FAQ

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Resource

Asked on occasion

Oil and brake fluid changes on TVRs

The most frequent question asked so far has been with regards to the servicing schedule. One asked: Is it that important to change the clutch fluid every year when I only do 3500 miles annually?

Similarly others have asked about oil changes in the gearbox and differential. And one about brake fluid changes.

The TVR schedule says that brake and clutch fluid together with gearbox and differential oil should be changed every 12,000 miles or 12 months, whichever comes sooner. This is considerably more frequent that any other schedule I know of.

I’ve contacted a brake fluid manufacturer and a well-known oil supplier for their considered opinions and, it seems, they are considering it. I have also spoken with a couple of non-TVR specialist mechanics.

Both stated that changing the brake fluid annually is a good idea. It doesn’t cost much to do, especially if you do it yourself, and you examine the brakes closely during the process. That said, neither of them changed the brake fluid on their own small hatchbacks annually.

The clutch fluid is another matter. Three years, 36000 miles was the opinion of both. One said he was unhappy with any fluid level check that took so much work to access. “It should be checked every couple of weeks but who’d do that having to scrape all the silicon off?” Not me I have to admit.

The gearbox started a bit of an argument that had to be settled by their boss. What it amounted to was whether the new ‘clever’ oils make much difference with the older LT77 box. However, all three agreed that every 24 months was more reasonable unless the car was used for a lot of track days or competition. If track days were important to you then the T5 box might be felt more appropriate.

As for the differential: again with the exception of competition and track day excesses, then three years, 36,000 miles got everyone’s vote.

Neither mechanic wanted to be quoted.

As I said, I have asked the PR guys of brake fluid and oil companies for their opinions and I await their replies.

Problems with the download

Some have experienced difficulties accessing the Resource. Here are the most frequent problems and their (hopefully) solutions.

Pictures, some navigation elements, not showing, just a small box with a red cross

There are two causes for this (so far):

1/ the pictures have been blocked by your browser’s anti-virus. Most will have a highlighted explanation on how to combat this when the Resource is first opened.

2/ see next solution below.

Only one page at a time and this without pictures or navigation

This has occurred twice. In both cases it was that the .zip file was not unzipped. Systems vary from computer to computer but the main way is to right click on the .zip file and in the window pick unzip. It is no good just clicking on open. See HERE for a fuller explanation.

File is shown as corrupt

Hopefully this has been overcome. It was due to having to change servers because of the extra bandwidth required. A lot of people asked for the file to be downloadable. During the transfer the file was corrupted. If you have this problem, only applying to some files downloaded in the second and third week in January 2010, all you have to do is download the file again.

I’ve received your email but my (normally business) email service provider has blocked the attachment saying it might be spam/a virus/dangerous

There are two ways out of this. Send a different, preferably your non-business, email address to RV8R requesting another attachment or download the file.

As a bit of free advice, I have a Hotmail (www.hotmail.com) email address that I use for all commercial emails. It too is free. It can be abandoned at any time.