[Motard_Blr]

Originally Posted by Leoshashi

...

Spark plug tightening torque is also 12Nm IIRC. I usually do it with my torque wrench. When I don't have a wrench, I hand tighten it till the plug becomes snug, and then give it less than quarter of a turn. That's where 12Nm usually is.

Regards,
Shashi

PS: Please correct me if I am doing something wrong

New sparkplugs have a crush washer for sealing so my practice is to finger tighten them and then add a 1/4 turn. For used sparkplugs, I add only 1/8 turn after finger tightening.

This, I learnt years ago after I stripped the threads on a scooter cylinder head and had to have them re-tapped. After this incident and a scolding from my father (his scooter!), I started to be systematic and learn more about the machine at hand before I jumped in with tools.

[karthikd21]

Originally Posted by ashwinprakas

[*]Get under the car, place a pan below the oil sump and crack the drain bolt and let the oil drain onto the pan.

Thanks for this whole useful DIY! I have one question, however. What was done to dispose the old oil?

[ashwinprakas]

Originally Posted by kiranknair

Is it also good to change other fluids like Brake Fluid too at the same time, because that is what the service centres do. If that is the case, are the steps involved same?

To change the brake fluid you would need to have access to the bleeder nut, and for that you need to have the respective tire off. Though I've never bled the brakes of a car I guess its a 2 man job unless you have a lot of time to spare and a dumbbell or something just as heavy.

Originally Posted by karthikd21

Thanks for this whole useful DIY! I have one question, however. What was done to dispose the old oil?

Collected by scrap collector.

Originally Posted by Motard_Blr

New sparkplugs have a crush washer for sealing so my practice is to finger tighten them and then add a 1/4 turn. For used sparkplugs, I add only 1/8 turn after finger tightening.

This, I learnt years ago after I stripped the threads on a scooter cylinder head and had to have them re-tapped. After this incident and a scolding from my father (his scooter!), I started to be systematic and learn more about the machine at hand before I jumped in with tools.

I have a thumb rule when it comes to nuts and bolts in the event of not having a service manual available.

For nuts/bolts that are sizes 10 and below I tighten with 3 fingers, the thumb, index and second finger.

For nuts/bolts from sizes 11 to 18 I use all 5 fingers but would not form a fist.

For 19 and above, I grab the spanner forming a fist and tighten till it stops making sure not to put body weight into the equation.

Have busted a lot of threads to know better myself, so if nothing I always take a short stroll if things start to get frustrating.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by ashwinprakas

To change the brake fluid you would need to have access to the bleeder nut, and for that you need to have the respective tire off. Though I've never bled the brakes of a car I guess its a 2 man job unless you have a lot of time to spare and a dumbbell or something just as heavy.

:

Get an Easybleed or similar and it becomes a one man job.

https://youtu.be/Lz8t6ZkVSQM

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by ashwinprakas

To change the brake fluid you would need to have access to the bleeder nut, and for that you need to have the respective tire off. Though I've never bled the brakes of a car I guess its a 2 man job unless you have a lot of time to spare...

Sir, please check the below videos for brake bleeding exercise (DIY).

Hope to make a one person brake bleeder under $5

Hope to do a complete brake flush and bleed

[R2D2]

One more way to bleed brakes is the gravity bleed method. You don't need anything fancy. But just to be on the safe side construct a fluid bottle with a 9-10mm OD and 5mm ID transparent hose attached. It will catch all the old fluid which is highly corrosive and not good for the environment. Some DIY people just let the fluid drip on the ground or floor which is IMHO careless.

Gravity bleed method

Keep a hawk's eye on the MC reservour.

I am going to do a brake pad replacement on my car (all 4 wheels) with new rear rotors as an experiment with aftermarket Bosch pads and rotors. This may require bleeding of fluid either through the bleeder valves and/or use a syringe to remove excess fluid from the reservoir. A fluid flush was done by the ASC in Jan '18.

