Car Care Tips?

For starters:

Always raise the hood before going through a car wash.

I've always treated oil changes as a serious matter - every 5000km and new filter every second change. A very inexpensive thing to do - especially if you do it yourself - and crucial for engine life according to the old fellas who taught me about cars.

Never owned a turbo (and never will) but don't you need to take care of them warming up and warming down?

quote:

Originally posted by Stephen B:
For starters:

Always raise the hood before going through a car wash.

Nothing reveals tiny leaks in a sunroof like a carwash - as I found out when I used the brakes for the first time in a Honda Accord after going through a carwash at a petrol station - and soapy, dirty water poured over me that had been forced into the roof space by the pressure.

I became less than serene at that moment...

In the early days of turbos (well early for me in the early 80s) it was reccomended that after a hard fast run you did not switch off the engine for about 20 seconds to allow the oil in the turbo to cool down a little - nowadays the advice does not appear

quote:

Originally posted by Derek Wright:
In the early days of turbos (well early for me in the early 80s) it was reccomended that after a hard fast run you did not switch off the engine for about 20 seconds to allow the oil in the turbo to cool down a little - nowadays the advice does not appear

after any run the engine should be left for a minute or so for the oil to cool down. Oil should be replaced every 5k miles to keep it fresh.

Get it wrong and it could cost you a small fortune.

Regards

PB

The low pressure turbos in modern Saabs don't really need the cooling period unless you have been thrashing it round a track for an hour, and it isn't really that sort of car. The theory is that if you switch off a red-hot turbo, the oil on the turbo shaft will cook and the resultant carbon do damage. Keeping the engine ticking over allows fresh oil to be pumped over the shaft until it cools. Cars with turbos need more frequent oil changes. (My last car was an Evo VIII and you have to learn fast about turbos with one of those)

The Autoglym hood pack is good enough for soft-top maintenance, but there are full on restoration kits available on the web if you need more remedial action. Don't use a car wash at all and Don't fold the hood wet (but I assume you have a manual).

The best polish system that I have found is ZainoZaino and to obtain itZaino uk Fiendishly expensive, but easy to apply and works very well on Saab paint and people in the street comment on the finish.

On MkIV VW Golf 1.8 turbo GTi there is an option in the oil service. The customer can choose between time based oil changes and oil condition changes. The latter requires the use of a more expensive 'variable sevice' oil, but it alleviates the need for the oil and filter change at intermediate services. We usually manage 19,000 or so between servicings.
Before anyone slams this idea, there are plenty of people on my Golf forum that use this with much higher mileage on their cars than me. We're on 80,000 miles with no problems. The guys with 'chipped' engines do change their oil every 5 or 6,000 miles as a precaution
As regards the cooling down period, yes this was important in the days of early Renault 5 turbos, not now. In any case, most drivers don't find themselves in a position where they can rag the engine til it's cooking nicely then just switch off. Even a motorway drive into a service area involves a minute of slowing down off boost.

Tony

Cheers all so far! I figured don't fold the hood when wet and I never use car washes as I don't agree with paying a fiver to scratch my car

Thanks for the turbo advice, similar to what I'd read, nice to know the LPTs should be a little more tolerant.

Rockingdoc - thanks for the tip re Zaino, still have a couple of bottles in the garage from Ecklers Corvette in the states.. should still be good to use I'd hope.. though getting a suitable day in the current climate should probe interesting

Paul

I've started using Zaino polish mixed with their new catalyst. This is great for the UK, because you don't need to wait for a warm day for the polish to dry before buffing. The catalyst means you just wipe it on and polish straight off. Can't hang around though because it sets like rock after a few hours. It's a bit like coating your car in very shiny Araldite, and it last for a good 9-12 months too.