Few technical bits to ask (some noob questions)

Wook

- Car maintenance, i know i need to check the oil levels on my car once every week (so the garage men told me) so i pull this black thing out of the oil reservoir clean it off and stick it back.. then i pull it out again ..whats next ? how does one see if there is enough oil in it ?

-I noticed you can buy several types of oil at the petrol station, whats the difference, how do i know what i need for my little polo ?

-My tyres slowly (very slowly ) run bit flat, so once inawhile i'll go to the garage and put some air in it, Unfortantly...i kinda make a wild guess and stop when i feel its pumped up, surely there must be a limit or something ? and how would i know which tyre needs what kindoff pressure ?

-My girlfriend went to the carwash and forgot to remove the antenna on top of our roof, so it broke, bought a new one, stuck it on top but we got no more radio, just static...anyone able to give me some pointers ?

-Does getting gasoline from different brands have any bad effect on the car ?

Your help and insight is greatly appreciated !

Rovi

Wook wrote:

- Car maintenance, i know i need to check the oil levels on my car once every week (so the garage men told me) so i pull this black thing out of the oil reservoir clean it off and stick it back.. then i pull it out again ..whats next ? how does one see if there is enough oil in it ?

-I noticed you can buy several types of oil at the petrol station, whats the difference, how do i know what i need for my little polo ?

-My tyres slowly (very slowly ) run bit flat, so once inawhile i'll go to the garage and put some air in it, Unfortantly...i kinda make a wild guess and stop when i feel its pumped up, surely there must be a limit or something ? and how would i know which tyre needs what kindoff pressure ?

-My girlfriend went to the carwash and forgot to remove the antenna on top of our roof, so it broke, bought a new one, stuck it on top but we got no more radio, just static...anyone able to give me some pointers ?

-Does getting gasoline from different brands have any bad effect on the car ?

Your help and insight is greatly appreciated !

Sorry for being blunt, but... RTFM! :rolleyes:

Seriously though, most of this stuff is covered (or should be) in the owner's manual that came with the car.


Different brands of petrol won't hurt the car, and the new aerial need to be wired up (connected to the radio).

crosstownk

Wook wrote:

- Car maintenance, i know i need to check the oil levels on my car once every week (so the garage men told me) so i pull this black thing out of the oil reservoir clean it off and stick it back.. then i pull it out again ..whats next ? how does one see if there is enough oil in it ?

There should be minimum and maximum markings on the dipstick. Two notches, for example - the higher one being maximum.

Wook wrote:

-I noticed you can buy several types of oil at the petrol station, whats the difference, how do i know what i need for my little polo ?

What year is your Polo? I'd imagine a semi synthetic would do (10W/40) Castrol TXT or similar

Wook wrote:

-My tyres slowly (very slowly ) run bit flat, so once inawhile i'll go to the garage and put some air in it, Unfortantly...i kinda make a wild guess and stop when i feel its pumped up, surely there must be a limit or something ? and how would i know which tyre needs what kindoff pressure ?

Check the inside of the fuel filler flap. You should find the correct tyre pressures there - usually around 2.0bar

Wook wrote:

-My girlfriend went to the carwash and forgot to remove the antenna on top of our roof, so it broke, bought a new one, stuck it on top but we got no more radio, just static...anyone able to give me some pointers ?

There is probably further damage in the base of the aerial - is it a screw in beesting at the rear of the roof?

Wook wrote:

-Does getting gasoline from different brands have any bad effect on the car ?

Again, check the fuel filler flap, it will state the minimum RON - once you fill with petrol of this RON or higher you should be ok

iblis

Wook wrote:

- Car maintenance, i know i need to check the oil levels on my car once every week (so the garage men told me) so i pull this black thing out of the oil reservoir clean it off and stick it back.. then i pull it out again ..whats next ? how does one see if there is enough oil in it ?

There should be a min and max mark. It should be filled to the max line. Check when the engine is cold (as the oil has fallen into the sump, when it's warm is kicked all around the engine). When you add to it, add in small amounts, and give the new oil time to drop to the sump before rechecking.

Wook wrote:

-I noticed you can buy several types of oil at the petrol station, whats the difference, how do i know what i need for my little polo ?

Multi-grade oils have an index like 10w30. The second number is the viscosity of the oil at 100 degrees. The first is not measured at a particular temperature but describes how well the oil can be pumped while cold. The specific oil for your car will be specified in the owners manual, or maybe found on google.

Wook wrote:

-My tyres slowly (very slowly ) run bit flat, so once inawhile i'll go to the garage and put some air in it, Unfortantly...i kinda make a wild guess and stop when i feel its pumped up, surely there must be a limit or something ? and how would i know which tyre needs what kindoff pressure ?

This depends primarily on the vehicle and the dimensions of the tyres. The owners manual should give you different figures for different tyre profiles. If not google can help. 28-34psi is a normal range.

Wook wrote:

-My girlfriend went to the carwash and forgot to remove the antenna on top of our roof, so it broke, bought a new one, stuck it on top but we got no more radio, just static...anyone able to give me some pointers ?

Did you ensure it's connected up properly?

Wook wrote:

-Does getting gasoline from different brands have any bad effect on the car ?

No. Some cars are designed to run on higher octane fuels (100RON for japanese imports). Irish cars are mapped to run on 95RON which is what all garages sell as standard unleaded. Avoid going to quiet garages if possible. If you get the last of the tank it will contain more impurities. Also petrol that's been sitting there for months begins to break down.

