High cost of vehicle maintenance

[Jason Boggs]

As some of you may have noticed, I am a big stickler about vehicle maintenance because I believe a vehicle is the most important chase tool.

My truck now has 100,000 miles ( want to get 200,000) on it so it is now time to do a little maintenance. I replaced the distributor cap and rotor yesterday so I'm off to a good start. I need to get the timing belt and water pump replaced for a whopping $500. My throwout bearing is also going out in the clutch and I'm going to get a complete clutch job done for about $850. I still have quite a few other things that need to be done by spring including:

getting front end aligned
replace the fuel filter
replace PCV filter
replace radiator hoses
replace thermostat
get new shocks

WHEWW! At this rate I will be broke before spring ever gets here! I better get my act together and get a secong job!!!

I almost forgot...does anybody have any tips on finding a good reputable car repair facility?

 

[David Drummond]

Wow man. This is why I do almost ALL of my vehicle work myself. Of course it doesn't hurt that once upon a time I used to be an ASE Certified mechanic for a while either. I am sure you know, in most cases, the majority of the money you spend for repairs is high labor costs.

Tip though, for anything other than an oil change, find yourself a GOOD ASE Certified Mechanic. Preferably a MASTER Certified mechanic. There are various certifications for different vehicle systems, like Steering & Suspension, Electrical etc. A Master Tech has passed all the basic certifications. If you can find a good master tech, keep and use him all the time, and when you go to that shop, REQUEST that he be the one working on it.

Oh, and never, ever get an oil change at Walmart no matter HOW bad you need one. (long story involving a ruined engine).

 

[Tony Laubach]

Get a friend or two who works on cars! They always save me a few bucks!

And collect coupons and get bundle deals. I can go to a shop get a trannie flush, oil change, alignment, tune-up, radiator flush, tire rotation, balance for about 25% late than the cost of those seperately... tack on a $20/off $100 or more and I do okay. Still expensive, but the bundle deals help!

 

[John Erwin]

You're off to a good start there Jason; I do my own work too and would recommend you try the same for anything you can do, it really saves you a LOT of money.

In addition to the items you have there, you might want to make sure you check the differential fluid level periodically (not sure what you have for a vehicle but you mentioned "truck"). If it's never been changed than now would be a good time to do it; make sure the proper fluid is used of course.

If you want to asses the effectiveness of your engine you can get a compression check done (also easy to do yourself); it will give a good picture on what kind of engine wear is occuring. Change your spark plugs at the same time, but before throwing the old ones away have a good look at them for engine "health" related signs.

Here's a few other items to check on the "off-season":

Tires
Brakes
Air-Filter(s)
Charging System/Battery
Exhaust

 

[Shawn Scovel]

Hi,

Something i havnt seen mentioned yet would also be spark plug wires. I work on a racecar so we usually change them when rotor and cap is changed (if they havnt been already burned in two by the exhaust). But new wires can help on things such as gas miliage and engine performance. Wires can also lessen the chance for detonation, which can be a deadly problem itself for the motor.

with my experience with vehicles you probably will never run out of things to do to them and i also do my own work since it's generally less rigerous to work on my personal vehicle rather than a race car (usually on a time crunch for some things). Anyway, just some more to think of

-Shawn

 

[James Hammett]

I concur... I've had bad spark plug wires result in some strange and hard to diagnose engine problems, even before they hit their usual replacement mileage. Such as when one wire was sparking out of a crack to the metal spark plug sleeve. Or when the ignition coil wire didn't conduct on rainy days.

Also, while you're dumping money into your vehicle, make sure you're logging the date and mileage for everything that was replaced/repaired/maintained. I sold my rusty crusty old '85 dodge caravan for well above blue book because of a pristine maintenance record available to show the buyer. I keep mine in a text file on my computer with other data such as mainintenance intervals, MPG records, wiper size, sparkplug type, transmission fluid type and capacity, antifreeze capacity, pressure specs for tires (including spare), and various torque specs for such things as lug nuts, valve cover nuts, spark plugs (very important with an aluminum headed engine!), valve locknuts, and oil plug

--
James Hammett

 

[fplowman]

Woahhhhh there nellie..

Replace the water pump? Are you crazy?

Now if we are to use that logic the pistons should be new along with the crankshaft.They have wear as well.

