Are there any reliable idiots guide to doing your own service?

jase1

As someone who lost a car to oil in the road, I really hope you're not not suggesting dumping the oil.

NEVER pour oil out and dump it in this way. Would you like it if I dumped a load of engine oil on your front lawn?

Bloody fly-tippers (for that is what you are if you do this), scum of the earth.

mikey72

asbokid wrote: »

If the car is a micra or another motor of NGV (no great value), a change with cheapo oil (ASDA £3.99 for 5 litres) and filter (£2.99 ebay) should cost well under £10, including a new sump washer!

no one want's to muck up the drive with spilt oil, so take it out and do the job in the country somewhere. the run warms the oil up and it flows out easier. you just need a nice bit of dry flat ground. i always use the corner of the car park in the nearby country park.

And it's far more fun for the rest of us if you lose the washer miles away from home.

victor2

asbokid wrote: »

no one want's to muck up the drive with spilt oil, so take it out and do the job in the country somewhere. the run warms the oil up and it flows out easier. you just need a nice bit of dry flat ground. i always use the corner of the car park in the nearby country park.

Rather irresponsible, making a mess in parts of the countryside maintained for our pleasure rather than risking your own driveway.

As well as a workshop manual, you need a decent set of tools. If you don't regularly check the car, there's a lot of things you should check when doing a service - lights, brakes, tyres, fluids etc.
Well worth getting to know your local garage/mechanic and letting somebody else do the dirty work for you, for a relatively small amount of cash, compared to what a tank of petrol costs these days!

asbokid

calm down!! you collect all the used engine oil in a oil change pan - but make sure its deep enough for the size of the motor. then pour it in to an empty oil can - never chuck them when you have used them. council dumps except it or you can recycle it your self in small quantity's by mixing with 28sec oil.

jase1

OK no probs mate, just wanted to be clear on that one.

I knew a particularly skin-flinted bloke at work who used to change the oil on his main car every 6000 miles, then poured it into his second car (a banger) for another 6000 -- thereby keeping his main car over-serviced and his second car done for free.....

I could see other service items you could do that on -- air filter, oil filter itself, tyres?!?

There are people out there who could teach us lot a thing or two lol.

asbokid

the motor industry was full of swindlers before the recession really hit. Now all manner of dodgy tricks and corner-cutting is being used to stay afloat. Even the Highly Respectable Vauxhall main dealership is printing horror stories in the local paper to try and frighten people into booking their car in for their extortionate £120 routine service.

I got diddled on an oil change. I like to use fully synthetic since that's what the manufacturer recommends. A decent make of fully synthetic is £30+ for 5 litres. So I asked for fully synthetic, and I got charged for it, yet I could see no sign that fully synthetic had been used. A 50 gallon drum of billy-no-name engine oil was the only oil that was anywhere to be seen in the workshop. The mechanic was evasive when I challenged him. Quick way of making an extra £25.

It's an easy industry for cutting corners. At least with DIY work, you are your own Quality Controller. When you find a bolt missing, or when a bolt sheers during maintenance, the incentive is there to replace it, for the sake of safety and satisfaction.