I hit 55k yesterday and before I change my oil I have a few questions. Until now all I did was replace oil (10w-30 mobil 1) every 5k. Replaced my rear and front pads a few hundred miles ago. Put a new drive belt on ~1k ago. Pretty much that, she still purrs like a kitten but what else do you guys reccomend I do. My step dad wants to take it to some guy to grease or lube up the stock shocks (i think)

so when im doing my oil change this weekend would you guys recommend anything else. Any sites that provide how to's on routine maintenence since when it comes to doing stuff by myself I dive in and can't swim out. thanks

 

Try looking here, and here .

Enjoy!

 

so from my searching i found out this, maybe you guys can answer spec ?'s

1. Spark Plugs-from search i found out ngks are best way to go, tried finding the part# for the iridium ix ones but i guess they dont have on they're site/ anyone know? any better pricing than courtesy at ~60 for all 6?

2. Tranny Flush (5sp)-saw russ's old write up? is this really necessary?

3. fuel filter replacement-hard to do? approx. cost for filter?

 

ummm, a car wash?






j/k

 

I have heard that anything other than NKG might cause running issues or burn out quickly. I would just pony up for some NKG's.

Oh yes...do it. I have done my wifes every 25K on her Cavaliar and doing her Focus in 1 month. She got 150 K out of her Cav w/o any rebuild issues.

You have a 5th gen...its in the tank and not a DIY project from what I understand.

 

AdamK, I would recommend not to change your spark plugs untill 10oK miles unless your car is having probs. Why fix it if it aint broke?

What you can do, however, is to change the coolant and tranny flush. Thats all!

 

Also check here .

I have 52K on my 2000 GLE. This is what I plan to do in the next week or so when I get all the necessary parts together:

1. Oil & filter change
2. Air filter change (replacing intake with Injen CAI & Apexi filter). I will also be cleaning the throttle body since it's easy to get to once the stock airbox is removed.
3. Brake inspection and change pads if necessary (I changed them at 30k so I don't believe it will be necessary). Basically I'll be cleaning the brake assembly, breaking it down, and relubing the associated parts.
4. Radiator coolant flush.
5. Automatic transmission drain and fill. (at 30k I had it drained and filled) For your 5spd you don't really need to have it flushed, because when draining it you can get pretty much all the fluid out.
6. Exhaust inspection. (I will be upgrading the y-pipe anyhow)
7. Check all belts and hoses.
8. Change PCV valve.
9. Change spark plus. I'm going with the Denso Iridium. I bought them at www.the-best-source.com
10. Replace some of the brake fluid. I will be doing this using the method described onwww.motorvate.ca. Note that it pertains to the power steering fluid, but the same method can be used for brake fluid if you don't feel like bleeding the brakes.
11. Grease all hinges and door handles on the car.
12. Check CV boots, struts, and other suspension components. I'm not sure if any of it can be lubed or not. I have to check my ESM for that one.
13. Clean interior filter. (the one behind the glove box)

Then I'll give the car some good old TLC cleaning.

Hope this helps you. I'm glad you did a search, most people ask without even looking for the answers.

 

thats true re: the sparks, but my gas milage is horribly low, i get 93/94 always and all I get is about 250 if that to a tank. i try not to drive hard but still thats kinda really nothing. Also from reading I saw many ppl that just did it because and they didnt regret it. You know its 100k regular driving, just look at my profile picture and imagine what else I do to my poor car

 

I would replace the fluid in your manual tranny and do a coolant change like others suggested. I am thinking of replacing the spark plugs once I reach 60k miles maybe sooner. I just ordered a pcv valve from DAVEB and I am going to replace that tommorrow. So you might want to look into that too like another person suggested as well. I have a question for all of you tough. I was watching a car program on the speed channel and they recommended flushing and refilling the power steering fluid every 24,000 miles. Anyone ever done this or know how to go about this?

 

I believe the P/S fluid can be drained and filled pretty easy. For the flushing I am not sure. I know you can take it places to get flushed like an auto tranny. I'll check out my ESM tonight and see what it details about that. I would like to at least drain and fill mine. I'll post what I find out from the ESM.

 

Thanks, I appreciate it. I wonder if there is an easy way to draing the PS fluid from under the car. I can do it from the engine bay but I have a feeling I will be cleaning up a big mess.

 

I had it done on my Durango and was happy, any thoughts on the BG line of services? They seems pretty well liked.


BTW I tottally agree that 100K might be ok for gramps and granny but most of us push our cars hard, hence the need for an org. I generally search the org the most for tips and tricks to prolong the life of my Max. I think 60K for the plugs is a safer bet, 250 Miles to a tank of gas is horrible.

 

How hard is this to do????

 

Not hard. Just follow the big vacuum hose by the throttle cables next to the throttle body. The PCV valve is plugged into the rear valve cover.

Click for picture

Here's another view

 

And at what mileage should one do this? How much does a PCV valve cost?

