7 years old... maintenance time

[bluebsh]

Well my car hit 67k miles... guess it's time to do some maintenence...

* This winter the serpentine belt squealed on start up a bit, but only on start up and when cold outside... when do you suggest it gets replaced?

* Coolant is ready to be flushed and replaced

* AC isn't blowing that cold anymore, but it's still cold, time to have the refrigerant levels professionally checked? (i don't have gauges to do it myself)

* Transmission fluid was already flushed and changed at 55K

* Brake fluid was flushed and changed at 50K

* Does steering fluid ever need flushed and changed?

* When do you replace the wires and plugs? better yet, what type of plugs came stock? Iridium? I haven't had them changed yet and they are original

anything I am forgetting to check or do?

[Sven the Sexman]

Well my car hit 67k miles... guess it's time to do some maintenence...

* This winter the serpentine belt squealed on start up a bit, but only on start up and when cold outside... when do you suggest it gets replaced?

* Coolant is ready to be flushed and replaced

* AC isn't blowing that cold anymore, but it's still cold, time to have the refrigerant levels professionally checked? (i don't have gauges to do it myself)

* Transmission fluid was already flushed and changed at 55K

* Brake fluid was flushed and changed at 50K

* Does steering fluid ever need flushed and changed?

* When do you replace the wires and plugs? better yet, what type of plugs came stock? Iridium? I haven't had them changed yet and they are original

anything I am forgetting to check or do?

I love the fact that you're trying to do preventative maintenance to the car. Belt and idler/tensioner pulleys should probably be replaced for squealing. You can buy a can of R134a with the silly little gauge and recharge the system yourself. Power steering fluid is probably due for a change...pull off the return line from the pump and shove it in a bucket, cap port where you took off return line...start car...dump new fluid in while pump circulates old fluid out. It'll happen quick so have an extra set of hands dumping fluid in while you watch it come out until it's clean.

[Bronco Boy]

* This winter the serpentine belt squealed on start up a bit, but only on start up and when cold outside... when do you suggest it gets replaced?

When it starts to squeal, so now.

* Does steering fluid ever need flushed and changed?

If it is dirty, yes.

* When do you replace the wires and plugs? better yet, what type of plugs came stock? Iridium?

Not sure on the intervals, but I changed mine when I got the car; used Delco wires and Delco platinum plugs. I think GM might say they are good for 100,000 miles?

[bluebsh]

the belt has not squealed since it warmed up outside... hopefully has a tiny bit more life on it, might get that done towards the end of summer... right now the two big ones are coolant and AC levels..

Not sure the steering fluid looks dirty seems clear to me, they might of changed it when they replaced the rack a couple years ago (every GP I've had, has had a steering rack leak.... I don't get my luck with that one)

Wires for me are original, since I bought the car basically new at the end of the production year run... so probably time to do that... not to hard to do yourself I assume minus the odd position for the back three plugs and wires and snaking down to them

[bobc455]

Tires? Some sidewalls start to show cracking around 7 years old, even if there is tread left.

I like to replace struts at 80K miles, 100K tops (especially the rears). But look to see if there are any leaks or rust along the struts.

How's your battery? 7 years will be toward the end of life for most batteries, but you probably won't have to replace until winter.

[stocker]

I bought a new idler pulley only to find my original was still butter smooth. Take the belt off and spin the tensioner pulley by hand - if it sounds and feels smooth, I wouldn't replace it yet. Also, my serpentine belt looked fine when I replaced it at about 90k, not sure if I should have replaced it or not.

Way to go with preventative maintenance

[SpringfieldGT]

Coolant change would definitely be my next item. You'll get a better flush if you remove the thermostat. I replaced with a Stant superstat when I did mine. Really easy as the housing uses a rubber gasket. A regular flush will get most of the gunk out, but your heater needs attention, too. I used the Prestone flush T and the water went the way of least resistance - didn't flush the heater core that well. When I disconnected both hoses and just flushed the heater, I had more gunk than the rest of the system combined. If you replace with anything other than Dexcool, make sure the water is really running clear.

You won't notice a difference with new plugs and wires if your car is running OK; so I wouldn't spend that money/time at 67k.

You just changed your trans fluid 12k ago; did you change the filter? My dealer recommends changing the filter at the first flush, round 60k, and just fluid changes after that.

[bluebsh]

Tires? Some sidewalls start to show cracking around 7 years old, even if there is tread left.

I like to replace struts at 80K miles, 100K tops (especially the rears). But look to see if there are any leaks or rust along the struts.

How's your battery? 7 years will be toward the end of life for most batteries, but you probably won't have to replace until winter.

ah I forgot those in my list...tires are 1yr old, battery is 2 yrs old

probably time for front struts also... the front drivers side makes a popping noise when I go over bumps.... rear struts were replaced 2 yrs ago... someone rear ended me, cause no damage to the bumper or anything (which was amazing considering her car was totaled!, I was at a stop waiting for a car to turn and she wasn't looking and ran right into me at 35 MPH, bumper had a scratch and some spider web paint cracks on my car...) but it pushed my tail pipe up and caused my rear suspension to get bent... insurance thankfully paid to have all the bars, mounts and struts replaced with the new exhaust all the way to the cat...

[bluebsh]

I actually don't know if the filter was changed, I had the tran flush done by a dealer... it was some package deal.. ugh now you have me wondering ha...

[Fivefingerdeathpunch]

Stock plugs are Ac delco 41-101's, they are Iridiums, and I would run nothing else on a stock vehicle.

I wouldn't even worry about the trans filter, wait untill you need to change the fluid again. I bet it's still plenty clean and not gonig to a cause of concern.

Look into the sway bar links first before you jump to new struts for the clunk problem. If the noise is happens when you evenly hit like a speed bump or something, then a strut mount can be more likely because you arent twisting the sway bar and allowing that you make a noise.

[bluebsh]

Stock plugs are Ac delco 41-101's, they are Iridiums, and I would run nothing else on a stock vehicle.

I wouldn't even worry about the trans filter, wait untill you need to change the fluid again. I bet it's still plenty clean and not gonig to a cause of concern.

Look into the sway bar links first before you jump to new struts for the clunk problem. If the noise is happens when you evenly hit like a speed bump or something, then a strut mount can be more likely because you arent twisting the sway bar and allowing that you make a noise.

Yeah I already replaced the sway links no help, but they were worn... and the sway bar got replaced also, it was starting to crack near the linkage point...

how hard is it to change a strut mount? definitely something I've never done before... or just take it to a local shop?

[bluebsh]

well AC recharge and coolant flush tomorrow... one more thing off the list

[bluebsh]

well go figure I do all the maintenance on the car, two days later the car wont start.....

zero fuel pressure... had it towed to get the tank dropped at a shop they went to push it onto the lift tried to start it and it started right up.... ugh... had them replace the pump anyways something happened that it wouldn't start for an entire day with zero pressure... the pump wouldn't even prime, just dead silent