No service for 4 years!

ender4

so i have a confession to make...

i realised that i hadn't had my car serviced for 4 years & 4 months.
i thought it had been 2 years!

Just got it serviced yesterday.. the coolant/water was empty, the air filter was full of bits, and the oil filter was bent and jammed full of oil.

will i have caused damage to the engine?

Inactive

Difficult to say, but probably yes, you certainly will not have enhanced the life of the vehicle.

iolanthe07

Blimey, I pity the poor sod who buys it off you when you come to change it. Dirty oil will cause wear that may not show up for a long time. It's very false economy not to service a car properly, as well as potentially dangerous.

adouglasmhor

Coolant being empty is very bad, you should check this monthly at least. You may have cooked all your seals. If you are losing oil when you check this weekly this is probably the cause.

anewman

You may well have caused excessive wear to engine components - oil collects bits and crap and the oil filter is there to help remove these. These will have been left to circulate your engine causing wear. It probably won't last as long as similar cars that have been regularly serviced.

I'll bet your MPG is *MUCH* better now than it was before, but if you were trying to sell me your car and I knew it hadn't been serviced in that long I would avoid buying it.

ender4

i will check to see if my fuel efficiency improves.

i hope to keep the car for another 3 years (its a 52 reg, so 6 years old currently).

yes, my Full Service History doesn't look good. I suppose i still have a FSH, its just that history doesn't have many services in it!
If i get it serviced every 12 months from now on (i promise), then at the service book will look better to potential buyers?!

i will check to see if i'm losing oil on a regular basis. The temperature gauge never showed the temp being high, so i'm hoping the coolant had only just ran out.

TiTheRev

ender4 wrote: »

so i have a confession to make...

i realised that i hadn't had my car serviced for 4 years & 4 months.
i thought it had been 2 years!

Just got it serviced yesterday.. the coolant/water was empty, the air filter was full of bits, and the oil filter was bent and jammed full of oil.

will i have caused damage to the engine?

4 as in FOUR??? :eek: :rolleyes: :rotfl:

Ouch! 2years is too long, unless it's particularly on an extended service schedule. As posted above, you will have almost certainly fried your cooling system, the low/dirty oil will have done internal damage that will probably only show now you've had the service. You're engine will not know what's hit it! What car is it? (Not just so I know what car to avoid if looking to buy one )

steveo3002

does it drive way better now?

ender4

Its a Vauxhall Corsa.

Only driven it a few miles since the service, so not sure if the drive is much better. I also had the tyres changed at the same time, and tracking done.

One thing though, it starts straight away now!
Before i had to turn the key for 5 seconds to start it!!

At the service, the mechanic also said i need the rubber bushes changed on the driving axle? (something like that). i suppose i might as well get that done - it'll feel like a whole new car, i'll have changed so much of it!!

I don't know why i never got round to servicing it. it wasn't the money, i just didn't realise how important it is until now, and always just put it off as one of those things to get round to one day!

movilogo

Reveal the registration number of your car. I'll stay away for it for rest of my life

Hope you remember having insurance, MOT etc.

balsingh

What's done is done!!! Provided the car isnt using excessive fuel or oil now, you may be OK. If its driving OK, then make the most of it for the 3 years you plan to keep it.

The gap in the service may raise questions to potential future buyers but you can't class the car as having a FSH. Its now just a part history.