Who does their own servicing ?

[redsturgeon]

I have just changed the oil on my car this morning.

[Watis]

Not for 30 years!

This timeframe roughly coincides with the time my cars began to have fuel injection and electronic ignition, as I don't have the tools or the knowhow to measure and adjust these things.

But I was previously doing the routine maintenance tasks, together with ignition timing, setting points, drum brake shoe adjustment and changing the diaphragm in Stromberg carburettors, as required.

Watis

(showing my age . . .)

[bungeejumper]

Just bulbs, tyres, oil top-ups, washer fluid, bits of bodywork scuffs, and the occasional DIY project such as putting in reversing sensors or wiring up a dashcam. I used to do full top-end rebuilds, but all that ended when overhead cams came in because the risk of getting the belt even one notch out was so catastrophic. The last car where I did any 'proper' work was a 1984 Peugeot 205. And even that was just stripping and adjusting the carburettor, and changing the brake shoes. (Aaah, good old carburettors, with real screw things and adjustable jets and stuff you could actually understand.)

Since then, the advancing computerisation of everything has made it either impossible, or not worth the candle because I'll only have to take it to the garage to get my work logged into the onboard computer. Dammit, you couldn't even adjust the handbrake s on my 2007 Passat without reprogramming the CPU. It's a good thing that garage servicing and diagnosis is quite cheap and reliable these days. And that my advancing years have been matched by an increase in my spending power.

BJ

[AF62]

Not for 30 years!

This timeframe roughly coincides with the time my cars began to have fuel injection and electronic ignition, as I don't have the tools or the knowhow to measure and adjust these things.

Roughly the same time for me, but the additional impetus was by then not being skint but having the money to pay someone else to do it for me.

But I was previously doing the routine maintenance tasks, together with ignition timing, setting points, drum brake shoe adjustment and changing the diaphragm in Stromberg carburettors, as required.

Watis

(showing my age . . .)

Don't remind me. Scuffed knuckles. Haynes "reassembly is the reverse of disassembly" - it never was. Always needing doing when it was raining or freezing cold, and no garage to work in. etc.

That isn't to say I don't do anything these days, but it is generally limited to fitting the odd bulb, etc.

[bungeejumper]

Don't remind me. Scuffed knuckles. Haynes "reassembly is the reverse of disassembly" - it never was.

Haha, I used to know the publishing director at Haynes. As long ago as 1995, he was telling me that people didn't buy the manuals so that they could do their own repairs. They bought them so that they could argue with their garages.

BJ

[pje16]

aahh a reminder of the the good old Haynes manual
your car's bible
before it all got computerised

[Urbandreamer]

I selected not anymore. But I do change headlight bulbs*.

Unfortunately that's, a loosen the front "bumper" and remove the headlight assembly job, so that you can get to it.

Oh, I also top up screen wash and cast my eyes over the tyres.

*Why oh why is it illegal to fit a LED bulb with a longer life!

[bungeejumper]

*Why oh why is it illegal to fit a LED bulb with a longer life!

Because it'll cause too much light scatter and will blind the oncoming traffic. A halogen bulb has a single point of light that'll be easy to direct with precision, but an LED has a whole postage stamp's worth of filament, that won't.

So a headlamp/foglamp with an LED has t have a reflector that's specifically designed and approved for the task. But I'm pretty sure that you can fit an LED anywhere else on the car without any restrictions.

BJ

[MonsterMork]

*Why oh why is it illegal to fit a LED bulb with a longer life!

1 - ditto wot BJ said. The light scatter is absolutely horrendous, to the extent that a (insert retail barn name here) bulb has a better dipped beam pattern*

2 - LED headlamp bulbs put out a surprising amount of heat, to the extent that some have a wee little electric fan in them to get the heat out. Said heat can, under some (admittedly quite rare) circumstances, be enough to melt headlamp units and possibly set fire to them. Er, not nesser celery a good thing

3 - MoT regs (and I suspect Construction And Use regs) require headlamps to be compatible with LED bulbs if they are fitted - replacing the entire headlamp unit with an LED compatible one is acceptable however. Section 4.1.4 of the manual:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mot-inspect ... -equipment

MM

*said retail barn are well known in the trade for fitting bulbs upside down ...

