'Leave well alone' service system for Volvo
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FROM TODAY Volvo dealers and distributors in Britain will be offering System Service, an
inspection-based maintenance programme which has been introduced to Britain by Ailsa Trucks Ltd after long experience in
Scandinavia and Continental Europe.
The basis of the system is that, instead of a set routine of maintenance operations being carried out according to a fixed mileage interval, a vehicle is given a very • thorough inspection and only those items shown to need attention are in fact serviced. The only exception is lubrication, which is carried out at mileage intervals which differ according to the type of operation. (At the same time a visual check of brake lining wear is made).
Ailsa claims that System Service, monitored by the Volvo factory through seven years of Swedish operator experience, has shown cost savings of up to 60 per cent without deterioration in vehicle care. The conclusion is that mileage-based maintenance results in vehicles being wastefully overmaintained.
The complete System Service — in effect, a contract maintenance arrangement — will normally involve two 4½hour workshop inspections per year, of which 11/2 hours is simply the safety items which the DoE requires under 0 licensing. Since these items must be attended to much more frequently than twice a year (typically,. fortnightly or monthly inspections, according to the type of work which a vehicle does) these DoE items are identified with a blue overprint on the System Service inspection sheet and are cross-referred to the Tester's Manual by using the familiar
DoE inspection number for that item.
If operations are particularly demanding, or annual mileage is unusually high, a third annual full System Service inspection may be advisable.
Volvo experience in Sweden is that this inspection-based service applied to 700 Swedish vehicles has shown not only cost savings but also a reduction in unscheduled stoppages and breakdowns. It is intended that the new system shall be primarily a dealership service but the facilities and documents are available to fleet operators.
Record charts
Optional parts of the scheme, such as driver defect, trailer inspection and vehicle cost record charts will probably be of particular interest to ownerdrivers.
An unusual feature of System Service (which will rely heavily upon high standards of inspection) is that the documents include a detailed instruction book, guiding the inspector in making his assessments of whether or not a vehicle item needs attention, Of particular value is the fact that Volvo engineers have virtually resolved the longstanding problem of deciding what tolerances are acceptable, by including in the book figures for the tolerances on such things as hubs, axles, kingpins and spring shackles. For example, the instructions on examination point No, 71 (Tester's Manual 48, 49, 50) are as follows:
Check the spring shackles and the balance beam attachments for wear and security.
(1) (a) Check for wear and clearance on the spring shackles and bolts with the help of an iron bar.
Maximum permissible radial play (before replacement): bolthushing (Applies both to nothread arid threaded bolts.) Bolt diameter: 20-24mm (3/4 in-1 in): max. play 3 mm (1/4 in)
24 -30mm (1 in-11/4in): max. play 4mm (..52 in) 30-40mm (11A in-11/2in): max. Play 5mm ()'16 in)
Max. permissible lateral play for spring shackles (before replacement): approximately 6 mm OA in).
(h) Check the spring shackles and support for wear and cracks. (c) Check the play on the balance beam connection to the spring shackle.
As an example of the way in which maintenance costs are reduced, instead of fuel filters being automatically exchanged, provision is made for a gauge test and if the fuel line pressure meets the required limit the filter is left untouched.
All documents in the system are designed to be used with carbons, so that the operator and dealer can have identical copies of all inspections, repair dockets and truck records available for inspection on their promises.