Vehicle Maintenance

[Jazzy]

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How much do you do to your vehicle to keep it up?

 

[Stravinsk]

I've routinely changed the oil and spark plugs on my vehicle for years now. Recently, the brakes needed replacing. New experience. Got through it mostly on my own but with a little help from a mechanic friend and neighbor.

 

[Nic]

I used to work on my vehicles as a teen. Then maybe 10 yrs ago, I had to resume the activity out of necessity. What did I do? Fuel pump inside a fuel tank and a front end job on a truck. Both of those went well and were first time activities. I did a fuel pump before, but that when they were external and fairly simple.
But a few other ideas for your list should be maintain your tire rotations and air pressure. Then another if you don't drive a lot or if you have a parasitic (electrical) drain is to place a battery maintainer on your battery to maximize performance and life of the battery. Always used distilled water in topping off your battery. Along this line keep your battery terminals secured, cleaned and covered with a protectant. Automotive grease or battery terminal spray works as a protectant.

Thanks for the thread.

 

[Lamb]

We take our vehicles in for the maintenance that is written in the guides and sometimes we're a little late on them but we try to keep up. I don't handle any of it myself except washing and waxing and the occasional lightbulb change.

 

[Josiah]

Mechanically - I follow the factory recommendations very carefully and have a TRUSTED independent "Mom and Pop" mechanic.

Physically - I wash my two cars pretty much weekly, inside and out. I use a spray wax after each washing and do a hard was detailing twice a year. I detail the leather when I do the wax job.



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[tango]

I take my car in for a service every 12 months or at the recommended mileage. I don't drive a lot so usually they are around the same time. I'd like to learn the mechanics of the thing but don't really have the space. Nowadays most of it seems to be computer controlled - it appeals to the hacker in me to figure out how everything is done but at the same time I don't want to be without a car if I get something wrong.

 

[Fritz Kobus]

I mainly change the earl. Most other stuff I take it in for. Biggest job I ever did on my own was replacing a clutch in my old 1984 F150 back in 1990. Just slid under, unbolted the transmission and let it down on my chest, then rolled it off to the side. Aluminum case, it was not heavy.

 

[Nic]

We take our vehicles in for the maintenance that is written in the guides and sometimes we're a little late on them but we try to keep up. I don't handle any of it myself except washing and waxing and the occasional lightbulb change.

I wash the car one or twice a year... lol

 

[Nic]

Mechanically - I follow the factory recommendations very carefully and have a TRUSTED independent "Mom and Pop" mechanic.

Physically - I wash my two cars pretty much weekly, inside and out. I use a spray wax after each washing and do a hard was detailing twice a year. I detail the leather when I do the wax job.



.

Yes independent shops can be great. I've reached out to a few entrepreneurial spirited young teens to do some detailing for us.

 

[Nic]

I mainly change the earl. Most other stuff I take it in for. Biggest job I ever did on my own was replacing a clutch in my old 1984 F150 back in 1990. Just slid under, unbolted the transmission and let it down on my chest, then rolled it off to the side. Aluminum case, it was not heavy.

Man, I did a clutch on Ford 350 Econoline van with my friend in a parking lot, in the rain and the temp stayed in the 40s. To top it off we had keys to get out of the cold because he was a maintenance man for that apartment complex, but the heat would only work 5 minutes and shut off. We use a 3d nail for our alignment tool. And it was his and mine first clutch and the thing was a beast. We bench pressed and then slid it into position, what a nightmare! A mechanic later told me if you don't have a lift for the tyranny it was exceptionally difficult because we didn't have a third person depressing the clutch. He said that would of made the job easier but 10 fold. But I got a great story out it plus the added story we had no change of clothes and went out to eat covered in greasy clothes. We go a lot of looks, a truly uncomfortably and most humbling experience, plus we got razzed by some friends we ran into and joined at their table.

 

[Fritz Kobus]

F350 transmission would be a bear. No fun working outside in the rain.

 

[tango]

Man, I did a clutch on Ford 350 Econoline van with my friend in a parking lot, in the rain and the temp stayed in the 40s. To top it off we had keys to get out of the cold because he was a maintenance man for that apartment complex, but the heat would only work 5 minutes and shut off. We use a 3d nail for our alignment tool. And it was his and mine first clutch and the thing was a beast. We bench pressed and then slid it into position, what a nightmare! A mechanic later told me if you don't have a lift for the tyranny it was exceptionally difficult because we didn't have a third person depressing the clutch. He said that would of made the job easier but 10 fold. But I got a great story out it plus the added story we had no change of clothes and went out to eat covered in greasy clothes. We go a lot of looks, a truly uncomfortably and most humbling experience, plus we got razzed by some friends we ran into and joined at their table.

I assume you meant "tranny" rather than "tyranny" but the mismatch made me smirk

 

[Fritz Kobus]

I assume you meant "tranny" rather than "tyranny" but the mismatch made me smirk

Tyranny is a good word for modern automatic transmissions that second guess you with their over done electronics etc.

