ok, so im sure there have been many similar questions asked, but my 96 max has near 90,000 miles and i have owned it for 2 years, since it was at about 72,000 (i know i dont drive much, im in school) are there any things i should think about doing tune up wise? just routine stuff. and am i correct that the 96 max uses a timing chain instead of a belt?
thanks for the help!

 

plugs
air filter
fuel filter
serpentine belt
power steering belt
flush your coolant
flush your transmission
flush your brakes
flush your steering
check for any visible leaks around the oil pan sending unit
check your CV boots to see if there are torn

run a complete diagnosis to make sure there aren't any stored codes. If you have an automatic transmission, check for stored codes also.

 

please don't flush the tranny oil, change half every 5000 miles, (only twice) and u should be good again:NO FLUSH

 

Explain yourself.

 

Lol, how do you get the old half??!! Get you a Chiltons or Haynes manual, it will turn out to be one of your best friends.

 

If the tranny is slowly failing (read: VERY slowly) and it has metal shavings in it or something along those lines, removing all the metal will actually just aid in making the transmission fail that much quicker. Leaving it there will help keep things in tact much longer.

 

If you have NGK platinum plugs they probably don't need to be replaced yet as they were likely replaced before you bought the car. If the plugs are NGK coppers, they may need to be replaced.

 

if you havent replaced the water pump, might as well do it since it will leak soon

 

I UNDERSTAND but, if thinking logically, I would probably want to remove those metal shavings.

 

you shouldnt change auto trans fluid if you dont know if it has ever been changed. nobody knows if he is auto or not, but if he is 5spd, then he should change fluid burnt or not.
bottom line
auto burnt fluid = too late dont change

 

Logically you DON'T want to remove them. But I get what you're saying in that if you didn't know any better, common sense would tell you the metal is bad. But it's not, it's what's going to hold your tranny together.

 

that logic only works in a automatic. if you have a manual, you are to change your fluid no matter what

 

hes talking about a basic tune-up

 

Oh of course, I thought he had an automatic, my bad.

 

i personally am not too sure about this metal stuff crap. i've always believed that with fluids, its purpose is to lubricate and that it is and will need to be changed. nothing lasts 100% w/o ever changing.

a lot of cars utilize filters as well as MAGNETS in them, now tell me, how and or why nissan as well as others, i.e. honda will have such a technique? Logic tells me here, that if HONDA puts a magnetic drain polt to collect metal shaves or whatever, and other manufacturers putting filters and etc, in the car, then why would they WANT free floating shavings in the AT?

though, if you think about it, if you have excesse shavings, or if your trans starts to slip, then its probably on its way out right?? if its gonna die its gonna die, atf isn't magic potion. i.e. i change my oil regardless if i have a leak or not, i dont leave it in cuz the carbon, and particles will SEAL my leaks.. (just an idea)

btw do the plugs regardless, always do all you can in your power w/ any car you get. dont wanna risk it.

just humble opinions..

 

sorry for the late reply guys, but i have an automatic

 

in most cases there are magnets, or the filter to catch any metal. i've always heard that if an "auto" trans is failing, the worst thing to do is change the fluid, not to keep metal in, but to retain the burnt fibers from the clutches that are suspended in the fluid. new, clean "slippery" fluid is no good for a slippin trans.

if the trans seems ok, change the fluid and filter !!!

 

Just forget about the metal shavings ****. They are bad.

Flushing an auto tranny on a used vehicle is a double edged sword. Your fucced if you do and fucced if you dont. If the tranny has not ever been flushed and he is 90K, then the wise move is to NOT flush it. This is because auto transmission fluid is a detergent. With an auto tranny that has been neglected and is full of burnt fluid, that old nasty fluid and gunk is actually helping hold together componets. Adding in clean fluid will strip most of that out and thus cause failure.

I learned this the hard way when I changed the fluid on my mom's 89 ford tempo with 90k on it. The tranny had NEVER been serviced, and the there already was slippage in 1st gear. After I changed the burt gunky fluid (there were pieces of filter in the fluid too) with clean fluid and a fresh filter, the tranny degenerated instantaly with in the first few miles.

If lets say his tranny was last flushed at 30K so the current fluid has 60K on it, I would actually take the risk, and flush it.

 

hrm, i did my first flush at 104k, it works great!

guess i just got lucky.

 

well what is your guy's take on flush/drain refill?

will that do more harm then good?

 

The car is 10 years old with 90K on it. He should be able to flush that automatic tranny at that age. However, I would be inclined to go on the www.auto-rx.com website and buy a bottle of AutoRX and treat the tranny with it first.

 

if the trans has not been flushed regualarly, i would advise against it. the metal shavings in the trans usually form clusters of them selves, and if you choose to flush it, it will proabaly lodge itself into an orifice and stop the flow. a car comes in with 4 gears and leaves with 2..

 

i went to nissan after i bought my car and told them i wanted a full fluid/coolant change. (dad pays for it all) the first thing he said was, have you ever had it flushed before, i said its manual, and he said okay that will be like $450. they dont do it to automatics if you dont know if it has been done before.
^^^-moral of story

 

$450. They saw you coming! You don't need to go to a dealership for fluid changes. Any shop can do it for considerably less. Next time go to a radiator shop for the radiator flush and a luby-loo for the transaxle gear oil.

 

drain and refill is good enough for me.

 

i paid $40 to do my manual trans oil change and 15$ for my coolant flush. and about 2hrs of time for doing both, having a cig and takin a shiat.

 

You don't say!

 

You went 104K with out ever flushing the tranny and then had no problems when you actually did it??

Thats like winning the fuccing lotto!!

 

How can you stand by and let your dad get raped like that??