'87IROCZOWNER69

iTrader: (1)

Since I still haven't learned how to change my oil I took my car into get the oil changed at a reputable dealership with a pretty good shop. Oil change is done in an hour and the guy hands me the paperwork along with a little sheet for the free inspection. I look at it and there is alot of red (Failed tasks) and yellow (cautioned tasks). Here is what was on the report:

RED (FAILED TASKS)
Fuel filter in need of replacement
Found power steering fluid leak
Found worn out sway bar bushings
Found leak at steering box
Found pitman arm worn/loose
Found worn out left outer tie-rod end
Found right front wheel bearing to be noisy/worn/loose

YELLOW (CAUTIONED TASKS)
Found coolant to be in poor condition/cantaminated (I knew about this as the overflow tank was filled with nasty brown stuff from PO living on farm. Just tonight I replaced the coolant bottle becasue the fluid in the radiator was green so after I drive it we will see what needs to be done)
Measure right/left rear tire depth: 4/32" will need tires soon
Found both rear tires abnormally worn
Found automatic transmission fluid seep

So....this sounds bad and most of it is suspension stuff. Questions...What brands of each part should I get? Where should I get them (I would rather buy stuff from a store)? How much work would it be to fix the parts? I would like to do the fuel filter and transmission my self (change out gasket and filter and fluid) but I'm not sure on the other stuff...does anyone have any pointers for me?

all4u

Suspension, Moog, no question about that. Fuel filter, Wix or NAPA Gold (which is also made by Wix) Both brands of Moog and Wix is at Oreilly's auto parts. Tires, go to tire rack or try finding what sales are going on at Sears. Save money and buy your **** from Oreillys and Tirerack. There is no point going to Autozone, yes, same lifetime warranty but that doesn't do squat if you have to replace the parts every year and you can't do it yourself. Mind you, getting an alignment all the time will cost a chunk of change.

Flush your own coolant and fill with Peak antifreeze from Walmart or Sam's club (same company) and save some cash.

As far as the wheel bearing, I would go with a National Bearing, also made by moog, not sure if Oreilly's has it but they do carry the Moog line quite a bit.

As far as the trans, get some opinions on that. I'd go get a filter from the stealership and do the filter change yourself and top off the fluid. Don't flush if you haven't done it before. Varnish could be holding the trans together.

'87IROCZOWNER69

iTrader: (1)

On a scale of 1-10 for 1 being easiest and 10 being the hardest could you rate all these tasks? I figured suspension would be hardest but I think some parts like sway bar bushings could be done by me along with the rest of the stuff but at the moment I cant find my Chilton manual so I wont be able to look anything up for a while.

I am kind of worried about doing the trans myself because it is original to the car with no rebuild (which has 158K) and at the moment it shifts fine but the fluid color is getting iffy. So should I take it in and if it were to fall apart on them then I would be safe?

Just trying to figure stuff out before I blow alot of cash on thses things by taking it to a dealership.

Base91

iTrader: (1)

Buy a Chilton's manual for your car. It'll show you how to do most of that. And don't be scared driving the car. It's all normal older car stuff. Fix it up as you can.

InfernalVortex

iTrader: (4)

Just old car stuff.

I dont see anything truly serious on there... just a lot of minor things that need attention.

In order of importance, I would put the wheel bearing ahead of all the others, then the leaks, then the steering parts. Those steering parts just wear out over time but if the car feels okay when you're driving it as far as the steering goes, you can tackle that when you can handle it. The steering stuff is the hardest just cuz it's all such a PITA to get apart.

The wheel bearing is annoying since you'll have to take apart the brake system to get to it, but that's the one thing on the list I would get fixed asap. Not hard but you'll need a friend or someone who knows how to do it to walk you through it. It was one of the first things I did to my car when I brought it home the first time 4 years ago. I didnt even have my own jack yet at the time. It could be a great learning/bonding experience for you and the car... Or it could make you hate it... LOL. Just depends.

JamesC

iTrader: (5)

The pitman arm is a non-wear item, so unless it has somehow been damaged, it should be fine. I'd suggest a front suspension rebuild--hey, if the parts haven't been replaced along the way, they're 20+ years old.

JamesC

stroken85z

bearing first no doubt, i did mine first week i had it with new rotors and pads.you can do this yourself read the manual and then check youtube gotta be a vid of this on there

'87IROCZOWNER69

iTrader: (1)

I just found my chilton manual in a box in my closet so I will take a look at that on how to fix the stuff. I'm gonna work on flushing my cooling system tomorrow because I dont have alot of time to work on other bigger stuff tomorrow. I will have to work on the wheel bearing on Tuesday and make a stop O'Reillys to see if they carry the bearing or not (I'll try and do that tonight).

As a side note where are the drain plugs and knock sensor located on my 87 350 engine? According to Chilton I have to pull those out to be able to flush everything out and then run warm water into the system and let the engine warm up and drain it until the water is clear and then once again fill the car up with coolant. Is there anything anyone would like to add or does this sound alright?

Andrew James

iTrader: (3)

I use to live in Omaha, NE... Maybe you saw my red and white Ford Bronco? Would be the loudest truck in Omaha... How old are you? Oil change is pretty dead simple and that Chiltons is invaluable. Don't trust the stealership, they are changing your oil so they know they can talk more money out of you with the inspection...

InfernalVortex

iTrader: (4)

That's the "proper" way to do it. I wouldn't bother. To "flush" it I would just disconnect the lower radiator hose and turn the water pump by hand. Fill it up with water again, run it for a minute, repeat. Then I would just refill with fresh coolant/water mix. You want to do a complete flush, then yeah you'll need to pull the plugs in the block, but I dont think that's really necessary most of the time.

The knock sensor is in the drain plug bolt hole on one side, and the other side just has a bolt. GM used the old drain plug bolt as a location for their knock sensors (You think they were expecting electronic fuel injection in the 50s?). So they will be in the same place, just opposite sides.



Count the 4th head bolt from the left or the 2nd exhaust port from the left, and look straight down, above the oil pan - there's your plug/knock sensor.

antoine

I was a tech at a Chevy dealership for 10 years and when it got slow t hey would have a 27 point inspection with a oil change they would fined a lot if stuff to up sale to the customer that did not need it,I would get another inspection to see if that's really wrong with the car.

'87IROCZOWNER69

iTrader: (1)

I understand what you're saying thats why I'm gonna do my best to go through all the things they said are wrong and inspect them myself by hand (remove the part ,check for wear, etc). For example the whole cooling system flush is a need to be done sort of thing because I can see that the stuff isnt as green as it should be and it is making my engine bay stink a little bit. I also need to do the fuel filter because I did everything else on the tune-up list and skipped the fuel filter.

RBob

iTrader: (1)

This is normal for our cars, no need to worry about it....

RBob.