I have been working on my own cars since I was 16.. Out of all the cars I have owned.. maybe 10 +.. I have only had to replace 2 or 3 waterpumps.. and what a B&%ch they are.

Friendly advice from a shade tree mechanic.. Leave the waterpump alone until or unless its needed. Which more than likely will be never.. Something i noticed was the list of other things you had could all be completed for the same cash yopur throwing into a waterpump that still works fine..

The other things are good maintenance though..

+1 on the plug wires.. that should be easily done yourself.. do the wires one at a time so you dont get them mixed up...

Fred

 

[James Hammett]

I have been working on my own cars since I was 16.. Out of all the cars I have owned.. maybe 10 +.. I have only had to replace 2 or 3 waterpumps.. and what a B&%ch they are.

Depends on the vehicle I suppose...on hondas it's unwise NOT to replace the water pump when you replace the timing belt. The water pump itself only costs about $40 ( on www.hondaautomotiveparts.com and www.acuraautomotiveparts.org ) and you have to remove the same things from the engine to get to the water pump as you do to get to the timing belt. You can pretty much expect the bearings will start to go bad (squealing) after 100,000 miles.

 

[John Erwin]

Friendly advice from a shade tree mechanic.. Leave the waterpump alone until or unless its needed.

I was under the impression that he needed to change the water pump because of some problems he was having.. but I might have misread that.

The plug wires is a good addition to the list though; I usually change mine the same time as a cap/rotor change.

 

[fplowman]

Depends on the vehicle I suppose...on hondas it's unwise NOT to replace the water pump when you replace the timing belt. The water pump itself only costs about $40 ( on www.hondaautomotiveparts.com and www.acuraautomotiveparts.org ) and you have to remove the same things from the engine to get to the water pump as you do to get to the timing belt. You can pretty much expect the bearings will start to go bad (squealing) after 100,000 miles.

the head gasket only cost about 50$ should we repalce that too? Its not the cost of the waterpump thats the issue.. its the 3 + hours labor associated with it. Remove all belts pulleys, fan, more times than not the radiator to get to the waterpump and get it out.. they are a NIGHTMARE!..

And contrary to statement they dont just wear out at around 100k. I have 200 + k on Lincoln and the waterpump is just fine.. Same with other vehicles i have owned in the past.. several hundred thousand miles before waterpump issues arise..

Note* there is a check valve on most waterpumps that start dripping when the seals are bad on the bearings.. unless there is overheating issues not associated with thermostat or radiator, bearing noise, or seepage from this check valve then my recommendation that of course is only worth 2c is to leave it alone..

Fred

 

[James Hammett]

the head gasket only cost about 50$ should we repalce that too? Its not the cost of the waterpump thats the issue.. its the 3 + hours labor associated with it. Remove all belts pulleys, fan, more times than not the radiator to get to the waterpump and get it out.. they are a NIGHTMARE!..

I think you may have missed my point. If you replace the timing belt at 80,000 miles and the bearings go out on the water pump at 100,000, you've done the same $500 worth of labor twice. The timing belt drives the water pump on hondas and many other vehicles so if the bearings freeze up, it could cause the timing belt to slip enough to destroy your valves if you have an interference engine. It's not something you want to mess around with especially on a vehicle you expect to be reliable enough for chasing.

Again, it depends on the vehicle. On my father-in-law's lincoln, the water pump has nothing to do with the timing belt and is an absolute nightmare to replace. In which case I would wholeheartedly agree with you

 

[Jason Boggs]

I will be getting the water pump replaced when I get the timing belt replaced. It's common practice to change the pump out when doing a timing belt job anyway. I changed my plug wires out at 77,000 miles and just got through changing my spark plugs along with the cap and rotor. The clutch job is what's going to eat me up though....anywhere from 800-1000!

 

[James Hammett]

The clutch job is what's going to eat me up though....anywhere from 800-1000!

That seems high. If you haven't already, you may want to get another estimate or two to make sure.

 

[Jason Boggs]

I got 5 estimates and they were all in that ballpark figure.

 

[bill mudd]

Change your thermostat, change ALL fluids (including brake fluid flush)
replace the wires if they are @100k (or sooner)

DONT ever wait 100k for spark plug changes because they can cause the coil packs to fail early, and the cost to replace vrs fuel economy doesnt justfy the wait

Water pump/alternator by 100k - 120k would be a real safe bet (not manditory but safe)

New battery every 3 yrs
Good luck! (trans service every 30k)