Well it was uneventful..
But gave a slightly disappointing 56mpg..
It was blustery on arrival.. so could have been a headwind..
And I suspect the tyres were probably a bit soft having been sat a while
General What did you do with your Panda today?
- Thread starter aussiepanda
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General What did you do with your Panda today?
Well it was uneventful..
But gave a slightly disappointing 56mpg..
It was blustery on arrival.. so could have been a headwind..
And I suspect the tyres were probably a bit soft having been sat a while
Now Ive got access to the panda..
Can somebody walk me through accessing the OBD Port
I believe its by the UK drivers right knee..
But no panels fell off as I stared at them..
Thread pointing to its location:
https://www.fiatforum.com/panda-iii/423741-diagnostics-socket-location.html?p=4561744
Got time this weekend for a reference measurement of temperatures reported in ECU..
Warm vs cold..
Hoping to guide me through its poor running in a half.warm state
My MES says its an unrecognised ECU..
Possibly because car is newer than my MES program
Works actuators ok.. and gave temps last week.. half.warm
Today on a chilly Welsh hillside it was reporting @6'c..
Still ECU build unrecognised..
But I got a chime from the dash..
Scrolled through to 'consult handbook'
Potentially not good news.. time will tell
It is still showing no motor errors..
I have not attempted other systems
Just noticed the image says Driver in seat.. no belt latched.. could it be that simple..?
My punto needs belt latched before starting.. so I dont tend to be in this ignition on but no belt scenario
Warm vs cold..
Hoping to guide me through its poor running in a half.warm state
My MES says its an unrecognised ECU..
Possibly because car is newer than my MES program
Works actuators ok.. and gave temps last week.. half.warm
Today on a chilly Welsh hillside it was reporting @6'c..
Still ECU build unrecognised..
But I got a chime from the dash..
Scrolled through to 'consult handbook'
Potentially not good news.. time will tell
It is still showing no motor errors..
I have not attempted other systems
Just noticed the image says Driver in seat.. no belt latched.. could it be that simple..?
My punto needs belt latched before starting.. so I dont tend to be in this ignition on but no belt scenario
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I gave my 2012 1.2 panda with 56k miles a long overdue timing belt, tensioner, aux belt +tensioner, water pump, spark plugs, air filter, oil filter, oil and coolant. All went in with no issues, a nice little car to work on.
It started up without an issue and continues to purr like a kitten! Love this car
It started up without an issue and continues to purr like a kitten! Love this car
MOT time again.
Good news - passed with no advisories, again (6th time).
Luckily I checked the certificate whilst waiting for the car to be brought round, and noticed that there was a typo on the mileage showing a lower mileage than at last year's MOT ! That would have taken some explaining to a prospective buyer, but it has now been corrected.
I noticed that the HC reading is much higher this year. Would this be due to very low mileage over the past 8 months, with no motorway runs, or is it an indication that something is starting to fail ?
View attachment Panda MOT 7Dec20.pdf
Good news - passed with no advisories, again (6th time
).Luckily I checked the certificate whilst waiting for the car to be brought round, and noticed that there was a typo on the mileage showing a lower mileage than at last year's MOT ! That would have taken some explaining to a prospective buyer, but it has now been corrected.
I noticed that the HC reading is much higher this year. Would this be due to very low mileage over the past 8 months, with no motorway runs, or is it an indication that something is starting to fail ?
View attachment Panda MOT 7Dec20.pdf
MOT time again.
Good news - passed with no advisories, again (6th time
I noticed that the HC reading is much higher this year. Would this be due to very low mileage over the past 8 months, with no motorway runs, or is it an indication that something is starting to fail ?
View attachment 214342
Another typo..?
Did they actually warm.it up.. or just idling cold?
gar074
Prominent member
Yesterday rather than today, but..
We were snowed in all week, the snow having drifted off the fields and blocked our half-mile farm-track in several places. By yesterday it had shrunk to 10" deep, with up to 14" in a few bad spots (I measured it with a stick) so I decided to give it a go. What's the point of having a 4x4 if you don't test its capabilities when the opportunity arises?
I fully expected to get part-way down, only to grind to a halt and have to reverse out ignominiously, but the Wee Yellow Beastie just ploughed on. Unstoppable! Couldn't believe it (and neither could my neighbour, who got stuck in his Suzuki Vitara 4x4 earlier in the week, and had to be pulled out by a tractor).
