Car Almost Run Likes New.

[flalero]

Man, today was a busy day for me today at the auto hobby shop. I spent about four hours there today making things right. First, I replaced the rear brake rotors and pads. Then I changed my oil, changed the tranny fluid and filter, and finally, I flushed out the coolant system. All in all, everything was worth it. The temp gauge used to move just above half while sitting in traffic on a hot day. After all this, it didn't even budge past half way. Oh, the brakes are awesome now. With the RSM slotted rotors put on previously, Pep Boys replacement rears and Performance Friction brake pads all around, the car brakes like a whole different car. No vibration from warped rotors and no brake fade, that's awesome. All in all it was money well spent...Let's see, just how much did I spend on the things I did today?
Brake rotors-$60
Brake pads-$40
oil and filter-$12
tranny fluid and filter kit-$32
various costs at auto shop-$45

total-$189, far, far cheaper than I would have paid for someone to do it, and with the pride that you have knowing you did all the work yourself.

[bluephoAm]

Hell yea! :thumbsup:

[jackal2000]

i'll be doing my brakes this saturday. they need to be done before y road trip on sunday. it will be my first time doin them :unsure:

[jamcllw]

Disc brakes aren't hard at all just remember where everything went and it comes apart and goes together real easily. Disc brakes on the other hand can be a PITA at times. You got all kinds of springs and stuff. They can get frustrating.

[smokinAMD]

Originally posted by jamcllw@Aug 4 2004, 02:51 PM
Disc brakes aren't hard at all just remember where everything went and it comes apart and goes together real easily. Disc brakes on the other hand can be a PITA at times. You got all kinds of springs and stuff. They can get frustrating.
You mean drum brakes are a pain?

[flalero]

Yeah, I think that's what he means.

[mdodge]

Good prices. I've got the poweslotted rotors and with performance friction pads, and yeah...braking is a TON better. Glad I got 4 way disc. :thumbsup:

[-Alero-]

heh i have to put on my new X drilled and slotted rotors on and then put my ceramic pads on. the sensors on my brakes right now, are embarassing :( but i need the new brakes on for a trip to gatlinburg on staurday

[alerosport.com]

:offtopic: but have fun at gatlinburg!

[jamcllw]

Originally posted by smokinAMD+Aug 4 2004, 04:20 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (smokinAMD @ Aug 4 2004, 04:20 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-jamcllw@Aug 4 2004, 02:51 PM
Disc brakes aren't hard at all just remember where everything went and it comes apart and goes together real easily. Disc brakes on the other hand can be a PITA at times. You got all kinds of springs and stuff. They can get frustrating.
You mean drum brakes are a pain? [/b][/quote]
poop my fault yeah I meant to type drum brakes

[flalero]

four wheel discs are definitely a plus. I had rear drums on my GA, and they sucked.

[JMac'sAlero]

How hard was it to do the tranny fluid? cuz I've got the 3.4 and from what I've heard its better to get it done at a shop

[Redog]

Disc brakes are not hard. Really nothing to be scared of. Just be sure the car is well supported with jack stands.

Tranny fluid, go to the dealer. There is no plug, you have to take down the entire pan. Fluid everywhere :wacko:

[flalero]

The transmission fluid was no problem at all. I had the car up on a lift and put a drain pan underneath. You know, one of those floor standing ones that you raise and lower to the height of the car. I just slowly loosened each bolt until fluid started coming out of the pan. I would wait until the flow slowed and loosen some more bolts, wait for the flow to slow down, and so on, until I had the whole pan off . Be careful not to damage the rubber gasket. Carefully pry it off and clean it, then re-use it. Be careful when you pull down the filter, don't stand directly underneath it, you will get drenched. This happened to me. The installation is just the reverse, install the new filter, install the pan (make sure you have cleaned it thoroughly with a degreaser, and rinsed it off and then dried it.). When you tighten the bolts, go in a circle and tighten each one a little bit until all of them have been tightened. I used a speed handle for this. Then you add the fluid. I added the recommended seven quarts and then started the car. I then raised the lift so that I could get under the car while it was running. I opened the level check hole (which is on the right side of the tranny if you are facing the front of the car.). Fluid should barely drain out of the hole, for me, none came out, so I added another quart. I raised the car again and let the fluid drain out until there was no flow coming out. I plugged it back up and it was ready to roll.

I did all of this at the hobby shop on base, so if you don't have access to a lift, I would recommend taking it somewhere. The hobby shop also had a machine that you could use to flush out the entire transmission, lines, and torque converter. I did not know about this until after I was done doing it the hard way. It works in the same manner as a coolant flush machine.

[FormulaNERD]

i'm doin about the same tuneup this weekend at our auto craft center here on post... just gotta buy some pads

[|Rev|]

I just had my brakes done recently, the goodyear in town gave me bad pads, that got grooved, and grooved the rotors, so I had them re-do them, and do new pads, it was all for free. But now I have an insainly loud screech from my brakes, going in later to yell at them and to tell them to fix it :pissed: