Maintanence Schedule

[col.decker]

Afternoon all. Is there such a thing as the 'Boys own book of T25 maintance to do lists'? Like a maintanence schedule. I've had a poke around the forum search button but not found one.

Can the pros give us noobs some tips on what to check and when? Oil change every 3000miles!!!! Jeepers!!

[Mocki]

I change my oil every 3thousand and filter every 6 thousand, air filter , plugs and dissy cap and rotor every 10k
Oil is cheap , engines are not !
And I do 15k at year

[col.decker]

Oil is cheap , engines are not !

I like this. It is my new T25 Mantra.

[kevtherev]

My oil & filter are changed twice yearly whether it's needed or not
plugs leads and cap every two years

coolant is changed every two years
brake fluid every three.
belt every two
starter motor is taken off and the contacts are cleaned every year

The van is ramped and checked every spring for bits or things that either drip, weep or are about to break.

[Mocki]

My oil & filter are changed twice yearly whether it's needed or not
plugs leads and cap every two years

coolant is changed every two years
brake fluid every three.
belt every two
starter motor is taken off and the contacts are cleaned every year

The van is ramped and checked every spring for bits or things that either drip, weep or are about to break.

That's fine for low milage I guess

I forgot alternator belt every 10k
Coolant every pipe burst! Lol!
Not managed to need to schedule a coolant change in the last three years!! For one reason or another the coolant has been out either by my doing or it's !

[AdrianC]

I change my oil every 3thousand and filter every 6 thousand

I've never understood this - why not just do the filter every time?

[chuckle-bus-tom]

I also blast the air filter out every 6 months (I don't really keep track of how many miles I have/haven't done) and change it once a year. I do live in a city though!

I also oil the locks every now and then, change the wiper blades and top up the washer fluid, but they are kind of 'every car' jobs! If you want to get proper fussy you could venture into changing the gearbox oil, or maybe taking your driveshafts off and checking the CV joints for wear and re-greasing them. Both of those are god awful jobs though!

Oh, worth checking the suspension components for damage too, particularly the upper ball joints on the front and the springs (originals do tend to snap after 20-30 years!).

[kevtherev]

That's fine for low milage I guess

!

yes I average about 8,000 a year

[Mocki]

I change my oil every 3thousand and filter every 6 thousand

I've never understood this - why not just do the filter every time?

Because my engine runs clean, we cut a filter in half after 4000 miles and it didn't warrant changing earlier.
Tricky operation with a 9" angle grinder

[California Dreamin]

I know it's only about a fiver but Steve's quite right changing the filter every other with such frequent oil changes...VW do quote 'with' and 'without' oil filter capacities as early 'Mineral based' oils don't last that long the filter can stand two oil changes without any worries about becoming blocked.

When you consider modern cars with 'Long Life' service intervals are often 20K ....and thats with one filter change .

As this is an important subject and clearly there are lots of urban myths creeping in to recommendations, I am going to try and publish something a little more accurate.

Martin

[kevtherev]

Nobody is making recommendations Martin, these are personal maintenance regimes.
There is a schedule in haynes.

I agree with the filter and I too have one with and one without

[California Dreamin]

With respect Kev...I got the impression that col.decker was asking for a definitive service schedule and not the many and varied opinion based maintenance regimes..like changing distributor cap/rotor arm and plug leads every 10,000 miles

I realise that some of these make sense: ie; changing gearbox oil for instance as VW intended the original to be filled for life.

And I'm not going to criticise 'over serviceing' but in the absence of a written schedule there are lots of things that just never get mentioned so consequently never get done.
2 yearly brake fluid changes.
Tappet clearance checking on diesels
Cam belt changing
To name but a few....and of course the frequency at which these and other checks are to be carried out.

Martin

[300CE]

Martin, there was a thread that you responded to not so long ago (in the last week) giving a newbie a whole list of things to check/do which may be useful for col.decker. I've had a quick search for the thread but can't seem to find it - i don't suppose you can recall who it was?!

Cheers, Justin.

E D I T: This isn't the one i was talking about as above, but is very helpful:

viewtopic.php?f=37&t=101963&p=7757115&hilit=servicing+martin#p7757115

[bigherb]

VW's service schedule.








Toothed Belt is the timing belt if your wondering.

[AdrianC]

Tank breather filters?

Surprised at the 15,000km oil change interval. With modern oils, it's not a problem, but even so - for that era, it seems long.