Spring fluid change

How often do you change these fluids:

Oil?
Coolant?
Brakes?
Gearbox?

was just quoted $700 at a dealer (parts and labor) to do all of the above.

Oil "costs" about nothing for the filter and oil, does not really take much "time" (i.e. open and let drain).

(I have a 308QV, FYI).

 

At $700 I do it one time in the life of the car.

By the way, I can do the job for you for $625.... $650 max.



Okay, I do brake fluid once a year and coolant once every two years (on any car). Engine oil and gearbox.... I don't even want to comment on those...

 

Oil - when needed - Depends on driving conditions / miles / time .. it varies all the time. Probably 3-4 times a year.
Trans - Once a year, in the spring before driving season
Brake - Every 2 years, maybe.. I've never found value in flushing / changing brake fluid more than that, unless you've had a failure of some kind..
Coolant - As needed - No set schedule. I check it often.. if I had to put a time frame on it, I would say also once a year, maybe 1.5 years.

I think you're going to get a different response from every member.. this is really a car specific / anal retentive / non-anal retentive thing.. everyone is different, and has an opinion..

One thing everyone will agree on is that $700 for a change of those fluids is crazy-talk - run away!

 

Oil, once per year (2000 miles a year so...), $60
Gear oil, once every 3-4 years (10,000 miles or so), $50
Coolant, 4 gallons, once every 3 years or when I do the belt change, ($50)
Brakes, every 2 years, $10.

$175 for material.

$700 is a gouge, but, this is life in the fast Ferrari lane. I was once quoted $2000 for a valve job done on the heads (and I removed the heads!) That was so comical I just shook my head, gave the guy the finger, and walked. It is just a V8.

 

my 1986 300ZX has the same gear box oil it had with the car 22 years ago. Shifts great. Same with my auto trans fluid in my truck with 238,000 miles.

Steve with OMEGA motorsports here in FL is a great Ferrari mechanic. He rolled his eyes when i asked him if i should change the gear oil in the 308 ( done last time 4 years ago). Said they're to be sealed for life. Put his hand up and didn't wanna hear any of my reasoning for changing but said he'd do it if i insisted.

I'm gonna do it myself this summer along with bleeding brakes and coolant.

 

If you're running dino oil (i.e. no part synth) change every 2K miles and you can easily double or triple that if it's synthetic. And definitely as part of winterization if you do that, even if you put only 20 miles since the last change.

Coolant flush every couple years - I always use distilled water.

Brakes only if there are symptoms (not obviously related to the hardware).

 

I do all fluids yearly. Ask them to break that down for you, I bet they are charging you $10 per quart of oil. Take it to an independent, $700 bucks is way too high.

 

Dude, Drive it over to Ft. Wayne, I'll buy the beer and we'll have it done on a Saturday afternoon!!!!!!!!!!!! Would cost you ~150/175 in fluids/parts!
Not only that, I'll bet we could get some other Ferraris over this way as well and take a drive!!

JIM
($700 must buy some high grade Crack, cuz that's what the dealers are smokin'!!!!)

 

I'm doing my 5 year belt change now but have just done all of the above.
- oil change (once a year 2-4K miles) dino 20-50 at $20
- oil filter (once a year ) Baldwin B253 $11
- Antifreeze (every 2-3 years) Prestone 3 gals $25
- Distilled water (add to cooling system) 2 gals $3
- Gearbox ( every 2-3 years) Mobile 1 5 qts $28
- Brake fluid (every 5 years) Castrol 4 12oz cans $15
- air filter clean and reoil (every 2 years) K&N clean and reoil kit $12 (lasts for 5 or more years)
- fuel filter (every 5 years) $10

So the net here is around $100 for all of the fluids and maybe 5-10 hours labor. You can do the math on a yearly basis but this is pretty much my overall schedule. Also it helps to have a lift when you do all of this.
My 2 cents here

 

I changed all my fluids last fall. My local independent shop charged me $265 parts, labor and tax.

Oil - once per year (~1500 miles of driving, done right before car goes into winter storage)
Coolant - once per year (I'd do it every 2 years if I drove the car more.)
Gearbox - every 2 years
Brake fluid - every 2 years

 

I don't see anyone mention proper disposal of old fluids. I know a few guys over there with garage business that pay dearly to dispose of hazardous wastes, so what do you DIYers do there?

