A few things that have gone wrong recently

[ribs]

Well, in addition to the oilpan gasket, motor mounts, a-arm bushings, sway bar bushings, and a few other trinkets that have needed replacement since I bought my car, I have a few new things that have crept up recently.

Hmmm...lets see...where to start...for a couple of months, at around 2000 RPMs I hear what appears to be a heat shield rattling...it reminds me of the stereotypical sounds one may associate with an 83' cadillac coupe deville. I have looked my car up and down, in and out trying to find a loose heatshield, but found none. Any ideas where I should look specifically?

When I hit the brakes at any speed, the steering wheel seems to pulsate, I hear a whoosh whooshing noise from the front right, and the car pulls slightly to the left...I am guessing I need to replace the brake pads and turn the rotors...any suggestions on brake pads for a seldomly autocrossed mostly street driven automobile?

I remember this problem from last winter, but it went away with warm weather...if the car was fully cold (as in not driven for 6 hours or more), I would start it, and it would idle very steady at ~900RPMs but shake the hell out of the whole car (a lot more so than in warm weather with the same busted motor mounts), and if I revved the motor slightly, it would sound like the engine was gargling, and watching the RPMs on the tach, it would look like they would jump downward very quickly and unevenly...like it would take 1/4 of a second to go from 2000 to 1750 RPMs, but take 1/8 of a second to go down to 1000 RPMs. Weird stuff, and only when it is cold outside (as in <40 deg F). I think it may be that the ECU thinks the car is running in hot weather all the time...is there a temperature sensor I can check?

Also, just today this happened...I started my car and left it idling in front of my house while I went to go grab my shoes, but as I was walking away, I heard something rattling around...I popped the hood, and every few seconds it sounded like a bolt was rattling around inside my engine somewhere...very disheartening, and only at idle, but after I went inside and came back out the noise was gone. Any ideas?

A couple more things...what kind of sway bar and other bushings should I get for my front suspension? I have been told that the plastic bushings and the poly bushings suck as far as squeeking and noise go, but I have had other people tell me that they were well worth the added noises. Also, does anybody know the best way to rid a house of fruit fly infestation? Thanks,

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ribs, 86' 951

[1.2gees]

The heat sheat reattle is probably, a heat shield rattle... If not it could also be something loose in the cat/muffler.

The pulsating wheels is a classic indication of a warped rotor (but is amplified by loose/worn ball joints, tie rods, wheel bearings etc.) Autocrossing doesn't heat the brakes that much, therefore I'd suggest stock ATE pads, they're cheap!

Your cold idle problem sounds like the engine is not getting enough air/fuel. I'd also consider switching to a lower viscosity oil...

The ticking sounds like lifters, switch to high quality oil. Eitherway, the sounds will only get worse. (I recommend lucas/lubrication engineers)

Get stock bushings for the sway bars, it's very hard to find something harder anyway.
Ahmet

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[mike944]

I use Pagid brake pads. They seem to work good for street use with some autocross use. They leave more dust than i'd like to see though.

Mike

[ribs]

So...any ideas on how to kill the fruit flies guys? We tried fly tape and flying insect killer in a can, and that just seemed to make more of them. The other day I drove to class, went into class, sat down, and realized that several fruit flies were flying around my head and body...I only hoped that they didn't follow me in from my house to my car to class...I felt kind of like pig pen from peanuts. They are bugging the hell out of me while I am trying to do my homework at 3:00 in the morning...help!

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ribs, 86' 951

[EugeneYu]

Do you have fruit tree at home? If so, cut it off and clean your yard. The best solution is to find a new home no fruit flies. Just kidding.

I found a fruit fly contral article from the internet that might help.
http://www.netspeed.com.au/cogs/cogint13.htm