The most amazing thing was how little drama there was. It just tracked arrow-straight, and never seemed flustered. After that first run, I went back & forth a few times to flatten the snow further (and not at all for the fun of it!!) and it coped brilliantly. At no point did it struggle for grip, even on the two 90° bends. :devil:
So, I now know that the Miichelin CrossClimates are great in snow, as well as being very good in other conditions. I already knew that the Panda 4x4 is an amazingly capable little beast, but it's nice to have it confirmed.
We were snowed in all week, the snow having drifted off the fields and blocked our half-mile farm-track in several places. By yesterday it had shrunk to 10" deep, with up to 14" in a few bad spots (I measured it with a stick) so I decided to give it a go. What's the point of having a 4x4 if you don't test its capabilities when the opportunity arises?
I fully expected to get part-way down, only to grind to a halt and have to reverse out ignominiously, but the Wee Yellow Beastie just ploughed on. Unstoppable! Couldn't believe it (and neither could my neighbour, who got stuck in his Suzuki Vitara 4x4 earlier in the week, and had to be pulled out by a tractor
). The most amazing thing was how little drama there was. It just tracked arrow-straight, and never seemed flustered. After that first run, I went back & forth a few times to flatten the snow further (and not at all for the fun of it!!) and it coped brilliantly. At no point did it struggle for grip, even on the two 90° bends. :devil:
So, I now know that the Miichelin CrossClimates are great in snow, as well as being very good in other conditions. I already knew that the Panda 4x4 is an amazingly capable little beast, but it's nice to have it confirmed.
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I had wheels off for the 1st time in our ownership
Just checking the front brakes.. as they are a bit loud following all the snow and damp.. but all good.. just scrubbing rust
The 2013 tyres need wearing out this year though..
Just checking the front brakes.. as they are a bit loud following all the snow and damp.. but all good.. just scrubbing rust
The 2013 tyres need wearing out this year though..
- Joined
- Nov 26, 2020
- Messages
- 418
- Points
- 191
Had mine a few mouths a 06 but only 21,000 up, the washers have
always been a bit sulky so took the jets out, never seen so much crap
looked like blue paper flushed out, looks like some prat as been putting
blue loo tabs in it, o well at least it will understand a good flush.
always been a bit sulky so took the jets out, never seen so much crap
looked like blue paper flushed out, looks like some prat as been putting
blue loo tabs in it, o well at least it will understand a good flush.
Last night's weather report said it was to be "ok" for the next couple of days and indeed the sun was shining when I got up so today's been a "bonding with Becky" day. After I took Mrs J her cup of tea and ginger snap - careful if you start that sort of thing lads, you'll never be allowed to stop! - I made myself a nice big bowl of porridge and wandered round in my garage assembling the stuff I was going to need.
Getting that pesky thermostat changed was the priority and I was intending to suck the coolant out of the header tank (on the 169 Panda it goes right down the side of the rad so you can almost empty the system if you've got a syphon of some sort, which I do, but I needed to make up a small diameter extension hose to get in with. After a rummage in my odds and sods boxes I came up with this:
I could have just pulled the bottom rad hose but I want to keep the coolant spotlessly clean for reuse as it was renewed less than 2 years ago and it's 5 year OAT coolant. Pumping it into a clean bucket makes this easy. So, ready to go then? Well yes, but where to start first. The thermostat is under here:
"Here" being the coil pack - my 1.2 60hp has the twin coil wasted spark system. The Haynes manual and other advice I've read says to remove the battery and battery tray and move the ECU out of the way. If you look at the picture above you can see the size of the cable bundles going to the ECU and the fact they look a little "chewed" too. My instinct is always to leave thick bundles of wire well alone. I've had too many problems over the years with breaks in loom wires like this when you move them.
