I just started getting the "Service" light, in this case, it's "Service in 900 miles". In a sort of related area, I got, on a long drive, "Engine Oil Low" (no gas station in the world carries synthetic BTW) so I figured it was time for an oil change and scheduled it as well as putting a couple of quarts in.

I have a couple questions:
It's been a year since my last oil change and maybe 3,500 miles. I haven't been religious about checking the oil since the sump is so enormous, is going from full to "need oil" in a year and 3,500 expected?

Also, unrelated (or related, I guess) the car is now telling me there is less than 1,000 miles to "service". I can't figure out what that is. Is it just a mileage counter from last reset for the oil change? Is there some other "service" required? I checked the recommended Bentley service (my car now has 70,000 miles) and the only thing other than oil and cabin air filter is "renew front brake hydraulic lines" which I think I'll ignore for now. Also at 100,000 miles they want the timing belt "renewed", I assume that's an engine-out job? Does anyone actually do this?

I guess my question is, what is the "service in XXX" telling me?

 

The oil consumption feels ball park .
Or examined it for leaks ? If it’s not leaking relax and add more ....see the manual .
The 100 K is probably the poly belt ( they have nit got timing belts ) It’s a 10 y age thing in the U.K. .
Ideally the whole front end with the rad pack needs to come off , so the rads themselves can be assessed, they corrode , the pipes changed .New coolant with a rad flush if it’s deemed ok for another 10 y ?
The tensioner bearing replaced too .
While in there remove the alternator and replace the $2 o rings .High end VAG alternators are water cooled and the pipe o leak s / perish .They all start seeping by 10 , it’s just the degree of risk ...as a flood will kill it .

Oil has an additive package which depletes with time , not necessarily miles .Its a highly strung twin turbo engine so anything over 3000 miles it’s ready for renewal the oil .
Its a easy enough.

Your power steering pipes corrode and start to seep by now ...best changed out before they cease on .Theres 3 in all the inner wheel arch linings need removing .If you defer this they snap off and it’s a new rack .

So in summary
regularly check the fluids .
oil ....It drops a bit that’s normal ...top it off 0 W 40:W ideally mobile 1 or equivalent?
coolant ...should not change ...if it is you have a leak ...alternator or rad are prime suspects or in aged GTs
power steering fluid ....should not change ...if it does the pipes are seeping .


Your brake fluid ....you will know if there’s a leak straight away ...but the rubber hoses do perish and again it’s suggest change out before it happens .An inspection is worth doing you mat see external cracks or balloons or seeping around the fittings ?

In the U.K. I suggest set aside £2000 per year for the maintenance, the oil is a just a fraction .

Stuff you can skip are the cabin air filters ...not to be confused with actual engine air filters.

Hope this hepls .

 

That was great info, thanks. I have a split in my CV boot (I don't know what they call it on the Bentley) so I have to do that, I think I might do the power steering lines when I do that. I'm glad there isn't a timing belt.

I have no leaks, nothing under the car at all, which is good. No water and no oil or hydraulic drips, feels weird for a British car.

I do know about the alternator "o" rings, I am hesitant to start taking stuff apart now, I should have done them when the engine was out last year, I did O2 sensors, both turbo waste gate controllers and swapped out vacuum lines. I didn't even read about the leaky alternators until it was all back together.

Since I have been driving it regularly, it has been a stellar car. No problems, starts right up, goes like hell.

I didn't even know about the "S" mode on the gearshift, I just never noticed it until last week, isn't that funny? I don't have anywhere to drive it all that hard, so I have only played with it a couple of times. I'm mostly city driving and I don't even get the rear wing up.

 

[QUOTE

Stuff you can skip are the cabin air filters ...not to be confused with actual engine air filters.

Hope this hepls .[/QUOTE]

I figured these had never been replaced, so I did it, since I live in a city that creates a lot of grime. But I sorta regret not just doing it myself, they charged me an hour of labor for it and I suspect it's actually a 90 second job to switch them out. But the car has 70,000 miles on it, proabably a lot of the stuff that is "changeable" should be changed, I'm figuring the car is at the halfway of life point, I haven't seen a ton of these with 200,000+ miles on them, except for that one that was for sale in Las Vegas, some law firm has a Chauffeured four-door with crazy high miles on it, all between Los Angles and Las Vegas (a four-hour drive) with a rich law partner in the back. They offered it cheap and it went within hours of being posted on Ebay. I wanted a GT but it was cheap enough I thought hard about putting a bid in on it…and it was gone.

 

hi mate I think this is something that might be due on ours. Do you have the part numbers for the parts as recommended here? Also is it Bentley only parts? Cheers

 

Sorry I don’t have the part numbers at hand .
flying spares / Scuderia/ Jack Barclay are best to use .