Car D.I.Y.

[gbb]

As others have said, perfectly reasonable. I have spent some time working on oils for such vehicles (trucks, buses, agricultural and construction machinery etc) and a key factor with commercial vehicles is that they are both an asset and a liability. They are primarily money generators so need to be busy as much as possible because if they are idle they are money pits. Servicing is handled differently by different users - some use a guilt-edged service approach to keep the vehicle healthy and avoid unplanned downtime; this is an expensive approach though so others save costs on servicing and fix what breaks.

A busy truck is a happy truck though and 100,000 miles a year is not out of the question. Long journeys at constant speed are kind to the drivetrain so long-haul fleets can manage well. These engines have huge oil volumes too, so plenty to absorb all the power and abuse thrown at it (oil drain intervals can go up to 100,000 miles under perfect conditions). Throw in some hills, heavy loads or stop-start operation typical of, for example, construction equipment (idle, idle, idle.... FULL POWER!!.....idle, idle idle) or agricultural machines (hibernate, hibernate..... HARVEST!!!.... hibernate...) and component life can be shorter with more servicing and overhaul needed.

Assets and a liability, good term.
At my former employer, once the largest fleet user of Mercs in the country, I kept all the records for our site transport. Circa 1995 a gearbox change was £6k, a clutch change was a few thousand, so the costs are high. At the other end of the scale, we had 2 or 3 older units that were just used as shunters, pretty much worn out and fairly wrecked looking and rusty. They went to auction and went for £6k each all that time ago. One had a pretty much dead gearbox and clutch.
I asked how on earth they were worth so much ? (Maybe I was naive about their real value)
The answer, they were destined for Africa...nothing , but nothing would be wasted, every component had a value in markets such as that, the trucks were a very valuable source of spares.

 

[Bazzer]

Long story short, 10 days ago Mrs B got a puncture on a busy road and buggins here was called out. Realistically, even if she knew how to change the wheel, she couldn't do it, as the 235 x 55 tyres on 17inch alloys on her Tiguan, are bloody heavy.
Whilst I have changed her wheels on our drive, that was at my pace, whereas because of the circumstances, the last incident had to be done as quickly as possible and was very unpleasant. It also rammed home how awkward it is fitting heavy wheels to non studded hubs, as quickly as possible, whilst trying to look out for motorists not keeping attention.
So, a couple of days ago I bought a bolt with the correct thread:

Out with the grinder, off with the head and a quick tidy up of the burrs:

Now I have a wheel locating stud as part of her Tiguan's wheel changing kit.

I will check tomorrow, if it is the same thread on child 2's Up! I think it is, in which case I have a second bolt...... And whilst her wheels are a lot lighter and she knows what to do, if it makes life easier in a stressful situation, 10 minutes of grinding is worth it.

 

[figbat]

My 1988 Audi 80 came with a plastic locating stud in the toolkit.

 

[BoldonLad]

Personally I’ve always thought runflats were a good idea, having had a puncture in our old 3 series touring with a boot full of luggage and two babies on board, being able to just drive on (albeit at reduced speed) to a garage to get it fixed was far more appealing than trying to change a wheel on the hard shoulder of the M6.

Mrs Gunks Mini has them, and I’ve just changed all four tyres, they are expensive, and that’s why lots of used Minis are just fitted with cheap regular tyres and a can of gloop in the boot, but I think they’re worth it

Yes, I thought that too, until an "incident" with a 3 series, some years ago, caused me to re-think.

First day of a three week holiday, travelling along French motorway, at 130kph.

Puncture, by the time I stopped, tyre was shredded. We did have a space saver, so, I changed the tyre and drove on. to garage.

Then, the problems started, garage informed me matching tyres on 20 day lead time.

Phoned BMW breakdown service (car was 2 months old)... absolutely no help from them.

Found nearest BMW dealer, myself, and drove there, they were also unable to source a tyre.

Ended up at a French version of Quick-fit, where an enterprising tyre fitter rustled up a part worn, but serviceable replacement, and fitted it for free, allowing us to continue our holiday.

Even when we returned to UK, it took 5 days to get a replacement tyre.

This all happened in 2003, so, things may have improved.

 

[Bazzer]

.
My 1988 Audi 80 came with a plastic locating stud in the toolkit.

Research suggested Audis did but the thread is different to VWs. Also the bigger VW Tuareg comes with a locating stud, as do (I think), the latest Golf Rs.
More VW euro cent pinching.

 

[Drago]

To be fair, VW Group need the money to pay for the billions in fines around the world for Emissionsgate.

 

[Gunk]

To be fair, VW Group need the money to pay for the billions in fines around the world for Emissionsgate.

VAG still manage to make a good product. No one really cares about the Dieselgate fiasco, memories are very short.

 

[DRM]

Now when I think about it I remember reading an article in a Car Mechanics a few years ago where they featured an E30 BMW which had something like 1.5 million miles covered but the car still had the original tyres.

The reason was that it had been used as a test mule by Mobil for testing different engine and transmission oils and had spent basically it's whole life inside on rollers.

It shows just how long an engine will last in ideal circumstances.

A friend of my Dad's had a late 1970s Massey Ferguson 565 which has over 30,000 hours on the clock on the original engine. The tractor was bought new and we'll maintained but it did work very hard for most of it's life. The clutch pedal had to be replaced as it wore through and the steering wheel is worn through to the steel! His son still owns it although it's enjoying a gentle retirement. It still starts instantly and uses very little oil.

Went out to a fork truck this week, it was 5 years old and had done just shy of 25,000 hours, was scraped and battered but the diesel engine ran as sweet as a nut, was a Toyota 1DZ engine utterly bullet proof

 

[Drago]

VAG still manage to make a good product. No one really cares about the Dieselgate fiasco, memories are very short.

Memories aren't that short. I'm of Jewish heritage and refuse to own one.

 

[Gunk]

Memories aren't that short. I'm of Jewish heritage and refuse to own one.

hence the Volvo

 

[Deleted member 26715]

Memories aren't that short. I'm of Jewish heritage and refuse to own one.

Shirley is that a rabbit hole we need to go down here?

 

[Drago]

Indeed, Phaeton is right.

 

[cosmicbike]

Indeed, Phaeton is right.

He is, and I like this thread being free of me in my moderators hat, so lets keep it that way.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Rear windscreen wiper motor gave up on the Mk2 Octavia hatch.

£200+ at the dealer, £100-£150 backstreet garage for new motor and fitting.

Took bootlid trim off and dismantled motor. Wire brushed inner cogs to remove rust and corrosion, regreased and reinstalled*. Fully working again.

Cost = cold fingers and a bit of swearing.

* It's a common fault with VAG of the time as they ran the screenwash pipe next to the motor and it often came loose and dumped screenwash into the motor innards, washing out grease and causing corrosion. Now tied pipe down with electrical tape and cable tie.

I know all about this....
However, the washer is at the top, by the high-level brake-light (& has worked constantly)
1st attempt... https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/car-d-i-y.258173/page-18#post-6017888
Success!... https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/car-d-i-y.258173/page-19#post-6019790

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Personally I’ve always thought runflats were a good idea, having had a puncture in our old 3 series touring with a boot full of luggage and two babies on board, being able to just drive on (albeit at reduced speed) to a garage to get it fixed was far more appealing than trying to change a wheel on the hard shoulder of the M6.
Mrs Gunks Mini has them, and I’ve just changed all four tyres, they are expensive, and that’s why lots of used Minis are just fitted with cheap regular tyres and a can of gloop in the boot, but I think they’re worth it

Remember the old Dunlop Denovo?
Spilt-rims though?!

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5n7MRBfaQ4