When I did her cam belt a couple of years ago again the manual said to remove the battery, battery tray and ECU but when I looked at it I didn't think it made any sense. All that needs moved is the coil pack surely? So that's what I did. It has to be said the 10mm hex headed bolt underneath the pack is a bit of a swine to get at but other than that there's only one nut and another bolt, both easy enough to access, once you've unplugged the HT leads and the LT feeds to the coils (record the HT lead positions, If you forget which lead goes to which plug there's no distributor to make identification easy these days!) The LT plugs, which have retaining clips you can easily break if you're not careful, are quite different and with different length cables so you can't really mix them up. With the leads all disconnected it now looks like this:
You can get on with removing the 2 bolts and one nut which secures the pack to the end of the cam cover casting. remove the coil pack and everything is delightfully accessible. You can see how you've now got pretty unrestricted access to the thermostat housing assembly:
Whip out the two M10 hex headed bolts (I've been talking head sizes because I think people relate to that better. Of course a bolt with a M10 head - so it takes a M10 spanner to drive it - has a 6mm diameter threaded portion) and you can pull the housing off away from the head complete with hose still attached:
Leaving the port in the end of the head to clean up, degrease and install the new thermostat housing (the thermostat and it's housing come assembled and can't be split, unlike many where you just buy the thermostat itself and swap it into the old housing). I'm pretty certain the old thermostat is the original - so 11 years old, not bad eh? - because the hose clip is the original factory fit type and the general condition of the old thermostat would suggest it's been on there a long time. Another pointer may be that the gasket is a superior rubberized jobbie rather than the cheap, but to be expected, fibre one supplied with the new one. This rubberized gasket made removal of the old housing and cleaning up of the mating faces very easy. there was almost nothing to scrape off:
Here's the old and new gaskets for comparison with the new Thermostat in the background:
Interestingly, perhaps? If you look carefully at the top of the housing in the following picture you can see there is indeed a small air bleed port, complete with a small ball bearing which will block flow when the engine is running so it's obviously there to assist with air elimination when filling? I'm making a point of this because the hole is small so air transfering through it will take time - and all that that implies?
A wipe over with some degreaser spray and it was ready for the new one to be installed. Getting the hose off the old housing casting was the usual struggle to destroy the clip, but a concerted attack with a robust pair of sidecutters and a screwdriver soon had it begging for mercy and, surprisingly, for once I shed no blood!
There was a lot of bits of aluminium corrosion clinging to the inside of the old hose so I undid the jubilee type screw clip on the radiator end and took the top hose off altogether so cleaning out would be easier. There is a clip on the radiator end - obviously not factory fit I'd guess - which is of a design I've never before seen:
The screw part hinges up, so you can slacken or tighten it extra quick I guess? In practice it's a faff to use! Here's the ordinary one I used on the thermostat end to replace the one I destroyed which, like all the other makes I've seen before, doesn't flip up:
In fact it was a good thing I took the hose right off the vehicle because I noticed this:
The hose had been rubbing up against the bottom corner of the ECU mounting plate. I could see no reason for this. The hose is in otherwise good condition. The wear has not gone through the outer layer of rubber and it's still soft and supple and it had been correctly fitted with the "witness" marks both correctly aligned. The battery tray and ECU mountings are all correct and I can see nothing wrong with engine mounts etc. I decided to shorten the hose by about half an inch at the thermostat end before refitting it - I'll be keeping an eye on it though.
The new housing and mating face on the end of the head were wiped over with degreaser and a very light bead of my favourite sealant applied before assembling the whole thing with the new gasket - did someone say "belt and braces? - With the hose installed and clips tightened it was very pleasing to see a good clearance to the ECU housing:
If you've got a 169 it might be worth having a look at this?
Now just that bl***y bottom bolt on the coil pack to deal with! So with coil pack, HT and LT connections all remade she's "resting" till tomorrow for the silicon to "go off" before I refill the coolant and bleed her through.
In fact she's due an MOT in the next couple of weeks so as I had the air filter housing off to access the above job I replaced the plugs while I was "on a roll" The old plugs looked like this:
Which I actually though wasn't too bad seeing as how she's never been up to temp for the last year or so due to that thermostat! In fact those plugs have been in her since we bought her nearly 3 years ago and I am surprised how good they still look - mind you we're not doing many miles. I was also interested to see if the correct plugs were fitted (she should use the shorter "nose" option) and I was pleased to see the new plugs from S4p and the old ones were the same. Although the OE Fiat branded ones from S4p have Gold coloured terminals! Ooooow! Here's the old No1 and No2 with new ones just ready to go back in:
By the way, as those of you with these engines will know, the Fire engine plugs can be a little awkward to get a socket on and slightly more difficult to get new plugs started on their threads. If you're finding they give you problems I can very strongly recommend buying a magnetic spark plug socket. It has a magnetic ring inside the end which is strong enough to retain the spark plug while you are "fiddling! to get it threaded in but not so strong that the socket stays on the plug when you pull away on the extension bar.
