Do you know where your stopcock is?

Tribulation

wishiwasarichgirl wrote: »

cos I haven't seviced (or even checked the oil) in my car for a couple of years now surely there's a warning light in the car to tell you something is wrong?

It should be part of the driving test in my opinion.

It takes 10 secs to check the oil level once a week or so. My car has an electronic checker that checks each time the engine is turned on, but I still manually check from time to time.

Regular oil changes are VERY important to the long life of a car engine. Considering the likes of Kwik Fit do a oil and oil filter change for around £20 + (depending on make and size of car) I would recommend doing it at least twice a year. Otherwise your engine will wear out years before it should.

Also bear in mind that numerous places do free brake checks. The MOT test doesn't check how worn your brakes are, just whether the car stops. You could pass your MOT with the break shoes down to the bare metal.

wishiwasarichgirl

Tribulation wrote: »

It should be part of the driving test in my opinion.

It takes 10 secs to check the oil level once a week or so. My car has an electronic checker that checks each time the engine is turned on, but I still manually check from time to time.

Regular oil changes are VERY important to the long life of a car engine. Considering the likes of Kwik Fit do a oil and oil filter change for around £20 + (depending on make and size of car) I would recommend doing it at least twice a year. Otherwise your engine will wear out years before it should.

Also bear in mind that numerous places do free brake checks. The MOT test doesn't check how worn your brakes are, just whether the car stops. You could pass your MOT with the break shoes down to the bare metal.

i think it is part of a driving test nowadays, isn't it? I think my car tells me the oil level (i'm guessing thats what one of the symbols on the dash means)

didn't realise you should change the oil that often? I had heard it shuld be every few years?
i don't do much driving, my 6 yo car has only don 35k miles, and my brother wants it, so whatever time it starts playing up big time i'll sell it to him :rotfl:

redmandarin

Knowing how to check the oil level is necessary preparation for your driving test. I know this because I'm currently learing to drive and have my test booked for April! :eek:

At the start of the test, the examiner asks you two Show me/Tell me questions about car operation and maintenance. These are selected from a possible 13 questions which include the following:

Q: Open the bonnet, identify where you would check the engine oil level and tell me how you would check that the engine has sufficient oil.
A: Candidate opens the bonnet, identifies the dipstick or oil level indicator and describes how to check the oil level against the minimum/maximum markers.
Q: Tell me how you would check that the brake lights are working on this car.
A: Candidate explains that while they operate the brake pedal, they could get someone else to check the operation of the brake lights, or they could make use of reflections in garage doors, windows etc.
Q: Tell me how you would check the tyres to ensure that they have sufficient tread depth and that their general condition is safe to use on the road.
A: Candidate explains that there should not be any cuts or bulges, tyres are inflated to the correct pressure and that 1.6mm of tread depth is present across the central three quarters of the breadth of the tyre around the whole circumference.
Q: Q Show me how you would check that the headlights and tail lights are working.
A: Candidate operates the relevant switch (turning on ignition if necessary), and walks round the vehicle observing the correct functioning of the lights.
Q: Show me how you would check the handbrake for excessive wear.
A: Candidate demonstrates that when the parking brake is fully applied, it secures itself, and that the "travel" is not excessive. Source: guardian.co.uk, Monday 1 September 2003

wigglebeena

Any other recommendations for basic stuff that is good to know though?

(My mum & dad had the lever-type stopcock, now that was seized up, when we had a washing-machine related emergency it was a blimmin nightmare getting it shifted and we'd all managed to hurt our hands).

olly300

wishiwasarichgirl wrote: »

didn't realise you should change the oil that often? I had heard it shuld be every few years?

Most cars have a manual or you can get a Hayes manual for the car.

They tell you what mileage or how many months should go before you change the oil and other bits.

As a rule of the thumb most garages will tell you to change your oil every year.

lana22

roses wrote: »

It's just a knob which you turn round!! How can some people not know?!

Ours in our rented house was all rusted up and couldn't be turned for love nor money.
It wasn't a case of not knowing how to turn a knob.

27col

I was doing a plumbing job for a friend the other day. We discovered the main stopcock was under the sink unit, you had to remove the kick panel and lay on your stomach, even to be able to see it. It would not turn more than half turn either way. We then went out to the street where we found that the stopcock out there was buried 3ft down under about 9" of mud. In any case, he did not have a stopcock key. I went up into the roof and discovered that there was no isolation of any kind for the roof tank. No water appliances had any local isolation. I managed to do the job by tying up the float valve in the cistern. But the fact is, he does not have any means of stopping a leak if there is a water problem. I have come across this problem of stopcocks seizing up on many occasions. It is advisable, not only that you know how to turn the supply off, but also to do it at least once a year to ensure that it can be turned off when necessary.

dwarvenassassin

Chester_Draws wrote: »

Knowing where the stopcock is , thats one thing, but actually being able to turn it off is another.

Its a bit like the adverts on TV for smoke detectors .......... dont wait for an emergency to discover its seized up and you cant turn it. Get the WD40 out tomorrow!

Often caused by being all the way open. NEVER open a stopcock all the way, always turn it back a quarter turn. Naturally occurring corrosion can literally weld the thing in place but having that quarter turn of play is sometimes enough to help breaking the weld.
The last thing you need during a leak is to find the stopcock is stuck open.

27col

dwarvenassassin wrote: »

Often caused by being all the way open. NEVER open a stopcock all the way, always turn it back a quarter turn. Naturally occurring corrosion can literally weld the thing in place but having that quarter turn of play is sometimes enough to help breaking the weld.
The last thing you need during a leak is to find the stopcock is stuck open.

Very true about having the valve backed a quarter turn. We were told the same thing about big valves in the power station where I worked as an apprentice. This was not in case they seized up, it was so that you could easily tell if the valve was open or closed.

milkybars

Most people know at least where their stopcock and fusebox are...surely?

I happend to use both at the weekend for DIY jobs. And on the current theme of this thread... one of the jobs I did was to turn off the water at the first stopcock (which is very hard to reach but turns beautifully once my go-go gadget arm is fully extended and half the kitchen cupboards removed!) and replace the jammed up crusty stopcock that's in a very convinient place.

As far as changing the oil goes... yes I could (and have in the past done it) but I'd rather have the pros do it when my car is in for service anyway. I can see how its not practical to change oil yourself... for a start there's people with on street parking and the issue of disposal of the oil responsibly.