GeneralDisorder

Part of the problem may be the short drive. This contributes to acidic oil, and the engine never reaches operating temp. It's probably tearing up the valve stem seals. But a leakdown test should tell you for sure. GD

No need - the lock code is printed right on the passenger side lock tumbler. GD

I just did mine and it didn't even cost $200 for everything. OEM parts too. Lookup Discount Import Parts here in Oregon - they do mail order I'm sure. VERY excelent parts and prices. GD

I've never replaced one from bearing failure either. I would say that I've replaced the majority from worn out brushes and the rest from bad rectifiers or voltage regulators. The bearings are TOUGH, and even having the belts extremely tight rarely kills them. GD

You need to ask them if it's the full kit, or just the CC "unit" (computer). My guess is that it's just the unit and you would need the steering wheel, actuator, clutch and brake switches, and maybe a few relays and stuff. Probably NOT a simple plug and play. If it were, then why would you bother making it an option to reduce the cost of the car? The wiring might be there, but you will likely find that nothing else related to the system is installed - that's where the cost savings for the manufacturer are passed on to the consumer that doesn't want/need that feature. GD

The ECU senses the crank sensor, but not the cam sensor - it thinks the sensor is broken because it doesn't see the cam turning. That's the most likely scenario anyway. It's possible that the cam sensor went out, but WAY more likely given his mileage that the belt went. GD

Stainless steel hose clamps. Get the German ones with the rounded edges if you can - they make them in 1/4" width for stuff like the turbo intake hoses on the Audi's, etc. Pull the axle off the tranny, dissasemble the inner joint and slide on your new boots. Shouldn't take more than an hour total. I can do a straight axle swap in about 20 to 30 minutes without boot changes. GD

I've never had any luck with trying to flush poorly circulating heater cores. Replace it and have REAL heat. It's not that bad of a job and one that you will feel good about doing once you have done it - being able to completely clean all the duct work and replace ageing foam seals is worth the effort if the car is nice. If the car is crap get one of those cigarette lighter heaters or set the passenger seat on fire Obtain a whole heater core unit and it's box from a junk yard car - this way you can have it all prepped and ready to go with the new core before you start. Often a used core from a vehicle that has had regular coolant changes is plenty good enough too - at least I've done it several times to good effect. A lot cheaper than a new core too. GD

Rislone and ATF are basically the same thing. Both will coat (not clean - transmissions don't have deposits or varnish) the syncros and mask the problem for a while. But the Redline Lightweight Shockproof will do the job of real gear oil AND make the syncro's work. It's real good stuff. GD

Interval for the belt is 60k, so if it were done at 120 then you have 50 on it. If it were done pre-emptively at 110 or 115 you would be approaching the lifespan of the belt right now. I would definately take the 5 minutes to remove the outer belt covers and make sure the belt is turning and the cams are turning when you crank it. GD

I've since found that this is only true for *some* 5200's. They were made by Holley under license from Weber and are roughly a copy of the DFV series carb with added emmissions equipment and sometimes smaller venturi's (depending on year and model they were used on). They are a crap shoot IMO and are only worth bothering with if you know how to rebuild one and get it cheap. A Weber can be had and installed (if you rebuild it yourself and buy the adaptor plate) for well under $200. But SPFI can be comparibly cheap if you have a decent source for parts. GD

That's a Hitachi - looks bone stock for an 87 Hatch. Should be a DCP-308 variant (30/28). Carter-Weber's are single barrel and are completely unlike the one pictured. Weber's (DGV, DFV, Holley 5200) are aftermarket only. GD

So my friend calls me one day and asks if I can help "fix" his wife's 200x Jag.... Apparently with this model (V8) it's got somewhat of a design defficiency - if you don't drive it far enough or run the engine long enough, the fuel from the cold-enrichment will wash all the oil down the cylinder walls and the engine will lose all compression and can't be started. No kidding. So the fix? We had to pull each and every plug (coil over plug, and lots of cowling bits) and dump 2 ounces of oil down each cylinder to reseal the rings - then crank that sucker for like 10 minutes before it finally kicked over and then smoked for 20 minutes as it burned off the oil . Yep - that's the reccomended fix from the jag shop. Who designs crap like this?? So no - I wouldn't own one. Especially with their reputation - even on recent models, and the way they basically rebaged the Taurus with a Haldex AWD add on. Crap. On the same jag that we had the sealing issue with it blew a rear wheel bearing around the same time - 36,000 miles on it. Nice interior - poorly designed mechanicals. GD

If you remove the bleeder screw on the caliper completely it WILL screw back in. You have fluid pressure holding the piston out. I've had to deal with this many times. You will make a mess and you will have to bleed the system, but new fluid is better than old - brake fluid absorbs moisture over time and should be changed at least every two years anyway. GD

Check the passenger side timing belt, and check that the screw didn't fall out of the distributor rotor under the cap (both common). Otherwise it may be the pump, or just air in the lines and you need to crank it. Try holding the pedal all the way to the floor while cranking - this will put the ECU into flood clear mode in case you have somehow flooded the engine . Anyway - those are my first thoughts. GD

See here: http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=920674&highlight=%22Uncle+Scotty%27s%22+cocktail Many folks swear by it. The consensus seems to be that the key ingredient is the Redline Lightweigh Shockproof - the others are mostly to improve the anti-wear properties for the front diff. Some folks report even better results with 3 quarts of RLS and top the rest off with Motul or Castrol. GD

The LeCar was just the North American Renault 5... which wasn't a bad vehicle at all. The 5 turbo's were sucesseful rally cars actually. The Yugo wasn't all bad either - based on a Fiat 127. It was basically all italian in design and was a very simple and rugged vehicle. The difficulty was partially a lack of proper quality control in the assembly process, and a complete lack of vehicular knowledge on the part of the US consumer. When properly gone through and maintained the yugo is essencially a Fiat 127 and thus shares it's reliability in large part. It was, however, a complete disaster from a marketing standpoint. GD

Seriously - just do the job yourself. You have this board to assist, and the experience will prove invaluable. Part of the money you save will buy the tools to do the job, and the learning experience will empower you in a way you have probably yet to experience with car ownership. Man up and turn a wrench or two. Too many people whine about this stuff when it's really quite easy. Ask around this board and legacycentral - there's probably a few folks in your area that will drop by and give you hand for a few beers. A friend of mine who had never turned a wrench before finally decided to save some money a few years ago and asked me to assist him with a timing belt change on his new-to-him '98 Audi A4. Well 4 years later and he's empowered so much that with only guidance from me he's accomplished a whole mess of things to his new '01 twin turbo A6 - timing belt, water pump, aux electric water pump, valve cover gaskets, cam tensioner gaskets, engine mounts, suspension bushings, tranny flush, etc, etc. GD

I've done a dozen or more HG's with my $10 HF wrench - never had one blow yet. GD

Any progress on the part numbers? GD

++1. Used them many times - excelent work and fast. There's no shortage of them in the JY - buy a used one and throw it in while the other is being rebuilt. You (probably - I don't KNOW that you don't have a machine shop ) can't do the bushings yourself. They are really tricky and require machining ability to remove the old ones (unlike EA82 FI disty's). GD

Well - that link I posted INCLUDES the 15 lb lightweight flywheel and the stage 1 Exedy clutch set.... but I'm still open to sugestions. Part numbers would be great! GD

GD

So is this going to work for my application? http://importimageonline.com/product_info.php?cPath=22_31_95&products_id=400&osCsid=04993a9e041e9cb7037f60c5d707f10f GD

Why not run MS? It can handle up to ten cylinders. GD