So there you are, that's been my day, apart from checking out a broken fence post half way down the garden which gave way last night in the high winds we had. that's 4 or 5 now needing replaced when the warmer weather comes! No rest for the wicked! Now for a nice cup of tea - wonder what's for dinner? Oh, I'm told it's Cornish pasty, sweet corn and half a baked potato - Yum Yum!
Getting that pesky thermostat changed was the priority and I was intending to suck the coolant out of the header tank (on the 169 Panda it goes right down the side of the rad so you can almost empty the system if you've got a syphon of some sort, which I do, but I needed to make up a small diameter extension hose to get in with. After a rummage in my odds and sods boxes I came up with this:
I could have just pulled the bottom rad hose but I want to keep the coolant spotlessly clean for reuse as it was renewed less than 2 years ago and it's 5 year OAT coolant. Pumping it into a clean bucket makes this easy. So, ready to go then? Well yes, but where to start first. The thermostat is under here:
"Here" being the coil pack - my 1.2 60hp has the twin coil wasted spark system. The Haynes manual and other advice I've read says to remove the battery and battery tray and move the ECU out of the way. If you look at the picture above you can see the size of the cable bundles going to the ECU and the fact they look a little "chewed" too. My instinct is always to leave thick bundles of wire well alone. I've had too many problems over the years with breaks in loom wires like this when you move them.
When I did her cam belt a couple of years ago again the manual said to remove the battery, battery tray and ECU but when I looked at it I didn't think it made any sense. All that needs moved is the coil pack surely? So that's what I did. It has to be said the 10mm hex headed bolt underneath the pack is a bit of a swine to get at but other than that there's only one nut and another bolt, both easy enough to access, once you've unplugged the HT leads and the LT feeds to the coils (record the HT lead positions, If you forget which lead goes to which plug there's no distributor to make identification easy these days!) The LT plugs, which have retaining clips you can easily break if you're not careful, are quite different and with different length cables so you can't really mix them up. With the leads all disconnected it now looks like this:
You can get on with removing the 2 bolts and one nut which secures the pack to the end of the cam cover casting. remove the coil pack and everything is delightfully accessible. You can see how you've now got pretty unrestricted access to the thermostat housing assembly:
Whip out the two M10 hex headed bolts (I've been talking head sizes because I think people relate to that better. Of course a bolt with a M10 head - so it takes a M10 spanner to drive it - has a 6mm diameter threaded portion) and you can pull the housing off away from the head complete with hose still attached:
Leaving the port in the end of the head to clean up, degrease and install the new thermostat housing (the thermostat and it's housing come assembled and can't be split, unlike many where you just buy the thermostat itself and swap it into the old housing). I'm pretty certain the old thermostat is the original - so 11 years old, not bad eh? - because the hose clip is the original factory fit type and the general condition of the old thermostat would suggest it's been on there a long time. Another pointer may be that the gasket is a superior rubberized jobbie rather than the cheap, but to be expected, fibre one supplied with the new one. This rubberized gasket made removal of the old housing and cleaning up of the mating faces very easy. there was almost nothing to scrape off:
Here's the old and new gaskets for comparison with the new Thermostat in the background:
Interestingly, perhaps? If you look carefully at the top of the housing in the following picture you can see there is indeed a small air bleed port, complete with a small ball bearing which will block flow when the engine is running so it's obviously there to assist with air elimination when filling? I'm making a point of this because the hole is small so air transfering through it will take time - and all that that implies?
A wipe over with some degreaser spray and it was ready for the new one to be installed. Getting the hose off the old housing casting was the usual struggle to destroy the clip, but a concerted attack with a robust pair of sidecutters and a screwdriver soon had it begging for mercy and, surprisingly, for once I shed no blood!
