Hi everyone ,

I have decided to dedicate this coming weekend to giving my car some TLC. I plan to put in a new master brake cylinder, potentially fix an exhaust leak, and give it a proper bath/ wax, then fill up tires, check fluids etc.

My question is: what are some good tune ups I could do as well? The car has about 160K miles on it and the previous owner probably did not do regular work on it. There are no problems with the engine other than the loud valve ticking. I am also looking for a thread on that ATM, the FAQ's links are outdated.

Other than doing a MBC and potentially adjusting the valves, what else could I check on/ fix?

*edit* Off topic, but I've been looking at cold air intakes on ebay.. Are they worth 30-50 bucks? I hear they have little power gains, but do make a little noise at WOT. Worth the money or no?

 

Check on the normal things. Check on the:
-air filter
-spark plugs
-look on radiator fluid, consider a radiator flush
-check on brake pads, bleed brake system, since you will be changing your master cylinder. If you have a stick, go ahead and bleed your cluch fluid as well.
-If Auto, change transmission fluid (every 30k miles)
Check on all the parts of the wheel. Look on ball joints, steering rack and pinion boots, CV joint boots, suspension bolts etc.
- You can buy a engine degreaser and wash your engine, then spray it with something to make it nice and shiny. lol. In the past, I have used baby oil in a spray bottle, armor all, liquid tire shine. This will also leave the engine exterior fresh and you can see beyond all the dirt to see if anything is leaking.
-You can also check engine mounts.
-Remember to check all your lights. I never figured out until a long time that my turn signals also had an extra marker bulb in both sides which were both blown.



I think I was looking on a plot recently on here, and it shows that short ram air in take lower your HP up to about 3k RPM, then you get a lil increase in HP after that. I drive my car below 3k RPM 99.8% of the time, so from the plot, I do not think that is for me.
They do have a sound increase at WOT though. The same effect can be achieved by taking out the lower part of your stock air intake system in your car. I forgot the name of it. I think a few people on here have done it. I didnt want to do it to mine, because I did not want any temptation to drive faster than I have to. (I have a jet ski and a motorcycle for my driving fun).

EDIT: I just saw that you asked about Cold Air intake. Those do give you a little horse power increase, just be sure to add a air bypass valve to it so that you do not destroy your engine if you ever have to drive in rain and an accident were to happen, like you could not see the dept of the water.