Car tune ups

[sketchyt]

I want to take my 95 Tercel in for a tune-up before the snow falls. My car is so awful and stressful to drive in the winter I actually sweat when I drive. Plus, my driver side suspension has been making funny noises.

What should a tune-up involve?

The place I usually take it into said they replace the sparkplugs, wires, filters, some rotor, etc...

They quoted me about 2-2.5 hours + parts. It didn't seem like they were doing a whole lot.

Should they be doing more? Is there anything else I should ask about without burning a hole in my wallet?

As you can see, my knowledge of cars is limited solely to removing and replacing the gas cap. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

You can save yourself a lot of money by simply doing a lot of that stuff yourself. You can do the plugs/wires/filters pretty easily without much mechanical knowledge. Some of the more complicated stuff you may not want to tackle yet, but no use spending money for the stuff that can be accomplised with just a ratchet and a little elbow grease.

[BlackArcher101]

I agree. Do you have any friends/family that has worked on their own vehicle before? If so, it may be worth a case of beer to them and that way you save a lot of money. I just did a recent tune-up on mine which involved plugs, wires, gas/air/oil filter, oil change to lower weight, and tire change (summer to winter). Didn't take more than 4 hours.

[sketchyt]

Originally posted by Bring_Back_Shantz@Oct 14 2005, 02:07 PM
You can save yourself a lot of money by simply doing a lot of that stuff yourself. You can do the plugs/wires/filters pretty easily without much mechanical knowledge. Some of the more complicated stuff you may not want to tackle yet, but no use spending money for the stuff that can be accomplised with just a ratchet and a little elbow grease.

Good to know, thanks...

What are some examples of the complicated stuff that I should get someone else to do?

[FireInTheHole]

Originally posted by sketchyt@Oct 14 2005, 03:21 PM
What are some examples of the complicated stuff that I should get someone else to do?

Probably anything that hasn't already been mentioned.

You can also get a book (from Canadian Tire) that goes into detail about how to do different things on your car - it covers pretty much everything. Can't remember the name of the books - I used to get them years ago when I drove older cars and had to do the maintenance myself (or coerse friends to do the work for me).

[BlackArcher101]

Originally posted by FireInTheHole@Oct 14 2005, 03:35 PM
Probably anything that hasn't already been mentioned.

You can also get a book (from Canadian Tire) that goes into detail about how to do different things on your car - it covers pretty much everything. Can't remember the name of the books - I used to get them years ago when I drove older cars and had to do the maintenance myself (or coerse friends to do the work for me).

Another good point. They are called Haynes manuals. Canadian Tire will have them by their parts counter and they are focused for the do-it-yourself'er. They focus on the basics from oil changes, spark plugs, tire rotation to taking apart the engine. And it has pictures to boot! You'll pick on up for your specific car/year. It's worth the investment.

[jam26]

How often are tune-ups necessary?

[ken0042]

Originally posted by jam26@Oct 14 2005, 08:57 PM
How often are tune-ups necessary?

Every 20,000 to 160,000 km.

Seriously, there's a number of factors in play. Age of vehicle, type of fuel delivery system, type of park plugs, etc. Best thing is to check your owner's manual.

[ricosuave]

i know an ex toyota mechanic who does work on the side

fair, and reasonably priced.

pm me for details