DIY Minor Car Service

With spark plugs, dab a little copper grease on the thread before putting them in. Your future self will thank you.
 
oscarlets said:
Hmm scary. Plus I screw things tight. Last time I screw back the wheel I broke the trestle. I don't trust my hands.

But I suspect the trestle had a crack as I hit pothole one rainy day.
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Get yourself an entry level Torque wrench from a hardware store. I bought one that can tighten from 40nm upwards a few years ago from Midas for +-R450 and although it might not be spot on on the "claimed" figures, its still well within safety spec.

Oil & filters you can DIY pretty easily. Watch youtube tutorials, and be patient. And lastly, dont get under your car when its only on a jack. Buy yourself a set of ramps, or jack stands.
 
SauRoNZA said:
What I mean is a schedule that tells you exactly what needs to be checked/replaced when because it seems you are going into this quite blindly.
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Good point.

But that needs money. To diagnose what needs to be changed. I know for certain that the oil needs change. I had to buy pint at shell the other day as the oil was low.
 
Tman* said:
Get yourself an entry level Torque wrench from a hardware store. I bought one that can tighten from 40nm upwards a few years ago from Midas for +-R450 and although it might not be spot on on the "claimed" figures, its still well within safety spec.

Oil & filters you can DIY pretty easily. Watch youtube tutorials, and be patient. And lastly, dont get under your car when its only on a jack. Buy yourself a set of ramps, or jack stands.
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Thanks. Damn. I need to take the car to workshop. I don't have jack ramps. I was just going to jack the car. Go under, unscrew stuffs then screw back stuffs.

Sounds dangerous. No let me take it to mechanic.

Plus I need to change all 8 spark plugs if indeed there are hidden 4.
 
Claymore said:
With spark plugs, dab a little copper grease on the thread before putting them in. Your future self will thank you.
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Hmm I will ask about that grease at spare shop. Hmm this job sounds too technical for my liking.

When my mechanic used to do it, it looked simple. Yeses. It's not.

Need wrenches

Need copper greases

Need jack ramps
 
With the spark plugs you have to be very careful to tighten correctly to get the best performance - even with a torque wrench you need to be careful to hold it straight and apply force at the end.
If you have Iridium spark plugs on your Jazz they last over 120'000km btw....
Install them dry - I have not had any issues and know that I haven't done anything to affect the torque resistance.
see https://www.ngksparkplugs.com/about-ngk/spark-plug-101/5-things-you-should-know-about-spark-plugs
"Anti-seize compound can act as a lubricant altering torque values up to 20 percent, increasing the risk of spark plug thread breakage."


Instead of a ramp you can drive on to something solid - e.g. concrete slabs. You only need to lift about 20cm.
 
oscarlets said:
Hmm I will ask about that grease at spare shop. Hmm this job sounds too technical for my liking.

When my mechanic used to do it, it looked simple. Yeses. It's not.

Need wrenches

Need copper greases

Need jack ramps
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I've never had to put any grease on my spark plugs and they've never seized, put copper grease if you have it, if you don't its really not a big deal.
 
oscarlets said:
Thanks.

The internet says they are 8. I'm struggling to find tutorial that show changing all 8.

It looks like I'll take the car to super quick one last time.
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You have 4 at front along the intake and another four at the back along the exhaust, only for the 1.4 apparently. I have a friend who also changed the front four until it was shown to him that his has eight spark plugs.
 
Who the **** puts grease on spark plug threads. ****ing muppets.

What I mean, is if you are doing something like this, rather take your car to someone that knows what they are doing.
 
I'm not the best mechanic but I can assure you that the rear plugs are a bitch to change.
Copper slip on spark plug thread is not a bad idea. I do it on manifold nuts as well. Never had a problem when unscrewing.
 
stroller said:
I'm not the best mechanic but I can assure you that the rear plugs are a bitch to change.
Copper slip on spark plug thread is not a bad idea. I do it on manifold nuts as well. Never had a problem when unscrewing.
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Ja hey.

I will see if I can do it. Will try this Saturday.

So I have old spark plugs this way...hmm. I have been changing front 4 all along.
 
pinball wizard said:
Who the **** puts grease on spark plug threads. ****ing muppets.

What I mean, is if you are doing something like this, rather take your car to someone that knows what they are doing.
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True.

This time I will work with the person. Pass him tools as he does the job so next time it's me doing the JOB
 
thechamp said:
You have 4 at front along the intake and another four at the back along the exhaust, only for the 1.4 apparently. I have a friend who also changed the front four until it was shown to him that his has eight spark plugs.
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Wow. Thanks. Truth is the 1.4 sounds very special in all the Jazzes no wonder it's so fast even though it doesn't handle well when overtaking.
 
oscarlets said:
Good point.

But that needs money. To diagnose what needs to be changed. I know for certain that the oil needs change. I had to buy pint at shell the other day as the oil was low.
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Google doesn’t cost money...
 
Claymore said:
With spark plugs, dab a little copper grease on the thread before putting them in. Your future self will thank you.
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If torque’d correctly that shouldn’t be required.

Now if you said wheel nuts I could still understand it.
 
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