Casa Maintenance

**lancer_97** · February 23rd, 2004 01:36 PM

Hello,

Am just wonderin if I do still need to bring my car to the "casa" for a tune up? My car is a mitsu 97 glxi ,, and I heard that distributorless engines like mine do not need any special tweaks but only a change on spark plugs and oil will do. Because of this, the last time I have my car brought to the nearest mitsu dealer for a tune up was 4 years ago, I've been doing the change of spark plugs myself. Anyway, please enlighten me on this eventhough there seems no problem with my engine up to now except for the low idle (750 to 800 rpm) when aircon is on.

Thanks and more power.

**OTEP** · February 23rd, 2004 03:57 PM

May mga ibang bagay din naman na ginagalaw during routine maintenance. I'm not particulary sure about your vehicle's maintenance schedule.

You don't really have to bring it to the casa. As long as you have a list of what needs to be done and when they need to be done, any competent mechanic can do it for you.

Or better yet, do them yourself if you have the time. :D

**wildthing** · February 24th, 2004 12:23 AM

the routine things that needs to be replaced or adjusted are on the manual....there is a portion there that specifies "the things to be done" on every check-up period (which is usually every 5,000km run or 3 months whichever comes first).

Your low idle when air-con is on could be an indication that the idler-up mechanism (which could be just a vaccum-activated) needs some check-up. A good mechanic or a car air-con technician should be able to diagnose this problem.

If you want to DIY it, you'll need to determine where this device is located (sorry I don't know much on your exact car - but some peeps here might know where it is) and check if there is a "leaK" on the tubes (if it is vaccum activated) or if it is electronic (it usually works like an electro-magnet) so check if the wires are ok (dirty connectors could be a culprit).

Some leak could be just because the tubings are old and crack.

**ian_rex** · February 24th, 2004 08:42 AM

you know, cars today are engineered to be withstand long maintenance intervals. of course, that was on extreme cases lang din. your car will do fine naman given the fact that you change your oil and other consumables on the right time (like spark plugs). ako the last time na ipina-tune-up ko yung honda civic was 3 years ago. nagpalit ako ng timing belt. pero the rest, DIY lang. mahal din kasi sa "casa" e. as for the problem with your a/c, we have the same problem which reminds me to check on it this weekend.

**mazdamazda** · February 24th, 2004 10:13 AM

i suggest that you still bring it to the casa / mitsu specialist every 10K...

that's what i've been doing with my mazda, i take care of the usual oil, spark plug, filter change and leave the rest up to them. for our cars, they have this computerized engine diagnostic machine - that's better than your seat of the pants feeling about your car's condition.

plus, car maintenance isn't just contained to a change of spark plugs and engine oil. there are also things like coolant, battery fluid level, brake bads & fluids, suspension, etc...

**lancer_97** · February 24th, 2004 10:50 AM

Thanks guys ,, really needed your opinion on this. Actually I really brought my car to the "casa" from 1997 to 2000, didn't miss a single routine checkup until I finally decided to do it myself due to ,, you know ,, tight budget. My car have already run 166,000 KM to date, have my last "casa" checkup and maintenance when it was 80,000 KM :D . I guess I needed another change of timing belt, the pulley and all those stuff related to 160,000 KM maintenance checkup.

**johnart** · February 24th, 2004 01:56 PM

sir I also own a lancer 97 a/t since 15k km I dont bring it to the casa anymore. But its a matter of preference. If you do it outside it will be cheaper. But the only difference is if you dont know who can fix it or what parts needs to be fixed. Then its better that you leave it with the casa, but not entirely they may be wrong sometimes in diagnosis. But if you are very knowledgeable in maintaining your car then there is nothing wrong in having your lancer done outside. BTW my lancer's mileage is at 45k km I am shocked to hear that yours is at 166k 8)

**lancer_97** · February 24th, 2004 11:17 PM

Yup , its true , my lancer's km reading is already above 161,000 Km :D . Btw, sorry for my ignorance but may I ask if do you recommend having the tune up done by those electronic tune up on big gasoline stations like Shell ? They have those electronic equipment but I do remember having seen them tune up only those vehicles w/ distributor, wherein they connect those wires to your 4 high tension wires, etc, whereas ours have only 2 high tension wires.