nipper

if you want to be scared, go to the parts department and let them show you in an exploded view of where it is. i couldnt find any picture on the net of it. i did see that your like #4 with a tensioner problem. 4 doesnt make a trend but ... nipper

The thing that seems to work like clockwork is the gas light. JUst drive till it comes on then fil it up. the light works off a switch and not the pointiometer (sp) in the tank. My Gauge is e at 10 gallons, but when the light comes on it has 2 gallons left, so i go by the light, unless on a long trip. nipper

if the linkage is in one peice, man, it sounds like your clutch disc just self destructed. i think your going to have to get under the car and inspect the linkage to make sure its still attached to everything ... otherwise sounds like (without seeing it in person) you have a non-existant clutch disc. nipper

Wouldn't a bad knock sensor produce driveability issues way before that point? nipper

Way off. Way way off. a valve doesnt care about weather. Ignition can care about weather. Wiring can care. Some sensors can care. Take a spray bottle under the hoood at night and wet down the ignition coil, look for stray voltage. that would rule out the coil towers. i'm a bit more spacey then usual from my back pain meds, but a sticky valve is a sticky valve, You have something that happens when it gets cold. Check the ECU engine temp sensor also. It may have a bad spot in it that only kicks in at low temps. nipper

TO test a brake booster... with the engine off, pump the brake pedal about 10 times to get all the vaccum out of the booster. With your foot on the brake pedal, start the car. The brake pedal should go down. If it doesnt you need a booster. A booster failure can mimic a master cylinder failure. Personally with the age of the car, i would replace the master cylinder and the booster if you have the funds, since you will have everything apart anyway. nipper

way cool nipper

There is no sensor failure anywhere on the engine that can cause a mechanical failure and the car still be running. 7500 miles ! i dont care what your running, that is way too long between oil changes. i would recomend at most 5000 with a synthetic. At 5000 miles the additives are mostly broken down. Possible failure modes at road speed is thorwing something or spining a brearung. Most common cause for spinning a beearing is oil failure, from oil breakdown or gas contamination, It is possible the long interval is the reason for the failure, this is why i am against them, this could have been prevented with a shorter interval, or even had zero affect. nipper

Your most likely leaking out of the weep-hole. This means the seal is shot and only a matter of time before the bearing itself fails, then out have a three peice water pump under the hood.... very messy.You can drive it, just keep an eye on things. The way the waterpump weep hole is set up, it doesnt sling water on anything. I would get it fixed as soon as you can though, these things have a habbit of demanding attention at the most inoportune times. nipper

OH ok its water injection, NOT hydrogen injection. Now that makes sense. In all honesty unless you have a very expensive fuel injector test setup, pulling out the injectors is not going to tell you anything. Also if you decide that they are dirty and try to clean them agresivly you will ruin them. The best bet is to (i cant beleive im saying this) get a fule injector cleaning service from a garage. I dont normally believe in them unless you have a drivability issue and have ruled everything else out. ONt totally by the entire water injection thing, because it it was true, every car out of detroit would have one. They work best with high compression engines, turbos, to drop combustion temnperitures and reduce pre-ignition. I would have a compression test done on your engine first. If you have weak piston rings you may be inducing water in the oil and thats not a good thing. ALos when you first use it it is going to scare the hell out of you. In the good ol days one would use a spry bottle of water to decarbonize an engine. You would spray the water donw the intake, NOT let the car stall, and make sure its pointed away from your neighbors, as it would proiduce alot of smoke. I am not seeing any dyno tests or science to back up thier claim. The dyno tests are done at idle, not at peak on the 1.8L engine, thats a bogus test. It worked on the harley cause its an air cooled engine, and thats where i would expect some what of a gain. 400.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! do you realize how much gas you have to save you have to burn to recoup that cost. They give emission reports for various cars, and yes that is where it would work also, but if you look closely, the cars they site are ancient, They call it DEQ Studies, and there is no such thing. They dont even site SAE test practices for anything. ONly a 30 day warrenty ... Man i smell a scam i have a nice bridge in brooklyn to sell if you are interested, nipper

way cool to get the struts replaced for free. Yes the cars are thankfully over engineered, so it does take a while for problems to show up, and when they do, they are pretty far along. i have been lucky with struts ..havent had to replace them on a vehical in years, Guess it helps to buy cars over 150k on them, as they have usually been done already nipper

