New year, new oil

Now that 2017 has rolled around it’s about time to take care of the annual maintenance.   Since days here in socal look like the same almost all year around, I don’t have to wait till Spring to get any work done on the silver surfer. 

 

First thing that needs to be addressed is the oil.  It’s straight forward process.  The only thing different, is the filter I use for gray shadow is this taller filter.  The one Toyota calls out for and what you see in the after market is a tad bit shorter.  Being taller increases the filtration area and adds some extra oil.  I’d say that’s a win win.

Brake fluid flush, it was looking a bit rancid so I decided it’s time to change.  Having on of them mityvacs really makes things much easier to do.

This usually isn’t part of the maintenance schedule, but the starter gear was becoming increasing stuck, in the engaged position, after the engine has fired up.  This was especially evident on cold mornings and just became too annoying.  I already new the problem and didn’t need to buy a  new/ rebuilt starter.  The old grease had dried up and wasn’t holding up it’s end of the bargain.  So I just tore it down cleaned it up and greased all moving parts. 

While I had the tub of grease open, might as well do the wheel bearings too.

The accessory belt was really in need of a change this time around.  Usually I have spare in the back.  Unfortunately, it’s  only for alternators and superchargers.  So it’s off to the parts store for a replacement.

There’s a few more things I need to do on this beast, but I'll leave that for another post.