Servicing is the key to reliability

Servicing is the key to reliability

By Barry Lake

FOR family transport, Indonesia has long relied on commercial-
based vehicles such as Toyota-Astra's Kijang and the Isuzu
Panther.

While these vehicles are certainly reliable, they tend to use
fairly simple mechanics, which have enabled many people to
maintain and service their vehicles at home or through the local
garage.

However, with the steadily-increasing number of new small
passenger cars coming onto the market using sophisticated
engines, transmissions and other components, servicing habits are
bound to change.

But how reliable will these cars be? And, when they need to be
serviced or repaired, will our mechanics be able to cope?

Such concerns are natural but one of the greatest revelations
of modern motor cars is that they are incredibly reliable and
need far less servicing than cars of the past.

Cars of the 1990s do not need the ignition points replaced and
the timing adjusted, simply because there are no points in
electronic ignition systems.

The spark plugs are platinum-tipped and amazingly durable. For
years now, many modern cars have been traveling distances of more
than 100,000km before needing new spark plugs, and some car
manufacturers are now claiming spark plug life of better than
150,000km.

That is anything from five to 10 years of average motoring.
Top-up your radiator? No thanks. Today's cars have sealed cooling
systems, containing special coolants which resist overheating and
prevent rust or corrosion attacking the metal parts of the
engine.

When the engine heats up, excess fluid expands into a special
tank, from which it is drawn back into the engine when it cools
down again after being turned off. The cooling system is always
full.

Adjust your wheel bearings, sir? Thanks, but no thanks. The
trend now is to have "sealed for life" hubs with wheel bearings
packed with high-technology grease and with no provision for
adjustment ... which means also that there is no opportunity for
them to be too tight or too loose. Nor is there any chance of
dirt, dust or water entering the bearing to contaminate the
grease.

Life spans of these sealed hubs are claimed to be upwards of
300,000km.

If a wheel bearing does eventually give trouble, the entire
hub unit is replaced. This is the growing trend with many
components: replacement of entire units which are sealed for
life.

Expensive? Not really. When compared to the time involved in
rebuilding components on older cars, along with the cost of
parts, the new units are surprisingly moderately priced.

Huge savings in labor costs largely offset the cost of parts,
the price of which is kept down by mass production.

But what about major repairs, like engine rebuilds and
transmission overhauls?

Again, these are largely worries from the past. Car
manufacturers around the world have for years now offered long
warranty periods and the same thing is now happening in
Indonesia.

And they do not normally expect owners to be taking advantage
of the offer. In fact, the car companies expect their cars to run
for much longer than this before requiring major repairs.

Disc brakes, as well as operating more effectively than drum
brakes, are self-adjusting and remain consistent in their
operation throughout the life of the brake pads.

Brake relining is not required. When the pads wear out, they
can easily be replaced. So, too, can the brake discs -- although
these last through several pad changes.

But, when the discs are finally worn beyond usefulness, they
now slip off the hub easily and can be replaced with a new unit.

Whereas the old carburetor has many parts which can wear, and
a float which needs periodical adjustment, fuel injection is
virtually trouble-free.

The main potential problem is dirt getting into an injector,
but this can be avoided by replacing the fuel filter and the air
filter at the recommended intervals.

Of course, quality fuel is very important. Any petrol outlet
that does not appear to have high standards should be avoided.

Probably the most feared of all modern automotive devices is
the computer and yet even this is far less daunting when it is
realized that it is very reliable and even when it does give
trouble, the problems are far easier to trace and repair than
most people might think.

For one thing, automotive computers have what is called "fail
safe" systems.

These are back-up systems which put the car into a "limp home"
mode. If a component fails, the car can still be driven to a
repair shop. It might not develop as much power and it might even
run roughly -- on less than the full number of cylinders -- but
in most situations it will still run.

When the car reaches an authorized service center, a fully-
trained technician simply plugs a diagnostic computer into the
car and the computer tells him which part has failed.

Sometimes, the warning light system on the dash of the car
itself will flash codes that tell the operator what has gone
wrong.

By consulting the service manual and checking the codes, the
operator will know that, say, a temperature sensor has failed.

This part is then replaced with a new unit and the system is
again fully functional.

However, regular servicing of new vehicles is a necessity for
reliable motoring.

Modern oils can cope with extremes of temperature -- both hot
and cold -- and with high engine speeds but the engine oil still
should be changed at -- usually -- 10,000km intervals.

If the car is used in extreme conditions of heat and dust, it
is a good idea to also change the air filter, fuel filter and oil
filter at the same time.

A good service center will also check the engine coolant level
and the drive-belts for the ancillaries such as alternator, power
steering pump, air-conditioning compressor and so on, although
these will normally be trouble-free for tens of thousands of
kilometers.

Major components should rarely need replacing but, if they do,
they should be replaced by genuine components as supplied by the
manufacturer.

And they should be fitted by a trained mechanic at an
authorized service workshop who knows the product thoroughly.

If all this is done and the car is regularly and correctly
serviced, car owners will be agreeably impressed by the
reliability of today's new cars.