75,000km servicing

wanted to do a minor checkup through Riverview's standard servicing package at $160, so they can help me identify any stuff that needs changing at 80,000km. I was more interested in the fan belt and rear brake pads check, the rest were alright... so i thought.

The candidate for this round

on reaching there, told Vincent i brought my own Redline oil, he jokingly said should use his oil. As cheeky as he was (and myself), i proclaimed my interest in trying different oils and specified that i could skip the engine bay and car wash. So instead of the standard package, he just charged me the oil filter + standard checks for $38, brake checks for $27 and a surcharge $15 for bringing my own oil. This is perfect alright, because i'm rather impressed by their mechanic's technical skills during the first visit.

then the checks started at 1.30pm, and ended at nearly 5pm. Reasons being...

1. Drain plug out of stock. The aluminum plug become thinner after few rounds of engine oil change. Sourced from their partners, still don't have. Small problem actually, the mechanic Ang used white tape to prevent leaks.

2. Rear brake pads worn out. One was finishing, the other just finished. So got it changed, and surprised that they used OWS Quit Squeal on the brake pads when taking them out. No additional charge.

3. Tyre damaged, discovered during rotation. The inner sidewall of one of my Falken ZE522s started to tear in 4 spots. According to them (and 2 more tyre shops) it's a explosion risk. Changed to a brand new set of Yokohama S.drive at Chen Jin Trading. More on this later...

4. Too much gap on NGK Iridium sparkies. Ang offered to re-gap for me, but i declined - no more Iridium plugs that cost $80-150 for me. Asked for a set of copper plugs, only $22.

The iridium plugs from NGK, Huat Lee charged me $85 1 year ago


Too big a gap...

5. Coolant filled incorrectly. I remember from the 70,000km servicing it was done at the tyre shop at AMK Ave 1. My reserve coolant tank was empty, and the main tank was still not full. Apparently it needs to be drained via vacuum, otherwise it's not properly done. That tyre shop overfilled my engine oil too, so i've learnt a great deal - never use a tyre shop for servicing.

6. Other checks - third brake light bulb burnt, they charged me $3. Quite alright, but should have told them i'll switch to LED one. And they checked the spare tyre too.

the trip to RV cost me $180, which wasn't expensive considering the extensive checks and change of sparkies and brake pads.

the tyres cost me $145 each, with unlimited free rotation and balancing at their Serangoon and Woodlands branch. Learnt something from this shop as well - the tyre shop i went to did their tyre balancing on the outer side only, not the inner side. Scary stories ....

S.Drive

thinking aloud

have been a while since i posted anything here, been somewhat busy after clearing my leave.

i just read a facebook update that my buddy alerted me. Felt rather angry upon reading it. I must say it's her right to post whatever she likes, so i'll keep my comments right here.

even if there was no good ending from a previous chapter with my friend, i would rather she kept her mouth shut and not risk hurting the feelings of her ex. Does making that comment online on her facebook make her a superior mortal cum lover than before? I guess it does.

on the same note, i hope the guy who dumped another friend of mine can be kinder on his words. Not going to mention names here...

some lessons to learn from car grooming...

shall compile some important lessons gained from own muscle grease...

1. change of microfibre cloth occasionally. How to know it's time to change? Compare a MF cloth brand new hanging on the shelf in Autobacs or Homefix, and yours. If the cloth is coarse and has lots of large particles stuck in between, better not risk creating swirl or scratch marks on the paintwork.

This also explains why you shouldn't use tissue to wipe off dirt...

of course, i always advocate not using sponge, especially used ones, on the paintwork. It's a big no-no.

2. rinse before shampoo. Some of us do it to our skin, hair, etc - same principle; get rid of the dirt before using soap. For cars, it prevents dirt from clogging up the microfibre cloth, making it more lasting.

There is a difference between 1st and 2nd/3rd bottle. The first strips wax.

3. claybar, polish, seal, wax. My major cleanup every 2-3 months involves all 4, or skip polishing in between. An excellent article by Meguiars is here.

my claybar: soft99 077 metallic ($19)
my polish: Autoglym Super Resin Polish, red label ($30)
my sealant: Autoglym Enhanced Gloss Protection, yellow label ($25)
my wax: Meguiars Ultimate Quik Wax ($19)
my cloth: Mr Clean Wax on/off cloth, pack of 3 ($3/pack)

The tools

most of these items, except the soft99 claybar, can be bought from Autobacs, Homefix or NTUC AMK. Costs about $100, which is about the cost of a single session of grooming by professionals. But this $100 can last you a year at least!

now to the technical side:

the claybar removes all the odd large particles that got stuck over time. Some say it also removes the sealant, and a non-waxing shampoo will remove previously coated wax. I believe in the latter but not really the former... but still use the claybar.

heard that polishing actually removes a layer of the clear coat, so i only do it when necessary. Such as paintwork getting dull, some stubborn spots like the ones caused by tyre gel.

