This is probably a stupid question but is there anything out there like a general newbies maintenance guide. My 99 sunfire GT is my first car and i want to make sure i can drive it for a while.
Pretty much you have to play it by ear. There isn't going to be a manual saying "this will happen and this wont" because you never know if your motor will go at 70,000 or 120,000.
As far as upgrades, just ask questions.
www.kronosperformance.com / 732-742-8837
Make sure you always change your oil on time and get it in for tune ups. If you think something is wrong, don't wait around, get it looked at! Waiting could worsen the problem.
Thats just my very basic advice that everyone knows, but I feel like helping...I tried.
Oh yeah, wash and wax it a lot.
• Change the oil ever 3,000 miles,
• Rotate the tires every other oil change
• If the brake pedal shakes when you're slowing down, your rotors (brakes) are probably warped & need replaced.
• Check your tire pressure more when the temperature outside changes.
• If you have a rattle/squeek that happens at slow speeds (like in a parking lot) that sounds like it's coming from right in front of the dash, it's probably the strut mount plate. Our cars seem to blow through these things like water.
• If your headlight icon on the dash flashes, you have a bulb out
• Follow the maintenance schedule in your owners manual for things such as tranny fluid & coolant flush & fills.
Those are the few basic things i can think of right now
I've followed what I've told you and my '99 GT is doing pretty well
Listen to your car when you first get it, for about the first week or two don't listen to the radio while you're driving, that way you can get used to the normal noises that your car makes, while you're doing this make sure to listen for things that just don't sound right to let you know if there is anything wrong right now. Every once in a while turn down the stereo and listen to the vehicle to make sure everrything still sounds good. It's the little sounds that you catch early that can save you hundreds in maintenance down the road.
Yella02-I promise I will return to you in one piece and this will stay up until I am safely home
Hey starrgrrl, I am having the strut mount plate rattle on the right handside of my dash at slow speeds. What does the part look like? I need to go to the junkyard and get a new one but I'm not sure what it looks like exactly.. Thanks!
FuGiTiVe,
If i remember correctly, the part wasn't that expensive. Since they tend to wear out on our cars pretty frequently, I'd recommend just buying a new one. It's pretty hard to see anything that's wrong with a bad one, from my experience there's just a slight wave in the rubber which is next to impossible to see.
I saw that you have a '99, as do I, which makes it kind of tricky... they changed the set-up in '99. From what I understand, some '99 models have the '95-'99 set-up, others, like mine have the '00+ set-up. I don't remember which years are which way, but one of them is a 1-piece, the other is a 2-piece. I wish i could remember, but it's been a while. I'm sure if you do a search on here you can find something about it. Kernol helped in changing 2 of mine, maybe he can remember something as well.
The part is located at the top of your spring, you need spring compressors to change it. It's the part that the spring sets into at the top. If you are up for changing it, I'd have another car handy so you can take yours apart to see which style you have before you go get the part. Good luck!
Hey thanks alot. I'll save that for a boring weekend
yeah basically changing the strut mount isnt hard...
the years for the mounts are 95-99 and 01+...so whatever year you got, you get the appropriate mount...
if you need instructions on how to change the mount lemme know.
Derek1986, email me at NauticaC@gmail.com It couldn't hurt to have some instructions to go by. I've never done anything with suspension before. Thanks
