Annual maintenance

[Supertramp]

Again not sure if this should have gone in technical

Who does annual/six monthly maintenance on their bus? My bus' previous owner (who bought it from VW) did things every six months for about 35 years and wrote everything down.
What do you do on your bus? I'm trying to become more mechanically minded so gathering a list of things that should be done monthly, six monthly, yearly etc.

I changed a snapped accelerator cable all by myself the other day (ok, my dad helped) :lol:

 

[67westy]

Every 3k (or once a year if I don't use it enough) I do a full service and oil change. In between times I adjust the brakes (drums) and check the oil and that's about it really.

 

[67westy]

I changed a snapped accelerator cable all by myself the other day (ok, my dad helped) :lol:

Sounds like how "I" work on my bus :lol: Parents have a use, I've learnt a lot from my dad and I'm doing more and more myself. Always nice to have some reassurance and someone to help with the heavy lifting

 

[Supertramp]

I changed a snapped accelerator cable all by myself the other day (ok, my dad helped) :lol:

Sounds like how "I" work on my bus :lol: Parents have a use, I've learnt a lot from my dad and I'm doing more and more myself. Always nice to have some reassurance and someone to help with the heavy lifting

He is very useful and because he gets carried away (secretly/not-so-secretly he wishes the bus was his) so he ends up doing most of the work
But I am trying to learn more about how to repair bits and bobs, everything is very new though, especially as it's effectively my first car.

 

[67westy]

I changed a snapped accelerator cable all by myself the other day (ok, my dad helped) :lol:

Sounds like how "I" work on my bus :lol: Parents have a use, I've learnt a lot from my dad and I'm doing more and more myself. Always nice to have some reassurance and someone to help with the heavy lifting

He is very useful and because he gets carried away (secretly/not-so-secretly he wishes the bus was his) so he ends up doing most of the work
But I am trying to learn more about how to repair bits and bobs, everything is very new though, especially as it's effectively my first car.

Awesome first car 8) Mine was a mini so my dad taught me a few bits and bobs with that. We did an engine change and swapped it from auto to manual so that was a good experience. In between times all my cars had been modern so a lot of it was forgotten!

 

[Irishpete]

Good question! I'll be following this thread with interest alas I'm in the same boat. I've paid people to service my bus up till now but after encourage,ent from people on here I'm going to try and take a bit of control myself.

I might need to sign up to a T2D boot amp first though!

 

[AndyO]

The bentley manual is a good source for things that should be maintained. I only recently greased the beam for example, there are a number of nipples..... I've never given my dissy any type of service, but I understand that a couple of drops of oil are advised. What about wax oil? Every year, mines overdue but will get onto that in the summer. Have you got some graphite for the door locks? tbh thats where I draw the line...

 

[sjc]

I haven't got as far as maintaining yet. Christ knows what I'll do when it only needs stuff doing once a year. Buy another project I guess

 

[70-CA-Panel]

Hi,

When my bus was running several years ago I did several things with each tune up about every 1,500miles, by not time.
oil change
valve adjustment
points adjustment
set timing
grease front beam
check hoses

when brakes felt like needing adjustment, adjust them and bleed system.

Make sure you get John Muirs' "How to Keep your VW Alive" it'll walk you through every step, brilliant book for anybody new to mechanics.

You can DO it!

All the best

Andy