One Final Thorough Maintenace Check.. What to look for?

geokilla · Post by **geokilla** » 25 Mar 2013, 15:41

So I'm thinking of taking the car to the dealer or an independent shop to do one last thorough check around, inside and out, to determine what are the important stuff and priorities that needs to be fixed, and what doesn't. There's a budget and as you guys may know, and I've fought hard against my mom to keep the car and not trade it in for a Mazda 3 GS-SKY. But if all the little things add up to a significant sum like $3000 CAD because they need to fixed ASAP, my mom will probably just ignore me, drive it for the rest of spring/summer, then probably get rid of it for an economy car like the Mazda 3 GS-SKY. The last time we routinely did service was for the 240k km service, and even then only the spark plugs and a hanger got changed. In addition to asking the dealer or independent shop to take a look, what else do you think I should look for? Do you think this 44 point inspection covers it all?

So far, I got the following things that probably will need to replaced, based on my driving experience with the car, getting it checked while I got oil change done, and going through my service records and owner's manual:

Spark plugs (OEM/Copper?). Current one has 55k km
Sway bar link (apparently not important?)
Possibly another right front control arm
Auxiliary/Serpentine belt
Timing belt
Transmission fluid

And the following are things that I never bothered changed because we're cheap and car is old:

Strut mounts and Spring Seats (supposedly good condition)
Engine mounts

Thanks!

Edit: The attached photo is a reference 44 point inspection and is outdated! I can get it done for like $60 though. Forgot to mention that. Sorry!

Post by **jblackburn** » 25 Mar 2013, 17:58

There are much better economy cars on the market right now than the Mazda 3. It's driving dynamics are no excuse for the terrible interior.

However, rant aside,

-The sway bar links will make a lot of noise if they are shot. Same with engine mounts.
-Timing belt should be of utmost importance if the replacement interval is drawing near.
-How's the PCV system?

geokilla · Post by **geokilla** » 25 Mar 2013, 18:24

jblackburn wrote:There are much better economy cars on the market right now than the Mazda 3. It's driving dynamics are no excuse for the terrible interior.

However, rant aside,

-The sway bar links will make a lot of noise if they are shot. Same with engine mounts.
-Timing belt should be of utmost importance if the replacement interval is drawing near.
-How's the PCV system?

Well if you want cheap (read 0% financing), the Mazda 3 GS-SKY is the way to go. Ford Focus is another to consider too, but SYNC is terrible. And I heard it doesn't drive nearly as well as the Mazda 3 GS-SKY. Can't think of any other car that drives as nice while offering a good interior too.

Sway bar links are probably causing this sound here... Transmission flare issue is gone for now so I'm gonna hope it never shows up again. Seat belt I fixed and it's working good for now..

Not sure how the PCV system is. I guess I'll add that to my already long list?

The attached photo is a reference 44 point inspection and is outdated! I can get it done for like $60 though. Forgot to mention that. Sorry!

Post by **jblackburn** » 25 Mar 2013, 18:34

Sway bar links are just a clunking, and they are only in the front. You may have a busted shock mount in the rear, as in that video.

Do the typical PCV system check - pull out the oil dipstick on a warmed-up engine and check for smoke.

What corrected your transmission flare? Fluid change or B4 servo cover, or it just kinda went away on its own? If you haven't changed the fluid in a long time, as I believe your previous post said, I would advise that too just to keep it from coming back.

Cruze and Hyundai Elantra are far better cars for the money than the Focus or Mazda3. Their interiors are worlds above the cheap plastics and cloth used in the Mazda, Civic, or Corolla, and you can actually hold a conversation over the road noise. The MPG is nice too.

I like the 3...it's fun to drive, but it's a very tiring car to drive or ride in on long trips (my friend has one; spent a lot of time in that car). The firm suspension, small interior, hard seats, and loud road noise isn't worth it.

99volvonewbie · Post by **99volvonewbie** » 25 Mar 2013, 18:56

For what it is worth, our other car is a 2006 Jetta. When I was looking for a new car, ended up with the Volvo, I seen a lot of them for sale for around $5-6K. I really like the Jetta for long rides. I wouldn't want to work under the hood, but we have not had to do a major repairs since we bought it new, just regular maintenance. Now I wish that we would have gotten a better deal when we bought it. $22k +/- in 2008 before I deployed. Extras came in the form of ResistAll for the salt air in Hawai'i, and the extended warranty. Good car, reliable, nice ride, and affordable when bought used.

geokilla · Post by **geokilla** » 24 Apr 2013, 10:15

Updated! Got hit with the longest and most annoying list ever. Here's a list of things they said I have to replace based on that 44 point inspection:

Both upper spring seats <-- Already have this kit from before
Timing belt cracked. Gotta replace tensioner too. <-- Can I use aftermarket stuff? Do I need to replace water pump too? What about a seal? OEM timing belt kit from FCP
Left front control arm as suspected <-- Meyle sucks... Got another one in garage to use luckily
Right front lower engine mount <-- Funny how last time they said all 4 were crushed, but this time only this one is crushed

Combine that with the previous stuff such as transmission fluid and spark plugs.... Easy $1000

jblackburn wrote:What corrected your transmission flare? Fluid change or B4 servo cover, or it just kinda went away on its own? If you haven't changed the fluid in a long time, as I believe your previous post said, I would advise that too just to keep it from coming back.

Cruze and Hyundai Elantra are far better cars for the money than the Focus or Mazda3. Their interiors are worlds above the cheap plastics and cloth used in the Mazda, Civic, or Corolla, and you can actually hold a conversation over the road noise. The MPG is nice too.

I like the 3...it's fun to drive, but it's a very tiring car to drive or ride in on long trips (my friend has one; spent a lot of time in that car). The firm suspension, small interior, hard seats, and loud road noise isn't worth it.

It just went away on it's own after a while. Not going to complain haha. Already got enough expenses already.

I agree the Elantra has a better interior, but because I'm tall, sitting in the back ain't good for me. I'm 6 feet and my head barely touches the ceiling because of it's sloping profile. Or it was the Accent that I had a problem with..

Whatever economy car we get, it ain't gonna be used for trips, so no problem with that. Longest trip would be going to Niagara Falls haha.

Post by **abscate** » 24 Apr 2013, 20:05

If you do the timing belt (which you should) do the water pump too, it's cheap and is driven by the timing belt, so birds of a feather....

geokilla · Post by **geokilla** » 25 Apr 2013, 10:27

abscate wrote:If you do the timing belt (which you should) do the water pump too, it's cheap and is driven by the timing belt, so birds of a feather....

Is it important? I don't see it listed in the owner's manual. Is it ok to use aftermarket parts for timing belt and tensioner?

Post by **jblackburn** » 25 Apr 2013, 10:42

Yes, it's important. And no, I would never gamble with aftermarket parts in the timing belt path. The tensioner goes out, your engine smashes itself. No bueno.

geokilla · Post by **geokilla** » 08 May 2013, 22:19

Are engine mounts important? I think I bought the wrong one from the dealer. If I did, well I'm just gonna leave the engine mounts crushed or whatever situation they're in. I'm getting charged $500 labour on Friday to replace a whole bunch of stuff that's been mentioned in this thread.