2008 Suzuki SX4 Cabin Air Filter

I have never changed a cabin air filter on any vehicle I have owned. I figured it was just a gimmick and waste of money. However, while I was ordering the spark plugs from amazon, I decided to throw in the cabin air filter as well.

Materials Needed:

Cabin Filter (FRAM CF10559) $15

The cabin filter is located behind the glove box. Remove the connector on the right side of the glove box. Squeeze in the sides of the glove box so the glove box will hang down, giving you access to the cabin filter.

Remove the old filter and install the new filter. Press the glove box back into place. Reattach the connector on the right side of the glove box.

DONE!

Here is a picture of the old cabin air filter!

2008 Suzuki SX4 Change Transfer Case Oil

Change Transfer Case Oil

This operation was a little more challenging to do, only because of the location of the transfer case.

Tools needed:

Socket Wrench

80w90 Oil - 1 Qt

Rags

Empty container

Jack

Hand pump for gear oil

The transfer case is located at the back of the engine. Picture your radio but only underneath the car and that is where the drain/fill plugs are at.

The easiest way to get at the drain/fill plugs is to jack up the front of the car. Use the socket wrench (just the wrench, no socket is needed) to loosen the fill plug (top plug). It is at an awkward angle, so you need to make sure you can loosen it before you drain it.

Once the fill plug is loose, remove the drain plug (bottom plug). While the oil is draining into your empty container, clean the drain plug and prepare the new oil to be pumped or squirted into the fill plug. When the oil is done draining, reinstall the drain plug.

I have found using a hand pump to squirt the gear oil into the transfer case was the easiest method. Keep adding gear oil until it drips out of the fill plug. Reinstall the fill plug. Remove the jacks from the car and clean up. Done!

2008 Suzuki SX4 Spark Plugs

Changing the Spark plugs on this car was the easiest I have ever done!

Materials Needed:

4 Spark Plugs (NGK (7418) IFR5J11 Laser Iridium Spark Plug) about $10 a piece

Socket set with Spark Plug Socket and extension (a deep well socket may be needed)

Unclip the air filter canister. Remove the front two screws holding the air cover that sits on top of the engine. The back simply pulls out of a slot, but it does take some force. Remove the air hoses as needed. I was able to simply remove the front one that just slides on without a hose clamp.

Remove the Spark plug ignition coil with the socket set. You don't need to disconnect the wiring, just remove it from the spark plug. Remove the spark plug with a spark plug socket. Carefully, insert the new spark plug. You made need to tighten the spark plug a few turns with the spark plug socket, then switch to a deep well socket.

Reinstall the spark plug ignition coil. Reinstall the air cover and air filter canister.

Start up the car and if no problems, then you are good for another 60,000 miles!

Fuzzy Math

I read an article title "AOL Unplugs 10,000 Servers, Saves $5 Million."Take a minute and read the article for yourself, it is interesting. AOL won a contest by making these cuts.

Okay, so you didn't read the article, but you would expect from the title to learn that AOL got rid of 10,000 servers and saved $5 Million, right?

Now, lets look at the facts!

"AOL decommissioned 9,484 servers last year." To me 9,484 rounds up to 9,500, not 10,000, but whatever, I'll give them that one. It isn't a big deal.

"It's savings included $1.65 million in energy bills, $2.2 million in OS licenses and $62,000 in hardware maintenance costs." Great, I'll go along with these savings, for now.

The article continues and states that AOL also sold or recycled the servers for $1.2 million. Unplugging all of these servers will also lower the carbon emissions by 20 tons. The $1.2 million is for sure a number that is accountable, the 20 tons of carbon emissions, who knows, whatever.

Finally, at the end of the article is the following sentence, "AOL bought new hardware to replace most of the decommissioned servers, so it cut its server count by only 1,000."

Whoa, wait a minute, what are they doing here.

So they got rid of 9,484 servers, then bought about another 8,484. I assume these servers use electricity so they didn't lower their electric bill by $1.65 million. I also assume these servers have operating systems on them so they didn't lower their OS licenses by $2.2 million. I would imagine that their carbon emissions were not really reduced by 20 tons either then. Especially, if they resold some of those servers and other companies are using them.

Let's also assume that each server purchased cost $5,000 (this is a very low number, the actual cost is probably closer to $10,000 or more). So $5,000 times 8,484 equals $42,420,000.

Ding, ding, ding. We have a winner. AOL spent at least $42 million to save way less than $5 million! Good job guys, give the CEO a bonus! And they won the contest at the Uptime Institute as well. Unreal.

2008 Suzuki SX4 Coolant Change

To change the coolant is pretty easy to do yourself. Notice I said CHANGE not FLUSH. I realize this is not the "proper" procedure as a garage would do it, this is simply how I have done it and it has worked for me and my cars.

Materials Needed:

2 gallons of coolant

Socket Set or wrench

Pliers

Rags

Empty containers large enough to catch at least 5 gallons

Water

Make sure the engine is cool.

Crawl under the front of the car and unscrew the radiator drain plug, you may need the pliers to loosen the drain plug. Have your empty containers at your side to catch the coolant as it pours out.

Loosen the radiator cap and the coolant should flow more rapidly. While that is draining, remove the three screws holding the coolant overflow container in place. Empty the container and clean it with water as needed.

When the radiator is empty pour water into the fill cap and continue pouring water through it until it is draining clear into your container. I used about 3 gallons of water.

Reinstall the drain plug in the bottom of the radiator. Reinstall the coolant overflow container. Fill the radiator with coolant. I used Prestone's 50/50 mix, which was about $10 a gallon at Wal*Mart. Also, add coolant to the coolant overflow container full level.

Done, well not yet. After your first trip in the car, check the coolant level again and add coolant as needed. Always, make sure the engine is cool before opening the radiator cap. Keep checking the fluid level and add as needed after each trip.

Hopefully this helps someone.

2008 Suzuki SX4 60,000 Mile Maintenance

The 08 Suzuki SX4 finally hit the 60,000 mile mark, so it was time to do some maintenance.

Oil/Filter Change

Coolant Change

Tire Rotation

Check Rear Differential oil

Change Transfer Case oil

Change spark plugs

A/C Cabin Filter

Over the years I have posted the procedure to change the oil/filter and the rear differential oil, I will attempt to give and update on the rest of the procedures in my free time in the coming weeks.

Gas Prices

3/29/12 - Tied for the highest gas prices ever paid.

$3.99 per gallon on 5/4/11 and 3/29/12.

On 5/4/11 I actually paid $3.99 per gallon. On 3/29/12, I only paid $3.96 per gallon due to the Sheetz discount card.