hondafan

iTrader: (25)

my dealer said i'm fine doing all maintenance myself as long as i keep a record of receipts and mileage they'll cover the warranty. every dealer is different though. to change all the fluids it should only take you 1-2 hours if you're mechanically inclined at all. it's more of a pain putting the car on jackstands than changing the fluids. i like to use a pump to transfer fluid though, it seems easier to me than a funnel with an extension.

bamaevo

iTrader: (1)

Silly question, but can this thread be copied to the how-to section? This is all good info to have and the General thread is not a place I normally search for useful info :-)

Amazin' Wasian

iTrader: (-2)

Half a day? try an hour, maybe an hour and a half if you take your time.......

-nick

Amazin' Wasian

iTrader: (-2)

all of this info is in your owners manual.....ya know that little book in your glove compartment collecting dust...

-nick

sparky

iTrader: (1)

This is really a duhm question...Do we have to change oil in both differentials and if so is it at the same intervals? All I´ve changed on my car is the oil in the TC and the rear diff(and the engine oil, of course).

Man, I don´t even know where the front diff. is located and where its drain and filler plug is either. Dumb ,dumb, dumb!!!

EVOlutionary

iTrader: (38)

Front diff is inside the transfer case.

sparky

iTrader: (1)

[QUOTE=Amazin' Wasian]all of this info is in your owners manual.....ya know that little book in your glove compartment collecting dust...

Eeh Gad! Man, I am completely retardo! In the morning I am going out to the garage and read the owner´s manual. Then, I´ll get under the car and look for this front diff. Wow, just totally thick, imbecile.

barneyb

I did the 30,000 mile service this week also. Well, I'm still waiting on the brown truck for Diaqueen. The remainder is done.

I too have a funnel with a long hose. It is a back-in-service leftover from my DSM days. I hope it will reach the rear diff as yours did. The tranny oil I got from Mitsu. They sell it in 5-gallon buckets. I bought the bucket the mechanics open to save purchasing the entire five gallons. They first tried to sell me the BG product.

As for changing coolant, don't waste your time looking for the block drain. I knew where it was but still couldn't see or touch it. Maybe somebody knows the magic involved in removing and replacing this plug but not me. BTW, I have a tester for the pressure cap and the cap flunked. I suggest, if you don't have a tester, replacing the cap with every coolant change. Also, and you'll love this, figure on removing the rest of the undercover to get to the radiator drain.

barney
03 Evo

Alacris

Thanks for the advice on the radiator.

As for tires, I have Pirelli Pzero Nero M&S, non-directional so the X is better. In face, my steering wheel vibration (which led me to believe I needed an alignment) went away with the rotation. Weird.

Engine oil I got from Wal-mart. Mobile 1, 5 quarts for like $22. Amsoil for the transmission is like $9 per quart, so $27 to do this. Diaqueen was like $50 for the bucket, but that's lasted me two changes so far and seems like enough to do at least two more.

As for time, it took me about 5 hours to do everything, but that was working by myself out front (no garage ). So I took it slow. Most of it was waiting for things to drain completely; but I did things like clean the air filter and such while waiting for that.

I'm not too worried about my warranty. I have a log book with all my maintenance and I have saved all my receipts from work done.

If a mod thought this was How-To worthy, I wouldn't mind it being moved. I could also try writing it again with pics (I'd have take some after-the-fact fakes to document it).

hondafan

iTrader: (25)

also, i don't know about you guys, but i prefer changing my tranny and TC fluids every 15,000 miles and rear diff every 30,000 because i think mitsu was being a little generous making them all 30,000, just like they reccommend oil changes every 5,000 but i do it every 3,000. just to be safe, the factory intervals are for factory cars(most of us have mods)and normal driving(alot of us track or drag our cars), so with the price of the drivetrain parts, i don't think you can change fluids too often, but i know you can not change them enough. i'd rather be the guy that does it too often.

4WS Tuning

iTrader: (73)

my dealer wants

oil change : 79.99
tranny change : 89.99
alignment : 89.99
front / rear diff : 99.99
19.99 : rotation

i negotiated for a 30k and 60k maintenance package when i bought my car so im getting all that for free...well not free, but included in the ridiculous price i originally paid for the car..they wouldnt go down a dime off sticker price

those prices should be the same at every dealer....

45$ for diaqueen 40$ for sycromesh for the tranny

so their prices arent too bad except for the oil change....25$ for oil and filter at walmart...50$ labor...fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck that

cheers!

SPANKED

iTrader: (2)

Thanks for the write up. Where did you buy the fumoto drain plug? Does it work well? Is it safe?

mathgeek

If you just specify that you want the fluids changed, it won't cost as much as the whole enchilada that they want to do for you (like $900). I had Fresno Mitsu change all of the fluids + replace the drive belt. Total cost was around $500. It took them all of an hour. I watched them do it, and I remember thinking to myself that what they did wasn't worth all that $. But they did it right. Peace of mind is worth it to me, especially since I'm not as mechanically inclined as some on this board.

As far as the 60,000 mile service goes, as far as I can tell it's the 30,000 mile service all over again + spark plugs (about $20 apiece I guess).

Alacris

http://www.fumotovalve.com/ for the valve. Factory direct. I have not read of any horror stories with the fumoto valve. It is very hard to turn and it is not exposed at all (to rocks or bumps). A non-OEM oil filter is in more danger of breaking off than the valve. I got it for two reasons: tool-less oil changes and the ability to drain a little out of the pan if I screw up (I've overfilled by about 1/4 Quart a couple of times).

I change my driveline fluids every 15k, but I do the oil every 5 (keeps things nice and even on the odometer).

As for why I do all this myself: I actually like the Zen aspect of working on the machine. To understand how it works and how to take care of it. Saving money is nice, especially since dealers like to rip off people who bring expensive cars in for maintenance. "The micro-widget is over oscillating, that'll be $1000 to fix"

EVOlutionary

iTrader: (38)

I believe the 60K service will also include the timing belt, which will be hella expensive at the dealership . . .