New engine..does it need servicing soon?

sam1970

My Wife's Toyota has a new engine fitted by Toyota under extended warranty due to head gasket problem (the car did 51000 miles). The car has been always serviced at the dealership in February every year and on collecting the car last week after engine replacement I asked about service and they said I still have to service it in Feb. 2014 !! but by then the new engine is only 3 months old and nothing else in the car needs sorting as it just passed the MOT last week..is that normal?

Jordo

A service in Feb 2015, yes.
A service next Feb? No.

sam1970

sorry i meant they said Feb 2014...I corrected it

fivetide

Is it a new engine? Are you 'running it in' at all?

An early oil change might not eb a bad thing, just to make sure it is all ok and there aren't any metal bits in the oil.

InsideInsurance

Servicing goes beyond just checking the engine and presumably they are going to continue to say that you need the brakes checked, torque tighten the wheels etc every year even if you've had the engine replaced.

Obviously up to you if you think its cost effective or not given the normal actual replacing aspect of the service wont be applicable and I suspect it will depend if its a full or short service thats due

sam1970

thanks for the replies..the engine is brand new (like for like) and fitted by the dealership. The service will be intermediate service and they said they will give 10% discount on the price considering the age of the engine but I will still rather keep the £150 if I dont need to spend it

Jordo

Buy a Haynes Manual and do the basic checks yourself, it's really easy to check oil and filter, brakes, air in tyres etc - if something is worn, old, leaking etc you'll know.

Even doing a 10k mile service is pretty easy and you don't need loads of tools.

sam1970

Also another question please... Apparantly I need to inform DVLA about the engine swap so they can update the V5 document (surprised that the guys at the dealership did not know about that !!) but do we need to inform the insurance company? it is the same engine..same power

gilbert_and_sullivan

Toyota yet again prove their committment to their customer and service, no bodge repairs here stick a new engine in, no crying about customer contributions for perceived betterment.

For the sake of £150 i'd be down there when they say its due, to keep goodwill (a two way street) ongoing it doesn't hurt to throw a bit their way.

That engine will be covered up until the car is 100k miles or 7 years old, why throw such real warranty cover into doubt.

Scrootum

I have always been impressed with Toyota back up in the past. Glad to hear it still appears to be good.

spacey2012

Bearing shells and other parts are stuck in with heavy grease to assist manufacture , the oil mixes with this and needs changing around 3000 miles as it picks up any other dirt left about in manufacture and then back to normal service.