New to me 2006 Ion
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Joined: Feb 2025
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From: Minnesnowda
New to me 2006 Ion
Greetings. My name is Quintin.
I recently acquired a 2006 Ion from my sister-in-law. It's been with my mother-in-law for a decade who lives in a small, Northern Minnesnowda town and does not drive much. It has 155K miles on it. I acquired it for my son who is off at college.
I suspect routine maintenance has not been paid attention to outside of a periodic oil change.
At this mileage, what maintenance activities should I do before sending it off to my son?
I recently acquired a 2006 Ion from my sister-in-law. It's been with my mother-in-law for a decade who lives in a small, Northern Minnesnowda town and does not drive much. It has 155K miles on it. I acquired it for my son who is off at college.
I suspect routine maintenance has not been paid attention to outside of a periodic oil change.
At this mileage, what maintenance activities should I do before sending it off to my son?
Member
Joined: Oct 2014
Posts: 70
Greetings and welcome to the forum.
1st, what a great parent you seem to be. Right on!
1st, where the rubber meets the road.
Tires and brakes... any tire beyond 6 years old, regardless of the visual inspection of the remaining treads is not deemed 'reliable'
You can see the date stamp on a tire as a four digit number in an embossed oval (below) Another thing I noticed regarding my tires is that they become "less grippy" when the vehicle has not driven in a while. Like old sneakers that you haven't worn in a while, the rubber gets harder and slippery until they are used some and the 'glaze' is worn off and fresh rubber is now in contact with the surface.
Brakes, (and most often forgotten, brake fluid FLUSH) I don't need to waste electrons on brakes, pads, and rotors, etc BUT brake fluid... now a days with ABS being common on many if not all vehicles, the neglect of brake fluid is expensive to ignore and cheap to maintain. I can flush my brakes in "20/20" Takes me 20 minutes and less than $20 to perform a brake fluid flush.
Brake fluid does absorb dirt and moisture, even in a sealed system like our brakes. That moisture will cause internal components to corrode and fail. ABS units are expensive and a PITA to replace. Regularly replacing (flush) the brake system with NEW fluid from a SEALED container using proper technique is easy, cheap, insurance in my book.
AND it keeps parts of the brake system exercised and working good for future maintenance. It surprises me how many professional shops will replace brake components and top up a brake system BUT NOT flush new, fresh, clean brake fluid... I don't believe it has caught on yet as a standard practice.
https://www.google.com/search?sca_es...&bih=599&dpr=1
1st, what a great parent you seem to be. Right on!
1st, where the rubber meets the road.
Tires and brakes... any tire beyond 6 years old, regardless of the visual inspection of the remaining treads is not deemed 'reliable'
You can see the date stamp on a tire as a four digit number in an embossed oval (below) Another thing I noticed regarding my tires is that they become "less grippy" when the vehicle has not driven in a while. Like old sneakers that you haven't worn in a while, the rubber gets harder and slippery until they are used some and the 'glaze' is worn off and fresh rubber is now in contact with the surface.
Brakes, (and most often forgotten, brake fluid FLUSH) I don't need to waste electrons on brakes, pads, and rotors, etc BUT brake fluid... now a days with ABS being common on many if not all vehicles, the neglect of brake fluid is expensive to ignore and cheap to maintain. I can flush my brakes in "20/20" Takes me 20 minutes and less than $20 to perform a brake fluid flush.
Brake fluid does absorb dirt and moisture, even in a sealed system like our brakes. That moisture will cause internal components to corrode and fail. ABS units are expensive and a PITA to replace. Regularly replacing (flush) the brake system with NEW fluid from a SEALED container using proper technique is easy, cheap, insurance in my book.
AND it keeps parts of the brake system exercised and working good for future maintenance. It surprises me how many professional shops will replace brake components and top up a brake system BUT NOT flush new, fresh, clean brake fluid... I don't believe it has caught on yet as a standard practice.
https://www.google.com/search?sca_es...&bih=599&dpr=1
Super Moderator
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 12,315
From: Slightly off center
When doing the brakes, carefully inspect the caliper slide pins on the front calipers. They are probably caked with dried out grease and dirt. Probably easier to replace them and also replace the rubber boot for it which will have the same dried crap in it. It needs to be straight and properly greased for the caliper to slide as designed.
Coolant system drain and fill at a minimum, flush if possible. Make sure you drain the block if there is a block drain to remove as much old coolant as possible. 50-50 mix distilled water and antifreeze.
Inspect the drum brakes in the rear for proper operation. I don't do drum brakes so someone else can advise you on what to look for.
Fuel filter if it is outside the tank. If it is inside the tank then it is inside the tank.
You may wish to drop the tank and remove any stale fuel before putting it into service. Sometimes crap precipitates and such and the ethanol can start to coagulate.
Check all four corners for wheel bearing play and steering play.
. Sway bar links seem to go bad on these vehicles. Might want to check those.
Drain and fill transmission. If there is a filter, obviously change it.
Wouldn't hurt after you get it running smoothly-ish to put a bottle of techron in the gas tank to clean out the fuel system
0 take it on a test drive at low speeds to check for flat spotting of tires. Actually you'll be replacing those so don't bother.
Basically, all the fluids, some of the mechanicals, and other things that simply make sense. Check the signals hazards DRLs for prop operation blah blah blah blah blah.
Please come back and let us know how it all turned out.
Oh, depending on where the car was stored, you may want to check under the top engine cover and inside the blower motor wheel for evidence of rodent home adoption. And turn the fan on low first or you will blow nesting and possibly pieces of mouse throughout your ductwork which in general just really isn't that cool.
Coolant system drain and fill at a minimum, flush if possible. Make sure you drain the block if there is a block drain to remove as much old coolant as possible. 50-50 mix distilled water and antifreeze.
Inspect the drum brakes in the rear for proper operation. I don't do drum brakes so someone else can advise you on what to look for.
Fuel filter if it is outside the tank. If it is inside the tank then it is inside the tank.
You may wish to drop the tank and remove any stale fuel before putting it into service. Sometimes crap precipitates and such and the ethanol can start to coagulate.
Check all four corners for wheel bearing play and steering play.
. Sway bar links seem to go bad on these vehicles. Might want to check those.
Drain and fill transmission. If there is a filter, obviously change it.
Wouldn't hurt after you get it running smoothly-ish to put a bottle of techron in the gas tank to clean out the fuel system
0 take it on a test drive at low speeds to check for flat spotting of tires. Actually you'll be replacing those so don't bother.
Basically, all the fluids, some of the mechanicals, and other things that simply make sense. Check the signals hazards DRLs for prop operation blah blah blah blah blah.
Please come back and let us know how it all turned out.
Oh, depending on where the car was stored, you may want to check under the top engine cover and inside the blower motor wheel for evidence of rodent home adoption. And turn the fan on low first or you will blow nesting and possibly pieces of mouse throughout your ductwork which in general just really isn't that cool.
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