Buick350X

Have done the brakes several times, a few tune ups, plugs n wires, have changed all the fluids lastyear, trans, diff and sucks. Lots of oil changes from losing oil, plus filters. tires, 1 right front wheel bearing.... Needs a bank 3 O2 sensor but the threads stripped out and the uni Ucrimp connection one I don't think ground well. Which might mean a new cat just so it screws in right. But Id bet id end up replaceing more then it, after 120k the whole exhaust looks like its ready to be changed.

What other parts could I have missssed changing? 2.5 Forest AWD just learned the pit falls of random loss of oil fro ma gummed up PCV valve. What other parts do folks easily miss. These new cars run so well on even bad parts its hard to tell when its time. I member when I did plugs and itdidn't run any better but mileage picked up. But it never ran different. My Buick never fails to let me know when a part is not up to par. I got no money on my cc to prove it. [Though chirpin 1-2 2-3 shift in a full frame 4 ton wagon is to cool.]

Oh man was that thing crusty, full of garbage, these newer computer cars run so good for so long its easy to for get stuff like it. Im hoping that and the hi mile oil will seal up them leaky gasket since they only leaked from to much crank case pressure. And only leaked at random since oil goes MIA at random times.

Them newer fancy small electrode plugs were designed on purpose like that for newer cars that run lean as a popcorn fart to make the EPA happy. So the electrode will just vaporize, insted of having enough material to let a gobblet of metal to melt lose and jam up in a ring or valve............ Far as NGK goes that are pretty much banded in the motorcyle world as the quality of the manual suggested standard NGK bike plug sucks. They foul, fail and are down right fussy junk. And a simple change to bosche or autolite platinums often gives folks a feeling a a whole new bike, let alone plugs that work how they should.

Now we got an 00 Forest with a 2.5, has near 130,000 on the clock. It doesn't leak or blow smoke, O2 sensors aren't failing but its using up allot of oil. We will watch n watch it with no change then the next time you forget to check, its a quart or more low. Was near 2 quart low but thank god the alarm wire had broken lose, shorting out the spark while driving so we looked everything over. Its just so odd, my experiance with old american cars is when they use or leak oil you can catch it and keep it full with little work but this forign sucker has no rhym or reason to the oil loss...........

Yep its not easy to figure out. I couldn't get things very far apart but it never felt like a wheel bearing. On the ground and driving it just made noise and didn't seem that bad. But I jack all 4 up in the air and put it in gear and oh man, It looked sounded and felt BAD BAD BAD. But I still thought it was higher up in the axle. But after that I just sent it to a good shop, it was scary awful in the air. But the bearing was toast, totatly destroyed itself. And even the shop had a hard time with the bolts, I had to cut the LCA bolt off but couldn't get nuting else off far enough to yank the axle. They earned they loot plus he took like $40 some buck off for paying in cash. Better then nuttin work rate was $71.95 hr but they are a good shop

Ended up being the wheel bearing. I just couldn't get it apart enough. Siezed bolts everywhere. Cost $501.55 at a local rep trans shop.

Axle / Rearend bearing??? Well what I thought was a bad wheel bearing isn't. Only got thing part way apart and I can hear the metal rubbing noise coming from the axle where it bolts to the rear end. Rear axle lub was nice and clean, though I replaced it anyways. Is the bearing sealed on that end? DOesn't sound like a CV, but a grinding bearing that need lub.

Anyone know the size of the nut on the rear hub? Is it standard or metric and how big? 1 1/16 is as big as I got.

Looking up parts at autozone.com they only list an inner bearing for the rear wheel. Which is $60 with no warranty or $80 with a 3 month warranty. Though they list an inner, outter and intermediate wheel seal. 3 seals protecting the bearing and it still failed?

I have no clue but if the front dif is a sealed unit, the shavings can't hurt anything else. Chances are it would still work ok until it failed. Would just need an AAA membership to keep the tow cheap.. But being a front dif there is so much hooked to it. If it locked up, it might damge something up front. I dunno how strong the axel parts are on a Sub, on a RWD american car you would twist the drive shaft in two before ya damaged the trans. But did the dealer flush n refill it for ya? with new fluid it sould be wearing anymore n junk couldn't get bound in it. Just don't jump on it hard that is when ya strip things. Only thing thats gonna get ya is if you break teeth off that could get caught in the gears. If your careful and easy id bet it will hold out for ya. Talk nice to her. Im kinda in that boat. Had a torn cv boot on the front of the 01 forest for about two weeks. Everyone says ya gotta change the axel, its gonna fail, just change it. Long as it still works, I ain't changing nutin. Got a tip from a Import Mech that said buy a regular boot and spilt it yourself with a new razor blade. Then super glue it back together and cover that with special black rubber cement. Dam if he wasn't right. I have used super glue to fix belts in VCR's before. Sometimes they broke again but never where it was glued. Its super ok I rambled enough

Any chance anyone can scan n post me the parts diagram for the rear section Im gonna work on? Just the like parts order. Something like this http://ViragoTech.com/XV750/750_7_26.jpg I used the book at the lirbary before but wont have time for that this weekend.