Good luck with it all

PaulKK

iblis wrote:

There should be a min and max mark. It should at least be filled to the max line.

Eh, should that not be at least to the min line? Filling over the max is not a good idea, it can do more damage than having not enough in it.

@op on your polos dipstick there should be a little area towards the bottom that is "bent in" a bit like this:

---

_____---

if the oil is anywhere towards the top of this area it should be grand.

I always use castrol anyway, once you stick to a good brand you'll be alright.

Wook

PaulKK wrote:

@op on your polos dipstick there should be a little area towards the bottom that is "bent in" a bit like this:

---

_____---

if the oil is anywhere towards the top of this area it should be grand.

I always use castrol anyway, once you stick to a good brand you'll be alright.

Super that clarified a lot !

Wook

Rovi wrote:

Sorry for being blunt, but... RTFM! :rolleyes:

Seriously though, most of this stuff is covered (or should be) in the owner's manual that came with the car.


Different brands of petrol won't hurt the car, and the new aerial need to be wired up (connected to the radio).

not really getting it , why you took out the time to write this and then tell me RTFM, well the car didnt came with one, and either case its sometimes good to hear it from more experienced people then from a book don't you think ?

Wook

crosstownk wrote:

What year is your Polo? I'd imagine a semi synthetic would do (10W/40) Castrol TXT or similar

Check the inside of the fuel filler flap. You should find the correct tyre pressures there - usually around 2.0bar

There is probably further damage in the base of the aerial - is it a screw in beesting at the rear of the roof?

Again, check the fuel filler flap, it will state the minimum RON - once you fill with petrol of this RON or higher you should be ok

ok, castrol txt or similar , writing this down.
forgive me, but i understand correctly that the 'fuel filler flap' (is this the flap which you stick the petrol hose into ?) has the info about tyre pressure?
and yes correct about the antenna btw!

Thanks for the help guy's !

iblis

PaulKK wrote:

Eh, should that not be at least to the min line? Filling over the max is not a good idea, it can do more damage than having not enough in it.

You are completely correct, it can cause significant damage. I started off with that sentence as "at least between the two lines", then rewrote it. The "at least" part should have been removed. I will edit my post for clarity, but thanks for pointing it out

iblis

Wook wrote:

i understand correctly that the 'fuel filler flap' (is this the flap which you stick the petrol hose into ?) has the info about tyre pressure?

I think he means the little door, if that makes sense. Sometimes there's a sticker in there. Another common place is the door frame, so when your sitting in the driver seat, it'd be visible with the door open roughly where your right elbow is pointing.

Also some garages have a chart posted where the air compressor is.

crosstownk

Wook wrote:

(is this the flap which you stick the petrol hose into ?) has the info about tyre pressure?

Yes - usually there is a sticker on the inside of this flap that provides information relating to correct tyre pressure for various tyre sizes and vehicle loads.

Wook wrote:

and yes correct about the antenna btw!

Once you're happy that you screwed in the aerial mast correctly, then it could easily be a problem with the aerial base. This can be replaced but involves removing the roof cloth.

Wook

crosstownk wrote:

Once you're happy that you screwed in the aerial mast correctly, then it could easily be a problem with the aerial base. This can be replaced but involves removing the roof cloth.

Damn sounds expensive

crosstownk

Wook wrote:

Damn sounds expensive

Not really. Only the rear of the roof cloth needs to be dropped. Then you can access the fixing bolts for the base. Usually the aerial cable has a connection in the C-pillar (panel between back door and tailgate). The new aerial base will have connect at this point. BUT BUT BUT! Not all Polos have this connection and in that case the aerial cable will need to be fed the length of the car to the rear of the radio.

If you are going to get someone to do this, maybe call a car stereo installer and get a price.

Rovi

Wook wrote:

not really getting it , why you took out the time to write this and then tell me RTFM, well the car didnt came with one, and either case its sometimes good to hear it from more experienced people then from a book don't you think ?

Apologies if you took offence, it wasn't intended.

The first thing the 'experienced people' do when they're presented with something they're unsure of is look in the manual (owner's or workshop), particularly when it comes to stuff like oil type and grade, and the correct pressure range for a particular tyre type and size on a particular vehicle.
This information is also often (but not always) found on stickers on the vehicle, as others have already stated.

I'm not even going to venture a guess at the sort of oil you should use or what pressure should be in the tyres without knowing the model and year of the vehicle in question.
I strongly suspect that it's all pretty standard generic stuff but I can't be certain without looking it up somewhere, and neither can anyone else unless they're dealing with Polos on a regular basis; and even then, they're still going to need to know the particular model and year of the car.

You're received plenty of good advice in this thread to date, but none of it (that I've seen) is specific to Polos in general and certainly none of it is specific for your Polo as we have no idea which particular model you have.


Again, apologies if I gave offence, but the owner's manual is the first port of call for most of the topics you asked about.
Might I humbly suggest you purchase an owner's manual from your local friendly VW dealer? You're bound to have more queries in the future (we all do), and it would be a great place to start in resolving them.

Tipsy Mac

This will tell you the oil type you need, you can either then buy the Castrol brand or any other as you will know the type...

http://www.ew2.lubesinfo.com/login.asp?sc=1156