None standard servicing?

J

jackobytes

New member
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26
Location
Shropshire
Car
Corsa C 1.2
Hey everyone, I am fairly new here. Urm basically what I was wondering is what you lot would do when doing a decent service on a 140k mile car. What sort of extra things would you do? Mainly to keep power output as close as it was when new and to keep it reliable?

Thanks, Jack
 
Welcome to TC!

I dare say, just a normal service. If it has been serviced regulaly, then the engine should still be in decent condition.

Quality oil to your engine spec, paired with a OEM oil filter.

Cleaning parts of the engine, such as ICV, replace the air filter.
Full belt change, and make sure the timing is perfect.
New gaskets all round, for exhaust, manifold and rocker cover.
New tyres and have all suspension componants checked.
Most importantly, your brakes!

A little off, from what you asked, but relevent all the same. :)

Do you service your vehicle yourself?
 
Nice one cheers :) and well I have started doing it a lot more recently as I have got more experienced and learned more. I have done the oil and filter using the more expensive filter on eurocarparts and shell helix oil which has made it smooth running compared to the cheap rubbish I had in before.

Thanks for the input :)
 
Greetings and a Warm Welcome to our TorqueCars Forum my Friend!

Good to have you along with us :)
 
Servicing is key to vehicle life, durability, reliability and driveability. High quality oil is a good plan, as you've discovered already.

Don't overwork a cold engine, wait til it's fully and evenly warmed before straying into the upper reaches of the rev range. In any circumstance it's good to avoid labouring (under-revving) an engine. It doesn't save fuel and it's brutal on the entire drivetrain.

If you're a generally light footed driver it's good practice to drive the car purposefully once in a while. Get through the entire rev range with wide throttle openings. You will NOT damage a properly maintained engine by doing this. It clears out all kind of accumulated combustion chamber deposits which build up over time with short journeys.
 
Excellent advice from all of the previous posters and I would recommend a good quality injector cleaner as they not only clean the injectors but eliminate water in the tank they also keep the combustion chamber and valves free of carbon build up,
At least the one I use and recommend every fill does with the added benefit of better fuel mileage.
Have university tested proof of the makers claims for the product.
 
I, too, use injector cleaning chemicals periodically. Not with every fill but every 3000 miles or so I do indulge.

I avoid supermarket fuel totally - although it meets the minimum standards required we have to assume that they are only minimum standards.

Whether mine and TCJB's practices are beneficial is hard to determine. But.... I have never had a car fail emissions tests nor have I ever had running problems or had to replace injectors.

That's over several hundred thousand miles of driving over many many years.

My 132,000+ mile BMW still records below measurement thresholds (ie. 0.00%) on the CO test. HC (unburnt hyrdocarbons) is about 4 parts per million. The threshold here is 200 parts per million!!

Strangely when I acquired the car (60,000 miles ago) it's emissions were slightly higher than they are now. And apart from routine servicing the engine has not been touched.
 
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BG44K (petrol) or BK244 (diesel) are reputedly very good. As are the Forte products.

In my post I do mention that I am not sure if they actually work.

All I am reporting is that I don't use supermarket fuel, ever. I do, periodically, use an off the shelf injector cleaner.

And that I have never had injector problems. Never replaced a cat. Never replaced an O2 sensor. Never failed an emissions test. That's in nearly 500,000 miles across just three cars!!

Whether this is a cause & effect situation I really don't know :)
 
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HDi click on TAFE report on the top right end of the index bar .I was very skeptical but have become a believer and have used the product for some years .The report was carried out and signed off by Qld government engineers using an engine dyno
http://www.spacewebb.net/pro-ma/

REMEMBER
your mind is like a parachute it must be open to work properly
 
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I shall read and conduct a process of discovery. I am not about to take your or anyone elses statements as sacrosanct. Any more than I expect you or any other to take mine in that way.
 
I tend to stay away from supermarket fuels. I might have to check some of the injector cleaner out on my next service which is next month, actually. :)
 
HDi fun said:
I shall read and conduct a process of discovery. I am not about to take your or anyone elses statements as sacrosanct. Any more than I expect you or any other to take mine in that way.
Click to expand...

No problem this end it's that some people regard any additive as snake oil and some are and have been discredited in the States.
Motor oils contain additives and some would argue that to add an aftermarket additive would upset the chemistry and that may well be true .
All I am saying is to view the evidence/test results with an open inquiring mind .There is absolutely no point if one has a closed mind on the subject but there is a lot of evidencefrom some users with expensive equipment that seem to swear by it
I was merely posting the link to test results from a credible source for those that wanted to know more about the products.
Paul would welcome your fair minded and unbiased thoughts on the products after you have done your research:bigsmile:
 
It's no different to my points about injector cleaners, avoiding supermarket fuel and having had no injector or emissions issues. I cannot prove a connection, I am not trying to do so.

I know many of the aftermarket additives use oil chemistry what was abandoned decades ago. Suspended solids are a feature of the Slick 50 type stuff, which worries me slightly.