No mention of any overhead costs nor heavens forbid, profit margin.

Change oil (dino) annually, brake fluid 1-2 years especially with the crappy rear calipers on your car, coolant same. Gearbox, if it ain't leaking, 4 years.

B.

 

Some wholesale buyer's clubs (Sam's, Costco) that have tire shops accept oil. Otherwise usually any service station or lube outfit (Jiffy/Valvoline etc) will let you dump it into their tanks for nothing.

Couldn't speak to coolant though.

 

All automotive parts stores (Kragen, PepBoys) in Cal accept oil, brake fluid, and gear oil for recycling. I have not found anybody who take coolant back. Most of it is drained onto the driveway because of the way it sprays out anyway.

 

1972 Lotus:

Oil? - Every 3 months regardless of miles, even if it's winter and 100. (Manual says 1 year or 5000 miles. WTF?)

Coolant? I'm due. It's been 3 years. Before that it was changed often due to engine, radiator and hose work.

Brakes? I do a quickie bleed every 2 years; complete change 5 years. I do not track the car.

Gearbox? I did a flush when I had the car for 3 years (no idea how old it was) and it looked TERRIBLE! Every 2 years now.

This is what I do and may or may not work for your car and your usage.

Ken

 

While we are at fluids:

Coolant (I am due): What do you guys use? I was told during the PPI to use Chevrolet style coolant. Has anybody ever used the Toyota red coolant?

Transmission fluid (I am due): I did a search on the list and I didn't see synthetic Red Line MTL listed. It is synthetic with additives for the synchros, I used it in my previous vehicles and it worked great. Pros? Cons?

For the brakes and clutch, I used Prestone synthetic.

For the engine I used: UFI filter and Mobil 1 synth 15W 50W.

 

Check with your local landfill.. I know mine has huge drums setup so that you can pour used motor oil in one, anti-freeze in another etc.. I think they even have one for latex paint..

These items do not end up in the landfill either. They ship it to recyclers for the various fluids... It costs me nothing.. well nothing other than the taxes I already pay to the county that is..

Scott

'85 308 GTS
'71 DeTomaso Pantera

 

Hi guys, today I got an estimate on having all the fluids replaced on the car. He quoted me $960, any comments, ideas ? Thanks guys..

 

Granted I don't have a lot of Ferrari experience... but to put in perspective for ME, I
just had my shift linkage repaired, ALL fuel lines replaced (filler, pump, new hard lines
to injection distributor), emissions adjusted, clutch and brakes inspected, all new
clamps on existing hoses (cuz they were the wrong kind mostly), PLUS new synthetic
in the gear box, and new 20-50 in the engine, with filter. He drove it to emissions and
got it passed for me, and made other adjustments (door hinges, e-brake, etc.)
Total bill: $800 All done at a Ferrari dealer (well, Alfa of Tacoma, who is an authorized
Ferrari dealer - Carlo is the best!).

So in my limited experience, $960 is nuts (granted I didn't do brakes or coolant) for a fluid
change. They seem to think cuz you own a Ferrari that you are filthy rich. I'm not
poor, but I'm also not stupid... over time I plan to do all this myself.

Jedi

 

Biggest issue is if strip aluminum threads or if the have already been stripped. Worst to be stripped is the trans fill port.

 

I didn't even know I was suposed to change the spring fliud? How often does it need to be changed? Do I need to change both the wheel spring and valve spring fluid? Will not changing the valve spring fluid affect the timing belts?








Sorry

 

Thanks Jedi, I called Ferrari of Scottsdale to just get an idea as to what the dealer would charge. The quote I got from the dealer was $750, $200 less than the quote I got from the independant shop..Unbelievable. I was under the impression that the reason why we go to independant shops, is because they charge less. I decided to do it my self, taking an xtra day off.

 

I track my car so I change the oil and brake before and after the event and that is at least twice a year. Water about once every two years and trans fluid I changed when I installed a baffle so it's pretty much good for the life of the car now (100,947 miles on it today)

 

They better take it for free or risk a lot of that stuff being dumped in rain sewers...