I need to change the oil, coolant and brake fluid in my 150k 306 diesel which I bought six months ago. After I've bought all the fluids and spent hours reading my haynes manual to find bleed valves and things, is it worth it? How big a job is it and how much time/labour would it take a garage to do it?
feedback appreciated!
Jeremy
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Once you've done it once, you'll be able to do it very quickly next time. First time will be pretty slow unless you've got somebody to point you in the right direction! But next time, you'll whizz through it.
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Oil change is 1/2 hour job. Coolant another 1/2 hour. Brakes fluid may take an hour or two (if everything goes smoothly). Allow for contingency eg seized bleed nipples snapping off on bleeding, especially if they haven't been bleed regularly. Recommend changing all bleed nipples to new.
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jeremy - you ask "is it worth it?". If you intend to keep the car for a reasonable time it is worth doing all these things, the first two to give the head gasket a better chance of survival. Changing oil is simple enough, DIY. Personally I pay a professional to change coolant and brake fluid - as the other guys have said, it's not that expensive and it only happens every few years.
Question is, how many years is it since it last happened to your car?
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Doing the brake fluid is very easy if you are a garage with a four post lift, and can walk around under the car, but squirming around behind each wheel, and undoing a small rusty nipple you can't see and getting fluid out without letting air in is a pain in the ass-master.
If it's an old car, best to buy 4 new nipples as someone else says, you only need one to slip in the spanner and the job will be awful.
I find the Easy Bleed kits where you get pipes to put on the nipple with a one way ball-valve in one end are cheap (from Halfords et al) and a great help.
Buy two bottles of fluid and you'll only need one, buy one and you'll need two.
I usually suck out the old fluid from the reservoir before bleeding as this is the most degraded of the whole system, also, when pouring the new fluid in, be careful not to entrain tiny air bubble into it, as these will sit in suspension and be drawn down into the system.
Practice pouring into a clean plastic jug first if in doubt, as it is important, pour evenly, slowly and keep the level high so the fluid is not falling so far that it bubbles.
Good luck!
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Oil and water are easy, as others have said. If you decide to do the brakes yourself, taking all precautions not to snap the bleed nipples is vital. Yes, having new ones ready makes good sense, but it won't solve a broken one.
Clean away all dirt and rust from round the nipples.
Run brake fluid round the threads well in advance - it is an excellent penetrant.
Tap the nipples lengthways sharply (NOT sideways)with a small hammer.
Find a ring spanner that is a really good solid fit. Force on one the next size down if necessary.
Apply very gentle force, more fluid, tap again.
When you have movement, work backwards and forwards until you feel it is free - not too much or you risk letting air in.
Then follow the recommendations for bleeding the old fluid.
Remember that replacing a nipple always risks letting in air. You need to do it quickly with the system slightly, pressurised, in a dribble of fluid.
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didnt think you had to take off the front wheels on a 306 just full lock on each side allows you to see the nipple esp if you got factory fitted small wheels on,use a one man brake bleeding kit(well easy to use).coolant is easy as well theres a little runaway vavle on the bottom of the rad on the right as you look down at it,and oil is well easy nut on sump ,why get ripped off at a garage if its this easy,a very high percentage of garages use crap oil,brake fluid,and coolant.........esp in the south east/london area, i know i used to be a rep for a petroleum company and visited many ,john
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Oil and filter is easy, but some garages will do this for £20. I paid £20 for coolant change because it's not worth the hassle. I wouldn't expect brake fluid changing to cost much more than this either.
When was the cam belt last changed ?
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Excellent - that's what I wanted to know. I know that if I buy oil and filter for 15-16 quid I'm wasting time because I can get it done for 17. I wasn't sure how much the coolant change would be, but I'd say it would be worth 20 quid by the time I'd bought the coolant.
The cambelt was done at 145k last October. Why?
Thanks!
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I think the cambelt is the most expensive scheduled maintenance job.
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As pieNmash says, when you go to a garage they will usually put in the cheapest oil/filter/coolant. If you're a bean counter, yeah get it done by the cheapest garage. If you want a job done proper, with known brand parts/fluids, best do it yourself
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OK, so I put fully synth oil in, with an original filter.
but expensive coolant? Shouldn't I be using Halfords own?
Likewise, brake fluid? What do you suggest.
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heres a tip for coolant for older motors use thinner cheapie coolant like you would find at pound shops etc,for a nice motor that your planning on running coz you love it so then use halfords or a nice thick viscosity one,for brake fluid i been using 5.1 dot in my pug 405 gldt 93 model it performs better,halfords do a cheapie brake fluid which is good,buy the 1 liter size coz its got a good price at the mo and if ya bleeding the brakes ,you might need it,if you want orig service products search for neats automotive in west drayton-they do great prices for pug/cit parts and oils,fluids
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but expensive coolant? Shouldn't I be using Halfords own? What do you suggest.
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I would suggest Halfords expensive coolant. It is in a different coloured bottle. I think it is the 5/10 year stuff.
If you are doing it yourself then leave the cheap stuff on the shelf. Saving a few quid - is it worth it?
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