I'm not that trusting. Coolant level has dropped when a VW radiator corroded through, I also check washers, engine oil level and brake fluid regularly.And remove leaves etc blocking vents and radiators. No coolant hoses are visible in my Skoda engine bay, so I miss that udder like squeezing of my old A series pipework.

Hello old friend.

There's still plenty to keep an eye on under that bonnet, hiding the workings with pretty plastic covers doesn't make them any less likely to fail with the passage of time. Even more important now as many new cars don't have a temperature gauge any more and an oil pressure gauge is almost unheard of, not as modern driver would have the foggiest idea what to look for.

The really important place to check for rubber degradation though is underneath, yes that place modern motorist doesn't think exists, even notorious maintenance enthusiasts.;) have gone over to the dark side and bought themselves Pela pumps to suck oil out of the blessed dispstick, wher they'd have donned overalls jcked the old girl up and had a perusal whilst said oil was draining.

So few if any have a good poke nose underneath, they never see of feel the brittleness of the drive shaft boots, they don't bend the flexible brake pipes and check for perishing, they don't notice the cracked bottom ball joint cover either, living under this manufacturer created illusion that everything modern is so wonderful.

Mind you to be able to have a nose underneath would mean hosing off the crud and salt of all previous winters first, ignorance is bliss..;)

A nice story bintang write a book about it be a bestseller people from the past who want to see a engine.Iam curious like to talk to mechanics or engineers.Used to do bits and pieces to the old beetles i had,putting grease in the front axle.

That reminds me of reading a forum over on the other side of the pond recently. A car owner was going to great trouble to assess the quality of his engine oil as the miles mounted. A very professional attempt over around 10,000 miles.

Of course that`s considered by some in the US to be an incredible mileage between oil changes. It was the best, Mobil 1 too.

He sent samples off every so often and there were charts of wear metals and so on. Then I noticed his top up schedule. Six `quarts` (whatever they are;-) had been added in total...

There was no comment on that and everyone seemed to regard it as normal.

You had this mental image of `consumption` of gas and oil - a relatively new US motor built to 1940`s engine clearances.

Frustrating really - the tech interest i had in the oil holding it`s quality - negated by this constant flood of new oil being poured in the top. I was left with the thought that, on the `king Arthur`s axe` principle - that the oil would actually last forever with just filter changes - but again no one had twigged that.

Well.. I know not really.. Wouldn`t want the odd `perpetual` sump molecule, turning to sludge ;-)

Edited by CL Grease on 09/09/2010 at 16:32