Thursday, April 10, 2014
Buicks Recommended Maintenance Schedule for a 99 Buick Regal
The Regal started out as a top trim level on the Buick Century in 1973, and five years later split off to become its own model. That was good timing, too; while earlier Centuries had been beautiful and stylish cruisers, by 1978 the car was set to devolve into a terrible little hatchback. The Regal, though, went on to both parent the awesome Grand National and GNX, and to carry the Buick performance banner through the companys retirement-home years.
Time Schedules
Most maintenance schedule intervals measure in miles of use, but some go completely by time. Oil change intervals, oddly, are one of them. General Motors recommends changing the oil only when the oil life monitoring system tells you to, or every 12 months -- whichever comes first. Every six months, you should inspect the brake system pads and lines, the CV joint boots for grease leakage, the cooling system hoses and clamps, the exhaust, fuel, steering, suspension and throttle systems. Realistically, unless you never drive the car, these six-month inspections should line up pretty closely with the O-dictated oil change intervals.
Service Schedules
Manufacturers give two different types of service schedules. The "Normal" service schedule should apply to most drivers, but thats rarely the case in the real world. "Severe" service schedules are more intensive, designed to help keep cars running when they encounted car-killing conditions like lots of stop-and-go driving, extremely high or low average temperatures, bad road conditions and dusty or dirty air. In this case, the primary difference is that the Normal service schedule comes in 7,500-mile increments, and the Severe schedule comes in 6,000-mile increments. Apart from that, the Severe schedule requires air filter inspections every 15,000 miles, and filter replacement every 30,000 miles.
Normal Service Schedule
Starting from the very first interval, which your car has long since passed: Rotate the tires every 7,500 miles and replace the cabin air filter every 15,000 miles. At 30,000 miles, perform the above and replace the engine air cleaner element, inspect the supercharger lubricant if so equipped and inspect the fuel tank cap and lines regardless of when you did it on the time interval. At 60,000 miles, do all of the above and inspect the engines serpentine drive belt. Do all the same things at 90,000 as you did at 60,000. At 100,000 miles, replace the transmission fluid and filter, inspect the spark plug wires for cracking and damage, and replace the spark plugs. Perform the same service at 120,000 as you did at 60,000. Start the whole cycle over at 127,500 miles.
Severe Schedule
Rotate the tires every 6,000 miles; at 15,000 miles, replace the cabin air filter and inspect the engine air filter for dirt and clogging. If you can see light through it, it should be fine. At 30,000 miles, do all of the above but replace the engine air filter, inspect the supercharger lubricant if so-equipped and inspect the fuel system. Do the same at 45,000 as you did at 15,000. At 50,000 miles, replace the transmission fluid and filter. At 60,000, rotate the tires, replace the cabin filter, replace the engine air filter, inspect the supercharger lubricant, and inspect the fuel system and the drive belt. Do the same at 75,000 as you did at 45,000, and do the same at 90,000 as at 30,000. At 100,000, replace the spark plugs, inspect the plug wires and replace the transmission fluid and filter. Do the same at 120,000 as at 60,000, and start the cycle over at 126,000 miles.
Special Notes
If youve just bought the car or youve lost track of the servicings, then perform every maintenance task to "reset" your service schedule clock. Replace the oil even if the O doesnt specify it, and start over from Mile Zero by replacing the air filter element, cabin filter, serpentine belt and spark plugs. Inspect the fuel system and oiling system, rotate or replace the tires, inspect the plug wires, and grease all of the grease fittings on the chassis. However, if you dont know the cars history, then DO NOT, under any circumstances, get a full transmission flush. Old fluid breaks down and develops a unique chemistry of its own, and completely new fluid circulating between the transmissions clutches may not mix with old fluid soaked into the clutch material. The result: slipping and burned clutches, and a fried transmission. If youre starting over from Mile Zero with a full maintenance regimen, just perform a filter change and transmission fluid drain-and-fill, then another drain-and-fill at 6,000 and 12,000 miles. This gradual method of replacing the transmission fluid will give your clutches time to absorb and acclimate to the new fluid without slipping and frying.
