Car servicing

Lubricate everything that moves. Check the brakes, and change brake fluid if needed. Air filter and the fuel filter's probably worth doing too. HT leads (depending on how old they are). Coolant, windscreen wash. I think you're supposed to check the suspension etc too.

It's also worth checking tyre pressures, the condition of the tires, lights and the wipers, but these should be done regularly anyway. Can't think of anything else at the moment though.

And don't forget to check for pinking. Seems to be a remarkably common problem these days.

I do check the brakes, fluids etc regularly so thats not a problem. I wouldnt trust myself to change the brake fluid or fule filter though since they are so important. HT leads I suppose are as old as the car so will change them. One question, what's pinking? Pete

Ask 'pinking' Peter McMillan......

PeteZahut ( snipped-for-privacy@mine.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Something that Fiat Seicentos suffer badly from. It's probably closely related to the owner's mother's neuroses.

Check all lights, horn and washers for operation. Dump the engine oil and whilst its draining, change the air filter and spark plugs. Once the oil has drained replace the filter and top up with oil. You DO know about putting a thin film of oil on the oil filter mating gasket before fitting? Run engine til oil light goes out then check level and top up if necessary.

Loosen but do not remove wheel nuts. Jack up car, remove wheels. Check brake pads/discs/shoes/drums. Check balljoint rubbers and CV boots. Check the tyres for damage/wear. Check suspension for broken springs/leaking shocks. RE-attach wheels and check for play in wheel bearings. Adjust handbrake. Check underside for damage and check exhaust for leaks.

Apart from what Conor says there are a couple of other places to look. Firstly if you have the service log book with the dealers stamps in it, there can be a check list on the services not yet done (at least there is on my Citroen) which will give you a useful guide as to what the garage would do (and it can be surprisingly little). The other place, as I'm sure you're aware, is the Haynes Book of Lies (BoL) which has a list of what should be done at particular intervals and seems to be a much more thorough list than the manufacturerers. Of course it might not tell you the best way of doing it (hence the BoL).

Don't worry about pinking. Those idiots won't shut up about it! The jokes over now, it's not funny!

The fuel filter is usually fairly easy, although you may get soaked in petrol :-(.

The message from petermcmillan snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com contains these words:

Oh yes it IS!

Oh no it isn't!

(petermcmillan snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

He's behind you!

The message from Adrian contains these words:

So /that's/ where the rattling noise is coming from!

BOO!

-- Peter

Get Circumcised to e-mail me Raising money for the Tsunami Appeal: -

AstraVanMan ( snipped-for-privacy@SwerveForeskinWeb.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Look, Children, it's a Fairy Godmother!

You learn something new every day.

It is bloody funny!

We have a special limited time offer on ignition leads on the website. Use the link in the signature to go straigt there

Pete

Ahh but will they fit a celica?