Saturday, August 04, 2012

accordingly

After driving around quite a bit the last few weeks, I noticed some things with my car the warranted an inspection.  Notably, I heard some occasional squealing from the right side when braking and the occasional knock on rough roads coming from the suspension.

What I expected to discover:
I expected to find one of my rear calipers frozen and dead.  It's happened before.
I also expected to find some worn out bushing on the suspension on one of the wheels

What I actually discovered:
The rear brakes were functional and were wearing quite evenly.  Sweet.
The rear right rotor was warped by about 0.7mm.  The rotor has 90k miles on it, so I guess that's OK.  Nothing urgent.
One of the bushings on the rear left is cracked, but since I drive 3k miles a year, I don't really care (yet).
The rear left upper arm's seal is cracked. Since I don't drive much, I'll just wait for it to crack before replacing it.  I last replaced this 56k miles ago in 2006.  Lifetime warranty from AutoZone.
The front right brake was wearing uneven, but due to a misaligned shim that was getting in the way.  The caliper was still functioning smoothly.  Yay!
The front left caliper was a little stiff due to corrosion of the bolt.  Looks like it's time for the caliper bracket to be replaced.  I believe this is one of the few original brake parts still on the car.  206k miles, and it's due for a $40 replacement part.
The front right drive shaft bearing seal has started leaking gunk all over the place and needs to be replaced soon.  This was last replaced 26k miles ago and replacing it was a pain in the ass.

I expected to have to do quite a bit of work on the brake calipers, but it ended up being an easy job of just replacing the pads, at least for today.  I have a few other things to queue up for another weekend:
  1. *Regularly scheduled oil change
  2. Regularly scheduled coolant change and radiator cap
  3. *Front left caliper bracket
  4. *Front right driveshaft
  5. *Return front calipers
  6. Regularly scheduled brake fluid flush (although technically, it's scheduled for next year based on mileage)
*Things to do at the store.  Yes, this blog sometimes doubles as a shopping list.

1 comment:

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