Car maintenance

[Uni]

You will most likely find they replaced the disc pads at 30.000kms as well, generally the reason they skim the discs as well is to ensure the new pads seat and do not squeal, this is simply been proactive by the dealer and they are not trying to cheat you.

 

No doubt this was done by Nissan and as the manufacturers representative they have an obligation to ensure the job is done to manufacturers specs, which will include skimming at a pad change, all the major motor-plans cover brake disc skimming at a pad change for this very reason. 

 

One can argue its not necessary, but thats not the point here, a manufacturer's agent is obliged to stick to manufacturers standards,... of course you can refuse it and they wont do it, but then they probably wont warrant the job either.

Thanks Grumps , that makes sense. If they explained it like that , I'd be less sceptical and not feeling I should have been bought dinner first , and it wasn't covered in the service plan, I had to pay.

[urbanroyal]

Oh and Midas. .Lucas ...Bosch. .and Battery Center batteries....all the same....supplied by First National Battery....just different stickers..as they leave the store. ...I know I worked there. ..????????????

[Stretch]

Oh and Midas. .Lucas ...Bosch. .and Battery Center batteries....all the same....supplied by First National Battery....just different stickers..as they leave the store. ...I know I worked there. ..????????????

Really?... No difference at all?

[kosmonooit]

Apparently one thing that significantly shortens a batteries lifespan is totally flattening it, like lights or radio left on over night, something like 10-15% life erased per flattened battery.

 

 

Only on a regular basis, the deeper the discharge, the much shorter the expected life, as can be seen on many a battery spec sheet, something like a discharge to 40% regularly halves the battery life.

 

Thing is the cranking amps are quite a big draw, especially with a diesel engine, that's quite a big discharge, so that's a tick off the life span every time you start.

 

Li Ion and Super Caps are the way forward, but the motor industry are not about to cut the battery after market business since its recurring income.

 

Brake Pads: treat any advice from a dealer with disdain!  Get them checked at SuperQuick or something, they are much more honest about that.

[Pure Savage]

Sorry, that should be more than enough to keep a good quality correctly speced battery fully charged, its not necessary to take a car on a long drive to charge the battery anymore, this is an old fallacy from the days when cars had generators and not alternators.

 

A fully functional and charged battery of the correct spec, and a correctly functioning alternator will keep a battery fully charged by just idling it for 10 minutes in the morning, if the car struggles to start in the morning there is a fault, by all means go on a trip to Knysna, its beautiful and it will be good for your soul, but it wont be necessary for the battery. 

 

That was my original understanding. It is the correct spec, a 686 for the Honda Accord. The old one was too small, which is why I am a bit miffed. 

 

Problem is I took it back to the people I bought the battery from, so its in their interest as less hasstle to tell me its ok and send me off for three months till the warranty is finished. I will go Bosch or Willard next time its up for replacement.

 

I have a Sabat in my newer Accord, that also is dead on occasion. :/ The 686 is not a massive battery, 1 minute with the car off and those halogen lights left on, dead.

[Pure Savage]

Oh and Midas. .Lucas ...Bosch. .and Battery Center batteries....all the same....supplied by First National Battery....just different stickers..as they leave the store. ...I know I worked there. ..

 

My dad swore by Midas batteries and I just rolled my eyes and asked if he got his free air freshner   Now I feel  like a dope

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Thanks Grumps , that makes sense. If they explained it like that , I'd be less sceptical and not feeling I should have been bought dinner first , and it wasn't covered in the service plan, I had to pay.

Indeed, I suspected as much and I was going to mention the difference between a service plan and a full motor plan, but space was limited  , in a nutshell a service plan will only cover things like oil, filters, spark plugs and your disc brake pads, (ie) basic service items, as a disc rotor skim is not a basic service item, it is charged for, but none the less still part of the manufacturers specs.

 

On a motor-plan everything is covered including non service items like, disc skimming and dead batteries (as we are on the battery issue)

 

But, Yah, its okay, they were not trying to lever a few bucks more.  

Edited June 28, 2016 by GrumpyOldGuy

[GrumpyOldGuy]

That was my original understanding. It is the correct spec, a 686 for the Honda Accord. The old one was too small, which is why I am a bit miffed. 

 

Problem is I took it back to the people I bought the battery from, so its in their interest as less hasstle to tell me its ok and send me off for three months till the warranty is finished. I will go Bosch or Willard next time its up for replacement.

 

I have a Sabat in my newer Accord, that also is dead on occasion. :/ The 686 is not a massive battery, 1 minute with the car off and those halogen lights left on, dead.