If car has ABS, as most modern ones do, one needs to be careful and never let air enter the system by letting the fluid level drop too low in the MC reservoir. Purging the ABS actuator of air bubbles requires a service device available only at the ASC.

[ashwinprakas]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Get an Easybleed or similar and it becomes a one man job.

Indeed it does, but the hardware looks expensive and hard to source in India, which got me searching for the same on Alixpress and I stumbled upon this;



It's a one way bleeder valve seemed interesting but then again like the Easybleed it got me thinking about any complications I might encounter and that's when I got to realize there was still possibility of air to get in with the valve.

Plus frankly the technique @a4anurag suggested spiked my curiosity especially since it was practically free.

Originally Posted by a4anurag

Sir, please check the below videos for brake bleeding exercise (DIY).

Would give this a shot on my upcoming fluid change, though I dip one end of the tube in fluid I never knew that I could keep pumping the lever/pedal.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by R2D2

One more way to bleed brakes is the gravity bleed method. You don't need anything fancy. But just to be on the safe side construct a fluid bottle with a 9-10mm OD and 5mm ID transparent hose attached. It will catch all the old fluid which is highly corrosive and not good for the environment. Some DIY people just let the fluid drip on the ground or floor which is IMHO careless.

Keep a hawk's eye on the MC reservour.

I am going to do a brake pad replacement on my car (all 4 wheels) with new rear rotors as an experiment with aftermarket Bosch pads and rotors. This may require bleeding of fluid either through the bleeder valves and/or use a syringe to remove excess fluid from the reservoir. A fluid flush was done by the ASC in Jan '18.

If car has ABS, as most modern ones do, one needs to be careful and never let air enter the system by letting the fluid level drop too low in the MC reservoir. Purging the ABS actuator of air bubbles requires a service device available only at the ASC.

Never actually thought gravity would work well, though curious about air bubbled trapped as the rate of flow is weak, in my P220's calipers after the initial gush the fluid flows at a very slow rate. Which causes me to think if the process is actually effective since brake fluid is hygroscopic.

Also a bit OT, regarding zip-tag'ing motorcycle brake levers overnight, should the master cylinder cap be left open? In which case I find the procedure to be counter productive, in my case I just zip-tie overnight and release the following day all while the master cylinder remains sealed. Results have been good but I'm still uncertain whether I'm doing it right.

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by ashwinprakas

Never actually thought gravity would work well, though curious about air bubbled trapped as the rate of flow is weak, in my P220's calipers after the initial gush the fluid flows at a very slow rate. Which causes me to think if the process is actually effective since brake fluid is hygroscopic.

Gravity bleeding takes time as the fluid just dribbles out. Frankly since you are getting rid of the old fluid first there's no issue. I would recommend doing this during the dry season only.

Speaking for myself, I'll prefer to bleed the brakes using the single (can also be done using a fluid bottle as described earlier..check YT for helpful videos) or the standard 2 person method. It is faster and more thorough in my opinion as old fluid is being forced out the entire system and you save time.

Also a bit OT, regarding zip-tag'ing motorcycle brake levers overnight, should the master cylinder cap be left open? In which case I find the procedure to be counter productive, in my case I just zip-tie overnight and release the following day all while the master cylinder remains sealed. Results have been good but I'm still uncertain whether I'm doing it right.

You can keep the cap on the reservoir but do not tighten it down. This will prevent the ingress of any dust or foreign object into the reservoir which to me is a minor disaster in the making especially if that object goes into the MC. Just leave enough space for air o normalise any vacuum that forms.

[Jeroen]

I am not a big fan on the old two persons method where one pumps the brake pedal, especially on older cars.

The master brake cilinder will wear over time and any small particles will start to collect towards the end of the stroke. If you ever get your hand on an old master brake cilinder check the lining. Very often you can feel and sometimes see a distinct little rigde near the edge of the cilinder.

As you push the brake pedal in to push new fresh oil into the cylinder and system you effectively push the pistion and its seal across this little ridge until pressure starts to build.