There was a lot of bits of aluminium corrosion clinging to the inside of the old hose so I undid the jubilee type screw clip on the radiator end and took the top hose off altogether so cleaning out would be easier. There is a clip on the radiator end - obviously not factory fit I'd guess - which is of a design I've never before seen:
The screw part hinges up, so you can slacken or tighten it extra quick I guess? In practice it's a faff to use! Here's the ordinary one I used on the thermostat end to replace the one I destroyed which, like all the other makes I've seen before, doesn't flip up:
In fact it was a good thing I took the hose right off the vehicle because I noticed this:
The hose had been rubbing up against the bottom corner of the ECU mounting plate. I could see no reason for this. The hose is in otherwise good condition. The wear has not gone through the outer layer of rubber and it's still soft and supple and it had been correctly fitted with the "witness" marks both correctly aligned. The battery tray and ECU mountings are all correct and I can see nothing wrong with engine mounts etc. I decided to shorten the hose by about half an inch at the thermostat end before refitting it - I'll be keeping an eye on it though.
The new housing and mating face on the end of the head were wiped over with degreaser and a very light bead of my favourite sealant applied before assembling the whole thing with the new gasket - did someone say "belt and braces? - With the hose installed and clips tightened it was very pleasing to see a good clearance to the ECU housing:
If you've got a 169 it might be worth having a look at this?
Now just that bl***y bottom bolt on the coil pack to deal with! So with coil pack, HT and LT connections all remade she's "resting" till tomorrow for the silicon to "go off" before I refill the coolant and bleed her through.
In fact she's due an MOT in the next couple of weeks so as I had the air filter housing off to access the above job I replaced the plugs while I was "on a roll" The old plugs looked like this:
Which I actually though wasn't too bad seeing as how she's never been up to temp for the last year or so due to that thermostat! In fact those plugs have been in her since we bought her nearly 3 years ago and I am surprised how good they still look - mind you we're not doing many miles. I was also interested to see if the correct plugs were fitted (she should use the shorter "nose" option) and I was pleased to see the new plugs from S4p and the old ones were the same. Although the OE Fiat branded ones from S4p have Gold coloured terminals! Ooooow! Here's the old No1 and No2 with new ones just ready to go back in:
By the way, as those of you with these engines will know, the Fire engine plugs can be a little awkward to get a socket on and slightly more difficult to get new plugs started on their threads. If you're finding they give you problems I can very strongly recommend buying a magnetic spark plug socket. It has a magnetic ring inside the end which is strong enough to retain the spark plug while you are "fiddling! to get it threaded in but not so strong that the socket stays on the plug when you pull away on the extension bar.
So there you are, that's been my day, apart from checking out a broken fence post half way down the garden which gave way last night in the high winds we had. that's 4 or 5 now needing replaced when the warmer weather comes! No rest for the wicked! Now for a nice cup of tea - wonder what's for dinner? Oh, I'm told it's Cornish pasty, sweet corn and half a baked potato - Yum Yum!
That looks really nice. Was it difficult to do and where did you buy it? Ours is the original and looking really "ratty".Nothing too exciting but I replaced my standard black key shell with a chequered version, much easier to find in the drawer now
Sicilian
New member
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2021
- Messages
- 34
- Points
- 9
Really easy, the old case just unclips. This youtube clip explains all https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJ7jl3xUfYw&ab_channel=PetervonPanda
I bought it from a Fiat dealer on ebay https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Official-Fiat-Abarth-500-Panda-Grande-Punto-Evo-Chequered-flag-key-cover/370494902104?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908105057%26meid%3Ded7f52d9c9214a4eb83aaa2b412b04b9%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D15%26mehot%3Dpp%26sd%3D370494902104%26itm%3D370494902104%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2380057&_trksid=p2380057.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci%3Ae0b2b530-774c-11eb-a8cc-9a52cde2c663%7Cparentrq%3Ad88b99dc1770a16d144a8ef3ffffb118%7Ciid%3A1
I bought it from a Fiat dealer on ebay https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-Official-Fiat-Abarth-500-Panda-Grande-Punto-Evo-Chequered-flag-key-cover/370494902104?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908105057%26meid%3Ded7f52d9c9214a4eb83aaa2b412b04b9%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D15%26mehot%3Dpp%26sd%3D370494902104%26itm%3D370494902104%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2380057&_trksid=p2380057.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci%3Ae0b2b530-774c-11eb-a8cc-9a52cde2c663%7Cparentrq%3Ad88b99dc1770a16d144a8ef3ffffb118%7Ciid%3A1
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gar074
Prominent member
I've got a lovely yellow key cover that matches the car.
No mistaking my keys when they're in a bowl on the middle of the table
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I've got a lovely yellow key cover that matches the car.
