I am fairly mechanically inclined and do minor repair work on my car,
referencing my service manual. I am getting tired shelling out $275+
for 15K and 30K scheduled maintenance intervals at the dealer, yet I
think they are important to keep my car in good shape (especially at
140K miles). In my area, there aren't too many reputable shops that do
the same for less. I would like to consider doing some of this on my
own. How many of you do these checks on your own? It seems like you
need to have the car on a lift to inspect the suspension etc. While the
service manual is helpfull, it would be nice to find a website of tips
and tricks to doing many of these tasks (what to look for when doing
inspections, etc). Thanks

 

In article <1112898566.480179.24760@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups. com>,
techman41973@yahoo.com wrote:

> I am fairly mechanically inclined and do minor repair work on my car,
> referencing my service manual. I am getting tired shelling out $275+
> for 15K and 30K scheduled maintenance intervals at the dealer,

You can, for all intents and purposes, skip the 15K service or do a few
things yourself. The 30K services are major--30K, 60K, 90K, 120K, etc.
Let someone else do those.

Everything's spelled out in the owner's manual.

 

Elmo P. Shagnasty <elmop@nastydesigns.com> wrote:
> In article <1112898566.480179.24760@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups. com>,
> techman41973@yahoo.com wrote:

>> I am fairly mechanically inclined and do minor repair work on my car,
>> referencing my service manual. I am getting tired shelling out $275+
>> for 15K and 30K scheduled maintenance intervals at the dealer,

> You can, for all intents and purposes, skip the 15K service or do a few
> things yourself. The 30K services are major--30K, 60K, 90K, 120K, etc.
> Let someone else do those.
> Everything's spelled out in the owner's manual.

I have a 1993 Accord with 141k miles that last saw a mechanic at 100k
miles when the timing belt was replaced and other miscellaneous work
was done (I did have the brakes done since then). The car just passed
an emission inspection by a wide margin.

If I brought my car in for a 'major' service, what would they do
to it exactly? Check valve clearance? Replace spark plugs?

Am I risking a catastrophic failure of some type by going more
than 30k miles without having a mechanic look under the hood?

The radiator hose and heater hose have failed and I've replaced
these myself.

Andrew

 

Andrew wrote:
> Elmo P. Shagnasty <elmop@nastydesigns.com> wrote:
>
>>In article <1112898566.480179.24760@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups. com>,
>> techman41973@yahoo.com wrote:
>
>
>>>I am fairly mechanically inclined and do minor repair work on my car,
>>>referencing my service manual. I am getting tired shelling out $275+
>>>for 15K and 30K scheduled maintenance intervals at the dealer,
>
>
>>You can, for all intents and purposes, skip the 15K service or do a few
>>things yourself. The 30K services are major--30K, 60K, 90K, 120K, etc.
>>Let someone else do those.
>>Everything's spelled out in the owner's manual.
>
>
> I have a 1993 Accord with 141k miles that last saw a mechanic at 100k
> miles when the timing belt was replaced and other miscellaneous work
> was done (I did have the brakes done since then). The car just passed
> an emission inspection by a wide margin.
>
> If I brought my car in for a 'major' service, what would they do
> to it exactly? Check valve clearance? Replace spark plugs?
>
> Am I risking a catastrophic failure of some type by going more
> than 30k miles without having a mechanic look under the hood?
>
> The radiator hose and heater hose have failed and I've replaced
> these myself.

might wanna do the plugs and air filter every 30k, depending. id do the
brake/clutch fluid, coolant every 30k/3 yrs as well.
>
> Andrew

 

techman41973@yahoo.com wrote:
>
> I am fairly mechanically inclined and do minor repair work on my car,
> referencing my service manual. I am getting tired shelling out $275+
> for 15K and 30K scheduled maintenance intervals at the dealer, yet I
> think they are important to keep my car in good shape (especially at
> 140K miles). In my area, there aren't too many reputable shops that do
> the same for less. I would like to consider doing some of this on my
> own. How many of you do these checks on your own? It seems like you
> need to have the car on a lift to inspect the suspension etc. While the
> service manual is helpfull, it would be nice to find a website of tips
> and tricks to doing many of these tasks (what to look for when doing
> inspections, etc). Thanks

The 15k service is not very hard, and certainly something I could do
myself. I still pay to have it done. I know that when I work on my car,
I am very motivated to not find anything wrong. Someone who stands to
gain from it is likely to point out to me anything they believe needs
work on the car. At that point I can say "Thank you" and do that work
myself.

