winter maintenance Options

[RedHardSupra]

The snow is here, big wheels are in the basement, and car is generally doing nothing.
So I decided to 'get on it' early this year and fix whatever is necessary.
What would be good to redo/replace on a 99 ls1 A4 with 77k miles on it?
the few obvious ones are:
spark plugs
mounts
bushings
wires
fluids

what else?

[pknowles]

If the bushings are original then at least do the front lower control arms. I trashed mine after 23K miles. I change my fluids after winter (trans fluid, power streeing, and brake fluid).

[Teutonic Speedra...]

In addition to the fluids, I'd do fuel filter, and pcv valve. I'd also clean the throttle body, battery posts, etc.

[PF Flyer]

... when doing the A4, flush the entire system, don't just drop the pan and change the filter.

[RedHardSupra]

I don't know if that helps, but this is the list of things that are going in soon:
LS6 intake
Trackbird's LCA's
Alcon 13" brakes
probably some gauges
probably new bumpstops (thank you frrax for 11page education on small pieces of rubber!)

So far we had some great suggestions, but as a pimp says to a ho, keep 'em comin'! (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/cool.gif)

[RedHardSupra]

anything else?

[bigshoe]

I plan on doing similar stuff to my car this offseason, most importantly a cam upgrade (TR224).

I'm also going with the ls6 intake, and i'm doing the ls1 to ls6 PCV conversion, it might cost more money than its worth, but since i'm in there, i'm doing it anyways, here is a kick ass guide http://www.ls1howto.com/index.php?article=...4b84b77cf98f1c9

What mods do you have done to your car?

I'm also installing a LS2 timing chain, they are around 30 bucks, and beefier than the ls1 chain, direct swap that uses the same gears.

also, i know my 98 has a history of oil pump failures, i don't know about your car, but i'm also upgrading to an ls6 oil pump. there are alot of fbody places that sell ported, polished, shimmed ls6 oil pumps out there for like $150, i didnt opt for that, figured the ls6 pump will work good for the money for me.

at the moment i cant think of much else, but oil pump and timing chain are pretty much cheap insurance imo, especially for my car which will have a bigger cam in it.

while your in there, check out your belts, and how often do you flush your coolant and ps fluid? i''m sure you'll flush your brake fluid with your new brakes.

Miki

[RedHardSupra]

Care to expand more about the PCV ls1->ls6 conversion? I heard it's a cheap valve that likes to fail, and I'm very interested in such 'cheap insurance' items.

I already got a ported LS6 oil pump, works GREAT, get it if you don't have it yet.
I also have the double roller, adjustable heat treated timing chain, so that should be enough insurance.
PS system been broken/fixed/broken again about 3 times in the past 3 weeks, courtesy of a weak hose and 'hell ain't freezing over at Chicago' weather. $200 and 3 ft of brand spanking new shiny Aeroquip hose later, all is well.

Fluids maintenance I'm religous on, but one thing I'm still unsure of: car's got 78k miles and been run on 'dinosaur' oil, how safe is it to change to synth at this point?

[bigshoe]

copied from the ls1howto article i linked above:

Many LS1 owners are faced with a few issues. There's the oil pumps that randomly die, the rod bolts that randomly break, roller rockers that randomly lose their bearings, and the oil consumption issue that seems to haunt some and not others. The oil consumption issue seems to be one of the most common issues on all LS1's out there, and this is due to the way the stock PCV (Positive Crankcase Ventilation) system is setup.

A PCV system is designed to force any positive crankcase pressure into the intake manifold, rather than continue allowing the engine to build up pressure inside. The LS1 system just happens to force oil along with the air as well, so GM seemed to take a stab at fixing the issue with the LS6 system. The LS6 setup pulls the pressure not from the valve cover, but from the VALLEY cover. This is the cover that resides under the intake manifold, and sits between the 2 cylinder heads.

In this writeup, I'll show you what all is needed to convert your LS1 over to the new LS6 style PCV setup. We will do this all for about $65 in parts (or $120+ if you buy the LS6 pcv hose rather than constructing one yourself as I show below).

NOTE: You must have the 2001+ style coolant vent tube as well for the LS6 valley cover to fit! All 2001+ LS1's will have this, and any LS1's that have upgraded to the "LS6 manifold" and pipes will also have the new coolant vent tube.


anyways, the new ls6 system doesnt allow as much oil to get passed through into the intake like the ls1 system allows. I see on the other sites like ls1tech.com that guys are using these AMW catch cans to catch oil also, i havent looked into that much, I only plan on doing the ls6 swap since i'll be in there, i don't particularly care for cutting the block in my application, but it doesnt appear to be that much of a problem. I don't know if this is considered cheap insurance much, just keeps from suckign your oil into the intake, alot of people seem to complain about oil consumption, this fixed it for some, i have it too, but i don't remember it being that bad, my car usually has 6 qts of oil in it.

about the type of oil you use, i cant really answer that, but i got sick of paying for the synthetic oil, i recently switched to dino oil myself, not sure if i'll go back or not, but 20$ just for oil every month or two gets old

as far as any other wear stuff, i havent done anything else, and nothing comes to mind,

Miki

[RedHardSupra]

I already have a Greddy oil catch can, so is the PVC conversion something still worthwhile?