Do you change your car engine oil yourself? 😊
26-30, M
This page is a permanent link to the reply below and its nested replies. See all post replies »
ArishMell · 70-79, M
I have done in years past, but I can perform only very simple servicing on my car now, and oil-changes are not practical for me.
So I have it serviced annually at the same time as its MoT test.
Years ago I owned a Series Two LandRover (A proper LandRover, not the costly but ordinary saloon car with the name stuck on, that masquerades as one now.) That had no less than six, possibly seven or eight, oil levels to maintain, plus various grease-nipples and simple oil points like hinges.
So I have it serviced annually at the same time as its MoT test.
Years ago I owned a Series Two LandRover (A proper LandRover, not the costly but ordinary saloon car with the name stuck on, that masquerades as one now.) That had no less than six, possibly seven or eight, oil levels to maintain, plus various grease-nipples and simple oil points like hinges.
DallasCowboysFan · 61-69, M
@ArishMell 6,7,8 ? Why so many? I understand the oil level, coolant, and differential, but what else was needed? Older cars required greasing the drive shaft, and a few places on the axle, but how did you come up with 8? British cars have always had a personality of their own.
BTW, I saw an Audi last week with grease points on its brake calipers, that was a first for me.
BTW, I saw an Audi last week with grease points on its brake calipers, that was a first for me.
ArishMell · 70-79, M
@DallasCowboysFan The "Series- number" Landrovers are two-wheel / four-wheel drive, selectable so you normally use only rear-wheel drive, plus a high/low range gear. All these gears might be combined in one case - I can't really remember if some of the duties are performed in the "transfer gearbox".
The transfer gear-box carries the power take-off point, using a shaft that when fitted, emerges through a prominent hole through the chassis' rear cross-member, below the rear door or tailgate.
The oil-levels are the:-
Engine,
Gearbox,
Transfer Gearbox (unless combined with the main gearbox)
Rear Differential,
Front Differential,
The two steering-ball joint casings,
Steering gear-box, I think.
It's only the engine oil level that normally needs weekly attention.
Not sure what you mean about British cars having a personality of their own, but manufacturers selling vehicles in their own countries do have to follow national tastes and needs, and national / international laws covering vehicle safety and nowadays, environmental, concerns.
This affects imports too. For example the ordinary Tesla battery-electric cars built to meet British and European laws are fine, but that "Cybertruck" fails them, so is illegal for sales at commercial level.
(In the UK law, vehicles have to comply with the "Construction & Use Regulations", or any replacement equivalent - but years of EU membership brought a raft of extra, and tighter rules.)
A major difference between US and UK, indeed many European countries, is that even in the 1950s-60s most motorists never wanted the US-style, two-ton behemoths with huge, very thirsty engines, just to carry four or five people around.
Nor were many impressed by fancy fins and acres of chrome. In the late-1950s Ford's British operation modestly nodded to US styling, like negative-rake rear windows; but although the cars sold well enough the style did not catch on.
Instead, although there are plenty of big luxury cars like the Rolls-Royce, Range-Rover and large German saloon cars, most people drive smaller, lighter and much more fuel-efficient cars still capable of carrying four or five people at motorway-cruising speeds. Economics do play a part in this, of course: fuel is not cheap in many European countries. So we regard an ordinary car returning under 40mpg at steady cruising, as rather thirsty; and under 30mpg, extravagant. (UK Gallon - a bit bigger than the US gallon.)
The hatchback and estate versions seem more popular than the three-box body-shapes, too; as it is more versatile. The manufacturers' sales people advertise the load spaces of these in an odd way - not by dimensions in metres, nor by cubic metres of volume - but by the liquid measure, litres! Do think we will use the car as an aquarium?
Also, manual transmissions were a lot more popular than automatics in Britain at least; but this is slowly changing; and the battery-electric cars slowly gaining ground, are automatic anyway.
Car size fashion has changed a bit in Britain, lately.
Cars have become larger and fatter generally, partly I believe to accommodate "crumple zones" so a collision does more damage to the car in exchange for less to the occupants. This has led to the problem that parking in public car-parks is more difficult, and many cars now are too large for typical household garages built more than a few decades ago! You can drive the car into the garage... but then you'd be trapped in it!
Also it has become something of a fashion among those who can afford them, to buy bloated "SUV"s or over-size panel-vans, with no real reason to do so. Why buy a builder's wide-bodied pick-up just for day-to-day, ordinary motoring? I suspect mere vanity, including it being intimidating to other road users.
.......
I typed that penultimate sentence... then had to re-arrange the adjectives. It's the pick-up that's wide bodied, not the builder. Usually!
The transfer gear-box carries the power take-off point, using a shaft that when fitted, emerges through a prominent hole through the chassis' rear cross-member, below the rear door or tailgate.
The oil-levels are the:-
Engine,
Gearbox,
Transfer Gearbox (unless combined with the main gearbox)
Rear Differential,
Front Differential,
The two steering-ball joint casings,
Steering gear-box, I think.
It's only the engine oil level that normally needs weekly attention.
Not sure what you mean about British cars having a personality of their own, but manufacturers selling vehicles in their own countries do have to follow national tastes and needs, and national / international laws covering vehicle safety and nowadays, environmental, concerns.
This affects imports too. For example the ordinary Tesla battery-electric cars built to meet British and European laws are fine, but that "Cybertruck" fails them, so is illegal for sales at commercial level.
(In the UK law, vehicles have to comply with the "Construction & Use Regulations", or any replacement equivalent - but years of EU membership brought a raft of extra, and tighter rules.)
A major difference between US and UK, indeed many European countries, is that even in the 1950s-60s most motorists never wanted the US-style, two-ton behemoths with huge, very thirsty engines, just to carry four or five people around.
Nor were many impressed by fancy fins and acres of chrome. In the late-1950s Ford's British operation modestly nodded to US styling, like negative-rake rear windows; but although the cars sold well enough the style did not catch on.
Instead, although there are plenty of big luxury cars like the Rolls-Royce, Range-Rover and large German saloon cars, most people drive smaller, lighter and much more fuel-efficient cars still capable of carrying four or five people at motorway-cruising speeds. Economics do play a part in this, of course: fuel is not cheap in many European countries. So we regard an ordinary car returning under 40mpg at steady cruising, as rather thirsty; and under 30mpg, extravagant. (UK Gallon - a bit bigger than the US gallon.)
The hatchback and estate versions seem more popular than the three-box body-shapes, too; as it is more versatile. The manufacturers' sales people advertise the load spaces of these in an odd way - not by dimensions in metres, nor by cubic metres of volume - but by the liquid measure, litres! Do think we will use the car as an aquarium?
Also, manual transmissions were a lot more popular than automatics in Britain at least; but this is slowly changing; and the battery-electric cars slowly gaining ground, are automatic anyway.
Car size fashion has changed a bit in Britain, lately.
Cars have become larger and fatter generally, partly I believe to accommodate "crumple zones" so a collision does more damage to the car in exchange for less to the occupants. This has led to the problem that parking in public car-parks is more difficult, and many cars now are too large for typical household garages built more than a few decades ago! You can drive the car into the garage... but then you'd be trapped in it!
Also it has become something of a fashion among those who can afford them, to buy bloated "SUV"s or over-size panel-vans, with no real reason to do so. Why buy a builder's wide-bodied pick-up just for day-to-day, ordinary motoring? I suspect mere vanity, including it being intimidating to other road users.
.......
I typed that penultimate sentence... then had to re-arrange the adjectives. It's the pick-up that's wide bodied, not the builder. Usually!