What did you do to your car today?

[CMNTMXR57]

Every vehicle platform is different in what parameters are available.

No benefit is to be had by upgrading your computing hardware or network.

[redfury]

Good to know. I can't really complain about the performance of my car anyway. It pulls off the line nicely, runs through the gears strong and smooth ( upgrade to dextron 6 got rid of my TC shudder ) and at speed has plenty leftover to get out of its own way, and doesn't seem to be using oil, which for 180k, I'm really happy with. I'm really looking forward to seeing how much I like it this winter.

[redfury]

Wow, I was perusing Craigslist this morning and lo and behold I find a guy IN MY CITY selling the exact duplicate of my car, except it is an SSEi. He wants 750 for it. Mileage is comparable, same rims, interior...even smoked his tail lights the same. the only way you would know it wasn't me is the SSEi badge and the bumper damage on mine. Heated seats don't work and the cluster sounds like it needs rebuilding...if I were in a position to buy it, I'd have contacted him and drove my Bonneville over to look at it...would have been interesting. Anyone looking for a 2000 SSEi with a few problems for cheap, look for it in Isanti.

On another note, I found (2) 2005 GXP's in white for 2800 bucks, one at a dealership and another private party sale. They both had about 112k on them. The dealer car needed work ( brakes, suspension, oil leaks, PO was a smoker ).

It's probably a good thing that I don't have a pole barn or storage and a few extra bucks laying around...I'd be in it deep already ( mostly with the wife )

[White64Goat]

Got the tires balanced and found out the right rear is bent. (Just bought the car Saturday). Rides a whole lot smoother.

[ddalder]

My Bonneville got a bath. A little more detailing on the weekend and it goes into storage next week :( My STS is already there and will keep it company!

[haro1225]

After almost three weeks, 20 sawzall blades, two grinders, a burn from my mapp gas torch, and about a million obscenities I finally managed to get that control arm replaced on the beater. Just have to put the wheel back on and take it for a drive. And depending on what happens this weekend I may have a replacement for it so I can finally get rid of it altogether.

[ddalder]

My baby goes into winter storage tomorrow so I cleaned all the wheels and calipers really well, replaced some of the fender liners with new ones and replaced a bracket and some hardware on the front fascia. I also gave it a quick interior detail. Not much more was required since I went through it a few weeks back and have hardly driven it since. The last things will be fuel stabilizer tonight and an oil change in the morning.



All ready to go...

[J Wikoff]

Details on your hoists?

[ddalder]

That is the QuickJack by Ranger Products (a division of BendPak). They make three models - 3,500 lb., 5,000 lb. and 7,000 lb. I have the high capacity version. These operate with a hydraulic pump (supplied with the jacks). There is a choice of four different pumps:

• 12VDC
  110VAC (Mine)
  208-230 VAC 50-60 Hz
  240 VAC 50 Hz

It's fairly quick. This is a link to a video of mine lifting my STS:
http://vid174.photobucket.com/albums/w9 ... lu0hwd.mp4

Here's the link to the manufacturer's US website:
http://www.quickjack.com

And for Canadian customers:
http://www.quickjacklift.ca

[1oldman]

Changed the oil (dexos1 5w30 semi-synthetic) and filter. Cleaned the MAFS. - BC

[MattStrike]

So I dabbled again today. This time, it was the Saab. A car that I'm quickly growing to hate.

The HVAC system on this car is a piece of junk. The blend doors for the dual climate control have multiple known failure points on each side. I have the unlucky problem that my failure is not something I can fix without pulling the center console, dash, and steering wheel to get to it. Seriously, there are 4 different common failure points: the stop arm, the shaft in TWO places, and apparently the shaft in a THIRD PLACE deep within the recesses of the HVAC system where ours has failed. So, the drivers side constantly blows hot air in summer or cold air in winter. After spending all day *fook* around with the stepper motors that control the air blend and which vents are used, the drivers side still doesn't blow the right temp, even when manually overridden. I mean, seriously, I have 40 year old cars with vacuum actuated HVAC systems that STILL WORK!!!!!!!!