It can damage/wear the piston seal. Some brake cilinders are more prone to this effect than others. You won't see any immediate problems but I have experienced first hand a faulty brake master cilinder within a few thousand kilometers of a brake fluid flush or purging.

That's why a like to pressurize the system. Better yet, but considerable more expensive. Use a vacuumsystem on the brake bleed valve!!

When I take my classic cars for long tours across Europe the Eazybleed set comes along. Works for hydraulic clutches as well! Although you dont have as described above as the clutch is always depressed right to the bottom of the pedal travel, not like your brake pedal.

Jeroen

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

I am not a big fan on the old two persons method where one pumps the brake pedal, especially on older cars.

You have a good point there and something I am keenly aware of but didn't mention it in the earlier post.

The solution I believe would be to keep a brick or wooden block under the pedal to prevent it from being depressed right down to the floor board.

Power bleeders and vacuum pumps for e.g the Mityvac aren't available here as of now and most brakes are bled manually. The exceptions are probably in case of luxury marques where garages generally have the latest equipment to perform a service in the most efficient, safe and timely manner. Other Asian car makes like Toyota/Honda/Hyundai et al are probably bled manually and with a special service tool (SST) for models with ABS.

I got my car's brake fluid flushed this January but wasn't very sure if they used the special service tool to open the ABS actuator valves. But I do know they used the 2 person method to perform this service.

My next DIY tool purchase will be a vacuum bleeder

[SDee]

Awesome... very good. Kudos..

Two questions:

1. Will this impact your warranty just in case you happen to be within the warranty timeline?
2. What is the expiry on an engine oil if there is any?

[ashwinprakas]

Originally Posted by SDee

Awesome... very good. Kudos..

Two questions:

1. Will this impact your warranty just in case you happen to be within the warranty timeline?
2. What is the expiry on an engine oil if there is any?

1. Changing your own oil won't void the warranty, but not changing your oil at the SVC will, unless you can convince them that you prefer doing your own maintenance.

2. For cars the recommended period is usually 6 ~ 12 months, though not having covered much miles blow by from low distance runs do considerably contaminate the oil hence it would be best to change oil as per manufacturers recommendation or personal preference if you know better.

[R2D2]

Originally Posted by SDee

Two questions: 1. Will this impact your warranty just in case you happen to be within the warranty timeline?

All services and fluid replacements during the warranty period MUST be carried out by authorised service centres and the payment receipts retained as proof should the need arise for a warranty claim. Read your car warranty statement for details.

Thing is, Indian customers have very little protection under the consumer law and it is best to play safe against the manufacturer ducking warranty claims.

Do not carry out any fluid replacements yourself unless specified in the owners manual as a maintenance activity that can be performed by the owner.

2. What is the expiry on an engine oil if there is any?

As long as the oil can is stored in a dry cool place with the factory seal intact there will be no problem. I have used engines oils that were manufactured 1-2 years before purchase without issues.

[HONESTabdul]

Originally Posted by ashwinprakas

Hey guys, so happened to change my mom's car's engine oil and thought I'd make a DIY post about it

I am going to change the oil in my brother's car by myself. Got all the tools necessary. Car is a waggy f10d. But manual says engine oil capacity is 3.7 litre. All products that match specifications come in 3.5 litre packs. And I don't think 1 liter packs are available for these grades. What to do? Please help.

[saket77]

Originally Posted by HONESTabdul

I am going to change the oil in my brother's car by myself. Got all the tools necessary. Car is a waggy f10d. But manual says engine oil capacity is 3.7 litre. All products that match specifications come in 3.5 litre packs. And I don't think 1 liter packs are available for these grades. What to do? Please help.

1 liter packs for engine oil are available. I bought 3.5L + 1L pack for my cousin's car last week. Grade 5W/30. Brand was AC Delco. Cost: 3.5L = Rs 1243/- & 1L = Rs. 365/-