Hi, 

this is a serious question. 
 

my ford is coming upto 4 year (36000) service although I’ve only done 9200 miles. I was looking at the service schedule and noted that it states brake check with WHEELS OFF. During one previous service and two convenience checks the technician measures the brakes using a gauge through the wheel spokes. Is this acceptable? Should I be insisting the wheels are removed? 
if not necessary that’s fine but thought I would ask the resident experts! 

1 minute ago, Andyr55 said:

Should I be insisting the wheels are removed? 

If you are willing to pay for an extra hours labour (about £120) then the garage will be happy to take the wheels off and inspect the brakes.

Personally I'd not worry, your car has only done 9200 miles

I wouldn't be too bothered about checking the brakes with wheels off.  They can be seen quite well through alloy wheels.  However my concern would be the wheels getting stuck to the hubs and preventing a quick wheel swap at the roadside if you ever got a blowout.  Obviously if you don't have a spare wheel or don't have the ability to change the wheel yourself then it doesn't matter.

The Wheels are supposed to come off at the 4th year service.

As Tom said Wheels can stick to Hubs, I once had a Capri Steel Wheel that was rusted onto the Half Shaft so badly that I had to damage it with a massive Three Legged Puller to get It off.

One other question what is the difference between main dealer two year and four year service apart from about £180!

im unable to locate schedules online to compare. £ 546 for 4 year service seems excessive unless I’m getting added value! 

1 minute ago, Andyr55 said:

One other question what is the difference between main dealer two year and four year service apart from about £180!

im unable to locate schedules online to compare. £ 546 for 4 year service seems excessive unless I’m getting added value! 

Try calling round other dealers. 
 

Im paying £186 for my 5 yr service. My 4 years was only about £250. 

Hi,

Regarding brake pad life, mine have done 44000 miles and are still ok (the pads fitted from factory). Rear seems to be worn much more than front.

So at your milleage, I would not even worry about it, unless there was a problem and calliers got stuck.

The wheels getting stuck though can be a nasty problem.

1 hour ago, Andyr55 said:

One other question what is the difference between main dealer two year and four year service apart from about £180!

im unable to locate schedules online to compare. £ 546 for 4 year service seems excessive unless I’m getting added value! 

If it’s like our Puma mhev, the 4 yr service includes new FEAD belt (mhev) and brake fluid change(2 yearly intervals)

Brake fluid change isn't included as standard.  That's an optional extra, although they may have taken the liberty of adding it.

4th year is wheels off (added labour), spark plug change, air filter change and generator belt as mentioned above.

2nd year is only oil & filter plus pollen filter.

Generator belt change at 4 years? I didn't get that for my late 2020 mhev model. Could it be different between UK and other countries?

I did get the brake fluid change (included in the high service price)

9 minutes ago, RaduF86 said:

Generator belt change at 4 years? I didn't get that for my late 2020 mhev model. Could it be different between UK and other countries?

I did get the brake fluid change (included in the high service price)

You're right, I've just checked and it is 'only' a mandatory recommendation at 4 years, not actually included in the 4th year service.  Other countries may be different though.

 Brake system - Every 2 years - Renew brake fluid (LTS 12 154 4) Notice: Vehicles with ABS system, and specially Vehicles with Electronic Brake Booster (EBB) always require FDRS to be used for brake fluid change/brake bleeding (LTS 29 099 1). Bleeding the system without FDRS will result in braking or EBB failures. See FordPTS Brake Section D&O and General procedures for more details.

 Engine cooling system - Every 10 years - Drain, flush and refill with purple Super Plus (LTS 24 122 4)

 Oil Pump Belt - Every 144 000 miles/10 years - Renew (LTS 21 716 5)

 Auxiliary drive belts - Every 72 000 miles/4 years - Renew (LTS 21 567 5)

 Front end auxiliary drive belt & water pump belt - Every 144 000 miles/10 years - Renew - FEAD Belt aligned to Water Pump Belt so perform combined service - more often under severe duty conditions (LTS 21 567 5)

Thanks for double checking that info.

