Pull the o2 sensor out before you start cutting/hitting/abusing the exhaust. The sensors do NOT like this and will throw in the towel quickly.
I had just put two new o2 sensors in my m3 and about a month later I had to remove the exhaust so I hit the bolts with an impact and they were dead when I fired it back up :(
drewski1611 said:In reply to Indy-Barely Functional-Guy :
.....A positive is, I'm pretty sure it's limited to that (driver) side.
Yep. That exactly describes my 96 SL2. It seems Saturn designed in rust prevention on the passenger side (leaking engine oil seals to coat the sub-frame) but didn't do the same for the drivers side.
Indy-Barely Functional-Guy said:Yep. That exactly describes my 96 SL2. It seems Saturn designed in rust prevention on the passenger side (oil from the filter spills onto the half-shaft during oil changes and is then slung around the engine bay) but didn't do the same for the drivers side.
fixed
In reply to jfryjfry :
I’ll do my best... but it’s pretty rusted on there. Plus it might be too late anyway as I did take an unfruitful crack at cutting it. I do have an extra for the manifold, I’m assuming I could use that... as long as I have a fitting and long enough wires.
In checking things out I've noticed a few more things:
Seems to be a small coolant leak either from the thermostat or the drain plug right below it. I tightened the plug a bit since I could, but I'll have to wait and see about this.
One of the front sway bar bolts is not screwed in all the way, for some reason...
The passenger side axle is wet... blurry picture, my bad.
And then, this happened...
I wasn't exactly expecting to go that far but it worked out best, as I intend to replace from the end of the curve to behind the cat with new pipe, at least, and the flange at the front needs a new gasket.
The
Unfortunate news is I had to cut the sensor wires, since 1. the sensor is solidly rusted to the pipe and 2. the connector is slightly melted and I couldn't separate it, though it seems like I should have been able to.
Next will be preparing to drop the cradle, now that I got some metal to patch it.
Well, it's been a minute. . .
A lot's happened. I gave up on the cradle repair. One of the bolts didn't want to come out. I figured though yes, it'd be best to do something about it, since the entire tubular structure is fine, as is the bracket portion for the control arm, it would be okay for now.
The middle of the exhaust and the muffler were replaced. That meant I could finally get it on the road. There might still be a tiny leak which I've neglected to do anything about.
An oil leak developed. I was pretty sure it was the front crank seal, so I had that replaced. I thiiiink it helped, but it's still drippy. I'm guessing it's the timing cover itself.
Wanted some wheels for the snow tires I inherited, so I found some red Sparcos on Tire Rack clearance.
Struts and springs. KYB struts with H&R sport springs. Ended up about 2" lower. Made the wheels look better on it.
I found a Geo Storm throttle body, thinking I'd eventually swap it in.
The dash was super noisy, so I spent an evening with some foam tape and foam insulation. Then it felt like every week a new annoying noise started. Whatever.
Found a friend at school...
We're up to early February here. Wheel bearings got bad, even though I replaced them in the fall. I had a trip planned, so those were a last-minute stressful project.
Then... I drove it 2,400 miles to Florida and back. I'd love to be able to say it went without trouble, but...
Somewhere in Ohio a bit of a wobble at acceleration and high speeds developed, along with what seems to be a ball joint clunk. Spent a week between Nashville and Destin FL, then as I checked fluids before departing for Atlanta, I noticed this...
Top engine mount bolt #1 was broken, and #2 turned out to be stripped out of the timing cover.
Not good. Grabbed some quick JB Weld equivalent and did what I could. Engine's not exactly where it should be, but it held up... and continues to; and one of the bearings is noisy again. I got a junkyard timing cover and new mount, and was thinking of taking it to the friendly shop. But I then happened upon an ad for a decent Lexus GS400 which led me to somehow now be the owner of a very nice ES300. So, I'm debating what to do with the Tupperwagon. I'll probably keep it, for now, but budget is causing extra evaluation.
Here it is visiting grandpa in Alabama.
I do love me some Saturn wagon!
Tupperwagon lives again, mostly by necessity.
Took the Lexus in to get some things checked out and was told it might be a 2-week wait, but fortunately I had decided a week earlier, since I now have access to a hoist and a hydraulic press, to take care of the bad-again bearing, and then the timing cover too.
The bearing had started popping (I'd thought it was the axle) when I drove it home the last time the Lexus had been out for a bit, in March, so I'd decided to semi-permanently park this. Recently got a new hub, limped it up to work (bit of a nerve-wracking experience), pulled it off and... ew.
So, left bearing replaced, pulled the timing cover off a couple days later (much less of a pain than I remember it being the first time), and within a week had that done too.
Took it in to get an alignment on the weekend and they said the other bearing needed to be replaced. I hadn't noticed it was a problem, but wasn't surprised with how drastically the other one failed. Thankfully I remembered I had an extra pair of bearings, so I was able to get that done pretty quickly, and the process was much less trouble-filled.
I'll get it aligned tomorrow and drive it for a couple weeks, then, well... I'm not sure.
It has snow tires on it right now, two of which are.. bad. Don't have summer tires. The Lexus will need new tires for next summer, and doesn't have snow tires. So I'll need to figure out what to do there. I think it makes most sense to just get a new pair of snows for this, and park the Lexus for winter, but.. I've yet to actually enjoy this in summer. I've thought about getting some semi-sticky tires so I can.
Before I do that, though, at least a few things need to be taken care of, namely:
Rear bearings, probably. Easy job.
Brakes are soft and the rotors are kinda, uh, groovy—but they're all "new", so... Also, new soft lines for the rear that are the correct length.
RF control arm, the inside end is off the center of the bushing. Not sure how that happened? I've noticed a clunk from I think that side, so maybe it's related, but the boot's pretty torn up too. So, new control arms?
All rear bushings.
Shifter is wack. It'll need new bushing(s) and the O-ring beneath the ball, at least.
So! we'll see.
Saturns love to drink and spill oil, that's for sure. I have also found that they like to eat front wheel bearings..... Still, they are more or less indestructible.
Doc Brown said:Saturns love to drink and spill oil, that's for sure. I have also found that they like to eat front wheel bearings..... Still, they are more or less indestructible.
And easy to repair, and parts are silly cheap!
^ most of the cheap parts are garbage though :(
They only eat front wheel bearings after the oes wear out*. The aftermarket replacement hubs are E36 M3 and allow for flex (or so I understand). They go well beyond 200k on the OE bearings all the time.
See also: belt tensioner, radiator, etc.
*Or in lemons races lol
Alright.
Whatever plan I had for this in August quickly went out the window, and I figured I'd limp it through winter so the Lexus could avoid salt for as long as possible. I tried to "rebuild" the shifter so it wasn't so sloppy; couldn't really find a great way to do that. Ended up having to replace the shift cable(s). Replaced the control arm. Then... the bearings happened again. So I replaced them again, and now they uh... are bad again. Like, not even two months later. Then last weekend, the shift cable—two months after I replaced it—broke. I managed to limp it home and also, somehow, to work and back for three days.
And so, the plan again changed. These events have led me to decide to simply end the struggle. Tupperwagon has met its end. Sometime this month I will take back its good bits and send its fickle, rusty self off to its death (I assume).
In the meantime, I picked up a genuine winter beater...
You'll need to log in to post.
