Hi there,

I don't want to mess with the dealer to do the oil change and the Alignment. What could you recommend me around Miramar, FL. 33025 ?
My '06 MCS has 16k miles, the next oil service is due in 9k miles according to the computer... But I'm not sure about 15k-20k miles oil changes... About the alignment, the steering wheel is turned about 7-10 degrees to the left, I'm not sure if is the alignment, since I already took the car to two different places to do it and they had told me that is ok, the computer showed that the car is aligned, they don't know what could be the issue...

Thanks

 

'Alignment' and the fact the wheel is not centered are two different things. Has the car been in an accident? You might just need your sterring wheel adjusted. The symptoms of bad alignment are the car pulling one way or another or excessive tire wear on the edges of the tires.

 

Yeah it just sounds like the steering wheel is off center. I have no idea how hard that is to fix.

Oil changes are easy to do yourself. I do mine every 5k or so.

 

If your steering wheel has not been removed and put back on at a different spline position, then your alignment may be OK, but the position of your rack is not.

Put the steering wheel in the position that drives you straight down the road and mark the top with a piece of tape...

Now turn it all the way to the right and count the number of steering wheel turns you have.

Do the same to the left.

If the number of turns is the same, then your wheel is not on the steering shaft in the right position.

If the number of turns is not the same, then you have a problem. Someone has adjusted your tie rod ends to make it go straight, but it is not correct. Your wheel should be centered when you go straight down the road.

I don't have the energy or time to deal with bringing up the oil change issue...

YD

 

I haven't done the oil change myself just because of the dealer's service warranty, sometimes they are very picky with that... but I'll check, I believe shorter oil changes are healthier for the car and doing it myself would definetly save me time and money...
About the alignment, I took the car to a Goodyear place and they told me that the alignment was ok. Then I took it to the dealer, but it was a mess! They got to me with a $1400 dollars quote to fix the issue...! (according to them, tires had to be replaced, one strut tower to be replaced and alignment to be done), so I ranway from them! I replaced the tires already with non-runflat tires, fixed the mushroom issue and installed a strut brace from M7. After that I took the car to a Tire Kingdom to do the alignment and they told me they won't charge me anything since the alignment was ok... So what is issue? The only idea I have is the steering wheel is not in proper possition, but I don't want to take the car to the dealer... So I'm looking for a professional place to do the alignment.