keep records and reciepts on each car maintinance

[grumpyvette]

HEY GRUMPYVETTE!
I took my vette to the dealer for my oil change. The dealer gave me a list of all these things they recommend for 48 to 50,000. Mile maintenance, I don,t see those listed in the owners manual? now what?

http://www.kzsoftware.com/products/vehi ... 5Qod7hDwvA



first step in any cars maintenance program, is to keep,
CLEAR DATED & DETAILED records and receipts on all work done, dates, cost, of parts, and types of fluids etc. Youll need those details and receipts if there;s ever a warranted issue,and without those your almost certainly not going to be covered, the warrantee will demand to see clear proof of what parts, and maintenance fluids were used and the dates they were used or replaced ETC. in an ACCESSIBLE folder or clip board with an envelope for the receipts
and BUY THE SHOP MANUAL for the car!

theres useful bits of info in these threads

viewtopic.php?f=87&t=1167&p=2388&hilit=envelope#p2388

viewtopic.php?f=27&t=26

viewtopic.php?f=27&t=834

viewtopic.php?f=27&t=969

viewtopic.php?f=27&t=672

viewtopic.php?f=80&t=2019&p=5367#p5367

the next step is frequent visual inspection of all components that tend to wear in the suspension, drive train and brakes, cooling and electrical systems, and NOT just letting things go, if they get ALMOST to the point changing them is mandatory, it also helps a great deal to have a few basic components like brake pads, fan belts, hoses, and replacement filters and fluids in your garage so you not putting off changing them due to lack of component availability or access when its becomes obvious that changing them is getting to be a realy good idea.
having a few basic tools like decent car ramps and a basic understanding of how components work and what to look for during inspections is a real good idea.
while changing all your fluids certainly won,t hurt,at 48K miles, Id suggest INSPECTING the condition of the fluids and consider the heat and load and environmental conditions the cars run in, if you tow heavy loads a great deal in hilly and hot & dusty conditions it might be well past the point fluids should be changed, but for most of us who do mostly city and highway driving under light loads, you should consult the shop manual,AND you can do most of those fluid change jobs far cheaper your self than what the dealer will charge and it sounds to me like its mostly a way for the dealer to boost his profits.

changing your brake fluid, transmission fluid, coolant, rear differential oil, engine oil,power steering fluid etc. when its old, contaminated etc. is always a good idea, but I look at the factory shop manual for info on the time interval or suggested mileage . its been my feeling that most of that stuff other than engine oil gets changed at 60K or more miles, and with modern oils even that can be stretched to 5K-7K miles between changes if you swap oil filters at the 1/2 way point, BTW check your BELTS,HOSES, and AIR FILTERS, and SPARK PLUGS WHILE your under the hood
having a shop manual helps a great deal

you'll also want to own at least a few basic tools too do oil changes and brake inspections, filter changes etc. if you rely totally on what a dealership service order writer suggests you need done your going to be at a serious disadvantage in knowing the true condition of your cars components

 

[grumpyvette]

http://store.summitracing.com/partdetai ... toview=sku

viewtopic.php?f=54&t=117

its basically a heavy duty can opener designed to make it easy to internally inspect oil filters, by allowing you to remove the filter element , from inside the surrounding (CAN) for close visual inspection.
If you don,t have one, and have not used one, your unlikely to see, or appreciate the benefits,close inspection can and does frequently give you prior evidence of impending or at least gradually occuring wear and with practice you can make an excellent guess as to the parts and condition of those components.
IT also helps to trap crud if you install a couple high temp magnets on the filter and in the oil pan.

btw, add a few magnets to the oil pan and drain back area in your engine, the trap and hold metalic dust that comes from wear and increase engine life span by preventing that crap embedding in the bearings

http://www.kjmagnetics.com/proddetai...d=D66SH&cat=13

http://www.kjmagnetics.com/proddetail.asp?prod=D66SH

http://www.kjmagnetics.com/proddetail.asp?prod=D82SH

these are even more tollerant of temp swings and retain strength at even higher engine oil temps plus they are smaller and easier to use

The SH material in the D66SH magnets, means that the magnets can be heated to 300° F without any loss of magnetic strength, unlike standard neodymium magnets that begin to lose strength at 175° F. Suitable for many high temperature applications.

 

[grumpyvette]

I keep the following parts available in the shop for my corvettes, general maintenance
BUY A DARN, A SHOP MANUAL FOR ALL THE CORVETTES
OR MUSCLE CARS
EXTENSIVE SELECTION OF TOOLS
dating the oil filter, AIR AND FUEL FILTERS and writing the mileage on it with a non-erasable marker, and ideally writing the maintenance down in a log book you keep in your shop, in a drawer so it won,t get lost, with details like the type of oil used , filters, and other related info, helps, documenting maintenance, is a damn good idea, as so many people don,t have a damn clue as too the last time or at what mileage the last oil change was actually done!
(and writing the info down in a maintenance log book has some potential of either not getting it written down at all or mis-placing the log book)

BRAKE PADS FRONT & REAR
BRAKE FLUID 2 qts
MOLY BEARING GREASE
SPARK PLUGS
SEVERAL extra OIL FILTERS
AT LEAST A COUPLE CASEs OF SYNTHETIC OIL
several qts of synthetic rear diff fluid
several cases of synthetic transmission fluid
SERPENTINE BELTS
ASSORTED FUSES & RELAYS
fuel filters
LOTS OF SPARE U-JOINTS
ONE complete set of radiator hoses
several qts of MARVEL MYSTERY OIL
cans of throttle body cleaner
several cans of fuel injector cleaner
several gallons of anti freeze
the local chevy dealers parts dept. and NAPA store phone numbers