I have a 2002 Hyundai Elantra 4 door Sedan, which I only use to drive back & forth to school and work, averaging about 250 miles per week. It is now at 53426 miles.

Do the fluids really need to be flushed? I got my power steering fluid flushed last year, and recently did it again because the Midas mechanic made it seem like it was really urgent.... as well as replacing the brake fluid. So for future reference, how often do I need to perform these flushes? I haven't had the transmission fluid flushed, but it's been recommended before...

I took my car into the dealership as per the recall instruction today. The dealer recommended replacing the engine air filter ($60), cleaning and adjusting rear brakes ($72, but I also got this done last year at Midas, does this need to be done again?), and also recommended that the front brake pads be replaced ($335, which I have never done before).

Thank you in advanced for your time!

 

Stay away from MIDAS !

P/S -- not really called out in owner or service manual, but it wont hurt to have clean oil in there anyway.. easiest to just pull return line off, start for a few seconds and allow oil to blow out into catch container, refill, and repeat till fluid clean (3-4 times should suffice)... best to turn steering wheel to both sides before starting to push fluidn out of the hyudraulic cyilinder part of the rack, and let it refill during key cycles.

60-80,000 mile changes should be fine


Brake fluid --- every couple years.... DOT 3 is hydroscopic, it attracts moisture, moisture = rust of steel parts, and corrosion of aluminum parts, buth materials used in your hydraulic brake system... as long as fluid is kept clean, parts last longer ..... As DOT 3 gets old it boiling point lowers, so it will boil with heat from braking and pedal will go away if you boil it good enough.

Example -> I drive a Toyota w/319,000 mile, still have OE (12/88) clutch master and brake master, and calipers at front... did have to replace the clutch slave due to leak as direct heat from being mounted on bellhousing adjacent to the exhaust manifold wreaks havic with DOT-3.

ATF - Hyundai says 60, thats up to you, here agian, 30 would be good..
Be advised, you need SP-III atf, only availbe at Hyundai and Kia dealers.. DO NOT allow some "Jiffy Monkeys" to flush and fill with Dexron/Mercon and call it a day, or pour in bottle of stuff and say it makes it good for SP-III replacement, RUN AWAY REAL FAST.

Air filter -- Hyundai air filter is maybe $15, and take YOU about 3 minutes to replace, need a 10mm wrench for the bolt on top of air box, pay attention to the 2 tabs on the filter cover so you install cover correctly.

Replace filter when it get dirty, not rocket surgery there.

Clean & Adjust (drum brake) -- only when hand brake handle comes up a good bit or you feel excess pedal travel/poor pedal feel braking.. generally we include it to each 15,000 service interval.

Front brake pads -- inspect evry 5000-7500 (about every other oil change) when you have tires rotated, unless you have aluminum wheels where you can simply kneel down and visual the friction material thickness.. replace when they get to 3-4mm pad remaining.. resurface rotors or replace depending on condition of rotor faces, bad move to "pad slap" new pads on old friction surfaces, pad life go to pot, noises, poor pedal feel.. new pad, new/clean flat friction surface.

Pads, maybe $70-75, we is about $170 +/- for pad and machine, add if new rotors are used instead, but $335 ???

 

Thanks, sbr711. Does this mean that I should get my front brake pads replaced since I have not done so for at least 2 years? Is "air filter" the same as the "engine air filter?" In the owner's manual, it lists an Engine Filter, an Air Cleaner Filter, and an Air Filter (in front of blower unit). What are the differences? Which one is "engine air filter" referring to? I have zero car knowledge, would I be able to fix this myself?

It's only been about 8000 miles (about a year) since I had the rear brake cleaning/adjustment at Midas. Does that mean I probably do not need to do it again until another 7k miles?

 

40K miles for the front pads is about the right time if you want to be safe. $10 at your auto store for a new set. It’s the first real repair I have taught each of my kids.
Once you have the front tire off you are half way done with the job. The pros can do the entire job in 15 minutes from start to finish. It’s a huge money maker for them.

 

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Quality pads, and resurface so both pad and rotor go toghter and last longer.

 

There's no need to resurface a rotor ever, in my opinion. If the rotor is fine then you need to do nothing to it. If the rotor is warped or has grooves then buy new rotors. Maching rotors just removes material making them thinner and more likely to warp.

 

Update: took the car in to a Shell station mechanic today, and the guy told me the brake pads were actually >50% and not in need of replacements. He also told me my rear brakes were fine, too. Yay.

I use my car pretty lightly, so perhaps the 60K transmission fluid is good enough for me. I live in Maryland, and the weather isn't all that severe (except for the recent Snowmagedon).

I want to attempt the engine air filter replacement myself. Interestingly enough, Midas did not recommend it but the dealership did. As far as I know, it has never been replaced, so it's probably about time to replace it. If I buy it from an auto shop, do I look for just "engine filter?" Any particular brands? Do I need special tools to do this myself?

 

Quote:

40,000 on my car would still be approx 6-7 mm pad remaining, and I would currently be on my 8th set at that rate.. I am on my 3rd or maybe 4th set, and I am at 319,600+ with my M/T Toyota.

We're talking an Elantra here. I see no reason to go overboard on the quality scale for pads. If you go beyond 50K you are risking the rotors. I doubt they will last beyond two sets of pads anyway.
I haven't heard of any place that will resurface disc's anymore. New ones are cheap enough and no room for a lawsuit.

I was guessing $10. Maybe they are $20, the point is DIY is a far cry from the $335 they were quoted. And most of us DIYers know, If you have to change any part on a car, the pads are the quickest and easiest.

 

Look for air filter. Ask the guy (or gal) at the counter. Recently the experts are saying that air filter changing is not as critical as it used to be. Their reason is the computer monitors the exhaust gases and adjusts fuel feed to the engine. In effect it compensates.

Once again there are the extremes in quality of air filters. K&N is known for their lifetime warranty filters. But the last one I saw you had to wash and spray with oil every so many thousand miles. My daughter has my '99 Elantra and it has never had a new filter. When I gave it to her it had 60K and the milage was still the same as new. (city driving)

There is new school and old school thinking out there. I split the difference.