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Hi guys,
It will be time to service my car in about a month (gets done once a year), and I was thinking about it this morning. I always do it myself, but I can’t remember what all I needed. Maybe I will after coffee, but I’m going to make this post anyway just in case.
I’ll be changing:
– Oil
– Oil filter
– Air filter
– Spark plugsIs there anything else that needs doing?
Thanks!
Cobra
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Check your battery connections, I always clean the connecter’s and the clean the posts and the Water level. I would check the power steering fluid, the transmission fluid and the Brake fluid.
Do a visual check of the plug wires, hoses and belts. Check the PCV and consider a fuel filter if it hasn’t been changed in several years.
2000 Nissan Almera N16 1.5l non-ABS.
The fuel filter in this car need never be changed.
As for all fluid levels and crucial parts of the car, I inspect those every week and every month I inspect everything closely. That’s why I pick up on faults so quickly, before they become a real issue.
You could also check cap, rotor, plug wires, tranny / drive axle lube, wipers, grease chassis, test coolant…
This might help:
That’s a good post, hpdog – I’ll need to look over it closely.
I am stunned at how often you guys change your oil. As you know, I am borderline obsessive about my car, and my oil is changed every year (12,000 miles or so).
I will be using NGK Iridium spark plugs this time (BKR5EIX). I currently have some NGK copper-core plugs, and those will still be in very good condition when I pull them out so I’ll keep them for spare. As usual, I’ll be using the fully-synthetic Castrol GTX Magnatec (maybe Shell Helix if I can afford it). Air and oil filters will be Halford’s own brand, because they won’t impact either performance or reliability in a 1.5l Almera.
Quote:Check your battery connections, I always clean the connecter’s and the clean the posts and the Water level. I would check the power steering fluid, the transmission fluid and the Brake fluid.Yep you beat me me to it, I always check the other fluid levels too when doing a tune-up. Don’t forget the windshield-wash fluid as well, some cars have a cap for that in the back by the trunk, kind of a pain because you don’t regularly check there
I should take a photo of what’s under my bonnet. In my car, all the fluid reservoirs are up in plain view. That’s how I can keep an eye on them so regularly.
Quote:I should take a photo of what’s under my bonnet. In my car, all the fluid reservoirs are up in plain view. That’s how I can keep an eye on them so regularly.That makes it nice and easy. Is the oil in a convenient and easy to reach spot as well?
Very, although the oil filter isn’t… You need to crawl under the car and twist your arm off to get to it… Bad Nissan! BangHead.gif
Here’s what resides under the bonnet (click for the large, uncompressed version direct from my camera):
As you can see, all the fluids are over on the left-hand side. Starting from the bottom left and working upwards:
– (not visible in photo – sorry) – windscreen wash
– Big white thing – coolant
– Grey-white round thing with black cap – power steering fluid
– Light blue cap – brake fluid
– Tiny white-grey thing with black cap (by the bendy hose near the brake fluid) – clutch fluidI have never checked the battery levels – I’ll see if I can work out how to do that now.
You can also see the oil cap on the left-hand side of the engine itself. The big, black box over on the right-hand side is the air filter – it’s massive.
I should add that my car recently passed the MOT with flying colours. icon_punk.gif
Thanks for the pic Cobra!!! icon_punk.gif It looks like everything is within easy reach – except for the oil!! :doh: If only Nissan could have fixed that, you would have the ideal tune-up car, it might almost be fun to tune-up!
Well, the oil filter needs changed only once a year, and it’s only a couple of minutes of discomfort to sort that out, so it’s OK.
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