Ever have this happen?

[kellyinkc]

After washing the church van I decided to check the fluids. Oil Ok, battery terminals were nasty!! Original Ford battery from 1998. I'm surprised it even starts. Air filter was grey, black . So I think I need to make sure it GETS to the conference next weekend instead o itf being shiney. So it looks like maintainence time.
Would'nt ya know its gonna be hot this weekend.

[SiriusRIMZ]

I know where you comming from, about two or three weeks ago I was checking my car over, and I noticed a small puddle below my Jeep. It was a murky red, turns out it was transmission fluid and I had sprung a leak. I take it in, and it turns out I had a band snap and there were about a half dozen assorted parts sitting at the bottom of my transmission, needed a re-build...

I check all my car's vitals about once a month, and the battery terminals are a constant pain for me. I use an Optima Red Top, mainly for street audio purposes, and find myself cleaning it quite often. I reccomend keeping the terminals greased up to prevent corrosion.

While I relaize this isn't your car, I HIGHLY reccomend getting a Drop-In K&N air filter. Only have to worry about it every 35,000-50,000 miles.

Good Luck! Hope yo get it all straightened out!

[kellyinkc]

Thanks! I talked an elder and they sais maintaince has lapsed. Asked me to look after it if I was interested. Already bought an replacement airfilter, Motorcraft. Need to check into KN. I have never used one.The thing has 74K miles so plugs may be next. I planned to polish it this weekend. See pics in "How long will this take?" thread.

[PhantomR/T]

Re: Ever have this happen?

Originally posted by kellyinkc
After washing the church van I decided to check the fluids. Oil Ok, battery terminals were nasty!! Original Ford battery from 1998. I'm surprised it even starts. Air filter was grey, black . So I think I need to make sure it GETS to the conference next weekend instead o itf being shiney. So it looks like maintainence time.
Would'nt ya know its gonna be hot this weekend.

FOrd Battery terminals are Filthy! My mustang gets dirty 20 mins after I clean the battery terminal. And if you get a K&N filter... when it gets dirty, you just clean it and re oil it, then throw it back in there.

[jchetty]

wow its good that you check up on that van..alot of people never even check their car and then wonder why it breaks down...me personally car mechanical well-being is more important than how swirl free or clean it is..im lucky to have a garage to work in and i have bout many tools over the years so even though my dad doesnt know a crescent wrench from diagonal cut pliers, he lets me work on my car with no hassle

[Accident]

The problem with my air filters is they are already grey when I buy them. My battery terminals are bad too, I gave up cleaning them. I need new ones, they are already corroded so I'm not too worried about them. I agree with jchetty, my priority is the mechanics of my car, not the cosmetics.

[SiriusRIMZ]

Originally posted by Accident
The problem with my air filters is they are already grey when I buy them. My battery terminals are bad too, I gave up cleaning them. I need new ones, they are already corroded so I'm not too worried about them. I agree with jchetty, my priority is the mechanics of my car, not the cosmetics.

I'd try to keep em clean, even if its using some Coke or Sprite, with an old toothbrush, something's better than nothing. Having a bad connection to yer battery can lead to starting problems.

If you do get new battery terminals, look into some pro audio connections, yes they are more expensive, but they stay cleaner much much longer.

[mcbmil]

Do you mean battery terminals or connectors, I got new battery connectors at Interstate Battery in Independence Mo. Solved my battery charging problem. The connectors were bad.

[Accident]

Originally posted by SiriusRIMZ
I'd try to keep em clean, even if its using some Coke or Sprite, with an old toothbrush, something's better than nothing. Having a bad connection to yer battery can lead to starting problems.

If you do get new battery terminals, look into some pro audio connections, yes they are more expensive, but they stay cleaner much much longer.

Yea, I had some bad experience with my connections. They weren't tight enough and whenever I hit the brake, turned on my signal, used anything electrical, my raido would turn off. Thanks for the suggestion, I'll keep that in mind when I go to buy new ones.