I bought the original Proton Bougicord spark plug cables for RM60 only

Do a bit survey... find nearest spare part shop and make friends with them. Try and buy from them consistently and see if you can get better pricing from them. If you get it from mechanic you can't expect them to sell you for the same price, they need to pay for storage/parts/transport as well.

Some of the things can be fixed DIY. Changing plug cables/distributor cap/rotor arm is so simple so that's something you can do to save a bit of $$ and also have some satisfaction of DIY maintaining your car

I'm no sifu but this is first time I've ever heard of such thing...

"if always do high rev, if your exhaust system is not modded for bigger flow, the pressure created due to high rpm will cause the engine to suck up the engine oil"

Let me say this based on my limited understanding on car exhaust...

1. High Rev/High power output results in higher rate of exhaust gas to push out.
2. If the exhaust system is not catered to handle this higher rate, it means there is high backpressure.
3. My understanding of this is, high backpressure will cause loss of performance or probably better to put the other way round, not able to squeeze out maximum performance.

I believe what your friend meant is probably if the exhaust is not tuned accordingly, the car engine will suck up more PETROL (not engine oil). I believe stock exhaust is probably not performance tuned.

if it's for ocassional weekend use, super cheap, you can't go wrong with iswara i doubt any cars in the market today have lower maintenance/repair cost than iswara.

i'm using iswara 99 so i'm not familiar with saga lmst, wait for others to comment.

If i'm not wrong saga lmst 07 model should be between 10k to 15k. I had a thread on tips for buying used cars, maybe you can get some ideas there.

http://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopic=1621478&hl=

Your existing insurance company will normally send you renewal notice.

If not, you can try calling them to ask or if you are fed up with current insurance want to try something different, can try tunemoney or maybank2u takaful. I'm using tunemoney no problems buy online pay online very easy. Then go post office and renew road tax.

I believe you can renew insurance as early as 2 months before expiry (but I'm not 100% sure)

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Added on September 2, 2012, 3:18 pmspeedo cable maybe... ori proton part around RM30

This post has been edited by poolcarpet: Sep 2 2012, 03:18 PM

Wow, I don't know why everyone is making the insurance renewal such a complicated matter. As mentioned before:

1. If you have existing insurance, you will get renewal notice along with recommended sum insured through post. Of course they will send you renewal notice, they do not want to lose customers. If you want to continue with current insurance, just pay and get the e-covernote and you're good to go.

2. If you want to change insurance, just buy it yourself either through agent or online at tunemoney.com or maybank2u.com - prices are the same no difference. You do not pay extra if you go through agent, and you do not get discounts if you buy it yourself but I think Maybank2u takaful gives you 10% discount. Car insurance in Malaysia is regulated all fixed pricing (it's about RM26/RM1000 sum insured, before NCD). Sometimes if you have good relationship with agent, they can even give you slight discount which is part of their commission.

3. If buying online, you should get an e-covernote. With this, your insurance is renewed. You can then go to post office and renew your road tax, bring your original JPJ car registration card. You do NOT need to bring the e-covernote as everything is online now. Also, if buying online you need to make sure you have sufficient cover for market value of the car. Don't under insure. Many people don't realize but if you under insure if there is any claim, it will be prorated as well. E.g. car market value is 10k, you insure 8k - if there are any claims, it will also be paid out at 80%, e.g. cost of repairs RM5k, but insurance will only reimburse you RM4k as you only cover 80% of your car value.

I don't understand why renewing earlier is a waste of money. Insurance renewal is always following your existing insurance expiry date, e.g. insurance expiring 30 Sep 2012, you can renew today and it is for 1 Oct 2012 to 30 Sep 2013.

If you're changing insurance company, you can transfer NCD - if there are problems with that, then it's just a phone call to the current insurance company telling them you want to transfer NCD.

Everything is easily done online if you're using tunemoney.com - I'm using that no hassles at all. Then just go to nearest post office and renew road tax. No need to go to JPJ.

This post has been edited by poolcarpet: Sep 3 2012, 09:04 AM

no it's not. starts from end of current road tax. it's valid until end of your road tax. in example below, it will start after the current expiry date.

If i'm not wrong it's 850 rpm

before doing anything like changing springs, please try changing the absorbers first. 150k mileage is very high on the absorber.

Rear APM performax absorbers (2 units) cost me RM130 parts only. Bring to your normal mechanic or nearby tire shop and get them to change for you for small fee.

You can also use original Proton part or Kayaba.

