I know those K&N reusable filters are the bomb, but I've run across another reusable cotton engine air filter made by a company called Spectre and that costs about $30 less than the K&N. Does anyone know if the Spectre engine air filter is any good?
I know those K&N reusable filters are the bomb, but I've run across another reusable cotton engine air filter made by a company called Spectre and that costs about $30 less than the K&N. Does anyone know if the Spectre engine air filter is any good?
Are you talking about the clamp on kind of K&N where you remove most of the old induction system? They dont make a lot of difference unless you have a highly tuned engine tbh....... just makes it guzzle more fuel and gives it a 'sucking' sound under the bonnet
At least that's what I'm getting from the descriptions. Could be wrong, though.
So you think I should just go with a standard paper replacement filter?
Yes they are direct replacement and I don't know if I'd spend the money on them. Typically I just get what's cheapest.
just make sure it isn't an oiled filter if your car has a MAF sensor
What Hugh said. You can use an oiled filter (like a K&N) but you must be careful not to over oil it, as the heated elements in a MAF sensor do NOT like oil, and thus you would have to replace your MAF soon afterwards. Spectre filter are okay, but, on a daily driven car, just go to local auto parts store and buy a paper factory style replacement. Despite what you may have heard, a free flowing air filter doesn't add much (if any) hp, and does nothing at all to improve fuel economy.
Thanks for the help guys. Stay tuned for my inquiries into brakes.
only joking but i did always have one of these stickers on my cars i use to race
Ok! Brakes questions:
After getting my oil changed, the Honda service center handed me this paper with notes on what I need to be thinking about in the future. It said that I need front and rear brakes soon, and on the checklist, the guy marked the "immediate attention required" box on all four brakes and listed them as 3mm (which I'm assuming is how much material is left on the brake pads).
There is nothing mentioning the rotors, pistons, or the calipers so I'm assuming that either they didn't look that close at the whole shindig (as they would have no reason to take the wheels off during this visit) or he's hoping to spring it on me when I say "Ok, go ahead and take care of it". Now I've watched several videos online on how to replace rotors and brake pads, so I have a pretty good idea of what's going to be done when I have it done. However, several things were not addressed:
Question 1: If I get my brake pads replaced (assuming four disc brakes instead of two front disc and two rear drum brakes), should I automatically just ask to have my rotors replaced as well, or should I wait to see what the service technician says? I'm assuming that I don't need rotors as the paper says there's 3mm of material left on the brake pads and I'm not hearing any grinding noises when I use the brakes.
Question 2: Should I go with standard replacement brake pads for my vehicle or should I look into some alternative 3rd party brake pad (for example, ceramic brake pads)?
Question 3: What can I expect to pay for brake pad replacement at a dealership service center compared to a nondealer national chain compared to an independently owned and operated local service station?
Question 4: Same as above but what if we include the rotors?
Question 5: And finally, how long will this sort of job usually take (assuming the service technicians aren't lollygagging around and wasting time on purpose)?
Edit: I have a 2006 Honda Civic EX 2-door auto transmission, if that helps any.
Last edited by DemonGeminiX; 03-30-2011 at 11:06 AM.
i wouldn't bother with up rated ceramic pads if i were you not if your not planning alot more power
whats a rotor?
when i do me pads front and back sat out on my front drive i'll be looking at 2 hours max and thats without rushing and making sure everything is put back right a few stops here and there someone trained should be faster ,if your pads aren't grinding you shouldn't need disks replaced as long as theres no ridges cracks etc imo
btw i'm in no way a mechanic just know a bit about cars
if it was just an oil change, then I doubt the'd have done anything more than a quick visual inspection. You can't really check the caliper until you've removed it (unless trhe disc is blue, in which case the piston in the calliper is probably siezed )
short answer - no
If there was simething wrong with the rotors, it should have been picked up when the dude spotted your "3mm" brake pads
also, your pads (assuming they've never been replaced) probably have a little metal tag on them official term = "acoustic wear indicator" they make a high pitched screech when they touch the rotor
don't waste money on "high performance" stuff. You could probably get pattern parts cheaper yourself and ask the garage to fit them for you
labour times for replacing brake pads for your car about 0.6 hours per axle
1 hour per axle (including pads)
assumiong they aren't retards
pads about 20 mins
pads and rotors about 30-40 mins
how many miles hjas the car done?
Last edited by Hugh_Janus; 03-30-2011 at 06:31 PM.
I have about 30000 miles on it, maybe a tad less, but I bought it used and got it when the odometer read 22500. I've been finding little things here and there that need to be taken care of since I bought it, but that's par for the course with most used cars. Most of it was taken care of when it was still under warranty, but that warranty has expired now, so I wasn't looking at any major costs before. I can't really complain though, it's in great running order.
i don't think you need to upgrade the pads imo for engine size etc i only did things like that when i took out a 1 litre and put in a 1.6 on the vauxhalls had and when i played with me mini (car not anything else) just get a good known make read reviews if needed you want a balance of pad ware disk ware
rotors *should* be ok wear wise then. I'd expect they'd need to be changed when the new pads are worn low