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.