Maintenance

[holden#1]

I agree with shounak; change oil and stuff yourself...

every so often take it to the 'experts'.... they may find something you have overlooked...well us novice mechanics anyway!

 

[clixanup]

Also keep upto date with oil changes.. 6 months OR 10,000km..

Personally, I've changed the oil & filter every 5,000km in every car I've ever owned. And none of them have (or had) ever blown smoke or had engine problems.

 

[holden#1]

got to agree... overkill is good with this sort of thing...

 

[deserthead]

The only thing I'd add to all the above is service your auto boxes every 20k or once a year.
I went by the book in my old VS and was on my third box by the time I retired the car. Not from floggin it either.
I'd rather be out of pocket 120 odd bucks than $1500.

Just my 2c anyway.

 

[Shounak]

$120? Do it yourself.. It's **** easy.. I just finished my tranny box..

Pull off the bolts, get all the oil out, give the pan a good wipe out, pull out filter and put new one in, reseal with new gasket, fill up with fluid..

$50 did it for me.. I was quoted $160 to get it done by Ultratune..

 

[Shounak]

I haven't had the power steering fluid changed yet, and no idea if needed either!

My car is now 4 years old and has 110,000km on the clock (so I've just had the transmission serviced).

The PS fluid should be flushed and refilled every 40,000km.. Holden quoted me $97 for the job..

Tranny is 110,000km.. But I'd rather do it every 40,000km myself.. It's such a simple procedure and a tranny f*cking up can means thousands gone, instantly..

 

[Shounak]

Personally, I've changed the oil & filter every 5,000km in every car I've ever owned. And none of them have (or had) ever blown smoke or had engine problems.

I do that with my parents Corolla.. I run GTX2 (possibly 3, the red one) through it and after 5,000km it's all black and sludgy..

I use semi synthetic Penrite Gas 10(w-50) in my car.. Unlike mineral oils, the oil manufacturer recommeded change intervals for semi-synthetics is 10,000km..

Even after 10,000km, the Penrite is still a nice honey colour and looks good enough to cook my chips in..

I think it has a lot to do with me being on gas.. Unlike petrol, LPG doesn't leave black carbon deposits in my engine oil.. They say oil change intervals are lengthened significantly with LPG systems..

So if anything, I'm going overkill..

 

[gogoboygareth]

Unfortunately changing the oil every 5,000km's would be too costly for me, as I drive between 30,000km's - 40,000km's a year. A *lot* of highway driving mainly - I have my 10,000km service roughly every 3 to 4 months.

Thankfully because it's pretty much all highway driving, and I only ever use semi-synthetic - the oil always looks pretty darn good at each service.

I will definitely look at doing the tranny myself from now on! I had no idea it was that simple!!!

I also have no idea if the power steering fluid was changed, but I'm guessing it has been if it's normally done every 40,000km's. Can I do that one myself too?

Ideally I want to learn how to do the following things myself:

- Service tranny
- Change brake fluid + pads
- Flush radiator
- Change power steering fluid
- Clean throttle body

Hopefully there are guides on this forum on how to do it... or hopefully someone can write them.

 

[gogoboygareth]

Shounak,

Quick question - was just looking at the pics of your car. Does the ram air pod make any noticeable difference? I have a VXII exec...

Your car looks better than mine, as some f*cktard keyed my front right quarter panel at the watergardens shopping mall (west suburbs of melbourne)... just wish I could repsray the car for a good price! One day anyway

 

[Shounak]

I will definitely look at doing the tranny myself from now on! I had no idea it was that simple!!!

It really is that simple.. Send me a PM if you need any help..

I also have no idea if the power steering fluid was changed, but I'm guessing it has been if it's normally done every 40,000km's. Can I do that one myself too?

Yeah, you most certainly can.. It's really not a hard job at all


- Service tranny - Simple
- Change brake fluid + pads - I've never done this myself, I'm not going to attempt it until I get some who REALLY knows what they're doing to show me
- Flush radiator - Piss easy.. Instructions are all over the forum
- Change power steering fluid - YOU CAN DO IT
- Clean throttle body - Again, it's piss easy.. Just pull it out and clean it.. Instructions all over the forum..

My first advice for you is to buy a Gregory's manual.. That should be the starting point.. Use the forum for additional advice, more for specific items..

But go for it..