After changing the absorbers then only consider springs if it's worn (but springs hardly wear out after only 150k mileage).

there are plenty of methods to test, bouncing each corner of the car is one method but that is very hard to gauge unless you have another similar car with new shocks to compare.

my previous car, while doing the bouncy test seems ok, and no visible leaks but the absorbers were gone already because after replacing it, i can feel such a big difference.

there are also certain tire shops which can do proper scientific measurement test of the shocks using a machine for a nominal fee, i think there's one near jalan templer but i'm not sure of exact location.

anyway, based on my personal experience, going by mileage is a good enough indicator. personally i would say about 80k mileage is about right time for shocks replacement.

the shocks are used 100% of the time when the car is moving, absorbing all kinds of shocks and stabilizing the car.

i shared before the pricing, last time i changed to APM performax all 4 plus the front suspension mounting bush, it was RM110x2 for front, RM65x2 for rear and RM6x2 for the front mounting bush. total RM362 for parts only. if you're going for kayaba i think it's slightly cheaper.

it's sooo cheap just go replace all 4 at 80k and get a 'new suspension' feeling ride.

p/s : just did quick google check found this shop selling RM250+RM190=RM440 only incl installation. note i don't know this shop nor have i been there before, just sharing for price reference. kayaba is a good brand i used it for my previous car last time.

http://www.lelong.com.my/kayaba-shock-abso...3-03-Sale-P.htm
http://www.lelong.com.my/kayaba-shock-abso...3-03-Sale-P.htm

This post has been edited by poolcarpet: Sep 27 2012, 09:45 AM

Iswara 1.3S aeroback original spec:

Kerb Weight -> 920kg
Max gross vehicle weight -> 1310kg
Max front axle weight -> 650kg
Max rear axle weight -> 660kg

So take away 920kg from 1310kg means it's expected to carry up to 390kg.

Divide this by 5 passengers, meaning averagely it's 78kg per passenger. You mentioned you're carrying load of 150+kg, this is nothing as it's well within the load limits of the car. Even looking at the max rear axle weight, there's a lot of allowance there 660kg (remember front axle would take more weight due to the engine, so probably like 60% of 920kg is already on the front, meaning you have even more carrying capacity at the back)

I'm no sifu, but if you feel more comfortable getting the Sach/Proride/Afuji then by all means go for it, but based on original spec and original shocks, it should comfortably handle your 150kg+ not a problem. If you got for Kayaba gas it's also 'stiffer' than the ori I think (based on my past experience on previous car, I used KYB gas all 4).

wow, how old and what condition exactly is your iswara? mine's 12 years old but i never had to change so many parts before!

honestly, first time hearing people changing entire rear axle...

and some parts look overpriced, rear brake shoe RM120? front brake pads+rear brake shoe RM240?

either these are super high quality parts or this shop is slaughtering you man.

i changed front lower arm, used back original proton and it cost me RM300 per pair so yours look more affordable, is RM170 ori part?

RM1.3 k!!!!!

I changed all 4 of my mounting plus timing belt plus water pump i think around RM600+ only but not at Proton service center.

Just do some survey, call up nearest spare part shop ask them how much for 4 mounting for Iswara (Original) and you can compare

Not only proton... The rest also same... Honda toyota all chrage high prices

Sorry, saw this and can't help but say this - it IS the best in class. There is no other car in it's class

Happened to me before, but not on iswara. It is possible some water got into the gearbox. In my case, after a change of gearoil no more problems. If anyone is telling u have to change clutch just for something like this, i'd be cautious and seek a second or third opinion. Alternatively you can change the gearoil first and see how it is. Shouldn't be too expensive.

I changed my gear oil for RM30 only at Shell service center. Also bought the 3 drive belts and brought to the service center to change and total bill was RM40 only

Let me tell you the specs of Iswara....

6 - Manual Transmission Oil
Type - Hypoid gear oil, use Petronas GL-4SAE80 or equivalent.
API classification GL-4 or higher.
SAE Viscosity No. 75W-90
Quantity: 1.8 litres

I'm guessing the workshop used some funky special gear oil for that price (remember mine was RM30 only using Shell's gear oil), plus he must have flushed it really clean since spec says 1.8 liters but he managed to use 2.5 liters? 700ml fresh gear oil poured in and drained just to make sure it's all clean before the 1.8 litres went in?

Yup confirm spare part shops will have. Even the plastic oval 'base'. I bought new set for all 4 knobs but never got the time to go fix it yet. Very cheap, if my records are correct it's RM6 for 4xknob and RM6 for 4xoval base. Total RM12 only.

well said
yawn yet another 'performance enhancing' snake oil.

stuff like this - very very simple to test.

1. Bring car to dyno test
2. Without changing ANYTHING else, install this whatever performance enhancing thingamajid
3. Do dyno test again

If you don't see any difference between #1 and #3, don't waste your time and money. But of course the problem is, to do the dyno test itself you need $$$ so how? Most people will skip this, just give it a try and hey, placebo effect tells your butt dyno it's

Use at your own risk

I just DIY fixed my squeaky wipers and I'm telling you, the car drives BETTER. I'm not joking or being sarcastic here. Think my butt dyno is very, very easily influenced by placebo effect.


This post has been edited by poolcarpet: Oct 19 2012, 07:52 AM