What oil are you using in the cars?
 
The Accord & Colorado gets whatever the dealer uses.
The turbo gets Penrite high zinc oil.

In OZ the supermarket fuels are Shell or Caltex so hopefully no rubbish there.

Slick 50 May be good for gearboxes and non LSD diffs but IMO a no no for motors.
 
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I played with Slick 50 in the 1980s in a Fiat engine. Didn't seem to achieve anything at all - positive or negative.

In manual 'boxes I think that it might stop synchomesh rings from working properly. Cannot comment objectively as I have never used it in a gearbox.

In many ways I am against the use of engine oil additives, though I suspect that most will do no harm at all.

Whether they do any good - well my thoughts are much the same.

I am, however, wary of adding potentially incompatible chemicals to high end synthetic oil which already is loaded with an additive pack sufficient to perform its job.

Solids suspended in liquid has always worried me.

But - I cannot argue with your findings - whether or not there is a causal effect is immaterial.

I am going to have a deeper look into this all the same

It's an interesting discussion point at the very least.

Stay well Mr TCJB
 
Hi Paul appreciate your reply and look forward to future discussions.We may not always agree and may have to agree to disagree on occasions but am always trying to increase my knowledge and hear and learn of other peoples experiences and opinions.

FWIW i have taken a number of brands of grease to my supplier to test on the friction machine and had a go on it as well and the amount of weight applied on the simple torque wrench with only a match heads worth of the grease absolutely blew all of them away no matter how much of the other brands was applied .
Cheers
Rad
 
There's definitely loads of tests that can be performed. Indeed many additive manufacturers have done so.

The thing is that the tests often don't really replicate what's actually going on inside a real engine.

Keep the dialogue flowing,

Best regards,

P.
 
Most additive companies if not all have a lot of anecdotal testimonials but few back them up with proper documented testing carried out by an Government training department/ organization like Pro Ma has done.
I am only an old chippie but a long time motoring enthusiast with an inquiring mind and have used the products for many years with no apparent ill effects to date fingers XXX
 
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That is absolutely true - lots of anecdotal evidence abounds.

Were the tests actually carried out by a governmental department? Or just acknowledged?

Thing is surely the premium engine oil makers would be using the same additive packs in their high priced fully synthetic engine lubricants if they were truly beneficial.

Perhaps they are? It's all shrouded in mystery.

More of the same isn't necessarily good. Not necessarily bad either of course.

It's open to discussion and comment.....

Personally I'd rather have my car filled with high end fully synthetic (Indeed, that is what I do). Not cheap of course but 15,000-25,000 between oil servicing intervals and I have no wear or noise or consumption issues over nearly half a million miles across just three vehicles.
 
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Yes they were carried out and signed off by the Queensland Government TAFE (Technical And Further Education) engineers in their own facility. When you read and absorb the entire test results carried out on both the diesel & petrol motors/products I feel sure you will find them to be quite exhaustive and well written and look forward to your thoughts/opinions.

Mollybendumdisulphide ( spelling ???) was and is still an aftermarket additive MOLYBOND and has been/is being used as a part of the additive package in made in Germany LIQUI MOLY brand of oils that are approved by MB and others.

Maybe the aftermarket additive formulas are protected by some form of patent and that is why they are not in various additive packages ??

You must be doing something right by the results with your own cars but I would never go that many miles ?? between oil changes. May I suggest that you at least do a filter change 1/2 way??
 
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I have had interim filter changes in the past but having submitted an oil sample for lab analysis some years ago I have stopped bothering.

I am very confident in high end synthetics, brands I have used are AMSOIL, Millers, Castrol Edge, Fuchs Titan. All are premium products and I'm reluctant to add anything else for fear of incompatibility.
 
HDi fun said:
I have had interim filter changes in the past but having submitted an oil sample for lab analysis some years ago I have stopped bothering.

I am very confident in high end synthetics, brands I have used are AMSOIL, Millers, Castrol Edge, Fuchs Titan. All are premium products and I'm reluctant to add anything else for fear of incompatibility.
Click to expand...

An excellent choice of brands.

Have been informed by an oil compamy tec that the high spec oils stay within spec longer due to a better or more of the additive package whereas the budget/cheaper brands/types only have enough of the additives to make the grade or last the distance and subsequently may drop below spec long before the next oil change.

Brands I have used in the past are Redline ,Penrite,Brad Penn & Amsoil.
FWIW I have been checking out and asking questions about Joe Gibbs Driven Racing Oil and the tec guy Lake Speed has answered all my EMails promptly

http://www.drivenracingoil.com/
 
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I think the big benefit with pricey high quality synthetic oils is the fact that the base stocks require far less Viscosity Improvers in order to stay 'in grade'. As such there is less deterioration during service in the engine.

VI improvers are generally long chain polymers which do 'break'.

Yet strangely the usual problem with cheap oils is that volatile parts evaporate and render the oil too viscous rather than too 'thin'.
 
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