Saving an SSEi that was put out to pasture

[00Beast]

For a car that's been sitting that long, it'd be a wise inspection anyways, to do the LIM gaskets. I'd also recommend replacing the valve cover gaskets while you're in there. It's another $50, a dozen bolts and unbolting the alternator bracket, and will give you peace of mind. Also, get the metal coolant elbows while you're at it and replace the one you have, and you'll never have to worry about it again.

[pvfjr]

Well I've found the Felpro MS 98014 T for $53.99. I assume this is the right kit for the LIM? I found an AC Delco one $10 cheaper, but it didn't look like it came with all the o-rings and whatnot.

RJolly, are you sure there's no UIM for the supercharger? It seems like the supercharger would just take the place of the intake plenum, and there would still need to be a gasket between the supercharger and the lower intake manifold. Granted, it seems like it would be a different gasket.

I've also added in the metal coolant elbows, I figure the plastic ones are probably on their last leg anyway. I think I'm gonna grab a set of valve cover gaskets while I'm at it, I seem to remember the backside of one of the heads being a little grimy near the firewall.

Anything else?

[haro1225]

There is a supercharger gasket, may be called the plenum gasket depending on where you go.

[pvfjr]

Is there much to consider in terms of quality for the plenum gasket?

Does the Felpro MS95744 work fine for the most part? I don't know if this gasket is prone to any failures, or if there's ever been a redesign.

[1oldman]

For a car that's been sitting that long, it'd be a wise inspection anyways, to do the LIM gaskets. I'd also recommend replacing the valve cover gaskets while you're in there. It's another $50, a dozen bolts and unbolting the alternator bracket, and will give you peace of mind. Also, get the metal coolant elbows while you're at it and replace the one you have, and you'll never have to worry about it again.

IIRC, there was also a recall for engine fires by GM caused by leaking valve cover gaskets. - BC

[haro1225]

That gasket is good. Those don't usually fail unless they are installed wrong.

[labonnevillastrangiato]

Wow, I haven't checked this post for a while. Was almost blinded by how well it cleaned up. Great job! I was thinking about the possible mouse nest question, and I am wondering if you have ran the HVAC fan as of yet? That's where the party started for mice in my car. They made a heck of a mess in the squirrel cage of the fan. I tried to run it, was puzzled by the funny noise the fan was making, then heard an undeniable sound of the fins flying off the plastic cage caused by wedges of mouse turds and nesting material. Had to take the whole thing out, clean and vacuum as far as I could, and invest in a new fan from a junk yard. All is well now, but I still wonder if I missed any turds? Doesn't smell that way so I guess all is well.
Good luck with the gaskets. I am in agreement with everyone here that it's best to do it all while you're at it. I just did the valve cover gaskets on my '93 a few weeks ago and it wasn't bad at all.

[96 SSEi]

"There are some varieties of mold/mildew growing on the seatbelts and the headliner, but I think it'll scrub off with some Simple Green. I'll take pics before I do anything."

Nice find at a steal price!!
your mold will be eliminated with steam or heat gun- that way you will kill all the spores and if you let it dry properly, there is little chance of reoccurrence.

[pvfjr]

Well I got to work on this over Memorial Weekend, but my wife went into labor on the following Tuesday. We now have a beautiful baby girl keeping us up at night.

I haven't done any work since then, but should be putting the car back together tomorrow. I was definitely able to identify some severe failures of the gasket around the coolant passages. The performance of the OEM gasket was just sad. A paper gasket would have been better--or straight RTV--or nothing at all. Anything would have performed better. I do have pics; I'll upload them later.

I also felt a little slop on the input shaft of the supercharger, so I ordered a new coupler and some oil off Amazon. It shouldn't take much effort to swap that while I already have everything out.

[pvfjr]

Nasty!













My plastic coolant elbow looked like it was in pretty good shape, but then again, it had some RTV on it...so maybe it's already been replaced. I'm replacing it with some metal ones anyway.

[labonnevillastrangiato]

Hey, congrats on your new addition! Terrific news! Yeah, that is some gungy stuff, but I bet you will get it all cleaned up in no time.

[pvfjr]

Thanks. I did get it all cleaned up and put back together last night. Unfortunately, the car has a bad miss. I'm getting P0300, so it's calling it a random miss. That doesn't help me track it down much.