No mistaking my keys when they're in a bowl on the middle of the table
That looks awesome! I always wanted one of these for my Panda keys when I had it. but being a genuine accessory, could only find them for rip off prices at the time
- Joined
- Mar 25, 2018
- Messages
- 230
- Points
- 129
Is it overkill to change spark plugs after 7500 miles ( or 4 yrs) am i just wasting money?
I do change oil every 1500 miles (6 mths)
I do change oil every 1500 miles (6 mths)
IMHO you are not wasting money. I change my oil twice a year irrespective of mileage but I never do over 6000 per annum, I only change the filter once a year. My plugs are Denso Iridium and so far are unworn. I also service my brakes annually and have changed the gearbox oil when I got the car and will again this year, also a timing belt kit this year so just under 4 years since the car was registered.
At first sight 7,500 miles on the plugs (I'm assuming they're not the old copper core type?) and 1,500 miles for an oil change does look at if you are "spoiling" the car somewhat, However.
With my ibiza I don't do large annual mileages, I'm just over 20,000 miles in just over 5 years so I'm going to get my local VAG indy to do my timing belt but because I do my own services I was asking them about the plugs. Their recommendation was that for higher annual mileage vehicles they would change them at around 60,000 miles but on a time basis around the 4 to 5 year mark is about right.
Our Panda is just a simple 1.2 FIRE which only does about 2,000 to 3,000 miles a year. She runs on standard "old type" plugs which I change every 2nd year but I think they would go longer.
Oil in both vehicles gets changed yearly so both a long way under the recommended change interval but, because of the low annual mileage the oil is going to be more subject to contamination due to extended cold running. Both run on a high quality fully synthetic oil.
So, do I think your plugs could go longer? Probably, but, although the tips will be looking pretty good there could be age related internal degradation taking place which might be making the HT side of things work harder? So, if you can easily afford it then why not. I've decided the Ibiza is getting it's first replacement set this year.
Oil change at 1,500 miles/6 months I do think is probably "molly coddling" her somewhat. However if she never really gets up to normal running temp or only attains it for a few minutes when you are using her It's not a bad idea as you need to run at "normal" temp for some time to ensure water condensation gets chased out through the breathers and any petrol which has got into the fuel because of rich mixture cold running is vapourized and chased out too. So, if it's affordable, why not do it.
We spent quite a bit of time in the States when my daughter's husband was employed over there and there are many older folks over there who have been used to a 6 month/5,000 mile oil service interval. 10/12,000 miles was viewed with great suspicion and I don't know what they would think of extended interval servicing. People think nothing of popping down to their local Fast Fit store just to get the oil and filter changed and, on average, their engines hold a lot more oil than our tiddlers over here.
With my ibiza I don't do large annual mileages, I'm just over 20,000 miles in just over 5 years so I'm going to get my local VAG indy to do my timing belt but because I do my own services I was asking them about the plugs. Their recommendation was that for higher annual mileage vehicles they would change them at around 60,000 miles but on a time basis around the 4 to 5 year mark is about right.
Our Panda is just a simple 1.2 FIRE which only does about 2,000 to 3,000 miles a year. She runs on standard "old type" plugs which I change every 2nd year but I think they would go longer.
Oil in both vehicles gets changed yearly so both a long way under the recommended change interval but, because of the low annual mileage the oil is going to be more subject to contamination due to extended cold running. Both run on a high quality fully synthetic oil.
So, do I think your plugs could go longer? Probably, but, although the tips will be looking pretty good there could be age related internal degradation taking place which might be making the HT side of things work harder? So, if you can easily afford it then why not. I've decided the Ibiza is getting it's first replacement set this year.
Oil change at 1,500 miles/6 months I do think is probably "molly coddling" her somewhat. However if she never really gets up to normal running temp or only attains it for a few minutes when you are using her It's not a bad idea as you need to run at "normal" temp for some time to ensure water condensation gets chased out through the breathers and any petrol which has got into the fuel because of rich mixture cold running is vapourized and chased out too. So, if it's affordable, why not do it.
We spent quite a bit of time in the States when my daughter's husband was employed over there and there are many older folks over there who have been used to a 6 month/5,000 mile oil service interval. 10/12,000 miles was viewed with great suspicion and I don't know what they would think of extended interval servicing. People think nothing of popping down to their local Fast Fit store just to get the oil and filter changed and, on average, their engines hold a lot more oil than our tiddlers over here.
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