> Hi Mike,
> For $20 it's worth it to have someone else change the oil. I still do
> it, but every time I realise the truth of what you said.
> One example, though, of why one might want to DIY---Ingrid, Kristen's
> older daughter and my dearly-beloved step, took her Honda Civic to a
> Jiffylube (or something) a couple of years ago. A few weeks later, I got
> a call from her. She was stuck in Hamden, car wouln't roll downhill, etc.
> Investigation at the Honda agency, which followed my investigation and
> efforts to drive and, finally, a flatbed truck, etc.,----someone had put
> auto trans fluid into the MC.
> Well, of course, since AT fluid has something in it that keeps the
> high-pressure seals tight, it swelled up all the rubber parts in the
> brake system and, you got it, every one had to be replaced. That was
> hoses, MC, proportioning valve, calipers, cylinders, the lot. It was a
> number of $$. I was surprised at the number of pieces in the Honda
> system. On the invoice was noted the number of hours taken to do the
> work. That was a surprise to me---I know I could not have done the work
> nearly as quickly. BTW, he saved a pint of brake fluid for me to see,
> there was a golf-ball sized sphere of red ATF resting in the bottom of
> the jar.
> And then there's the story told by one of my former drinking buddies
> who, when working in a shop during his college years, drained a Porshe,
> refilled with the measured amount. Owner picked up and drove away-walked
> back. Drain plug was on the workbench; the five quarts were in the drain
> in the service bay....
> He spent a lot of volunteer time rebuilding one litte air-cooled engine.
> Bob
>
I had something similar happen on my Honda about ten years ago.
I had loaned it to my brother for a while, and he took it to the
local Jiffy-Lube or Jet-Lube, I can't remember which. When I got the
car back, one of the old receipts said that they had topped off the
power steeing reservoir with one pint of fluid. Problem is, the 1981
Prelude never had power steering! best I could figure, they poured a
pint of P.S. fluid into the clutch reservoir. Never had any problems
with it. I figured that if nothing had happened in the 2000 miles
between when the shop did it and when I got the car back from my
brother, nothing bad was likely to come of it.
Scott
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