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has 158k miles on it, and its a 1996.
i was expecting typical maintenance so i got a list of items to repair, one at a time...
which one would you get done first?
-new spark plugs and wires
-differentials need new grease and gaskets... NOT LEAKING
-transmission flush and filter replacement...
-power steering fluid and flush
-transfer case new grease and gasket - for the 4WD
Plugs and wires are so easy you can do that yourself.
I'd worry least about sparks plugs and wires [esp wires] (if anything does go wrong it won't break stuff (might land you somewhere not willing to run anymore at worst)).
Hydrolic fluids (like power steering): not that much can go wrong with it (loosing power steering may be dangerous somewhat, but still it should not break expensive parts.)
Grease tends to not deteriorate all that fast, you can see it normally from the maintenance guidance: it'll have to happen not that often, so going a bit more overdue on them is more acceptable than on lubricating fluids that are filtered.
If it's an automatic gear box: do that one if it's overdue, they are tricky and breaking one is quite costly to get repaired.
Gaskets are usual replaced as a precaution against future leaks, normally they stay good as long as you don't open it.
Since it's 4WD, a lot depends on how heavy it was used (just road use or out there in the middle of nowhere working hard) makes a tremendous difference on wear and tear (and how bad it is to be late in replacing greases and oils.
1. Buy manual.
2. Remove wheels, check brakes, these are the most overlooked parts in a used car. Even if they said they were done - check them, verify you have at least 1/4 - 3/8" life on the shoes/pads. All you have to do is jack it, remove the wheels, and LOOK.
3. new spark plugs and wires, rotor cap, rotor, and any replaceable ignition parts. A tune up is **the** most important thing you can do for a car; it extends engine life, saves you on gas. Wires can lose conductivity and dull the spark, costing you mileage, if they've never been replaced go for it, but use OEM wires, not after market ones. The difference in price will be tempting, but you'll by three sets of aftermarkets in the time span of one set of OEM's, and it will cost you probably twice as much.
4. Change engine oil and filter.
5. Flush radiator, replace with correct proportion of antifreeze/water (if it even allows water.)
6. -power steering fluid and flush - I have to ask why you feel you need to flush it? This is a bit of overkill; just refer to the manual on checking the fluid and top it off.
7. -differentials need new grease and gaskets... NOT LEAKING - if it's not leaking, why do you need gaskets? The differentials rarely need grease; you're probably talking about the U-joints here. Get a grease gun and get under there, shoot some grease in the zerks and call it a day. If you want to drain the diff, it probably takes 80-150 weight hypoid gear oil, but this is one area you want to CHECK THE MANUAL before adding oil.
8. -transfer case new grease and gasket - for the 4WD Same deal, is it leaking? Same deal with the case itself. Drain it, hypoid gear oil per the manual.
Most 4WD u-joints will likely have what are called CV joints (Constant Velocity Joints) instead of U-joints. You can tell if there's a black rubber boot on both axles, by the TX and out by the wheel. This is a REALLY messy job requiring removal of the CV's and manually cleaning them and forcing grease into the CV, then re-packing it once it's back in the boot. The manual will tell you how to do it, I can do it myself but it's not a job I relish - might want to leave it to the mechanic.
9 - transmission flush and filter replacement... Be sure it's time for this as this is one you really want an automatic transmission shop to do (presumably auto, manuals don't have screens.) It requires dropping the tranny pan and draining it, cleaning up and replacing the pan gasket. Also extremely messy, and is the only job I *won't* do. Irony of it is, last time I had someone do it, they dumped tranny fluid all over my freshly painted valve covers, and the thing smoked all the way home.
I came back to the shop. Rocknbil seldom gets mad, hoo boy I was about to kill. :-)
If you're a DYI (I am) you can do all this yourself, and mostly in the order you specified. Except,
1. Buy manual.
Got the Chilton Manual
2. Remove wheels, check brakes, these are the most overlooked parts in a used car. Even if they said they were done - check them, verify you have at least 1/4 - 3/8" life on the shoes/pads. All you have to do is jack it, remove the wheels, and LOOK.
Brakes already looked at and adjusted. Only needed the rotors rotated.. pads are good.
3. new spark plugs and wires, rotor cap, rotor, and any replaceable ignition parts. A tune up is **the** most important thing you can do for a car; it extends engine life, saves you on gas. Wires can lose conductivity and dull the spark, costing you mileage, if they've never been replaced go for it, but use OEM wires, not after market ones. The difference in price will be tempting, but you'll by three sets of aftermarkets in the time span of one set of OEM's, and it will cost you probably twice as much.
yes, taking care of this sunday with my buddy. called Napa parts and they have plugs and wires....need to find the distributor(rotot) cap though.
4. Change engine oil and filter.
im only 800 miles deep into a fresh oil change.
5. Flush radiator, replace with correct proportion of antifreeze/water (if it even allows water.)
Previous owner just replace the radiator, and looks brand freaking new... i will check the fluid though now that you mention it.
6. -power steering fluid and flush - I have to ask why you feel you need to flush it? This is a bit of overkill; just refer to the manual on checking the fluid and top it off.
Mechanic said flush... maybe to get the old fluid out of the line? If i can manually remove most of it myself, and fill'er back up, is that not sufficient?
