Mazda BT 50 20,000 Km Service cost

Ditto !

Why pay for a tradesman, and get an apprentice.

As long as the private garage, ( mechanic ) can stamp the book.
ie.. liscenced,, and follow the schedule laid out in the manual, there are no issues.

And it heaps cheaper..

Cheers
Bucky

Thanks, but I have had a look at that, & still can't see where the $450.00 is.

Barry'
Servicing of these BT 50's and Rangers is expensive E.g Ford dealer at sothport wants $600 plus to do 20k service Says it's because the tappets need to be done (can beleive this cos mine are rattly at 19k) and also some possible Bsh.t about the front hubs needing to have the grease repacked. For gawds sakes, these are 2 WD's that don't go near water and mud. I am going to a mechanicic at Biggera waters for $200 but will have taken care of the oil change and filter and fuel filter (at my cost first).
Be careful with the oil that you put in or let any garage puts in . They may try and use some cheap 10-40 crap.
Castrol techno whom I trust has said that you should be using a 5-30 oil and their call would be "Castrol Edge Sport " Synthetic .
It's expensive and at 7.5 litres every 5000k will hurt but if you don't do it, you could have warranty complications later on.
To be on the safe side ring Mazda HQ and ask what the servicing requirements actually are.
Incidentally I am running Bridgstone 623's and I'm not sure to what degree these tires may be contributing to the problem but this ute must be the most evil minded scary handling vehicle i have ever had. Go over the Tomewin range road and if it is the slightest bit wet, then if you give it a touch too much brake or loud pedal, it will dump you in a ditch. Often have to fill a tractor tube with a couple of hundred litres of water to try and get it to behave.

"Ford dealer at sothport wants $600 plus to do 20k service Says it's because the tappets need to be done (can beleive this cos mine are rattly at 19k)"

If it goes to the dealer I would be putting a mark or some thing on the rocker cover to identify that it has been removed. I got my doubts it will be removed !!. Regards Steve M

Wigger
have a look at your tyre pressures, all the Thai stuff has very crude suspension setup to say the least.
the dealer then puts 45psi all round and off into the ditch you go.

Unladen, try 28psi front and 22psi rear and see if there is an improvement.

Turmed my RA rodeo from a dangerous pig into something semi civilised.

While we are on the servicing subject:
1 Is the fuel filter for the BT 50 the same as the Ranger. Should be!!
2 How much is the Mazda one compared to the Ford one .
As far as I can ascertain there is no generic filter available yet. Someone posted on this subject within the last six weeks.
3 Has anyone else had this bs about wheel bearing repacking.
4 When you change the oil only, you actaually drain the filter as well because it is on the horizontal, so don't bother unscrewing the filter to empty it.
5 There are aftermarket oil filters around. Will give you code if you require.

Sorry wigger cant help you in regards to if the filter is the same or price. Wouldnt be surprised if the ford one is cheaper but can you use it technically ?? (warranty) even though as you would think they would be the same. Wheel bearing repacki phfff ??? I'm surprised there not a sealed bearing these days more so on a 4 x 2. They would want to be changing the filter at least every 10k. I dont see the point in puting new oil in and having an old filter on there ??.Regards Steve M

Stephen , the oil is supposed to be changed every 5000k but the filter is only every 10. Lots of vehicles have a filter change at only every second oil change so yes, the new oil goes into a used filter. The filters are only $13 so i should change them every 5k kms too.
I wish I could get the "real oil" on why the oil needs to be changed every 5000 because the fuel I use is only 10ppm sulphur.
Seems like a big con.
I remember where I saw the info on the fuel filters and it was the
...............com site. The Mazda filter is a lot cheaper surprisingly than the Ford one.
This was meant to be a cheap to run work ute but I don't think so. Expensive servicing (at the dealer), expensive oil, very frequent oil changes, lots of ganga to keep you settled waiting for it to head off into the scrub.

Wigger,

I'm no expert (here we go...) but, it's not just about sulphur in the diesel. If you do a short run to the shops etc and the engine doesn't get hot, I believe you get all sorts of condensates diluting the oil.
The current Hilux has 10k intervals for oil, which I'm happy with, using good Penrite and not doing many short runs.

Totally agree with most of the comments re dealer servicing - too much of a lucky dip for me. Most services should be around the $200 mark including oil and filter. Big services $400-500 doing other fluids etc.

BTW, any comments/experiences re the Hilux fuel filter and its lack of recommended replacement? From memory, still only an inspection at 100k?? Is that because the greatest risk to injectors/pumps is from careless filter changing allowing contamination??

Regards, John.

Ok . Got it wrong . The Ford fuel filter which is probably identical to the Mazda one is $32.73.. the Mazda one is $115. (Southport dealers)