The available experience makes it possible to approximately predict the service life (in kilometers or years) vehicle components during their natural wear and tear. As for the units as a whole — the engine, clutch, gearbox, cardan transmission, rear axle, steering mechanism, front and rear suspension, brake drive — their service life with satisfactory maintenance exceeds 100 thousand km. The data given in Table 2 refer to the case of year-round operation of the vehicle mainly on roads with asphalt or cement-concrete pavement, with about 60% of the mileage occurring in urban conditions, and about 40% — on highway driving. This refers to a temperate climate zone and moderately rugged terrain. In other cases — when using the vehicle mainly off-road with improved pavement, in cold and hot climates, in mountainous terrain — the service life of units, components and parts, as well as the vehicle as a whole, will be shorter. In addition, the data given do not take into account the possibility of premature breakdowns of some parts, which, however, rarely occur with proper use of the vehicle.
The service life of most other units and parts due to natural wear and tear usually exceeds 100 thousand km.
Despite the overall high reliability of Zhiguli cars, it is advisable to have with you, especially on long trips, a number of spare parts, additional tools and accessories.
The original is available on the online resource [VAZbook]
Approximate list of spare parts carried in a vehicle:
- Spark plugs (2 pcs.)
- Distributor contacts
- Distributor rotor
- Capacitor
- Distributor cap assembly with graphite contact
- High voltage wire cap (2 pcs.)
- Fuel pump diaphragms
- Carburetor starter diaphragm
- Carburetor needle valve with gasket
- Headlight bulb
- Double-filament lamp for sidelight and rear light (2 pcs.)
- Single-filament rear turn signal lamp (can be replaced with a lamp from a portable lamp)
- License plate light (can be replaced with an underhood lamp)
- Side turn signal lamp (can be replaced with a trunk light)
- Fuses (3 pcs.)
- Fan belt Fan cap chamber (2 pcs.)
- Spool valve chamber (2 pcs.)
- High voltage cable (1 m)
- Low voltage cable (5m)
Approximate list of additional tools and accessories carried in the car:
- Spanner 9X11
- Spanner 12X14
- Hammer
- Tire mounting tool (1 pc.)
- Small flat head screwdriver
- Small Phillips screwdriver
- Set of socket wrenches (compact)
- Awl
- Round file
- Scissors
- Flat file
- Folding knife
- Sample (portable lamp with quick-release clamps on the ends of the wires)
- Electric vulcanizer with raw rubber
- Chalk (piece)
- Foot pump with pressure gauge for inflating tires
- Set of bolts, nuts, washers and cotter pins
- Rubber from a camera (piece)
- Knitting wire (2 m)
- Insulating tape
- Pocket flashlight
- Towing rope (preferably in the form of a strong rope)
- Gasoline canister (20 l)
- Funnel with filter for pouring gasoline
- Clean rag
- Plastic bucket
- Sponge
- Starter wires with quick-release clamps (in winter time)
In addition, in accordance with modern requirements, every car must be equipped with seat belts (at least for the driver and the front seat passenger), first aid kit, emergency stop sign and fire extinguisher.
VAZ cars of models 2101, 2102, 2103, 2106 and 21011 are largely unified. This, in particular, applies to the majority of relatively quickly wearing units and parts, which are listed in Table 2. Nevertheless, there are some peculiarities here.
VAZ cars are equipped at the factory with two types of wheel rims (by width) and four types of tires; the relevant data are presented in Table 3.
When changing wheels and tires during operation, you need to know the following:
- all tires can be installed on a "wide" rim;
- tires 6.15 - 13 can be installed on a "narrow" rim; 155 — 13P and 6.45 — 13; installation of 165-13P tires is possible, but not recommended;
- any of the four tires listed above can be installed on VAZ-2101 and VAZ-21011 vehicles;
- vAZ-2102, VAZ-2103 and VAZ-2106 vehicles can be equipped with 6.45-13 and 165-13P tires;
- it is desirable that the same tires are installed on all wheels; it is allowed to install different tires on the front and rear axle wheels; installing different tires on the left and right wheels of the same axle is not permitted.
The tubes of all the tires listed above are interchangeable. In addition, practice has shown that you can also use the tubes of tires of "Moskvich-408 and -412" cars; however, these tubes have a thicker rubber lining on the valves, which is why when using them in the rims of Zhiguli cars, it is necessary to increase the diameter of the hole for the valve, although this does not prevent the subsequent use of these rims with standard tubes.
It is important to keep in mind that the inner tubes for Zhiguli car tires are made from butyl rubber; in this regard, sealing of punctures in such chambers by applying patches "cold" (without hot vulcanization) ineffective.
The rear brake shoes of VAZ-2103 and VAZ-2106 cars have devices for automatic adjustment of the gap between them and the brake drums, and therefore they are not interchangeable with the rear brake shoes of VAZ-2101, -2102 and -21011 cars.
The rubber cylindrical lower bushings of the front and conical bushings of the rear shock absorbers of all VAZ models do not differ in design, and the conical bushings of the rear shock absorbers are interchangeable with the conical bushings of the shock absorbers of Moskvich cars of all models (except 400 and 401), "Volga" and "Zaporozhets". If there are no spare cylindrical bushings for the front shock absorbers, they can be replaced with conical bushings, and the latter must be trimmed from the wide ends so that they fit tightly into the shock absorber bracket.
All VAZ models are equipped at the factory with A7.5BS, A7.5HS spark plugs or spark plugs manufactured in the GDR; these spark plugs have a longer screw-in part compared to the spark plugs of most other domestic cars. All spark plugs are interchangeable. If necessary, spark plugs of different sizes can be installed in different cylinders of the same engine (listed above) brands. Zhiguli car engines can also successfully operate on A7.5CG spark plugs used in Moskvich-412 cars. In order to get out of this difficult situation, you can temporarily use spark plugs with a thread diameter of 14 mm and a shorter screw-in part from Moskvich cars of models 402, 403, 407 and 408, GAZ-21 and -24, as well as from GAZ-53A and ZIL-130 trucks, which, however, is undesirable, because such spark plugs will work less reliably and the return transition after them to spark plugs with an elongated screw-in part may be difficult, since the remaining free part of the thread under the spark plug may become covered with a layer of soot (in this case, before installing a spark plug with an extended screw-in part, it will be necessary to go through the thread with a tap, and this can lead to chips getting into the cylinder and damaging its mirror).
It is acceptable to use corresponding spark plugs of foreign manufacture, but it is useful to know that they do not provide any advantages over domestic ones.
Ignition coils of VAZ cars are interchangeable with coils of any domestic cars (except for "Moskvich-400 and -401").
Ignition system capacitors are interchangeable with any other automotive capacitors.
The tenth five-year plan — the five-year plan of quality and efficiency — provides for further expansion of the network of auto service centers for "Zhiguli". Thus, the Volzhsky Automobile Plant has made a proposal to build 60 new auto centers in addition to the 30 existing ones. But, as is known, car enthusiasts are attracted not only by cities and highways, but also by "untrodden paths", where they have to rely mainly on their own strength. And in general, the ability to independently eliminate malfunctions in your car and, moreover, drive with a sufficient "safety margin" can only be beneficial. Therefore, the author wishes you and your "Zhiguli" a happy journey.