a good sealant is self explanatory, it protects the raw layer of paint after polishing. So far, i'm finishing my bottle Autoglym gloss protection sealant, and will be moving on to Meguiars #21 Synthetic Sealant 2.0 next year.

to top all the hard work off, wax is required. In fact for lazy people, you can skip everything above BUT not wax. Singapore's weather is hot and wet and there are bird waste and tree sap, which will cause big problems with the paintwork if there's no wax to take the first blow from these elements.

there are various forms of wax available, from paste wax (longest lasting) to liquid wax (less lasting) to spray wax (least lasting). I converted from liquid to spray recently, because it's just too tiring after the polishing and sealing rounds. Although it wears off easily, i can easily respray on a weekly basis. It's so simple that i go around recommending friends to use them.

4. quick detailer. I'm still trying out this product. It claims itself as the missing link between washing and waxing.

5. foam vs silicon/gel tyre shine. I have not tried any foam based shine yet, only Meguiars Insane Tyre Shine (petroleum based) and Endurance Tyre Gel (silicon based). I prefer the petroleum based, because it didn't blacken my fender area. And the blackened parts can only be polished off. Beware...

other kinds of solutions i use

1st ICT - 7 to 9 dec

my buddies have already completed 3 high keys and this is only my 1st low key, not even high key! SIAN!

anyway this ICT was meant for IHL peeps, so i met all the nice people that are studying in NTU, NUS. A small number of us are finished with studies, so we'll join the gang for a major exercise in 2011.

over the 3 days our DyS3 briefed us on the training programme and some expected events for next year and year after. In 2010 the division will be occupied with SYOG, so no military callups except for range in Sept. There's also mob manning in Mar/Apr, which they claim high possibility of activation. In 2011 there will be a major exercise.

other stuff, there was ippt and healthy lifestyle run. Plus a CO conference where we got to interact with all the key appointment holders. But my company's OC and CSM went off early... so never got to talk to them personally about my appointment. Hopefully there are no hiccups with it...

polishing...

just done a 5 hour marathon on the car, the usual polishing, sealing, waxing and quick detailing. The bottle of Autoglym sealant is almost used up, time for a new one. And also the dashboard protectant and a set of microfibre cloths...

Shine #1


Shine #2


Organised mess


Side indicator


Sometimes when one is too itchy handed... it's not so good - broken clip


Direction indicator - big bulb!


My colleague should put his 9288 beside this...

70,000km servicing

i realised i'm servicing the car much quickly compared to normal schedule. To be exact, every 3 months. With my new implementation of servicing every 8,000km, actually there's quite a bit of cost. For simplicity, i round up the numbers instead of saying 58,900km, 67,000km... etc.

the last servicing at 60,000km was really dull, simply change of engine oil and transmission fluid. Used up 4 quarts of Amsoil 5W-30, with 1 quart still lying around at home. The transmission fluid is Honda ATF-Z1, to prevent incompatibility issues. Will be doing the tranmission again at around 80,000km.

this 70,000km, i changed the choice of engine oil yet again. This time, OWS NA racing oil, thinner at around 5W-20. Plus, change of coolant and front brake pads, which i used original Honda Type II coolant and OEM Nissin pads from the Honda stockist Thian Seng. The left front pad was fully used up, thank god this was discovered early...

Packaged just like normal cooking oil...


Direct replacement, no need to mix with distilled water...

the only problem out of this servicing - the engine oil seemed to be overfilled! When the engine was warm, the dipstick still showed oil at the max indicator! Need to drain off some of it...


the next 80,000km will be a nightmare, since it's a major servicing point. Reminder for me...
- tyres (inspect)
- rear brake pads (inspect)
- transmission fluid (change)
- brake fluid (change)
- spark plugs (inspect)

gonna be broke...

my birthday

many wishes from people in facebook and some through sms! Thank you all!

she did much small stuff...

1. mee sua with shredded egg and mushroom
2. a slice of cake
3. wrapped 2x t-shirts
4. 2 boxes of jellies, 1 big bear!

i'm looking forward to a BBQ or steamboat...!

Cookiess


The munchies she got from home


BIG BEAR HUG!

some thoughts...

this year of the ox, there are some major events.

- decided to get a car (and get some rather big financial burden in the process)
- graduated from school

many of my colleagues, ex and current wondered how these 2 can be possible, especially when the car came before graduation. This is a problem that is slowly manifesting itself. It constricts my personal development, because i'm not so willing to switch to a perhaps more rewarding career yet pays less. Due to the current job, i don't have quality time to spend with my loved ones, let alone going for language and career related courses to increase my value.

there's much money if i claim over time and mileage, but somehow this path don't seem to be a wise one.

maybe i'm a thinker, i think forward and imagine consequences. Yet i made the above decision without much thinking...

there must be some sacrifices made...it seems. Some advise from people who walked this path or not is appreciated.