7. -differentials need new grease and gaskets... NOT LEAKING - if it's not leaking, why do you need gaskets? The differentials rarely need grease; you're probably talking about the U-joints here. Get a grease gun and get under there, shoot some grease in the zerks and call it a day. If you want to drain the diff, it probably takes 80-150 weight hypoid gear oil, but this is one area you want to CHECK THE MANUAL before adding oil.
i am referring to the differentials. they said its time to re-pack and replace the seals... although like i said, i see not oil or grease leaking from both front and back diff's
8. -transfer case new grease and gasket - for the 4WD Same deal, is it leaking? Same deal with the case itself. Drain it, hypoid gear oil per the manual.Most 4WD u-joints will likely have what are called CV joints (Constant Velocity Joints) instead of U-joints. You can tell if there's a black rubber boot on both axles, by the TX and out by the wheel. This is a REALLY messy job requiring removal of the CV's and manually cleaning them and forcing grease into the CV, then re-packing it once it's back in the boot. The manual will tell you how to do it, I can do it myself but it's not a job I relish - might want to leave it to the mechanic.
CV boots and u-joints (i call em ball joints) look good... the other vehichle i looked prior to this, were blown out and i know what that looks like... ugly.
i dont know much about the transfer case, so i will look deeper into that.
9 - transmission flush and filter replacement... Be sure it's time for this as this is one you really want an automatic transmission shop to do (presumably auto, manuals don't have screens.) It requires dropping the tranny pan and draining it, cleaning up and replacing the pan gasket. Also extremely messy, and is the only job I *won't* do. Irony of it is, last time I had someone do it, they dumped tranny fluid all over my freshly painted valve covers, and the thing smoked all the way home.
yes, its auto. they are a good shop, and would trust them to do a flush and screen replacement. what i tend to feel is during normal driving, high rev of the RPM's, then a slight jerk shifting from 1st to 2nd...
Got the Chilton Manual
1. Make sure car is turned off and keys removed from ignition.
2. Raise and secure hood.
- Push on lever in front-right part of grill.
- Lift the hood with your right hand and hold hood up.
- Lift hood rod up and insert end in hole on bottom side of hood. See diagram.
3. Disconnect positive lead from battery.
- Use a 3/8" box-end wrench to loosen clamp.
- Carefully pull up on the clamp, taking care to apply even pressure as you do so.
4. Disconnect negative lead from battery.
- Use a 3/8" box-end wrench to loosen clamp.
- Carefully pull up on the clamp, taking care to apply even pressure as you do so.
5. Remove fan belt.
- details on removing fan belt.
<several other steps with insane detail>
10. Remove engine.
11. Loosen bolts on ...
Only needed the rotors rotated
called Napa parts and they have plugs and wires
i am referring to the differentials. they said its time to re-pack and replace the seals
CV boots and u-joints (i call em ball joints)
Remove engine.
thought the transmission could use service, first...
$350!
pull the pan, drain, replace filter, run 24 quarts of conditioner through it, add some "special sauce inhibitor", replace the gasket, and refill.
so i thought i would call a few other transmission ONLY shops...
each one began with "DO NOT flush the transmission" its only going to cuase more problems. $125 for their services...
pull pan, dain, refil, new gasket, new filter. NO flush, no conditioner, no special inhibitor sauce...
im doing the spark plugs myself this weekend.
except this is not plugs wires, distibutor and rotor... its plugs and coils?
so i got some double platinum NGK plugs, and will pick up some OEM wires this weekend...
i hear that coil packs are made of porcelin and to be careful when removing them, becuase if the bust, im going to be in the hole $50...
i call my car "her".. havent found a good name yet...
It's generally not necessary to replace the coil packs nowadays. And given the cost it's not really a scheduled maintenance kind of thing...
Plugs, wires, good stuff, easy to do. Definitely replace the tranny fluid, I'd prefer you use a tranny shop since they know trannies better than anyone. I bought a used car one time and it was in excellent shape but had more miles than yours and was on the original tranny fluid. Man that stuff was black and smelled burnt. The first thing I did was get the tranny fluid flushed. It was much nicer to look at after that even though it didn't fix the tranny slipping issue.
Man that stuff was black and smelled burnt.....even though it didn't fix the tranny slipping issue.
Bands are probably toasted. :-( I simply loath auto trannies, another "black box" that always brings be unresolvable grief. Manual only for me.
Get a code reader and see if it shows any cylinder misfires.
[blackstone-labs.com...]
After you get the results, then you'll have an idea of how much time and money to spend on your investment. Good luck. Do follow the sampling directions carefully.
[blackstone-labs.com...]
After the plugs, cap, rotor, wires, right? As these could potentially cause this as well?
That's one way of doing it. But codes can be read at any time. Write 'em down before you erase them. If you show a misfire in cylinder 1, clear the code and switch cylinder 1 and cylinder X coil packs. If you show a misfire in cylinder X only, it's probably a bad coil pack. If it still shows in cylinder 1 only, then it should be something cheaper than a coil pack.
You can pick up a creader for under $50 online. Really comes in handy when you get a "check engine/service engine soon" light. One of the standard tools you should have in your kit.
[edit]Without looking too hard I found a creader IV shipped for about $52[/edit]
The difference is amazing.
Realized i need to get all new shocks now.
i shouldnt have to mess with the shock mounts or anything like that?
I 2nd the timing chain replaced with 150k in miles it is time before it jumps timing.
Have checked or replace the raditor hoses and engine belt.
Shocks can be really hard to replace so be careful here as you need a special tool to compress the springs. I have replaced shocks one time and ran into the spring compression issue did it but it wasn't easy and feel I won't do it again unless I buy the tool to compress the springs.