 

[Nic]

I assume you meant "tranny" rather than "tyranny" but the mismatch made me smirk

Yes I did. It may of been my error in typing or a politically correct assertive keyboard. Yes I recall the good ole days when trannies were short for transmissions. Tyranny, I never saw it, thanks for pointing it out.

 

[Nic]

Tyranny is a good word for modern automatic transmissions that second guess you with their over done electronics etc.

Lol, we used to have shift kits at times available that reminded me of the old IBM punch cards that altered the performance of your automatic transmission. Do you recall those as well?

 

[Fritz Kobus]

Lol, we used to have shift kits at times available that reminded me of the old IBM punch cards that altered the performance of your automatic transmission. Do you recall those as well?

I had a 1990 Ford 460 V8 E350 motorhome once and it had the E4OD trans. I put a shift kit on it for $100, think from Banks company. It frimed up the shifting. My 2000 Chevy motorhome (also a van chassis cab) has a 454V8 and shifts great without any kit.

Never put a shift kit on anything else, well the 3.0 1992 Aerostar but it was a funky B&M kit that basically made a slight and adjustable vacuum leak with the adjustment knob in the cab. Kind of weird. I did not keep it installed for long.

Back in the 1970s the shift kit was to fenagle the gas pedal to make it upshift. Been some time but I think it was you are leaning on the pedal, then quidkly let up and press back down but not quite as hard. Then you got to run it with lower rpm while still accelerating some, but not winding it out.

The Aerostar was funky because if you put a bit too much pedal it would downshift, sometimes a couple gears worth, when you really wanted it to stay in the gear it was in. I attribute that to the weak power output of that engine.

I am pleased with wife's 2008 Mazda 5. Shifts well and never aggravates me. Has a paddle I tried once but it was counter intuitive for me a manual transmission guy (my personal vehicle has been manual since 1977).

 

[tango]

Tyranny is a good word for modern automatic transmissions that second guess you with their over done electronics etc.

I like the convenience of an automatic box but there are times I wish I could override it. There's a particular road near me that has a gentle hill on it that suddenly increases and then levels off. In the snow it can be a problem because my auto box changes down, putting more power to the wheels and sometimes causing them to slip. It took me a couple of slips to figure what the problem was, so now I manually force it down a gear slightly before I get to it.

I don't get the impression younger people learning to drive are taught much about how to use gears, other than that Drive goes forward and Reverse goes backwards. Round here there are lots of hills and it's remarkable to see how few people seem to have any idea of using gears to descend.

 

[Nic]

I had a 1990 Ford 460 V8 E350 motorhome once and it had the E4OD trans. I put a shift kit on it for $100, think from Banks company. It frimed up the shifting. My 2000 Chevy motorhome (also a van chassis cab) has a 454V8 and shifts great without any kit.

Never put a shift kit on anything else, well the 3.0 1992 Aerostar but it was a funky B&M kit that basically made a slight and adjustable vacuum leak with the adjustment knob in the cab. Kind of weird. I did not keep it installed for long.

Back in the 1970s the shift kit was to fenagle the gas pedal to make it upshift. Been some time but I think it was you are leaning on the pedal, then quidkly let up and press back down but not quite as hard. Then you got to run it with lower rpm while still accelerating some, but not winding it out.

The Aerostar was funky because if you put a bit too much pedal it would downshift, sometimes a couple gears worth, when you really wanted it to stay in the gear it was in. I attribute that to the weak power output of that engine.

I am pleased with wife's 2008 Mazda 5. Shifts well and never aggravates me. Has a paddle I tried once but it was counter intuitive for me a manual transmission guy (my personal vehicle has been manual since 1977).

Your 1970's reference sounds familiar. Also the idea that shift kits weren't always a good idea. I also prefer manual transmissions. There was a story recently of a college gal that was carjacked and she was forced to drive because the teen villains didn't know how to drive a standard. She drove away from the bank and deliberately left her seat belt off, then while driving she put the car in neutral and bailed out of the car. Her mom had always preached to her about never leaving a public area if she found herself in such a situation. Her mom was once a victim of sexual assault and fought back and got away and this inspired the daughter to try something similar.The daughter also got away.
Thanks for the road down memory lane.
Oh here's one other, my neighbor decades ago, had a Subaru 5spd 2Dr. I believe the power plant was a rotary engine. He loved that car and was always tinkering with it on most weekends. That's about all I recall about it. Thanks again.

 

[Nic]

I mainly change the earl. Most other stuff I take it in for. Biggest job I ever did on my own was replacing a clutch in my old 1984 F150 back in 1990. Just slid under, unbolted the transmission and let it down on my chest, then rolled it off to the side. Aluminum case, it was not heavy.

Earl...
Aluminum, ah nice!