I have no idea if it will hurt it running syn but there could be some half truth if they used cheap pouris casting that wern't sealed right. Or say 1 out of 100 wern't so they are just playing it safe after it cost them some loot, so its easier to just say don't use syn. Which is probably most likley. It just a safer bet to tell folks not to use it. If they do on their own: its not their fault and it will be $150 hr for labor to fix it;)

Well here is the run down. There is a lounder then normal tire whir coming from the rear end. brakes check out, rear dif checks out, front dif checks out, all the cv boots are in good shape. I just wonder is there a possiability that a wheel bearing has gone south? Does this even happen on Subs? Not very common on most any car but.... Few times it has happened, the wheel felt lose or the bad bearing made it bind n skip. It was always very clear. I haven't had time to get the tires rotated to rule that out yet. Tires are pretty new. If so can the wheel bearing in the rear be changed easy? Just remove that lock nut and it like say doing the front of a GM car?

So where was this sound coming from??? Been chasing a similar on my moms 01 forest, Sound to be coming from the rear. But rear brakes, dif n all check out. Changed rear dif fluid anyways. Almost wonder if it could be a wheel bearing but that not very likley just cause well its a sub. They go forever on reg service. Though I wonder on yours if you saw any drips. How they heck did thick azz 80-90 leak out like that on ya. Had to leak, it dosn't just disolve into thin air. Course maybe someone was sleepy that day when the car was made.

It would be like that zmax stuff how they show how it soaks into the metal. [colored mineral oil crap] But it may be a bigger hint that they used cheap pouris casting to save money. Older carb bowls will seep gas through if the polished surface is blasted off away. Cause its a cheap pouris casting that when polished the surface is sealed. Nothing more then a really really stiff sponge. Its the tiny path ways that make a sponge work, not the material. But in the classic car world an older car will often leak on syn and not dino cause of similar.

Well anyways I did my own thing. When I got up today I let it run for a few mins, went for a drive around the block [country block]. Then let it sit and run some more as I dumped the rest of the can in. Few revs, nother min at idle then drained it immediately. If anyone is still worried about me I did not plan this part but I did get hi mile oil that conditions seals n stuff. But it was just by chance I bought that. Was on sale. But there is no more cold start up lifter tick. Changed the oil, trans fluid [3rd time this summer] and the rear end fluid. Pull the rear drums and inspected everything. Trying to track down a funny noise that sounds like bad drums, like the pads were worn down. Or its just the typical tire noise. Its not my car so I don’t know how different it is. . But its louder then normal she says and I can’t find anything wrong. CVs n boots are all cool. I am thinking about having the tires rotated tomorrow to see what happens. I know someone is gonna ask why change tranny fluid 3 times? Well there is more then the 4-5 quarts in there that drains out. It’s cheap and I did it a few times to flush it well with new fluid.

Thats just lame, seafoam will not eat ruber seals or parts. Thats a myth. Why you ask, cause it big in the bike world and I have been down that road with the Virago. [folks have soak rubber parts in straight SF with no change.] But its not wet clutch safe [a clutch is just fibers glues together...] So I have no experiance with it in oil. But I have tons with gas. Folks run half a can at a time in 3-5 gal of gas. Virago's are full of rubber parts in the fuel system. Fuel pump is just a thin slice of rubber. Two gas tanks; run through with heavy seafoam fixes so many funky problems. Always cheaper to spend $7 then to pull the carbs apart. Now that we cleared up that myth how long do most folks run it to clean the lifters and junk?

So how much seafoam should I run in the oil and for how long? Can says it does 10 quarts. I put about 3/4 of it in. I just wonder how long it should run in the oil to clean up the engine? Only driven about 20 miles. I do have a full oil change kit ready.

You don't need that just a regular cheap alarm and a 12volt smoke machine. No one can steal a car with smoke bellowing out from under the dash. Also a dead give away. Just make sure it installed so it can be un-done. Even more evil would be to dump some peperspray into it.

Here are some pics of my tail lights. There were badly, badly hazed. Went though a few grits of sand paper till I had them nice and smooth. Then just shot some walmart clear on them. Did it in the sun and coated them heavy. Been over 2 years and they still look great. Almost used some VHT nightshades. To get that tinted look without folks being able to steal your tint covers. http://viragotech.com/taillights.html

They must perform all safety recall work reguardless of miles or ownership. GM and all of them try to pull that crap. Problem is the dealers don't wanna get stuck with the bill so they make you work for it. If you take their word and give up..... All the better for them. Gotta call corp and talk to someone who is gonna care. Still to this day dealers have to be forced into doing it but there is an 80s seatbelt GM recall. Problem is they used red stickers on the seat belt button. Law state no parts of a seat belt can wear out. Worn or sun fadded stickers break this law. They have to replace any of the red button ones with the newer blue that doesn't fade or wear from thumb use. You just gotta *************** your way up high enough. Safety recalls are for life.....

MPG ratings are kind of low on all cars. When they list city MPG they mean stop n go city traffic like a big city, highway MPG is a tad closer. But for example my 86 V6 T5 Firebird was rated at 15-18 Well I get 25-28 city easy. But my city is long country block with speed limits of 40-50 MPH with very few stops. I don't do highway driving and go 50+ everywhere.

Your tires prressure is more unlikley to change with time. Something aobut it being smaller or larger, its harder for it to leak and lose pressure. If ya watch drag racing you will see them guys with tiny bottle of the stuff doing tires. One of them tiny bottle will air up 50 tires. Where, just plain air would barley do 4 from flat to full.

Better then the Furd V8 problems. know a guy who put A safe shot of NOS on his new rustang, block crack in half from vally pan on down. Its a known flaw that they have yet to address. Though some companies sell kits to help beef up the vally area where the cracks start.