fact, I thought all British cars leaked something! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James.S Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 Yeah, stupid thing to do IMO. Don't give a monkeys about your box, more about the poor sods behind you. As to warranty, I would just hope CC don't see the vids where you use the box as a brake..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myothercarsa2cv Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 If it's the rear seal it's probably been nicked during assembly. Surprised they'd warranty this given it was a home build. Also, track day with leaking oil? Seriously silly. Oil is bad enough on the roads at considerably lower speeds... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 Seems like you guys are thinking it was spewing oil all over the place-this wasn't the case it was more of an extremely slow weep. I called Caterham and they said "not to worry too much about it as a little oil weep can look more dramatic than it actually is" otherwise I wouldn't have used it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OliW Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 Well you did say... 'There was quite a lot of fluid around the inside of the tunnel, on the rear of the prop shaft, the underside of the diff and around the A frame...' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myles Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 Mmm - the pic of your garage floor is considerably-worse than I'd hope to see. My diff has wept slightly since I rebuilt the car ten years ago - and even sitting in the same spot for months at a time, you never even see so much as a tea-spoon sized splot on the ground... That said, some of the earlier comments sound a little harsh given what comes out of some cars at the best of times (fuel, coolant, x-flow oil...). I'd probably be more worried about the reduction in your concentration levels given that some muppet in a mk1 Elise managed to scrape my Westie, returning to the pit lane with a recurrence of an earlier issue he'd had. 😔 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 Quoting OliW: There was quite a lot of fluid around the inside of the tunnel, on the rear of the prop shaft, the underside of the diff and around the A frame...I did also say I cleaned it all. Perhaps I should've also said that when I returned from the track day there was hardly any oil on the parts I cleaned. The slow weep on my garage floor was the result of the car standing there for nearly 4 weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark w Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 Hi Daniel Are CC paying to remove your gearbox ( if necessary ) ? For kit builds they normally only replace parts under warranty when its a customer built car . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 No idea Mark - from my perspective, they done the PBC so I'd say it's down to them to sort. It may well not be anything to do with the way it's been put together so I'll wait to hear what they say.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OliW Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 Not knocking you Daniel, just pointing out that sentences like that could have led people to think there was quite a lot of leakage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 Quoting OliW: Not knocking you Daniel, just pointing out that sentences like that could have led people to think there was quite a lot of leakage.Yeah I understand that from the replies I've received 😬 After a 400 mile round trip to wales and back it 'looked' bad, after cleaning it up, it was like new and after the track day there was hardly anything there (probably hardly any oil in my box too ). However, after the car being stationary for 4 weeks there was a fair bit of fluid on my floor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin J Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 Did you top the oil level back up in the gearbox? As you say it only holds about a litre. It might explain the difficulties in gear selection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mankee Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 Daniel, your posts/blog always provoke strongly polarised reactions, so hats off to you for that one! Hope you get the problem sorted anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Vine Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 Quoting Mark W: Are CC paying to remove your gearbox ( if necessary ) ? For kit builds they normally only replace parts under warranty when its a customer built car .When I ordered my R400 kit back in 2008, there was an optional item of £250 for "kit labour warranty", described as "labour cover for all warrenty (sic) repairs". I declined this on the grounds that, if I could build it, I could dismantle it. I think this charge is now £800. So, Daniel, did you tick this item on your order form? JV Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 Quoting John Vine: So, Daniel, did you tick this item on your order form? JVNope - didn't notice it on the form I'll see what they say when they eventually call me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin J Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 I didn't tick that box either as it seemed a bit steep. Fortunately there were no warranty issues with mine. Will be interested to know how you get on with the claim Daniel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Vine Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 Quoting Roadracer1977: Nope - didn't notice it on the form That's an interesting one. On the 2013 (latest?) price list, it shows: R500 kit complete kit "n/a". So, by implication, the kit labour charge isn't relevant. But you managed to persuade CC to supply a kit. Should they have pointed out the kit labour option, or did "computer say no"? Certainly, the option is listed at the end of the form in a general section called "additional" -- not tailored by model. The explanatory note says "Kit labour warranty covers all labour costs associated with a warranty claim on a kit built car". JV Edited by - John Vine on 12 Sep 2014 14:57:06 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grubbster Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 Didn't CC remove the engine and box when they stripped and resprayed the car? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin J Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 No offence intended Daniel but I bet Caterham are glad they don't have have many customers like you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark w Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 Quoting Roadracer1977: Quoting John Vine: So, Daniel, did you tick this item on your order form? JVNope - didn't notice it on the form I'll see what they say when they eventually call me. It's all covered in clause 14 of the conditions of sale on the order form .Cars sold in component form don't include warranty labour . I guess it's up to the individual to negotiate beyond that . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James.S Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 Lol, the amount of oil has nothing to do with the risk you put other drivers at. A thin mist of hot oil is way worse than big puddle if oil, second only to coolant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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