[Breelander]

I have two cars. On my 1960s classic mini I do everything, it's mostly routine servicing now, but I did do a full mechanical restoration to get it back on the road. I draw the line at bodywork though, and got a local specialist bodyshop to do the welding and painting.

My other car is a VW Polo I've had from new, that I pay to have serviced. At first to maintain its warranty - now mainly because I don't have the time to service both

[Urbandreamer]

1 - ditto wot BJ said. The light scatter is absolutely horrendous, to the extent that a (insert retail barn name here) bulb has a better dipped beam pattern*

2 - LED headlamp bulbs put out a surprising amount of heat, to the extent that some have a wee little electric fan in them to get the heat out. Said heat can, under some (admittedly quite rare) circumstances, be enough to melt headlamp units and possibly set fire to them. Er, not nesser celery a good thing

3 - MoT regs (and I suspect Construction And Use regs) require headlamps to be compatible with LED bulbs if they are fitted - replacing the entire headlamp unit with an LED compatible one is acceptable however. Section 4.1.4 of the manual:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/mot-inspect ... -equipment

MM

*said retail barn are well known in the trade for fitting bulbs upside down ...

For the record I know about the optics/heat thing, and the law. I also have bad experiences of "said retail barn".
As I'm sure you know, your item 3 says that BJ is wrong about fitting LED bulbs to other external car lights. The law doesn't make headlights a special case. It does make internal lights a special case and you can fit LED bulbs there.

However if it were just a matter of optics, then there would be a demand for replacement units that reduce the problem of changing bulbs. They wouldn't be cheap, but at the moment, as I understand it they would be illegal.

My comment was more about a design that has a nice twist off cover to allow you to swap the bulb, with no room to get fingers in to remove the cover and replace the bulb. Just 10mm more would be enough.
Here is how people on Youtube do it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0PzXGenoik

[AF62]

I have two cars. On my 1960s classic mini I do everything, it's mostly routine servicing now, but I did do a full mechanical restoration to get it back on the road. I draw the line at bodywork though, and got a local specialist bodyshop to do the welding and painting.

Ah the 1960's classic mini, I remember it well - as fitted with the dissolving subframes that needed constant welding (along with the rest of the bodywork that turned brown and vanished before your eyes), the heater knob that always seized so had to be adjusted from under the bonnet with a pair of plyers, the engine designed so the distributor got the full impact of the rain, the drum brakes that slowed you slightly, the glow-worms fitted in the headlights and the dip beam switch being a foot press in the floor (not that main beam made much difference), the teeny tiny wipers that made a vague attempt at clearing the windscreen, and the battery in the boot that was a killer on your back if you needed to take it out.

Oh, and lastly the wonderful security from the one sided door key that you could put in upside down and it would still open the door (as would a bent spoon).

It might have been fun at the time, but I don't miss it.

[bungeejumper]

.....the engine designed so the distributor got the full impact of the rain, the drum brakes that slowed you slightly

Yes, the wet distributor was a quality feature of the entire A series, up to and including the early 1980s Metro. My missus spent many a happy quarter-hour on drying out the electrics with a hair drier so that she could get her kids to school in the mornings. And her car was new! ("Ah yes, they all do that madam".)

But that at least was better than the drum brakes in her previous Mini, which completely failed in town traffic, not once but twice. It wasn't until 1982 that Austin/Morris/Rover/British Leyland/(I forget) finally got round to installing dual circuit brakes. I always did admire Paddy Hopkirk for the incredible things that he did in his rallying Mini, but the retrospective knowledge that he was doing it all on just one set of hydraulics fills me with something close to dread.

As for that melting subframe business, I have to count my own lucky stars for my survival. I travelled down the M5 to the first Glastonbury festival in a Mini with seven people inside it. (Three in the front seats, three on the back seat bench, and another girl sitting across all our laps.) That would have been half a tonne of humanity inside a car with a total kerb weight of only 635 kg. And yes, it did graunch and groan a bit at the back end, and the steering did wander just a tad when we were at speed.

BJ

[Breelander]

Ah the 1960's classic mini, I remember it well - as fitted with the dissolving subframes that needed constant welding (along with the rest of the bodywork that turned brown and vanished before your eyes)...