As you should be, its vital to ensure the correct battery is fitted.

 

I dont know what battery you have but all the big name brands will conform to required specs, they cost a bit more but theres usually a good reason for it. 

[JJDT]

My perspective on brakes. At 30k km and you need a disc skim then I would say say that the OEM part is not up to scratch. I'm also very heavy on brakes with my Corsa bakkie (non standard) and got at least 40k km on a set of pads and had aftermarket cross drilled discs on the car and only replaced those discs after about 70k km.

Most modern cars are equipped with EBD (Electronic Brakeforce Distribution) making all four wheels share the load on braking unlike older cars which had a 60 - 40 split front and rear. This was the reason that the rear brakes pads lasted about 2 - 3 times longer than the front pads.

[urbanroyal]

Oh and Midas. .Lucas ...Bosch. .and Battery Center batteries....all the same....supplied by First National Battery....just different stickers..as they leave the store. ...I know I worked there. ..

Really?... No difference at all?

Jip...including the excide ones....as the orders would come in....blank batteries were taken and labelled accordingly. ..or the stickers were given to distributers that would supply the corner spare stores. ....

[Pure Savage]

My perspective on brakes. At 30k km and you need a disc skim then I would say say that the OEM part is not up to scratch. I'm also very heavy on brakes with my Corsa bakkie (non standard) and got at least 40k km on a set of pads and had aftermarket cross drilled discs on the car and only replaced those discs after about 70k km.

Most modern cars are equipped with EBD (Electronic Brakeforce Distribution) making all four wheels share the load on braking unlike older cars which had a 60 - 40 split front and rear. This was the reason that the rear brakes pads lasted about 2 - 3 times longer than the front pads.

 

Apparently the traction control on the Accord and other new cars use the brakes to control this so its constantly using the brakes and makes them wear faster. 

[Meerkat82]

thanks for this thread..

very interesting.

[JJDT]

@ Pure Savage - correct and the reason that brake pads wear faster. Had a discussion with a friend who also does his own car maintenance and he found that on some pads the compound material are "softer" thus wearing faster in order to preserve the discs. There are still some pads with a "harder" compound material that lasts longer but will shorten the lifetime of the discs.

 

I remember on my first car there were these Metaline disc pads early to mid 90's, which was close to steel, used those pads in order to reduce the brake dust on the mag wheels. These pads were a disc killer of note.

[Grebel]

As far as batteries go, my money has always gone to Varta, Deltec (Delco Freedom when they were available) and most recently I purchased an Energizer (The 2 year warranty version) and no issues so far. The Deltec gave my late father close to 8 years service, the Varta in my Isuzu Double Cab was still going strong when I sold the car and the battery was already 4 years old.

 

Prior to that we used SABAT. Have an Exide Silver something in my Mom's Corsa that's behaved itself so far.

 

Brakes.... I do my own DIY here. Alfa Disks with either ATE or Ferrodo pads. Nothing else. (Except for the OEM pads for my wife's Audi to resolve a clicking noise upon applying the brakes. Brakes worked fine but the noise bugged me. Changed from the Motorrite pads that were fitted when we got it to the OEM Audi pads and the noise went away...)

 

Tried cheap pads that promised no dust but they ended up eating discs. I don't buy "housebrand" items either no matter what story the salesman spins me. 

 

Generally speaking, you get what you pay for and I'm not saving a rand or two when it comes to brakes...

 

As an aside, if you do a lot of short trips or your vehicle stands for long periods of time, maybe look at investing in a CTek charger. They have build in "intelligence" that will monitor your battery and perform maintenance keeping it in good condition.

[Paul Ruinaard]

Thought I would create this thread for those with a little more knowledge about cars to help us that are not up to scratch with what is normal and not normal.

 

My first issue: My battery in my Honda accord was installed in September 2014 and its already dead as a door nail and not holding charge. Is this normal?

 

Also what my discovery tracker device I had tested is pulling ampage when the car is off, I have requested this to be removed. 

 

Please feel free to ask any car maintenance questions and stuff here.

Tracker killed 2 x batteries in my wife's POlo - they are monsters.... Would drain it in a weekend....

[Skylark]

I have had great experience with Ate brakes pads, they make lots of the oem pads apparently, there are other good makes but you definitely can't go wrong with Ate.

 

Trick I learnt was Supaquick will change brake pads for most cars for R150, that even beats DIY!

 

Get the Ate pads at midas/autozone etc, drive straight to supaquick(almost no wait or fuss), pay R150 and on your way.