Vehicle maintenance

[nodle]

Don't forget to replace your cabin air filters. I was reading this thread and noticed it's been about a year. I think you can go longer but for how cheap they are you might as well. Plus, with the smoke from the forest fires they always seem to get dirtier faster. I ordered some activated charcoal ones this time.

 

[nodle]

I received my cabin air filters tonight. Both are easy to replace, takes under 5 minutes for both. I thought to myself "well it's been a year so they shouldn't be too bad, I may not even replace them". Boy, was I ever wrong. They were both so lastly, just black and tons of bugs in the crevasses. I need to at the very least replace every 6 months. Especially for the cost of them. So, for those that haven't done it in a while, do yourself a favor and get them changed. Your lungs will thank you.

 

[nodle]

I was on another forum reading a post about a guy saying how stiff his ride was. Somone asked him what the psi of his tires were. His reply was whatever they check when he gets his oil done. He had no clue on how to even check the air in his tires. Pretty sad this generation. This is basic life information. This should be taught by default in schools.

 

[nodle]

While we are on the topic of psi ratings, if you are ever in question on what the stock psi rating for your vehicle, it is also posted on a sticker on the driver's side door. I think it's the law. Again, that is stock tire size so if you go to different dimensions that may change.. I typically run 32-35 psi in the winter, 35-40 in the summer.

 

[nodle]

I changed oil this weekend, and also had to fix my mudflaps on my car. I learned a valuable lesson this time. Don't let mud and snow build up on your mudflap. I have had them build up badly before and normally you kick them off, but the weather conditions were just right where they kept building up over and over. Eventually they got so heavy they ended up breaking and I got mad and ripped them off. Thankfully I was able to repair them yesterday and had to rebend back some metal, and get the screws back in. It was a pain, but I got everything fixed. I won't let that happen again. A lesson learned.

 

[nodle]

Replaced air filter in my one car at lunch. I kind of feel bad I am about a year late (won't let that happen again). No wonder we were getting bad fuel economy. It was overdue.

 

[ryanator]

Got a chance to replace my rear brake drums, rotor, and cylinder on my fwd vehicle. I've done pads and rotors no problem many times, always was intimidated by drums because of all the extra parts and worse nature of rusting itself stuck.

This was forced by a leak at one of the cylinders a couple of months ago and they were badly worn.

I didn't mind the work itself other than I only got one side done because i had to drill and use a screw extraction on the drum retaining screw and one of the cylinder bolts wouldn't come off and rounded the head, so I had to dremel it off and get a new bolt at the store.

I tried my luck and just bled the one brake, but wasn't enough, spongy response, must be air in the system elsewhere and I'll have to bleed all of them in sequence.

When I get around to that I can also rotate the tires.

 

[nodle]

I have done this with my dad on a few vehicles. I think it requires two people, and one has to be inside and I forget how it goes but you open it up and the guy pushes the break all the way to the floor then you close it then he lets go and you reopen it and he does it again? I do know my dad has a custom hose thing he made that fits over where the brake fluid gets extracted and it runs down the tube into a small plastic thing. It works great. Just make sure the system gets all the air out. It can be dangerous.

Also my truck had drum brakes with brake cylinders and there were so many moving parts. Modern click in pads make it so much easier.

 

[ryanator]

Was finally able to complete the rear brake drum job today. With weather and job travel for a week, didn't get a chance until this weekend. I replaced the other drum kit (originally did the one that went out first) and bled all brakes making sure to flush everything and all air. Did a test drive and back to normal, here's to another 50,000 miles on that vehicle

 

[ryanator]

Pro tip, an engine that burns or leaks oil is an upgrade, never need to do oil changes, just keep filling new oil!


Just kidding, sludge build-up and filter clogs would get pretty bad after some time.

 

[ryanator]

Changed the oil in both of our vehicles, success.

This is the first time I did this myself since auto mechanics class in high school. I just never did it due to convenience, but now I can trust the oil and amount and filter I put in and that nothing else gets dinged up. I also do the tire rotations.

I used Pennzoil Platinum and the company had a $25 gift card for 100 different stores when buying 10 quarts of oil.

 

[nodle]

Once you get the hang of it there is no much to them. Plus you know it’s done right, and you save yourself money.

 

[nodle]

Just got done re-checking the torque on my lug nuts for my car. I rotated the tires last weekend. Then it's good practice to re-check them after about 30 miles, then you are good to go. I will rotate my tires on my other car this weekend coming up.

 

[nodle]

Rotated my tires on my other car on the weekend. It's much easier with only a 4 lug pattern and smaller tires.

 

[nodle]

With Spring/Summer approaching, don't forget to check your tires air pressure. They seem to fluctuate going from colder weather to warmer weather. In winter I usually run 35psi, summer I run 40psi. It keeps your tires cooler and you get better fuel economy. (This varies on the type of vehicle, check your inside sticker on your driver's side door from to see what the manufacture recommends).

 

[C Pav]

With Spring/Summer approaching, don't forget to check your tires air pressure. They seem to fluctuate going from colder weather to warmer weather. In winter I usually run 35psi, summer I run 40psi. It keeps your tires cooler and you get better fuel economy. (This varies on the type of vehicle, check your inside sticker on your driver's side door from to see what the manufacture recommends).

Interesting as I keep at around 36 all year round. I would think summer should be same but never considered higher since when they warm up they increase. Probably not enough to really be an issue though.

 

[nodle]

Interesting as I keep at around 36 all year round. I would think summer should be same but never considered higher since when they warm up they increase. Probably not enough to really be an issue though.

Usually, you want lower for winter (more grip on road). Summer, it keeps it cooler, (flatter footprint on road, more even wear and cooler running). Honestly anything from 35-40 is fine, I had only 33psi in my car before airing them up to 40 yesterday, but it was winter and we were driving on snow roads. At least you are paying attention, I can't tell you how many I walk by in parking lots and they look like they are running on flats like @O-Tron.

 

[nodle]

i changed my oil on my 4-wheeler last night, what a F*#$In mess! I had oil everywhere. Horrible design wanting the oil to drop down thought a tiny hole in a skid plate. I wasn't about to remove them either. The oil filter wasn't as bad as the oil. What a shit show though. Thank God for kitty litter.

 

[jmanz]

i changed my oil on my 4-wheeler last night, what a F*#$In mess! I had oil everywhere. Horrible design wanting the oil to drop down thought a tiny hole in a skid plate. I wasn't about to remove them either. The oil filter wasn't as bad as the oil. What a shit show though. Thank God for kitty litter.

My dad said changing the oil on his Honda side-by-side is a pain too.

 

[nodle]

I took the car into the dealership today, got my 60k maintenance done. Had my front/rear differential changed. Spark plugs changed, and my brake fluid flushed/changed. I didn’t do my cvt fluid since they just did it a year ago. Still though was spendy. I would had done my own plugs, but it’s a boxer and everyone online said it’s a pain, I have also done differential fluids before but this one you have to have a special temp reader to do it.