With the annual inspection due in a few days, and the odometer nudging 195,700 miles, I took on the job of attending to a few things that needed to be taken care of.  There were a couple burned out marker lights, the brakes were wearing thin, it was time to rotate the tires, and I decided to change fluids, filters, and do an ignition system tune up.

So after breakfast I made my list of parts.  I decided I would try some aftermarket parts.  Partly to save some money over the cost of dealer parts, and partly to save the 70-mile drive to the dealer.  With my list complete, I headed out the door for the nearest NAPA Auto Parts.

I picked up all the parts with the exception of the dielectric grease, wiper refills and side marker bulbs.  I asked if they gave Jeep clubs discounts and the counter guy looked at me like a deer in headlights.  But he offered that AAA customers get discounts so I produced my card and saved about $70 on my $260 order.  Not too shabby!

For the brake rotors I opted for their "guaranteed for life" all steel, Made in USA rotors rather than the composite, Made in China variety.

NAPA 86923 Brake Rotors

The shoes were the metal high-performance ones.  Both these parts looked as good as anything from the dealer.

NAPA AE 7358A Brake Pads

The ignition tune-up parts were a perfect match for the factory stuff too.  And again with the "guaranteed for life" coverage.  That just means that if they fail while I own the vehicle they're replaced at no charge.

NAPA 700444 Plug Wires	MO 30 Distributor Cap
MO 31 Rotor	Champion Platinum Power RC12PEC5 Spark Plugs

I already had some dielectric grease and the spark plug wires also came with some.

Permatex Dielectric Grease

I went to Wal*Mart and picked up refills for the air and oil filters that I have in stock at home.

Fram CA 8205 Air Filter

Fram XG-16 Oil Filter

I picked up some bulbs to replace the burned out ones on the front side lamps on the fender flares.

GE Nighthawk 168NH Bulb

The wipers were running a bit streaky so I got replacements for the front and rear of Maria and my Jeeps.  I replaced the bulbs and wipers in the parking lot at Wal*Mart.  When in Rome...

Python 13" Blades (Windshield) & 18" Blades (Rear window)

I had Castrol oil in stock at home along with shop supplies.

With everything bought and paid for, it was just a matter of taking it home and installing it all.

Ted stayed home to work with me while Tom and Maria went to a 5-year-old's birthday party.  We had to talk Ted into staying but pretty soon he was interested in helping me.

I started with the easy stuff.  I removed the drain plug on the oil pan after laying out pads to lie on and a basin to catch the oil.  While the oil drained, I removed the old oil filter and replaced it with a new one.

Then I replaced the air filter.  The new FRAM air filter no longer has gray foam pad that goes underneath the filter so I saved it from my old filter, washed it out and glued it onto the new filter with narrow beads of silicon cement in the same position as found on the old filter.

Ted finished getting dressed for the weather, a "balmy" 40-degree winter day with no sun.  I replaced the spark plug wires one by one and laid them loosely on the old plugs and rotor.  Once all the new plugs were routed I replaced the plugs.  The plug closest to the firewall was a bit tight and the one closest to the front of the engine a bit hard to get to, but I got them all off without much drama.  I explained to Ted what I was doing and the logic of doing one wire at a time and comparing the old wire to the selection of new wires.  While a basic approach to replacing ignition wires, it makes it easy to keep things straight and also confirm that the correct replacement wire set is in hand.

I had previously gapped the plugs (.035) and put a little anti-seize on them.  I installed them one by one and then put the dielectric grease on them before pushing on the spark plug wires.  I gave Ted the job of verifying the gaps and he managed to find two that were a couple thousandths off.  So I showed him how to gap them and explained why it was important.

When all the plugs were installed I swapped out the cap and rotor.  Ted asked questions about the operation of the distributor and I demonstrated with the old parts, showing how the distributor rotor makes contact with each anode in the distributor cap, and in turn the power goes down the wires to the plugs.

Then I closed the oil pan and poured in the new oil.  There was some oil that had spilled out of the old filter and drained along the engine skid plate and found its way to the mats I put down to lay on.  So I cleaned that up and showed Ted where it came from and explained that we needed to get it all off the skid plate so that it would not keep dripping and soil the ground.  I also explained that if we left it we might confuse it for a leak.  The easy stuff was done.

Next I jacked up the driver's side and removed the front tire.  Ted ran the floor jack and got lessons on proper placement of the lift point.  He was very helpful all the way through the job.  Next I removed the brake caliper and rotor and replaced the rotor and brake pads.  This was more or less straightforward, the only part of the job that was tedious being the pushing of the caliper piston back in while recovering the excess brake fluid from the reservoir.  I took the opportunity to hit the grease zerks too.

Then I jacked up the driver's side rear tire with the front still up on jacks.  This allowed me to rotate the tires front and back.  I gave Ted the job of removing the loosened lug nuts and lining them up to be cleaned.  We also talked about changing tires and the proper order to loosen (before jacking) and remove (alternating lugs) lug nuts.  We also talked about how the tires and wheels are heavy and can come loose once the lug nuts are removed.  We even had a demonstration of what can happen when the jack stand is not placed properly - the front suspension unloaded a little on top of the jack stand causing it to slide out.  Fortunately we were clear of the vehicle and the floor jack was under my control so we didn't drop the Jeep or get anyone trapped.  (I only let Ted jack up the vehicle - lowering it is not as safe and the floor jack not as easy to control for a kid.)  We repositioned the jack stand under the axle tube. (see photo, left above)

I repeated this on the passenger side.  During the brake install I had to drain out excess fluid from the brake fluid reservoir because the calipers were substantially pushed back in due to the increased thickness of the new rotors and pads. 

Once we got everything put back together I applied the brakes a couple times and then topped up the reservoir with fresh fluid.  Then it was time for a test drive to check for any problems.  But first Ted and I ran over all the jobs making sure that everything was tightened down properly and that no tools were left lying in or around the Jeep.  We wiped all the areas that had excess grease, oil, and brake fluid so that we could spot any new leaks after our drive.  We topped up the windshield washer reservoir, engine oil, and found the power steering fluid was OK.

So we took a ride up the street to the car wash and rinsed the salt off the vehicle and chassis.

The afternoon was shot.  We spent about five hours on it including the time to get the parts.  Ted was a real trooper, and might have learned a few things.  And some of our money stayed in our pockets!

Here are a few of the items we used to do the job, to give you a way to purchase them or simply to check prices with your local supplier.

xxx