Bull@#$% Uneccessary Car Servicing Recommendations

[BritishRacinGrin]

Every time I have changed the brake fluid on one of my used car purchases it has made a noticeable difference... So now I do it every two years, it costs a fiver and twenty minutes.

[Sheepshanks]

Pommygranite said:

Theres a balance to maintenance cost v reward though. My Murano has been serviced every 10k kms/6k miles due to manufacturer warranty requirements - ok, that's not a problem and understood.

Why is the service interval so short? Assuming decent synthetic oil is used that's twice as often as needed.

[Sheepshanks]

BritishRacinGrin said:

Every time I have changed the brake fluid on one of my used car purchases it has made a noticeable difference... So now I do it every two years, it costs a fiver and twenty minutes.

We have 4 dealer serviced cars in the family which I take for servicing and I can't say I've ever noticed any difference after a brake fluid change. I'm dubious dealers actually change it.

On our mk6 Golf, VW wouldn't do a brake fluid change as part of the service plan - they said it's optional and not essential, even though it's called for at 3yrs in the schedule. They also told me in the their best serious voice that the car was "overdue" an a/c service.

[Mave]

liner33 said:

Air con runs at about 10 times the pressure of the coolant system so not a good comparison.

Ok, how about the brake or fuel system?

[Pommygranite]

Sheepshanks said:

Why is the service interval so short? Assuming decent synthetic oil is used that's twice as often as needed.

Not sure - picked it up in April and its been under NCW so figure the previous owner has just kept it to the book with servicing.

Personally ill just do it every 12mths but it'll still only do that with the wife I reckon.

[Zoobeef]

Mave said:

Ok, how about the brake or fuel system?

I'm not sure what your getting at? Mobile air con systems leak from new. I can't remember the exact figures as it's a while since I did my course. Iirc a new single condenser system cannot leak more than 50g of refrigerant a year. So a full system holding 600g could loose it quite quickly yet have nothing wrong with them.

[Mave]

Zoobeef said:

I'm not sure what your getting at? Mobile air con systems leak from new. I can't remember the exact figures as it's a while since I did my course. Iirc a new single condenser system cannot leak more than 50g of refrigerant a year. So a full system holding 600g could loose it quite quickly yet have nothing wrong with them.

What I'm getting at is that systems, even high pressure systems, shouldn't leak. That 50g you refer to, is it a legal limit or an engineering limit. If it's a legal limit (as I suspect) then losing 50g doesn't mean there's nothing wrong, it just means it's not illegal! If your braking circuit lost 50g a year you'd be fixing the leak, not refilling it annually!

[Zoobeef]

Mave said:

What I'm getting at is that systems, even high pressure systems, shouldn't leak. That 50g you refer to, is it a legal limit or an engineering limit. If it's a legal limit (as I suspect) then losing 50g doesn't mean there's nothing wrong, it just means it's not illegal! If your braking circuit lost 50g a year you'd be fixing the leak, not refilling it annually!

I don't remember. There's nowhere too leak in a braking system from new though. There is on an AC one, ie the power from the aux belt has to go from the outside pulley into the compressor with the refrigerant somehow.

[Zoobeef]

It talks about leakage rates in section 5 here.
It's 40g per year for single systems and It's just done at the type approval stage so each system isnt tested.
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&a...

[KungFuPanda]

Isn't brake fluid meant to be hygroscopic so can absorb water over time and cause evaporation at higher temps and brake fade blah blah blah or have I been taken in???

[Zoobeef]

KungFuPanda said:

Isn't brake fluid meant to be hygroscopic so can absorb water over time and cause evaporation at higher temps and brake fade blah blah blah or have I been taken in???

Yes, so should be done every couple of years, 3 at the most. As it's about £5 for the fluid though definitely worth doing every year if your doing it yourself. More frequently if tracking regularly.

[Colonial]

Sheepshanks said:

Why is the service interval so short? Assuming decent synthetic oil is used that's twice as often as needed.

Because Australia.

Why are you still going to a dealer? If you follow the scheduled servicing requirements and use the proper parts your warranty will still be protected if you go to a good independent who actually cares about having a continued relationship with a customer, rather than just looking out how much they can screw out of people.

[robm3]

Colonial said:

Sheepshanks said:

Why is the service interval so short? Assuming decent synthetic oil is used that's twice as often as needed.

Because Australia.

Why are you still going to a dealer? If you follow the scheduled servicing requirements and use the proper parts your warranty will still be protected if you go to a good independent who actually cares about having a continued relationship with a customer, rather than just looking out how much they can screw out of people.

This....
We get completely screwed in Australia by Main Stealers.

Here's an example in my Diesel Range Rover:



Please note sticker in top right of screen.

They have programmed the computer to say next service is due in 6 months and 8,000 miles (it's in KM).

Everywhere else in the world it's a 12 month/ 15,000 mile service interval.

Oh, and that's $788 please....

[Mave]

Zoobeef said:

I don't remember. There's nowhere too leak in a braking system from new though. There is on an AC one, ie the power from the aux belt has to go from the outside pulley into the compressor with the refrigerant somehow.

Well, pressure has to go from the brake pedal into system through the master cylinder somehow, and then back out at the slave cylinder, so braking systems also have the potential to leak

[Mave]

Zoobeef said:

It talks about leakage rates in section 5 here.
It's 40g per year for single systems and It's just done at the type approval stage so each system isnt tested.
https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&source=web&a...

Ok, so that's a legal limit, not an engineering limit; its set from an environmental viewpoint, not from an A/C functionality viewpoint.

[TA14]

Zoobeef said:

There's nowhere to leak in a braking system from new though.

You might want to reconsider that statement

[Zoobeef]

Mave said:

Well, pressure has to go from the brake pedal into system through the master cylinder somehow, and then back out at the slave cylinder, so braking systems also have the potential to leak

Do you know how a master cylinder works inside? And the difference between a fluid and a gas? And sealing a high pressure gas against a seal on a high speed rotating shaft?

You can guarantee a brake system won't leak, you can't on an AC system. Simple as that.

[Zoobeef]

TA14 said:

You might want to reconsider that statement

You're being pedantic. A braking system doesn't leak from new, hence the warranty. Yes there could be a failure but we aren't talking about failures.

[Sheepshanks]

Zoobeef said:

KungFuPanda said:

Isn't brake fluid meant to be hygroscopic so can absorb water over time and cause evaporation at higher temps and brake fade blah blah blah or have I been taken in???

Yes, so should be done every couple of years, 3 at the most. As it's about £5 for the fluid though definitely worth doing every year if your doing it yourself. More frequently if tracking regularly.

Saw this discussed elsewhere recently and most manufacturers in the US don't have change intervals now. Instead they test the fluid and only change it if needed.

[Zoobeef]

Sheepshanks said:

Saw this discussed elsewhere recently and most manufacturers in the US don't have change intervals now. Instead they test the fluid and only change it if needed.

Which, technically, is sensible, unlike normal America and their excessively frequent engine oil changes.