just about how much should i pay to do a tune up. Spark plugs, distributor cap and rotor, plug wires, oil change, air filter, fuel filter,please help me out I have a 1988 ford escort lx and i am looking to get some work done on it?
You should do most of it. It's very easy and kind of hard to screw it up.
Air Filter: Remove the cover, lift old filter right up, lay the new filter down, Replace the cover. (By far the easiest)
Oil change: Lift front of car with jack and use jack stands for the love of god. Slightly Loosen drain plug with a ratchet. (the screw at the bottom of the engine drain pan. Its by itself and hard to miss). Place a container to drain the oil into under the plug before completely removing the drain plug. The oil will run right out. Then unscrew the oil filter by hand. Use some of the new oil to coat the rubber part of the top of the new oil filter and screw it on by hand. When the oil is done draining screw the plug back in and fill the engine with new oil.
(This is also very easy to do. And you wont have any of those horror stories about people who were screwed by the shop and drove off with no oil in their cars.)
Plug Wires: (Extremely easy) Most people do them at the same time as the spark plugs but if you feel nervous about it you can do the wires first. Pull the distributor end of one wire. Then carefully follow the wire to its Plug and remove that end. Find the new Wire that matches the length of the old one and connect it to the plug and distributor. BE sure to route it the same way and only do one at a time to avoid confusion. Repeat for all wires.
Spark Plugs (Medium): Make sure they are all gapped correctly and apply boot grease to the tops (non threaded ends) of each plug. You can ask someone at the parts store to help you with this. Pull the boot off a plug. Use your ratchet with an extension if necessary to remove the old plug. Insert the new plug and tighten with ratchet. Replace boot. Do this for every plug. Make sure you have a magnet on hand just in case you cant pull a plug out after unscrewing it.
As for the distributor cap and rotor and the fuel filter, You might need the shop to do that for you. But in the end you would save a ton of money by doing the simple stuff yourself.I have a 1988 ford escort lx and i am looking to get some work done on it?
Book time shouldn't be more than a hour and a half... Plus the cost of parts.
Calculating this is basically, labor rate times a hour and a half plus the cost of parts... And what kind of parts. New or old car, I almost always suggest OEM. Motorcraft are easy to get at any Murrays, Advance Auto etc.
Good luck.
