funcrusher

A "new" 06 330 with 133k miles. I want her perfect under the hood before I start cleaning up the body and adding a system. I'm going to use all oem parts except for the brakes and wipers lol. Anything else I should go ahead and replace while I'm doing all of this?

- Drain transmission fluid

MedicalDoc

What about suspension?

Richardsr

MedicalDoc

They may be soft with ur mileage.
Check lca, uca, lbj,lsa,bushings,etc

Oro

When you do the PS and ATF fluid, I would add some Lubegard Red to both - an ounce in the PS system and the rest of the bottle in the AT. I think the 06 has the transmission sealed and no upper fill tube, so have fun with that! (I have another vehicle like that, what a PITA). Don't use a DexVI thickness fluid, used TIV or something similar (Castrol TransMax HM is good, as is 3309 or TIV).

I would also get some SilGlyde and dress the critical hoses, door, window, and trunk gaskets with it. It can also be used as dielectric grease so useful, versatile stuff. Be sure to check and dress the PS hoses as those are weak spots in particular. Squirt some lock-eeze or powdered graphite in the ignition and lock cylinders at least every few years, starting now.

Check the upper torque strut for cracks; you need to peel back the dust covers to see. A lot of complaints about harsh shifting are because of this.

I wouldn't re-do the brakes and pads unless necessary - I'd visualize them when bleeding the brakes and then decide. If you do need to, I have found Raybestos SG ceramic pads to work very, very well and at a great price vs Akebono, et al. Raybestos also has coated rotors now; I put some on this past spring up front and don't have to worry about a rusty ugly mess up there years down the road.

I would put a meter on the battery and check the alternator voltage output at idle and multiple rpms. It's getting old enough to worry about and having a baseline knowledge of what it's doing at the moment can be helpful for the future. I would remove the battery, clean the tray, check the level and adjust, and then clean the top of the battery (furniture polish is really good for this, actually) and the hold-down strap. This can stop electrolyte trails that can short cells.

Go to a dealership and get a non-transponder spare key made (maybe $20?). Some key shops can cut the key, also. This can save you a lot of hassle in the future if you loose your main key. I don't know when the chip-coding started so hopefully after your year because then it gets a lot pricier.

ES300TX

If your struts haven't been replaced, I would do them. A bit of caution, if you do it wrong like I did, you can end up spending a lot of money to correct it. That said, KYB's are the best struts in the business. Monroes and Gabriels probably middle of the road and I don't know about the others. I tried using KYBs and the original strut mounts and it turned out disastrous for me due to improper installation. Three times. I ended up getting bent over at a repair place that calls themselves Christian Brothers. They gave me Monroe strut replacements as I got sick and tired of reinstalling the same struts over and over different top hats. The Monroe units are generally okay except you can hear them from time to time over uneven road surfaces. Next time, it's KYB strut assemblies installed by your's truly.

funcrusher

Thanks everyone. Something that's getting on my nerves is the middle of the dash has a loud rattle underneath when the car is in Drive and I'm at a complete stop....

Also the AC seems to be taking long to get cold on the 2 driver's side vents. I have to drive a little before they get extra cold like the passengers...

Oro

funcrusher

​​​​​​She's been in Texas for most of her life. I've just never had this problem with any other cars here n 100+ degree weather .

funcrusher

Well looks like it's leaking from the condenser. Any clamps or anything else I should go ahead and replace while I'm doing that?

Oro

funcrusher

It's leaking. We filled it a few weeks ago because it was blowing warm and did it again this morning. Saw it coming out of a little hole in the condenser.

funcrusher

I'm going to go ahead and replace my starter when I do all this next month. Which one do I need? Confused on these different ones..

KDAG

check your CV boots and ball joints. You can also check control arm bushings as well. Consider tires too while youre at it.

funcrusher