--
================================================== =====
A very modest collection of Honda tech info can be found at:
http://www.geocities.com/ng_randolph

 

Your owner's manual does not list 30k service packages or 15 k service
packages. It lists things to be done at those mileage intervals and that is
what should be done. Your Honda dealer does not go by the book when doing
mileage maintenance items. They do their own thing and charge you lots of
money for shit you don't need.

Just go down the list in your owner's manual and write down the things you
want. Then call them and get a price for just those things.
<techman41973@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1112898566.480179.24760@o13g2000cwo.googlegro ups.com...
>I am fairly mechanically inclined and do minor repair work on my car,
> referencing my service manual. I am getting tired shelling out $275+
> for 15K and 30K scheduled maintenance intervals at the dealer, yet I
> think they are important to keep my car in good shape (especially at
> 140K miles). In my area, there aren't too many reputable shops that do
> the same for less. I would like to consider doing some of this on my
> own. How many of you do these checks on your own? It seems like you
> need to have the car on a lift to inspect the suspension etc. While the
> service manual is helpfull, it would be nice to find a website of tips
> and tricks to doing many of these tasks (what to look for when doing
> inspections, etc). Thanks
>

 

My car was dealer maintained for the first 3/4 of it's life and I've since
put a stop to it. So, it's been about 50,000km since the car has received
any preventative maintenance from the dealership. However, I've since
replace my air filter ($17.00) and got the guys, at the local performance
shop, to install new NGK platinum sparkplugs ($85.00). Also, I've extended
my oil change intervals to about every 20,000km. So, I've spent about $180
in the last 50,000km on maintenance and I'm still looking into ways of
reducing on the cost of driving. The car now has 230,000km and I can still
hit the 195km/hr speed limit with a passion.

BTW, Honda cars are very popular in Toronto and mechanic shops that
specialize in Honda's are a common occurrence.

For example:
For machining the rotor on the front brakes and replacing the pad, the
dealership wanted about $450. I got them to cancel the work and took it to
local mechanic who did it for $200 (using OEM pads).

Honda Dealership quoted me over $600 for a timing belt and water pump change
when I can get it done for $400 at one shop and know of another that'll do
it for $300.

Pars

<techman41973@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1112898566.480179.24760@o13g2000cwo.googlegro ups.com...
> I am fairly mechanically inclined and do minor repair work on my car,
> referencing my service manual. I am getting tired shelling out $275+
> for 15K and 30K scheduled maintenance intervals at the dealer, yet I
> think they are important to keep my car in good shape (especially at
> 140K miles). In my area, there aren't too many reputable shops that do
> the same for less. I would like to consider doing some of this on my
> own. How many of you do these checks on your own? It seems like you
> need to have the car on a lift to inspect the suspension etc. While the
> service manual is helpfull, it would be nice to find a website of tips
> and tricks to doing many of these tasks (what to look for when doing
> inspections, etc). Thanks
>

 

"halo2 guy" <somewhereovethe@rainbow.com> wrote in message
news:Jt2dnQ3PAcc9mcvfRVn-rQ@comcast.com...
> Your owner's manual does not list 30k service packages or 15 k service
> packages. It lists things to be done at those mileage intervals and that
> is what should be done. Your Honda dealer does not go by the book when
> doing mileage maintenance items. They do their own thing and charge you
> lots of money for shit you don't need.
>
> Just go down the list in your owner's manual and write down the things you
> want. Then call them and get a price for just those things.

Yes, and rest assured that the multitude of inspections listed in the
dealership package will be done as well to look for things that need fixing.
They just won't tell you they did the inspections unless they find something
they can make money off.

I've never had a car into the dealer for one of their ripoff packages. I
just look in the owner's manual maintenance schedule like halo2 guy says and
do what needs to be done, usually myself.

WW

> <techman41973@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:1112898566.480179.24760@o13g2000cwo.googlegro ups.com...
>>I am fairly mechanically inclined and do minor repair work on my car,
>> referencing my service manual. I am getting tired shelling out $275+
>> for 15K and 30K scheduled maintenance intervals at the dealer, yet I
>> think they are important to keep my car in good shape (especially at
>> 140K miles). In my area, there aren't too many reputable shops that do
>> the same for less. I would like to consider doing some of this on my
>> own. How many of you do these checks on your own? It seems like you
>> need to have the car on a lift to inspect the suspension etc. While the
>> service manual is helpfull, it would be nice to find a website of tips
>> and tricks to doing many of these tasks (what to look for when doing
>> inspections, etc). Thanks
>>
>
>