Spare Parts Shop

Maintaining a car is never easy and cheap. Most service center of famous brands like Toyota, Honda or Nissan charge a bomb for labour and parts. Some people don't mind paying but if you are like me, you'll start running around looking for an alternative source to cheaper parts.

My favourite list currently. In my opinion, these 2 shops give better price compared to those down in the heart of Georgetown on Penang Island.

PENANG ISLAND

Double Champion Auto Parts (Show on Google Map)
732 GF, Jalan Sungai Dua, Sungai Dua, 11700 Gelugor, Penang
Tel: 04-646 7837 | 04-643 7837
Fax: 04-645 6837

Lipson Auto Enterprise (Show on Google Map)
No. 4 Tingkat Bawah, Block 1, Persiaran Bukit Jambul 1, Bayan Baru, Penang
Tel: 04-646 5808 | 04-646 7808
Fax: 04-646 5600

Butterworth

WELING Trading

21, Taman Merbau, Off Jalan Raja UDA, 11300 Butterworth

Tel: 04-3328409

Fax:04-3236639

That annoying "gluk" - Part III : Post Strut Replacement

Its been a week since the front struts have been chanced. The "gluk" sound was sort of muffled during the first 2 days of driving. In order to make sure the springs and struts seat properly, I purposely drove over some bumpy roads to shake them in place =P

Now.. the "gluk" is still there. But it now sound more accurate. From inside the car it seems like its coming from the center and you can sort of feel it through the vibrations.

Could this be the failed engine mount??!?

Has the strut replacement helped pinpoint the source ?? 

So next on the list of suspects are the Engine Mounts. These are costly. I need to do more shopping first. So far I've been quoted RM590 to RM800+ for the X-Trail's mounts. And most of them don't keep stock. Bah!

 

That annoying "gluk" - Part II: Front Struts

Thought the mystery was over with the LCA bushing replaced but after a few days my friendly neighbourhood "gluk" is back !! Arrgh!!

What to replace next? So I went down my suspect lists again and shortlisted a few more.

• Struts
• Strut mounts
• Spring Rubber Seat

Again time was spent shopping around looking for parts and cost. Still Double Champion is still the champion for low cost parts. I'll talk more about spare parts shop in another post.

Spent RM400 for the following parts.

1. 2 units of X-trail (T30) Front Struts - Original Tokico from Japan @RM185 ea
2. 2 pcs of Strut dust cover @RM18 ea

The box. I'm still wondering if this is really from Japan.

The Importer. Unfortunately they only do wholesale don't entertain retail buyers. I called.

The dust cover. Works for Cefiro to. Wonder what else X-trail(T30) and Cefiro(A32) share? hmm...

For installation. The "entau" at the shop recommended me to a workshop behind KFC Sungai Dua with blue roof next to a temple. His buddy charged me RM 40 to installed both.

That annoying "gluk" - Part I: LCA bushing

It sucks when there are weird sounds coming from somewhere in the car. Its been 3 months since I took over ownership of this Nissan X-trail.  Currently I'm being plague by this "gluk-gluk-gluk" sound that keeps bugging me whenever i drive real slow. Observation over the weeks were summarized as below :-

• Happens when driving under 20kmh over uneven surface
• More obvious when only one side of the tyre hits bumpy roads
• Dampens and unaudible when 2 person sits in the car

Got sick of the sound went to TCEAS and had them jack up the car to check. The chief found both the lower control arm bushings cracked and the underside rear mount was also starting to go. WTF is a LCA ?

Left Side

Right Side

See the cracks on the rubber?

TCEAS and general spare parts shop don't stock the bushings. They sell the whole LCA assy which cost around RM700 ea excluding labour.

My search for parts ended at Double Champion (Sg Dua). Got my bushings and went to get them installed at Chang Soon in Sungai Ara. I would recommend them for alignment job but the installation job was pretty expensive @ RM45 per side. They also chopped me when they sent the LCA out to press @RM30/RM25 big/small when it cost about RM15. >_<

Both are labelled Made in Japan but the shop says they are local. Your guess is as good as mine.

• X-Trail Lower Control Arm Big Bushing - 2pcs @RM38 
• X-Trail Lower Control Arm Small Bushing -2pcs @RM28

By the time this ended, was almost 9pm. Everything was set. Drove around, didn't hear anything yet but will have to run this abit before the assy sit properly. Hopefully no more "gluk" "gluk"

Today's damage was about RM400+ vs RM1400 if I had replaced the LCA assy.