THey exist for coil springs, and that is thier purpose in life. Unfortunilty they dont take care of ride quality, and one pothole and you loose them. nipper

Just for the hell of it.... write mobile one.. if you can prove that you always used it and have all the receipts, At worst they wil ask for anoil sample to analyze and tell you it was something else, and best... who knows? Just costs you a stamp nipper

If its an automatic, religously change the tranny fluid once every 6 months. That is the part of the car that will take the biggest beating, and the most expensive to replace. You will go through brakes tec faster .. but they are cheap in comapirson. Change the oil every three months if no real mialge is getting on the car, or every 3000 miles. I know some people with postal subarus, and the trannies give out around 100K as opposed to almost forever for a normally driven sooby. good luck nipper

can we hit him now ? hehehe Glad you found it. nipper

Have you checked your O2 sensor, that's usually the first reason for a drop in gas milage and may not always trip a code. Also there is still alot of crap gasoline out there. I would do a few tanks with Amaco or BP since they seem to have the best gas right now to get a true mileage. Now out of curisoty, and since i worked in the H2 industry, just why and what are you installing on your car. A word of caution, H2 has a lower power density the gasoline, and in a power to power comparison, you need more h2 to get the same power as a gallon of gasoline. Before you do anything to your fuel delivery system you need to tune the car up to get a good baseline. Also check for any codes. You do not say if this is a manual or an automatic. I am going to assume this is 2.2L . nipper

Dont place a spring on the clutch. It takes surprisingly little force on the clutch to have it act like you "riding" the clutch, and you will wipe out your clutch quickly. The helper springs that come from the factory are there to ( i thnk) take up any slakc and keep things from rattling.. JUst go with a facotry clucth set, replace the clip(s) on the fork, get a new throw out bearing and pilot bushing, and a new cable. That should take care of it. For what its worth i always thought my 1988 GL d/r had a heavy clutch. I think its just the car. nipper

Thats not how you measure it. You have just removed all the mechanical advantge designed into the system. Someplace out there somone wil have the factory manul, and it will sepcify the amount of force required at the pedal to depress the clutch. It could be your clucth is nearing the end of its life, as some clutch pressure plates tend to give more force on the disc ans the disc end its service life. nipper

I worked for a fleet managment compnay (job from hell). The industrial standard was either 1.5 bounces or the customer complaining. You would be surprised how many chin stores would tell the customer their struts were bad becayuse they were wet... even when the struts were less then a year old. We got to the point that we had a milage limit, or there had to be cupiing in the tires then they would get replaced. Bounce test is pretty standard. Spoeaking of ....how ARE the tires, are they cupped at al? nipper

i vote for a stuck thermostat .... do the cooling fans come on? nipper

the dealer give you a free inspection to get you to spend money ..gee i dont know if they will go for that *snicker*. You need a manual that discusses body work and parts to find the numbers. The factory manual has that. Unfortunitly i only have factory manulas for a 88. You can also try to find another like yours around and park next to it, but a body whop wil have those numbers too. nipper

heheheheeh its just a thought i had nipper

There is a thread here on this subject, esu the search. Almost any seat will fit in, yu just need to have a bracket made up to match thye holes. Last i read the thread i think the guy went with a pair of seats from a volvo. nipper

Can you run through all the gears with the cllutch in and the car running. If So with the clutch out GENTLY try to go from neutral to first gear. Even if your clutch is shot to hell, it should grind, unless the clutch self destructed. I am thinking this is a linkage issue. With the car off and in reverse (like when you park) try to push the car. There sholud be alot of resistance. Out of adjustment clutch cable would give grinding. Most modes of clutch failure will give you grinding. Triple chaekc the car in NOT in 4wd neutral. I think the linkage bushings are shotor you have a borken cv joint or two. nipper

a good manual or body shop wil give you body height measurements, or even a good spring shop. It is possible your springs are tired. you don't need to replace the struts as long as they pas the jounce test, and aren't leaking. Its really a decision your going to have to make, as the labor is the same either way. nipper