I finally got a chance to put the car up on jacks and change the engine oil and the rear differential gear oil without any complications. Then I proceeded to change the manual transmission oil and only to find out that I don't have any socket that will fit the transmission drain plug. I guess I'll have to go buy one. Anyone has any idea the size of the drain plug on the tranny? My steering seemed to have a little more play than I like. I then checked the idler arm bushing to see if they are worn. They seem to be fine. To my disappointment, the rubber cover on the right front balljoint is torn and has no more grease inside. In fact, all the rubber covers are collapsed without grease. Do you guys think that the car is still safe to drive without causing any damage to the steering system? Is it difficult to replace those rubber boots and repack them with grease? Please Help!!!!!

 

It should be fairly safe, but you might wanna replace thsoe tie rod ends as soon as you can as they'll only get worse.

You can't really pack them with grease unless they have a grease fitting.

It's about US$100 for all new inners, outers, and the threaded center rod.

Mine are ungreasable.

 

I just used a cresent wrench to drain my tranny fluid. worked fine.

 

I couldn't get mine off with a crescent wrench, and had to get a socket at a junk store. The nut has very shallow flats and is easy to round off if your crescent-type wrench has any play in the jaws. I ended up buying a 15/16" six-point impact type socket for a buck, and it worked great. I wanted the six-point socket as I had already slightly rounded the points with the danged crescent wrench. The 15/16" fit a little better than the "proper" metric size socket, so I can't remember exactly, but I believe it is 22mm. Well, that's my story about getting a nut off for the day, and I'm stickin' to it.
-WG