LOW CLASS CUSTOMZ - Draggin You Down To Our Level

The Story of Low Class Customz....

Officially formed in 2005, we are a Hamilton Ontario based Car and Truck Club, with 11 members, dozens of affiliates, and almost 600 forum users.

The club was started by a few friends that loved to cruise, have fun, and help each other build sweet rides. Although the group has grown over the years, that idea still remains today.

It could be crusing to the beach, going to local shows, hanging out at Crabby Joes, or playing beer pong at Vanfest, if there is good times, and cool rides, LCC will be there.

The Way Back Play Backs

This month on Tips from the Shop Floor, I am going to touch on the basics and fundamentals of general car care. Now I won’t be able to touch on absolutely every aspect, because it would take almost as long to do as Rob's Body drop. Instead, I will touch mainly on your vehicles fluid systems.

A lot of time I see people blind to what they are driving around. Really clueless to what is happening underneath their feet. It is rightfully so. Some of us may know a lot about cars, and some of us probably think that we know a lot about cars. Truthfully so, most of the population is clueless to the basic operation and maintenance of a vehicle. One of my favorite lines here at the shop is "Well my care is well taken care of...I do oil changes every 5,000km". With only that philosophy in hand, you are guaranteed to go through brake lines, power steering racks, transmissions, and head gasket. There is a lot more to maintaining a vehicle then just oil changes.

Of course oil changes are what everyone knows about or at least we hope know about. They should be performed on a 4 month or 5,000km interval on the dot. A lot of today’s newer cars have oil monitoring systems that monitor oil level and oil life. Now you can trust these systems, but that is totally up to the consumer. I have seen quit a few of these high tech oil system take a shit, without the customer being aware. Often what will happen is that oil life light is always on, or it will never come on. Now with it never coming on, obviously this proposes a question on when was the last oil change done, and how is the current condition of my oil. Personally I don’t trust these systems. I see them go over 15,000km before alarming the need of an oil change, with oil black as night. I am aware that the manufacture suggests using these systems, but the oil manufactures themselves do not. They just tend to be too unreliable.

Now as far as oil viscosities and oil types go the sky is endless. A few major types are your basic viscosities 5w30, 5w20, and 10w30. Many other types are out there, but for most vehicles on the road these fit the bill. I suggest consulting with your owners manual to see what recommended viscosities of oil is used for your engine. Now from these viscosities, you have variances on purposes. Synthetics and High Mileage oils are the most popular. Synthetics are most commonly used in higher performance, or higher stress situations because they provide better protection against breakdown of the engine oil, in turn, protecting your engines vitals. High Mileage engine oil has cleaning properties and seal conditioning properties for engines over 100,000km. These properties assist in the long life of your engine.

Now with all these talks of oils, I’m sure everyone could use a little incite into what the whole 5w30 or 10w30 numbers really mean. Let’s use 5w30 as an example for this. The 5 in the equation means that the oil has a weight of 5 in cold weather. The 30 is the viscosity of the oil in warm temperature. The W in there actually means winter, not Weight. It is commonly misunderstood that the W stands for Weight, but however, it does mean winter. With this information we can say that the 5w30 engine oil has a viscosity of 5 in colder weather (no specific temperature) and a viscosity of 30 in warmer temperatures at 100 degree’s Celsius. As far as what exactly does the viscosity of 5 mean, I cannot tell you. It is rated on the scale that the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) has created for ranking oils. Plain and simple, run what your owners manual tells you to!!!

It is also a good idea to get a good Oil system cleaning done every 30,000km to remove sediment and build up from improper intervals, or cheap oils.

Power Steering, Transmission, Brakes, and Cooling system all have there own specific fluids that have indicators of when to be changed, or suggest intervals to live by. When someone says that they take care of there car very well, and do all proper maintenance, to me, that means all these fluids are checked and changed on the suggest intervals. Often I find this isn’t the case. Again, these fluids are just as important or more important then your engine oil. Frequent Flushes on these systems will save you huge dollars down the line...here is why.

Power Steering Fluid and Brake Fluid Should be changed on a basis of 60,000km or every 3 years on average. By keeping to this standard, you will be ensured that your fluid has not been used past its expected life. The reason for changing out these fluids on a basic maintenance plan is to save you money. Power Steering Fluid and Brake Fluid are Hydroscopic. This meaning that it actually can absorb water (moisture) through the lines and mix with the fluid. It doesn’t not act like Oil, which will not fuse with water. With a capability of doing so, you can see the risk of having water logged fluid in a car not only for performance, but it will rot lines, power steering pumps and rack seals, and brake lines which will be a lot more expensive then a $70 or $80 Flush.

Transmission flushed should also been done on the same maintenance schedule of 60,000km or 3 years. Transmission fluid is the most expensive to change out of the 4, but is also the most expensive repair if not done. Transmission fluid breaks down over time and use from its high heat inside the transmission and from frequent stopping and starting. Transmission fluid is red in nature, and comes as a basic ATF (Automatic Transmission Fluid). Different fluid types and modifiers can be purchased to reach the desired ATF for your vehicle. Always check to make sure you are adding the correct type of ATF, failure to do so WILL cause transmission problems.

When your ATF starts to turn color (deeper red, light brown, dark brown, black) is a clear indicator that it is time to be changed out. The #1 killer of Transmissions is heat. When fluid changes color it is because it is being burnt, which in turns means, you guessed it, HEAT! I suggest getting an actual transmission flush, instead of a transmission service. Reason being is that a transmission service only removes a few liters out of the tranny pan, apposed to a full 10-14 liters that the transmission has throughout the torque converter, lines, and channels. Now I am sure someone is saying “what about the trans filter?” Well, in fact, transmission filters are meant to be serviced. By flushing the system properly, it cleans the filter, and will not be required for replacement.

You must be careful however, if your transmission fluid is extremely dark in color from neglect, I would suggest leaving a sleeping dog lay. By flushing out a transmission that has seen extremely neglect and heat, you can put the nail in the coffin. The old burnt fluid actually starts to build up on the clutch packs and create hard deposits. By flushing the system out, and removing these deposits, you free the clutches of these build ups. Where the problem lays is that commonly after the transmission flush the car will drive and shift great for a few hundred kilometers, shifting smooth as butter. All will be great until it grenades from extreme slipping. The deposits that build on the clutches actually work as a friction base for the transmission, and once remove, will loosen up the transmission to the point of failure. So if this is you, start saving your pennies and befriend a transmission shop owner!

Coolant is also a very important liquid that requires frequent attention. There are a few different properties to coolant, but the two you must be most aware of are the acidic levels and temperature strength it holds. Acidic levels in coolant must be checked with tester strips, as a basic suck up tester will only tell you the Temperature level it will hold to. When coolant turns acidic, it literally eat it’s was from the inside out. It will eat your head and intake gasket like a fat kind on candy. Devouring your wallet in the process. Temperature level of coolant can be tested with a basic tester, notifying you of its freezing properties. Coolant should test to an easy -45 degree's Celsius, to ensure a trouble free winter. The last thing you need is a broken Radiator tanks thanks to coolant freezing inside. Take notice too stick to the same 60,000km or 3 year schedule for changing your engines coolant.

Well, that was almost as boring to write as it was to Read I would imagine. But in all honesty, this is some very important basic information that EVERYONE should know about. Quit often we get caught up in the hustle of moddin our rides, that we forget about the basic maintenance on them because were too busy moddin them, or fixing our mods.

Now go check your dipsticks and reservoirs and service records for when your fluids were last changed...and get crackin before your heads and transmissions do!

Brandon

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