Replaced with a brand new subframe from British Motor Heritage Limited and treated to plenty of Hammerite and Waxoyl before fitting, as were the two new wings it required. Actually the rest of the body is original, solid and surprisingly rust-free.

...the heater knob that always seized so had to be adjusted from under the bonnet with a pair of plyers,

Easily fixed during restoration by removing the inner wire from the cable, cleaning it, greasing it, and reassembling. Smooth and easy to use now.

...the engine designed so the distributor got the full impact of the rain...

Both my distributor and the sparkplug caps have tight rubber seals to keep all the water out. Never been an issue....

...the drum brakes that slowed you slightly,...

new cylinders and shoes all round...

the glow-worms fitted in the headlights and the dip beam switch being a foot press in the floor (not that main beam made much difference)

Wipak Halogen headlamp kit...

the teeny tiny wipers that made a vague attempt at clearing the windscreen...

...dismantle the wiper rack, clean, grease, reassemble....

and the battery in the boot that was a killer on your back if you needed to take it out.

I'll give you that, but I've only just had to replace mine after 10 years..

Oh, and lastly the wonderful security from the one sided door key that you could put in upside down and it would still open the door (as would a bent spoon).

No, I have inadvertent tried it upside down, it will go in but it won't turn the lock...

It might have been fun at the time, but I don't miss it.

It's as much fun today as it ever was. I've put 25,000 miles on the clock since restoring it, all of them with a big grin on my face

[AF62]

Replaced...

...the whole car, piece by piece.

[Breelander]

Replaced...

...the whole car, piece by piece.

far from it. New wings and A-panels and a new rear subframe were the only body parts I had to replace. And it's still running on its original engine, just needed a service to get it back on the rosd.

[quelquod]

Getting a bit old for it now though I used to do everything but major bodywork. I’ll still do the standard oil and filters, pads and disks, biannual brake fluid changes and summer/winter wheel swaps, but much bending and crawling no longer appeals (especially as the days shorten!).

[9873210]

Since then, the advancing computerisation of everything has made it either impossible, or not worth the candle ...

Or not needed at all. I for one welcome LED lights that will last the life of the car.

People did not stop doing quarterly "tune ups" because they became too hard. They stopped doing " tune ups" because they became unnecessary.

[bungeejumper]

Since then, the advancing computerisation of everything has made it either impossible, or not worth the candle ...

People did not stop doing quarterly "tune ups" because they became too hard. They stopped doing " tune ups" because they became unnecessary.

Shurely shome mishtake? I don't know who was talking about quarterly tune-ups, but it must have been some other geezer?

My complaint, as I expect you' probably noticed, was that having everything logged into the CPU meant that you literally couldn't change even routine stuff like brake pads without paying a dealer to hook up to the network and "introduce" the new component to "head office" under the bonnet. Even headlamp bulbs, on my Passat.

And then there were other well-known random electronic weirdnesses. Such as the fact that if your VW's rear wash/wipe stopped working, it was probably caused by a sticky spring on the bonnet catch. **

In time it all became too much hassle. Time to leave the annual service to somebody who had the magic laptop for doing the online diagnostics. And they do it well, too. We agree on that point.

BJ

** Since you ask, Golfs and Passats have their front wipers deeply recessed below bonnet level, and any attempt to raise the bonnet while the wipers were running would result in the wipers colliding heavily with the bodywork. So if the car wrongly thinks that the bonnet catch might be open, it'll neutralise all the wipers, front and back, and you'll be left standing there wondering what the hell's going on?

Technology, dontcha love it? (Actually I do, but I generally leave it to the paid professionals.)

[DrFfybes]

Since you ask, Golfs and Passats have their front wipers deeply recessed below bonnet level, and any attempt to raise the bonnet while the wipers were running would result in the wipers colliding heavily with the bodywork. So if the car wrongly thinks that the bonnet catch might be open, it'll neutralise all the wipers, front and back, and you'll be left standing there wondering what the hell's going on?

Maserati Cambiocorsa boxes (and possibly Alfa Selespeed as well) will put the car back into neutral if you try and drive off with the boot, doors or bonnet open.

What could possible go wrong?

FWIW I always and still service my bikes, but never done the cars. Partially as the delecate tools I have for bikes don't fit the cars too well, but mainly as the bike fits in a nice warm dry garage.

Paul