Rookie with a new project

[man_knee]

I meant flashes on 7 of the 8

[1982_928]

Chances are, if 7 are, the other is as well. Id call that good. Hows it running now the seafoam was added?

[man_knee]

It sounded much better yesterday, but I didn't run it today. I got the bumper back and put on the grill and spoiler! It's looking good. Only thing is there are 3 holes under the front of the spoiler and 3 screws that came with install kit that don't seem to do anything. The holes line up with the bottom of vertical grill pieces but there's nothing to screw them into??? Pics tomorrow.

[man_knee]

So I'm still not sure where those 3 screws go on the spoiler, but if I ever figure it out I'll get them in. Anyway, I got everything buttoned back up this morning, put the tires back on and dropped her. I didn't realize quite how much damage the deer did back in '04, but the passenger side is pretty out of wack, luckily not very noticeable. The metal bumper where the passenger side turn signal sits is bent and cracked, the bumper cover bolts are bent and the fender is a little warped too. So the light insert on the passenger side doesn't sit too well, and it made for an interesting refit of the bumper and install of the spoiler (which was a b*tch by the way). I hope to not do either of these again for a long, long time. Also, courtesy of deer, the hood brackets are a little out of sorts. I did what I could to line up the hood and it's pretty good for now. I'll probably replace them at some point. After that, I rolled her out and gave her a much-needed bath, then let her run for a bit. Here's video of the engine running. Sounds better, but it still sounds like there is air spewing out and when I open the throttle, you can hear a quick tick before it roars. All in all a successful weekend.









Cheers!

[AirtekHVAC]

Very nice man!

[man_knee]

Quick update - I'm just waiting on having time to run between the NJ & PA DMV's so I can get the registration squared away. I don't wanna change the trans fluid until I am able to take her out and run through the gears properly. She hasn't had a collective mile put on her for over 5 years, so maybe a little ride around town will help clear some things up.

[man_knee]

Paperwork phase 1 done. It's good to know people at the NJ DMV, especially on the last day of the month. When I got the car at 16 the title had to go in my dad's name because I didn't have a license yet, and we've never bothered to change it in the past 13 years. We have the same exact name (no middle names, no juniors or anything like that) so I didn't think flipping to my name in PA would raise any flags, but his DL# is on the title, so in order to gift it to myself, I'd be hit with the sales tax because we can't find the original bill of sale noting the tax paid, and the place we got it from is out of business (PA is pretty anal about making sure they get what's due to them). So I hit up my buddy's parents at the NJ DMV on Saturday morning, sailing past a line of at least 100 people and his dad was good enough to do a private sale from my dad to me using my old NJ DL# so I now have a fresh title in my name and won't have that pesky sales tax issue in PA. One last visit to the PA DMV this week and we'll be road-bound!

[1982_928]

Well,From what i hear, i think the seafoam helped that tick a bunch. It also sounds like its idling better. I'd call it a success.

Dont you just love deer? It almost seems like the attempt to hit our cars.

Get her drivin!

[man_knee]

We are registered! Was able to get the title flipped and she is officially registered. Had to resist the temptation to take her for a spin so I could meet the wife and boy down the shore. This week I'll get her out for her maiden voyage and see what's what. I got 10 days to get inspected. Not sure how that's gonna play out but the bottom line is she's no longer confined to the garage and driveway.

[man_knee]

She had her first ride on non-driveway road the other day, even if for just a few minutes and just around the block. I definitely need to change the trans fluid, will be doing that this weekend hopefully. After that, I'll feel better taking her out a little further. Brakes are OK, but fluid and pads are next on the list. Rotors are OK, just need to be cleaned up a bit. Still running rich, and a slightly-more-than-normal wobble while idling. The next outing will be to a gas station to top up the gas, so I'll be able to open her up a little more and see what happens. Will get some pics/vid of the ATF swap and drive when I can.

[man_knee]

Got the ATF changed out yesterday, overall a fairly smooth process. I had a friend climb under on Friday night to help me line up the drain plug on the torque converter, then I made a mark at the crank. Yesterday I let her run for a little bit to get the transmission warm, lined up the mark and went to work. I wound up not taking any pics because 1) I couldn't find the memory card for the camera, and 2) it was pretty standard stuff. Drained the pan and the TC, took the pan down, replaced filter, cleaned pan and the reservoir, replaced gasket, and bolted everything back up.

