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[pingouin]

After a search on this forum , I find no subject dealing manual for technical documentation. Is there a resource manual , workshop for maintenance and repairs downloadable PDF ? thank you in advance .
sorry for my very laborious school English! I am french and no I was not very studious in English class ! I regret

[mr singh]

unless you know someone who works for mercedes/smart then there isnt much for technical guides, workshop maintenance available for the forfour other than what you can find here.

as for servicing, the service schedule is A (single spanner),B (double spanner),A,B

A is oil, oil filter and pollen filter
B is oil, oil filter, pollen filter, air filter, spark plugs*, fuel filter**

* only petrol engines
** only diesel engines

*NOTE* petrol engines DO NOT have a fuel filter

valve clearances on all petrols (excluding brabus) every 60,000 miles (96,000 km)

on a brabus the cam belt requires changing at 60,000 miles (96,000 km) or 6 years

[pingouin]

thanks

[Brabs]

IMHO it is also wise to change brake fluid and coolant every two years.

 

[mr singh]

IMHO it is also wise to change brake fluid and coolant every two years.

 

coolant every 60,000 miles

brake fluid is recommended every 2/3 years BUT my uncles 2006/06 civic (yes, i know its not a forfour) has done almost 200,000 miles and its on its original brake fluid and coolant.

i replaced the brake fluid on my forfour about 4 years ago at about 75,000 miles, and iv done 55,000 miles since that, and it still looks clean. iv known owners with brake fluid which is black with dirt who have refused a brake fluid change when we have said it wants one. the coolant in my forfour however, i dont think has ever been changed in 130,600 miles

[Alex]

Everybody should at least have it tested if you decide to leave it for more than 2 years/40.000km!!! It absorbs moisture which can not only ruin your braking system, it can also boil under hard or repeated braking, leaving you with no brakes, and that's no fun.

Coolant as well, it not only cools down your engine, but it also keeps it from freezing and protects it from oxidizing. Left in too long, the coolant can brake down and cause much more expensive issues than a couple liters of antifreeze and some distilled water. You can test it, but after a certain number of years (6) i'd change it anyway. There's long life coolant now, G12++ they say it's for life, but even that can't be as new after 10 years...so what about the OEM type then...

I regard going over twice the recommended interval for any serviceable item as the cross-over point, in which you are no longer saving on servicing but setting the stage for a future failure.

[CrazyG]

I agree with Alex...
Most good garages have equipment that tests the brake
fluid for water content, but not all will use/check your fluid.
 
I would advise everyone to ask for the results of that test at the
next service of their car, and to have it changed if it is near the
limit.

Coolant....change that at least every 5-6 years maximum, for
the very reasons that Alex has explained so well.

[FireFlower]

- I still have original battery (9,5 years old)
- changed original brake fluids last year after 175000 km (I had 3% (yellow) moisture warning)
- No valve clearance check done at last 100.000 km
- No maintenance done between 100.000 - 150.000 km (I bought the car at 150k)

So basically: neglecting some service is not going to destroy your car

[mr singh]

So basically: neglecting some service is not going to destroy your car

i recall servicing a 2.7 TDV6 XF which had covered i think 110,000 and it had had 5 services from new and they wernt yearly either. still ran ok.

yes, i agree brake fluid should be changed every 2 years BUT most drivers out there dont throw the anchors out hard enough to have brake failure