Tonight I'm going to tear into some things. I wouldn't be surprised if the plugs are fouled given the condition of those intake gaskets. I also wouldn't be surprised if there was corrosion around the ICM low voltage terminals since the car sat for 6 years. I'm going to start investigating tonight. I just really hope that it isn't plugged injectors, as I'm not sure how I would go about fixing that cheaply.

The way the car behaves is disappointing so far. It's got a terrible idle, and sounds like it's knocking a bit. I'm hoping that's just the miss though. It *seems* to smooth out at higher RPM, but that could be an illusion. It won't go faster than 3000 RPM when in drive, but will rev up high in neutral. It is totally gutless, but it does seem to be creating boost when I'm on the throttle (judging by the boost gauge). Hopefully once I track down the miss, all these issues will go away.

[Benvw99]

Good luck with getting it working.

[pvfjr]

Well I got it running a little better. The miss is gone now, after cleaning and inspecting all the ignition parts. It turns out, it had iridium plugs that are in great shape. I think they may run a little hot though. If I put it at WOT for over 3-5 seconds, I start getting a rattling sound coming from the engine bay. I can only assume it's pre-ignition. I've got some autolite 605's that I might through in there. At first I thought it was because I was running this car off lawnmower gas (just what I had available in cans when I had to drain the tank). I ran it empty, put premium in it, then drove it about 40 miles total today. The rattling is still there.

To make matters worse, the engine seems to be running a little hot. My scanner will report 200*, however, while the gauge reads 215-220. Which one do I trust? Either way, I think I'll get a 180* thermostat. Does anyone have a part #? I don't trust thermostats that sit for a long time, I've had a bad track record with them in several cars that have sat (I buy from auctions occasionally). If the engine is running hot, that certainly won't help with the pinging. I'll probably need to re-bleed the coolant system as well--I didn't put too much effort into it yet.

On the bright side, at least it runs! I got to take it to work, and things are looking up for the bonnie.

[haro1225]

The temp gauges are notoriously inaccurate. I'd trust the scanner over the gauge.

[94SilverSSEi]

I can confirm having had both. 92-95 (and older) is under the hood. 96-99 they switched to hiding behind the rear bumper.

[pvfjr]

The temp gauges are notoriously inaccurate. I'd trust the scanner over the gauge.

Thanks, that's good to know. Judging by the scanner, the thermostat seems to be working perfectly. The car drives around at a steady 196 (assuming a 195 OE t-stat?). I let it idle in our recent heat wave here, and finally let it get warm enough to activate the fans. It looks like they both work, and were keeping the motor at about 212*. Good enough for me.

As for the spark plugs, I installed the autolite 605's in place of the AC Delco iridiums, and the pinging completely went away! The car actually seems to run right!


Now I have a couple of engine codes. One is a P0171 for a lean running system. I can see the O2 sensors cycling back and forth while driving, but they both drop to zero when idling. Idle is of course where vacuum is strongest, so I wouldn't be surprised if I had a vacuum leak. Some of those rubber boots connecting all the nylon lines were in pretty bad shape. Now I just have to figure out how to rig up a fix for those. They are so odd with their T's, L's, and built in reducing. Why couldn't they have normal boots?

The other code was for some evap solenoid flow while disengaged, or something to that effect. I forget the number, but it was in the 1400's.

[pvfjr]

I can confirm having had both. 92-95 (and older) is under the hood. 96-99 they switched to hiding behind the rear bumper.

The compressor?

[94SilverSSEi]

I can confirm having had both. 92-95 (and older) is under the hood. 96-99 they switched to hiding behind the rear bumper.

The compressor?

Yes.

[pvfjr]

I can confirm having had both. 92-95 (and older) is under the hood. 96-99 they switched to hiding behind the rear bumper.

The compressor?

Yes.

Ah. That settles it then. I've still not torn into the compressor yet, hopefully that will work out well when the time comes.

Yesterday I fixed a couple vacuum leaks (those silly boots between the metal lines and the throttle body area), and it seems to have eliminated both the P0171 and P1441 codes. Time will tell, but I'm pretty sure that was it, as the idle is a bit smoother now. I also put 22 oz into the AC system. Originally, the compressor wouldn't even kick on, and there was 0 psi on the low side (not surprising after sitting forever). 22 oz only got it up to 25 psi, so I'm gonna need to get another can. The good news is, it did at least start working and blowing cool air. Hopefully tomorrow I can get some cold air.

Tonight, it's little things. Wiper blades (the old ones were straight laughable), 3rd brake light, and coming up for a fix for the console latch. It won't latch, is constantly flipped up, and annoying.