Is changing fluids a mandatory maintenance procedure?

[spyghost]

Hi,

I was reading the casa pms sched/procedures. Napansin ko na merong dong drain and replace this fluid, and that fluid for this certain mileage.

Question ko e, is it really a requirement to change the fluids such as coolant, power steering, etc?

Ano benefit nito?

[v6dreamer]

Its not mandatory, its nescessary. Just like yourself, its not require to have a bath no matter how dirty you are but, its nescessary for the sake. So with your vehicle needs also a fresh fluid or coolant.

[Eismann]

It's mandatory to keep your car running in tip top shape.....at least every 80T km change transmission, differential, power steering, oils and brake fluid.

[mbeige]

Let's take oil as an example. Dino or mineral oil breaks down, synthetic oil does too but much less than mineral oil. When you have old oil in your car's engine, it cannot protect the internal parts as well as it should, like with fresh oil. An old oil filter will clog up eventually, so that obviously needs to be replaced. In a specific example of diesel oils, that have soot protection, the oil will degrade over time and will absorb the soot the engine produces. These particles blacken the oil, and act as microscopic abrasives, so it's like sandpaper in your engine. The longer you go without an oil change, the rougher the sand becomes, so to speak. And the protection capabilities also diminish rapidly.

The same goes with coolant, transmission fluid, power steering fluid, differential oil, ball joints (although for those you just replace the whole ball joint, but some cars had grease nipples back in the day, and had to be periodically lubricated as well), etc.

Think of it this way, would you like to drink rotten (insert liquid like milk, juice, etc)? I'm sure if your car could answer that for you it would have the exact same answer.

[Type 100]

Oil: Gets dirty; breaks down into sludge under engine heat.
Coolant: Gets dirty and less efficient.
Brake fluid: ABSORBS WATER = becomes less resistant to fade because it boils at a lower temperature as it absorbs more water.
Fuel: Not really a major concern, but sediment from fuel stations can come into your tank and clog fuel lines or injectors.

Driving around without regular flushing and replacement of the fluids mentioned above (apart from fuel) is an accident waiting to happen.

[mbeige]

Actually, stale fuel also must be drained first, diesel especially. If the car has been sitting for so long, for example, you'll also need to open up the cylinders to check for rust if one of the valves was open before it sat for that long. Of course this is slightly off already but what I'm saying is fuel isn't an exception to the rule

You're right on the ones you've mentioned. To add, if brake fluid absorbs water, the brake lines rust away, so do the calipers and get seized.

[mazingerZ]

Tanong na lang din ako, bakit kung diesel nangingitim ang oil, kung gasoline engine tama ba na ang used oil parang nagiging scarlet ang kulay? Why ?

[mbeige]

Diesels produce soot, which is absorbed by the oil, to prevent it from damaging the engine. That's what makes it turn black.

Gasoline engines do not produce soot, but the wear and tear makes it brownish after a while. Same principle, it wears the oil out. Hence the need to go through an oil change as part of the maintenance.

[[archie]]

i do know thats its necessary to do this... but i have a question, when do we change the brake tranny ps oil? is there a specific rule on this?

is it done every "x" amount of kms or years? or which ever comes first?

thanks...

[mbeige]

Some manufacturers have recommended intervals for which to change certain fluids, filters, etc. For example, in my Haynes manual (the owner's manual doesn't have it), my car's recommended oil change interval is every 5,000 miles in normal operating conditions, but in severe conditions (stop and go traffic, driving in lots of dirt, going off road, etc) it's cut down to half every 2,500 miles instead.

Some owners have adopted their own ways of maintenance. A good estimate would be to do these once a year at the very least. Of course, more frequent changes need to be done for more critical components like the engine oil, but some oils like synthetic ones or multi-grade can hold on much longer than regular dino/mineral oil, as I mentioned earlier.

However, the "yearly" basis is for regular/normal drivers who usually travel 15,000 miles a year. My experience from reading around here is that if it's recommended to change every xxxx miles, just change miles to kilometers, for Philippine settings. For example, oil changes need to be done every 3,000-5,000 miles depending on usage, so just do it for the same range - 3,000-5,000 - but in kilometers instead. If the annual mileage is 15,000 miles here in the US, it's 15,000 kilometers at most back there. Me, I travel 11-12k miles a year here, so that's roughly 11-12k km there, "converted". Maybe it's just my observation though, but that's the pattern I've noticed.