Diesel utes and 4WDs, done where they are parked

Half the vehicles on a Perth driveway are diesel now, and most of them are utes and 4WDs doing work rather than shopping trips. Both of us work on diesels, so this is ordinary week-to-week work, not something we send elsewhere.

Being mobile suits a diesel ute better than it suits most cars, because the vehicle is usually parked somewhere it is being used: a yard, a site, a driveway with a trailer still hooked up. Moving it to a workshop is the expensive part of the job.

What I do on a diesel

• Logbook servicing to the manufacturer schedule, book stamped, warranty safe
• Oil and filters, including the fuel filter and, where one is fitted, draining the water separator
• Glow plugs and hard starting, which is the usual cause of a diesel that cranks a long time on a cold morning
• Batteries and starting problems, and diesels are harder on batteries than petrol engines because of the cranking current they need
• Fault code diagnostics with live data, not a code read and a guess
• Cooling, belts and leaks, brakes and suspension, same as any other vehicle
• Pre-purchase inspections on used diesel utes and 4WDs, which is where a diesel most needs one

Diesel servicing is not just a petrol service with different oil

Diesels put more soot and fuel dilution into the oil, so the oil specification and the interval genuinely matter, and a cheap generic oil is a false economy in an engine with a turbo hanging off it. Diesel fuel filters are a service item in their own right rather than an afterthought, and a lot of diesels here carry a water separator that wants draining.

Buying a used diesel ute in WA

This is the one job worth paying for before you hand over money, and in WA there is a specific reason. Plenty of diesel utes and 4WDs on the market here have come off mine sites or stations, which means hard hours, a lot of idling and dust, and sometimes an odometer that does not tell you much about the real wear.

A tidy-looking ute with a full tray liner and new tyres can still be a vehicle that has done the equivalent of three times its indicated life. Cold start behaviour, oil condition, turbo and intake condition, and what the fault codes say are where that shows up.

What needs a workshop, and I will tell you straight

Some diesel work genuinely does not belong in a driveway. Injector removal and testing, turbo replacement, diesel particulate filter work and anything needing the vehicle on a hoist for hours are all jobs where you want a proper bench and the right tooling.

Ring me and describe the symptom. If it is something I can do properly where the vehicle is, I will quote it. If it is not, I will say so rather than start it and leave you with a vehicle in pieces. Working out which of the two it is costs you nothing on the phone.

Common questions

Do you service diesel vans and light trucks?

Diesel utes, 4WDs and vans, yes. Heavy trucks are a different trade with different gear, so that is not us.

Can you service it on a work site?

Usually, as long as I can get to it and work safely, and the site lets me on. Plenty of jobs happen in a yard or a car park rather than at someone's house.

My diesel is blowing black smoke. Is that serious?

It means it is running rich or not burning fuel properly, and the causes range from a blocked air filter to something a lot more expensive. It is worth diagnosing rather than living with, because the cheap causes are genuinely cheap.

Do you do roadworthy inspections on diesels?

No. We do not do roadworthy or licence transfer inspections on anything, diesel or petrol. Those have to be done at a licensed inspection station.