Also, I highly recommend not skipping the brake fuild renewal (as the service also recommends), especially on cars which have the brake-by-wire system. It has many valves in the aluminium block, and those valves should be kept in good condition for the brake-by-wire to actually work as brake-by-wire.

On 10/10/2024 at 11:44 AM, Tizer said:

The Wheels are supposed to come off at the 4th year service.

As Tom said Wheels can stick to Hubs, I once had a Capri Steel Wheel that was rusted onto the Half Shaft so badly that I had to damage it with a massive Three Legged Puller to get It off.

Just out of interest, I had an old SAAB with alloy wheels.

When I came to take them off they were well and truely stuck on. Hammering kicking and other forceful methods were tried to no avail.

It was easily sorted, I loosened the wheel nuts then went for a drive around the block. Bingo, they were nice and loose on my return.

As they say don't try this a home!

On a complety different occasion, we were well away from help in 2 Discovery 4X4s when the tyre was cut open by a sharp protuding rock. The good Discovery was placed at right angle to the stuck wheel and a tow rope was fastened from the wheel to the tow hitch. A good tug or two did the business.

Health and safety? Pah.

ScaniaPBman.

 

 

 

2 hours ago, ScaniaPBman said:

It was easily sorted, I loosened the wheel nuts then went for a drive around the block

I tried that at the time as well and it didn't work for me.

I can't remember now if that car (Capri Mk2) had Nuts or Studs. Luckily my Puller was up to the job and the Screw part fitted into the Rear Half Shaft nicely, I still had to use a bit of Scaffolding Pole on the Breaker Bar for extra leverage though.

To add to the above posts. I went shopping early this morning and when I got out of my car I could hear a banging noise from the far corner of the car park. There was a car jacked up with the spare wheel on the ground and a RAC van next to it. The RAC Mechanic was knocking fluck out of the back of the wheel that had been jacked up with a mini Sledge Hammer.

The fact that the Mechanic had the mini Sledge Hammer in his van speaks volumes, stuck wheels still happen.

On 10/11/2024 at 7:15 AM, Andyr55 said:

One other question what is the difference between main dealer two year and four year service apart from about £180!

im unable to locate schedules online to compare. £ 546 for 4 year service seems excessive unless I’m getting added value! 

My 4 year service is also coming up and prices around ford dealers seem to be around the £500 mark.

Absurd even toyota or vw don't charge that much last i checked and they have much better service in my experience, you'd think this was a more premium brand charging for that. But it's ford!

51 minutes ago, MetalGear said:

My 4 year service is also coming up and prices around ford dealers seem to be around the £500 mark.

Absurd even toyota or vw don't charge that much last i checked and they have much better service in my experience, you'd think this was a more premium brand charging for that. But it's ford!

It’s not Ford setting the price but the franchised dealers. 

2 hours ago, MetalGear said:

My 4 year service is also coming up and prices around ford dealers seem to be around the £500 mark.

Absurd even toyota or vw don't charge that much last i checked and they have much better service in my experience, you'd think this was a more premium brand charging for that. But it's ford!

Yep, mine was about that, they did re-gas the air con and changed the brake fluid, I never used to change the brake fluid in previous cars, it does make a difference to the feel of the brake pedal.

5 hours ago, MetalGear said:

Absurd even toyota or vw don't charge that much last i checked and they have much better service in my experience, you'd think this was a more premium brand charging for that. But it's ford!

Problem is Fords attract badge tax to a different crowd.  They're not particularly well built or even that good to drive now (IMO) but people still buy them because they've always had one or their parents had one.  So Ford don't need to compete on pricing in the same way as Kia & Hyundai do for example.

As it happens, I do have a 4 year old VW.  Just checked service prices and it's an interesting comparison.  Main service is cheaper.  Diagnostic fee is cheaper.  Brake fluid is about the same.  But a grand for a dry cambelt and waterpump change is ridiculous!  Brake change seems absurd at VW as well, not sure how that compares to Ford.