Also, this car hasn't run right since the fuel pump died and I had to replace it. It will squeal the tires off the line, then dog it up to 3k rpm, where the 3psi turbo kicks in, then again at 4500 rpm the boost falls off to zero... It managed to throw a knock sensor (on this car, that's integral with the ignition coil/ICM on each head) code today, so maybe all I need is a new ignition cassette (AGAIN?!). But I'm tired of this car running like *shoot* and no real reason for it.

[redfury]

Is it possible you have a clogged cat in the Saab? Part of what you describes it, other than being able to overcome it with boost....I've never driven a boosted car, so I couldn't say..purely conjecture on my part. Have you thought of throwing a simple vacuum gauge on it and see what it tells you?

[redfury]

I'm actually happy to say that I haven't HAD to do anything but drive the Bonneville. I've got a scraping sounding noise in the rear end when the suspension is compressed some when backing out of the driveway, which I figure is the coil over shocks the PO installed when the air ride went out. Not sure if I want to put a set of air shocks in back to replace them or not....they keep the ride height and handling is excellent, so I'm going to just ride it out til spring to decide what I want to do.

[MattStrike]

I think the CAT was removed by the P.O. But really, having experienced a plugged cat on my '86, which would start and idle and die withing 2 seconds, I find it hard to believe that's the issue here.

I haven't put a vac gauge on it, but the fuel pressure gauge (and it's response to throttle) suggests that it's not an issue with vacuum. Short of hooking up a tech 2 I'm grasping at straws. None of the Saab forums/groups have been any help.

[ddalder]

My DTS goes in for a full polish and detail later this morning... So I figured it would be a good idea to clean it up a little first. I hate taking in a dirty car. I detailed under the rear seat, replaced some broken and missing trim from the back of the driver's seat and of course removed the front seats to clean under those as well. I decided not to remove the center console though due to lack of time. I'm really looking forward to getting it back. I don't think it's ever been treated to a professional polish.

I did find a US 1 cent coin!!! That's about $3 bucks up here right now. Almost better than winning the lottery!

[MattStrike]

I fixed the Saab (again) !

Turns out, the new ignition cassette was bad. So, I opted for a pair of junkyard replacements, and all good to go again!

I'm currently working on my '89 LeSabre. Upgrading the tired out suspension for the mostly new F41 suspension from the '86, along with several other improvements to ensure I don't have any unexpected breakdowns this winter.

[redfury]

Nice, glad to see that got sorted out...what put you on the cassette being bad, a hunch? I've learned that sometimes your gut feeling is more accurate that any testing to prove otherwise. I spent the better part of a year hunting down lean codes in my van..thought it was a variety of things, but deep down, I knew it was probably the intake manifold gaskets. I tried to convince myself otherwise. finally, after getting so frustrated with the performance I grabbed a water bottle, poked a hole in it and started hosing down the manifold and sure as the engine was wet, I found a gnarly intake leak that propane and starting fluid didn't identify. Of course, the engine blew right after fixing the leak...so there's that.

[redfury]

So, I'm getting the gas cap notification. Changed caps, no change. Filled the tank up, cleared the code, just came back on a little more than a quarter tank of gas....time to start scratching my bald head and figure out the correlation between the two...

[haro1225]

I got the oil pump changed on the Passat and now it's getting good oil pressure all the time and not just when it's cold. I'm not even sure how the engine was getting any oil with how bad the pick up tube was clogged. Went for a test drive and while the oil pressure is good, it's still got a pretty bad misfire that I need to track down before I start driving it regularly.

[haro1225]

Found the misfire. It was a couple things. First was the intake hose wasn't connected all the way after the maf, and then I somehow forgot to plug the cam sensor back in.
It still has some very minor hesitation, but it's driveable. I have a meeting at work tonight so I'm going to take it and see what happens. It ran good from Matt's back to my house.