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My DB9 was approaching 40K miles and after watching my mechanic do the annual service, and him saying “You could do this”, I decided to take a weekend and do this service myself.
I did not have a lift, but I do have a shop 20 minutes away that rents bays. After weeks of research, and not wanting to get stuck with a problem away from home, I decided to go with QuickJack after reading several of the reviews on this thread.
It took me a full day, but here is what I did:
Oil change - as others have said, the filter removal is a PITA.
Removed and cleaned both throttle bodies and replace o-rings.
Replaced both air filters with upgraded J1 filters.
Drained and replaced differential fluid - I can see why this is done at 40K. The oil came out jet black. The only source I could find for the fluid was the local AM dealer at $56/qt. Cleaned the filter and replaced the o-ring.
Flushed the brake fluid.
Replace all brake pads with Porterfield R4-S pads. Porterfield’s factory is about 10 minutes from where I work. The shop foreman advised how the pads should be installed.
Sounds like a 4 to 5 pint job😜👍🏻
Washing mine is a standard 2 pints
Always enjoy hearing others working on their vehicles. Love snooping around when I work on mine to see how it was put together.
No matter your skill level, whether an oil change is your limit, replace a battery, maybe venturing to replace brake pads or something more demanding, you always feel more connected to a special car when you can (and want) do something yourself. A friend of mine is a CFO without a mechanical bone in his body. He did his first ever oil change on his Triumph TR6 and emerged so much more attached to the car.
With my daily drivers, I have to admit to getting lazy as I get older and having someone else do the work. My "fun" cars are a different story as I always do as much as I can on them myself. I am looking forward to using my new QuickJack on this car in the Spring. I am trying to decide if changing out the clutch is realistically feasible using the QuickJack. The task and experience level isn't the issue, it's more about having the room under the car to do it. But that could become another post later this year...
No matter your skill level, whether an oil change is your limit, replace a battery, maybe venturing to replace brake pads or something more demanding, you always feel more connected to a special car when you can (and want) do something yourself. A friend of mine is a CFO without a mechanical bone in his body. He did his first ever oil change on his Triumph TR6 and emerged so much more attached to the car.
With my daily drivers, I have to admit to getting lazy as I get older and having someone else do the work. My "fun" cars are a different story as I always do as much as I can on them myself. I am looking forward to using my new QuickJack on this car in the Spring. I am trying to decide if changing out the clutch is realistically feasible using the QuickJack. The task and experience level isn't the issue, it's more about having the room under the car to do it. But that could become another post later this year...
I am so the same way.. My Mercedes goes to the dealer but the Aston, I want to work on myself
there is nothing special about the diff fluid, you can get it at your local auto parts store, just get the additive which is about $15-19.
I always keep Gunk degreaser handy when I change the oil, after you put the new filter on, spray that side of the engine down, then rinse. No muss and no fuss.
No matter your skill level, whether an oil change is your limit, replace a battery, maybe venturing to replace brake pads or something more demanding, you always feel more connected to a special car when you can (and want) do something yourself. A friend of mine is a CFO without a mechanical bone in his body. He did his first ever oil change on his Triumph TR6 and emerged so much more attached to the car.
With my daily drivers, I have to admit to getting lazy as I get older and having someone else do the work. My "fun" cars are a different story as I always do as much as I can on them myself. I am looking forward to using my new QuickJack on this car in the Spring. I am trying to decide if changing out the clutch is realistically feasible using the QuickJack. The task and experience level isn't the issue, it's more about having the room under the car to do it. But that could become another post later this year...
I would say no way on the clutch change. Not just because of the quick jack but because it's a very delicate and complex operation. Torque tube, things like the engine can tip, etc. I have changed many clutches in muscle cars over the years but I think the AM is a different animal.
