Arrived and installed today:



AFE drop-in air filter

However, I ordered and paid for 2 pieces but only 1 arrived. Upon checking, only 1 piece was invoiced for the price of 2. Ugh!

Lesson: don't assume correctness; check thoroughly.

 

As the title implied I replaced the strut links for my daughter's Fit. Got a knocking sound from the front end and with 196,000 miles on the Fit I knew I needed to replace something. I have already the two front CV axles after the driver side axle decided to snap in two when the Previous Owner decided to give it some beans. Since the driver axle snapped I figure it was only a matter of time before the passenger side will also let go.

Anyway back to the struts. I used a 5mm hex socket and a 14mm wrench to try and get the nut off, but the rust was keeping me from that. In the end, I used a pair of vise grip to hold the ball joint from spinning while I used my cordless impact to spin the nut off. This worked like a charm. Got the nut off in less than 15 seconds. I did the same for the other nuts and replaced the struts with new MOOG struts which had a grease fitting. Lower the car and went for a test drive and the front end was nice and quiet. Now I need to replace the shocks at the back of the car. This FREE car is starting to cost me money.

 

Sway bar links are like $30 & shocks are around $100 for a pair.

Woe is you for sure, what a large expense.

 

Changed the brake fluid. We bought the car used; I'm figuring that the old fluid had 40,000 Miles on it.



40,000 Mile Brake Fluid

 

Wow that is some really nasty brake fluid. I bet it has a load of water in it. Good on you for doing that change alco. Few people change brake fluid. They just don't see the need. Every two years for this guy.

 

You bring up an interesting point ashchuckton, as I knew a gearhead friend who said that he never changes his brake fluid. Ever. I don't get it. It takes a little time, but the fluid is ridiculously inexpensive and if it averts ABS trouble or stops the car sooner in an emergency, the work pays for itself a hundred times over.

I showed the bottle in the photo to my young driver to illustrate the importance of maintenance and also offered the caution that brake fluid is an excellent paint remover.

 

Try to race with old brake fluid and you'll know in a couple of laps that it isn't OK and that brake fluid degrades over time...


It's a minimum to replace it every 3 years in a road car. Come on, it's the brakes! It's important!

 

Agree about the race car brake fluid - we change it every race weekend at minimum, and more typically change it once every day at the track.

I replaced the brake fluid last week on our 2011 Sport w/94k miles, the fluid was dark, but not as bad as pictured above. The difference in pedal feel is substantial - it is so much more firm and direct. Ran nearly 2 pints through the system so we got a great bleed and fill.

 

is this whats needed? i thought i read 1 pint will cover a GE flush...otherwise i guess im buying another bottle of fluid for my upcoming brake job...

 

1 pint would likely have been just enough for one complete bleed, but I went back around a 2nd time just to make sure all the fluid was clean, no air bubbles, etc. Used about 26 oz or so.

 

cool, thanks for the quick reply!

i thought i had read one will be just enough...so i went overkill n bought Motul fluid. buying a large bottle of less expensive fluid... and doing a double bleed as u did probably would have made more sense though. i was wondering if my fluid has ever been changed as i recently acquired the car with about 55,000 miles and was unsure of its service history. my fluid is brownish colored...definitely not as dark as the one posted above (in the reservoir anyways) so Im guessing mine was previously changed at some point.

hopefully i have enough with my 1 bottle, otherwise i guess its not a huge deal...ill just have to order another bottle and do another bleed.

 

You haven't lived till you've tried to stop fast with boiled brake fluid. It's an experience that I had as a young dumb pup & I'll never forget it. YIKES! Thank goodness I was able to make the corner & hobble to the side of the road to let my brakes cool. Now it is every two years for me. When I raced & did track days it was done before every track weekend.

 

 

NASTY!!



I couldn't find a mate to help me replace brake fluid; used a hose and an old syringe to suck it out. Worked like a charm.

 

Ye olde brake fluid




Dixcel ES brake pads

Installed.

 

Swapped out my A/C button... again.

Technically, it had "failed" a long time ago, but it was only to the point where switch wasn't working in the normal position. I got around that by wedging a chunk of folded up paper on one side to get the contacts to... well, contact.

Eventually, the illumination LED (when you switch on the headlights) had burnt out so I couldn't see the A/C button at night, not that it mattered since I never turn it off. It's probably because I never turn it off, that the contacts got that way.

Then this past week or so, the "its ON" LED finally gave out and I decided it was time for a new switch. If nothing else, I'm tired of seeing the chunk of paper.

The first switch probably failed for the same reason, being on ALL the time.

I also took out the microphone and voice activation button for an older aftermarket stereo (Kenwood DNX8890HD) and plugged in the new microphone that came with a new stereo (Kenwood DNX995s). I did this because the old microphone was magnetically held onto a piece of magnet after I had ruined the double sided tape. Since the new one had fresh tape, I used it.

Edit: apparently, the illumination LED for the rear defrost is also burnt out. Not gonna bother with that one for a while. I’ll check it later to see if it actually works. I have until winter to swap that one.

In addition, I found out my stock muffler has a tiny crack on the end seam. The only reason I know is because it was dripping water (I assume it’s water) before the end tip, and that got me looking for the source.

 

I think I pulled about the same volume as you per my orange juice bottle photo. I'm sure I wasted fresh fluid, but like you, I'm now assured that all is super clean and the diluted darkness of what I pulled out shows how ugly things were.

Speaking of the importance of clean brake fluid, my mother drives a '00 Honda CR-V that had awful old brake fluid and a brake fluid level sensor that would intermittently light and falsely indicate the fluid was low. After its brake fluid was replaced a few months ago, the intermittent indication went away and hasn't appeared since. The water and gunk in the fluid no doubt messed with the contacts in the sensor.

(Off topic, but her car is in demand. It happens often that when my mother, my brothers or I drive the car, strangers will ask if we're interested in selling it. We're not. It's been a bulletproof li'l machine.)

 

Did some inspecting for a bizarre squealing metal on metal noise coming from the front passenger side wheel. At first, it sounded like my brake pad had gone bad, but the brakes and handling were normal. Then, I checked the struts, joints, and other connections up front. Couldn't find a cause. Then, the noise went away and everything is normal. Weird.

 

If you're getting noise while braking it's usually one of two things.

Brake wear indicator when the pads are low. If its this, then the noise usually goes away after the piece of metal for the indicator breaks away (either way, time for new brakes). You need to open up the caliper and fully inspect all the pads, because they can wear unevenly... making them look thick from the outside, but gone on the inside.

Or brake pad vibration. It sounds like squealing but it's the backing plate vibrating against the caliper piston.