 

Probably 60k. I just took the thing out and sprayed some contact cleaner into it. I didn't have any carb cleaner and I was using the contact cleaner (safe to use on plastic) to clean the MAF so I said what the hell. Cleaned it up really well. My car is at 50k and that thing was nasty. You can check it by shaking it. You should hear something rattling freely inside. If not, then you definitely need to service it.

 

Well I looked through my ESM today and I can't find anything in regards to draining the P/S fluid so I will check under the car tonight or tomorrow and see if I can find something. Maybe it can't be drained, and you just have to flush it mechanically. Has anyone changed it before???

 

foodmanry, thanks for going through all that trouble. But you don't have to go underneath the car and stuff. I am going to change the PCV valve in a few minutes so I will check up on it while I am at it. I appreciate the help tough. This is a good thread and I hope it will help others.

 

No problem. It's good stuff for me to know anyhow. I'll probably get under the car tomorrow morning and check it out. Let me know of what you come up with on your end!

 

Ok well I got a couple things done on my Max. I changed the oil and ATF. The oil I went with synthetic, and I also took a sample for oil analysis so I can see where my car is at with 53K. The auto tranny fluid was actually pretty easy. I flushed it out a little bit too, but not a whole lot because I went with synthetic for that as well. And damn...ATF synthetic is expensive! $5.00 a bottle. I took off the ATF drain pan to check the magnets and they were looking good. No excess metal filings, actually hardly any at all. I did have the tranny serviced at Nissan for the TSB slippage. Seems like they did a good job with it.

I'll check the PS fluid tomorrow when I flush out the cooling system. I'm going with the Dexron coolant, and some of the water wetter. Hope this helps.

 

I order the ps fluid from DAVEB. He said that he doesn't know of a non messy way to flush the system. I too looked over the Haynes manual and couldn't find anything on it. I'm sorry that it's taking a while. I am in the process of switching jobs. That, my current job and the lack of sleep lately has been getting to me that I fall asleep as soon as I get home and I wake up arond 11pm. I will try to look over it later today if I don't have to work a pm shift. What is water wetter. Are you using distilled water and coolant (50/50)?

 

Actually I just looked at the Haynes manual this morning. It appears the best way to do it is suck out as much fluid from the power steering reserviour as you can. Then you disconnect one (pump feed line), or two (pump feed line & and return line). There isn't a drain bolt for the system. I am thinking of flushing it since you can use the power of the pump to work the fluid through. I believe you can just disconnect the return line and feed P/S fluid through the reserviour and it should flush itself out. With the car on and someone turning the steering wheel.

 

Oh yeah, forgot. The water wetter is an additive for the cooling system. You just add it to the 50/50 or whichever ratio mix you are using for the glycol, and water. Yes I'm using distilled water. You should ALWAYS use distilled water to prevent corrosion. Regular water has ions in it that corrode the metal it comes into contact with after long periods of time. I have researched a lot about the water wetter and it seems like a very good thing, it helps the cooling system run more effeciently, thus not as much heat buildup.

It's made by Red Line Oil. Go to their web site to find a distributor near you.

 

Wow...well I just finished flushing the P/S fluid and changing my spark plugs. All I have to say is that my big, fat hands were not made for Japanese engines.

The best way to flush the P/S fluid is to disconnect the return line for the P/S system. It'll dump most of the fluid out (basically what is in the reserviour), and then to flush it you can run fluid (either P/S or AT fluid) with the car running and someone turning the wheel left and right. This will get the fluid through the pump. It takes less than a quart to flush the system. I just used some of the leftover AT fluid I had. Then I reconnected the return line and filled the reserviour back up. In order to "bleed" the system you have to leave the cap off the reserviour, turn the car on and run it while turning the steering wheel left and right to the stops. This will get all the air out of the system. And just fill to the appropriate level.

I did notice that my steering was smoother. Maybe its my mind playing tricks on me, but I feel it. I ended up using Red Line synthetic power steering fluid. Should last another 50,000 miles at least. I noticed the old fluid was a darkish red, and could see it wasn't fresh at all. Of course it had been used for 53,000 miles.

I recommend this service to everyone. As regular as the brake fluid changing. Rarely do people change their P/S fluid, mostly because it's quite messy and not the easiest thing to do. I have to admit it was quite difficult to re-connect the return line. I can give a full detail write up on this with some pictures to help.

 

Thanks for the info. Hopefully next week I will get a chance to do this.

 

Honestly it took me longer to change the spark plugs than flush, fill, and blee the P/S fluid.

Spark plugs = 45 minutes
P/S fluid = 30 minutes (just messy!)

A tip on reconnecting the return line. I was having a lot of trouble because there is heat shield insulating wrap around it. I ended up just taking the line off from the resiviour and out of the car cleaning it up and pulling the insulation as far away from the hose end connections as possible. Then I put it back in the car and had it connect within minutes. The P/S fluid is really slippery!

Tomorrow I'll do the PCV, radiator flush, intake cleaning, and relube the start (whining sound).

 

Excellent thread, guys. This is all REALLY great information!!!