Well, I took the car into the local shop today to diagonse the whining noise I was getting for several seconds upon acceleration from a full stop.
The mechanic took the car for a test drive, and said that it was probably the brakes. (
, told my dad that it needed to be done 20K ago but he hasn't listened 'till now
)
Put the car onto the lift, took the tires and wheels off, and the front brake pads were bare!
Rear ones had less than 1 mm on them…
(I kept 2 of the front brake pads and all 4 pieces of the rears, maybe I’ll take some pics and post ‘em)
Luckily, the rotors were still serviceable so I didn’t have to spring for new rotors.
He ordered new parts from AutoZone (arrived within 15 mins), and installed “Duralast Gold” brake pads on the front and rear brakes. Surprisingly, although both the front and rear pads were $29.99 each w/lifetime warranty (mechanic charged me $50), the fronts were ceramic and rears were not…a later call to Autozone confirmed that no ceramics were available for the rear pads under this brand/line-up???
Anyways, in addition to servicing the rotors and installing new pads, I asked him about the brake fluid. He claimed that special tools were needed to bleed the system and that I shouldn’t worry about it (yeah right I’ll be doing that this Friday
); and I also asked him about the transmission filter that he didn’t change last time. He said the part was probably unavaliable at the time, and next time, I should buy the part and take it to him.
Lastly, we checked the ATF (he checked it with the engine off, said a little overfill was no problem) and he said it was 1 qt low. So he added for me, at no charge, 1 qt of Coastal Dexron-III(H)/Mercon to top it off.
Total bill was $200, parts and labor included.
Now, everything seems to be working well…but I’ll still have to change the brake fluid.
The mechanic took the car for a test drive, and said that it was probably the brakes. (
Put the car onto the lift, took the tires and wheels off, and the front brake pads were bare!
Rear ones had less than 1 mm on them…
(I kept 2 of the front brake pads and all 4 pieces of the rears, maybe I’ll take some pics and post ‘em)
Luckily, the rotors were still serviceable so I didn’t have to spring for new rotors.
He ordered new parts from AutoZone (arrived within 15 mins), and installed “Duralast Gold” brake pads on the front and rear brakes. Surprisingly, although both the front and rear pads were $29.99 each w/lifetime warranty (mechanic charged me $50), the fronts were ceramic and rears were not…a later call to Autozone confirmed that no ceramics were available for the rear pads under this brand/line-up???
Anyways, in addition to servicing the rotors and installing new pads, I asked him about the brake fluid. He claimed that special tools were needed to bleed the system and that I shouldn’t worry about it (yeah right I’ll be doing that this Friday
Lastly, we checked the ATF (he checked it with the engine off, said a little overfill was no problem) and he said it was 1 qt low. So he added for me, at no charge, 1 qt of Coastal Dexron-III(H)/Mercon to top it off.
Total bill was $200, parts and labor included.
Now, everything seems to be working well…but I’ll still have to change the brake fluid.