I found a nifty pump at the local hardware store that allowed me to pump the ATF from the bottle to the reservoir from the side of the car. I had her on stands with the passenger rear wheel off, so I just laid down and watched as it pumped in. It took about 5 quarts before the pan filled up, then I started her, cycled through the gears and topped up the rest, a little over 7 quarts. I put the cap back on and dropped her down. I ran her a while longer and cycled through the gears again. I haven't been able to drive her out yet since I had some nasty thunderstorms yesterday afternoon, so she'll be going out later today.

Two questions: In the videos I posted, you'll notice the intake tubes are not on the car. I had them on yesterday morning and the car wouln't start. Keep in mind, my battery, which was new 7 months ago but since it was out of the car for a while when work was being done it died, hasn't been run long enough to fully charge so I have to jump her most of the time. I let the cables sit on the battery for while and I'd crank and it wouldn't kick over before the clicks came. After 10-15 minutes, I pulled the tubes off, and the next turn it fired right up. I would guess it's not sucking air in that well, thoughts?

Second, and this might resolve once she goes for a ride, the couple times I cycled through the gears, the first times it was put to reverse, and drive, there was a little clunk, and each time I put it in the low gear, there was a faint whistle-like noise, almost like a whirr. Was hoping someone could put my mind at ease and say 'that's normal, just drive it to get the fluid going through and it'll be fine'.

Thanks!

[man_knee]

Got her out for quick jaunt yesterday and she's still not up to snuff. I took it to a local gas station to put some more premium in, noticed the fuel gauge isn't working, but that's not really that big a deal at the moment. The trans seems to shift OK, but there is definite shake going on the higher the rpm's go, and the engine is still puttering when initially given throttle. I'll probably take her for another ride around this afternoon and see if it persists. I'm 99% sure I have some serious vac leaks, so that's my next move to seek them out and destroy them. Intake may be coming off again. A new o2 sensor is on the docket as well. During the intake cleanup, I never got a new cap/rotor and coil, so I'll probably swap those too. Any thoughts/tips?

[1982_928]

The more you drive it, the better it will run.

Take pictures of the inside of the cap, and rotor and post them and we will tell you if they need replacing. Coils don't usually need replacing. As long as its working, run it.

[man_knee]

From what I know, the cap/rotor/coil have never been replaced so I might just do it for good measure, and do the green wire while I'm at it just to know they're all good. Will report back after today's ride, and will try to get a pic of the cap & rotor ASAP.

[MPDano]

Sounds like your running lean, a new O2 should help a lot in your model. Also, your Cat could be fried and clogged. Does PA have Smog Laws that require a Cat?

[man_knee]

Technically yes. They're supposed to do a visual inspection to verify that the cat, among other things, are present and properly installed. That being said, I don't recall any time I've taken a car to inspection where they actually looked underneath, they've certainly never put it up on a lift, so I guess it depends on who's doing the inspection.

Dano, I know in one of your threads you replaced your o2. How difficult was it to remove the old one from the exhaust? Also, would vac leaks probably be the culprit for it not kicking over with the intake tubes on?

Had it out again for about 10-15 minutes. Took it around town, stopped at the gas station and topped off the air in the tires. Still shaky as it gets to 2.5k - 3k rpm. However, after I put the air in the tires and turned it back on, it seemed to be a little better for the ride back home. When I put the Seafoam in, I followed the instructions for the amount of gas, which was only 5 gallons at the time. After putting another 5 in, I may add more Seafoam and see how it does.

Should be able to get a pic of the cap/rotor later tonight.

[MPDano]

Very easy to replace the O2 Sensor. You just need to remove the heat shield(s). You'll then need to disconnect it near the CE panel. Reverse to install.

[man_knee]

Here are pics of the cap and rotor. I guess they don't look too bad, but I have no basis for comparison. What do you guys think?







Have a good night fellas.

[AirtekHVAC]

looks pretty good, as far as I can tell.

[man_knee]

Need some input here. Had some time to roll her around a little more today. So in P or N, I can rev till the cows come home and with exception of the initial split-second putt, she roars very well. Once in gear and we start going, she gets the shakes increasingly as the rpms go up. I don't know if it's something as simple as an alignment, or something worse. It also seems like I'm still leaking ATF even after the change and from what I can tell, it's coming from up around the TC. Would love some thoughts. Thanks.