Jeorge Posted January 24, 2004 Report Share Posted January 24, 2004 I love my STE alot but she just keeps Breaking little things and its starting to Tick me off.... 1> I need to fix the Im a retard dent in my Pass doors 2> she is starting to get that Famouse late 80's early 90's GM and Ford Paint job. 3>My Drivers side window the Gear on the motor is going so I have to lift manualy with it to go up and down... 4>She does not like to be Driven in the cold, had to jump 2 times this winter. How ever when it was 35+ BELOW 0 and sitting for 3 days she started but was like the batt was almost dead, starter just turned over and didnt grab but then on second try it did but Turned over Really slow okay its Fn cold so I will Forgive, then after Running for about 15 mins I noticed steam coming from under the hood IM thinking Great now what, well hood is Frozen shut, so I drive to my Friends house half mile from where I was, get the hood open its a Radiator leak not to worried Its leaking from where I new it was and It was Patched once and since its -35 I will be okay when it warms up. then we check the code for the engine light that came on also after starting it in the cold. Great Code 33, but then I remembered that it almost didnt start so the Alt is Probably Trying to make up for the batt by charging high, well start the car after being off for the min it took to pull the code and check the leak and the light was still there but then I figured okay I'll Try something Turned the car off and waited 5 mins and started her back up WOOT No Light so as I thought it was the Over charging making up for the batt.... well now my Radiator doesnt leak AGAIN either so it must have been the cold... but I still need a Radiator because my leak is on the side not the Core. My turbo should be rebuilt 146K on her My Drivers side Inner Tierod is going, should do all of them and Ball joints too, but Im still waiting to see what happens about upgrading my motor. DOH its one thing after another and IM getting tired of it.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z24 turbo 93 Posted January 24, 2004 Report Share Posted January 24, 2004 get a new battery-should fix your problem starting in the cold Radiotor leak when temps get cold is normal your ball joints and tierod i don't believe those are too much money ball joints are like 40 dollars each. And the turbo needing a rebuild if you don't have the money don't worry about it and drive it jezz. You are worring about alot of little things! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeorge Posted January 24, 2004 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2004 Im not to worried about that stuff with the ball joints and Turbo needing rebuilding. heck I need a PMIII too...New Rear Routers and Pads too but Im upgrading this summer... as for the cold starting IT Is a New Batt, bought new in May... OH and like I would care if I had to take my new toy out to play insted of driving this "family car" LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
god910 Posted January 24, 2004 Report Share Posted January 24, 2004 Radiotor leak when temps get cold is normal Hell, I know my car is fast, but it's no SR-71 Blackbird. (FWIW they leak fuel until they get hot enough to seal the fusilage) Your rad. should not leak when it's cold. I don't know about STE's but the TGP rad. could cost you your first born. Take the rad. to a repair shop and have them put a new tank on it. It'll only cost ~$80 (around here anyway) and they chemically cleaned it, flushed it, and pressure tested it. As far as your battery goes, disconnect it and check for parasitic draw. If there is not much draw (I think the limit is like .2 or .3 amps, someone chime in on this) could be another bad battery, or just a crappy one, what brand of battery is it? Hell, my TGP first had to put new injectors in it (NOT cheap) then, I drove it for a day and my Clutch M/C fell off the damn firewall. Get that back together, and my p/s pump decided the car needed to be washed, unfortunetly w/ power steering fluid. Then, the primary cooling fan goes out, and since it's $175 I'm still working on that. I have the money, but it's just hard to justify paying that much for a damn fan motor. (I'm probably going w/ a tie in fan for a SBC or something of the sort.) HTH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
90TGP Posted January 24, 2004 Report Share Posted January 24, 2004 Our cars are the pinnicle of a love-hate relationship. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris A Posted January 25, 2004 Report Share Posted January 25, 2004 Well, its got some miles on it and none of that stuff is unusual. Have you guys ever hung out at turbobuick.com? It puts high performance GM Turbo cars in perspective. We could compare YOUR Turbo, to my 210k mile LUMINA. I wouldn't worry, its stuff you can manage. Its stupid stuff that grounds the car that sucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z24 turbo 93 Posted January 25, 2004 Report Share Posted January 25, 2004 it is normal to have some leakage sometimes when the temps cool off and heat up since, yeah things expand and contract at different rates!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeorge Posted January 25, 2004 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2004 well its not the big thing of putting the 100-200 into it....how ever I put $1400 into it less then a year ago..and thats why im upset, as for the batt its a Interstate 850CCA batt....and I think its just because my car doesnt like the cold..like I said it started at -35 degs just a little hard... I guess I should check the Radiator shop out.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idbeast Posted January 25, 2004 Report Share Posted January 25, 2004 Hey Jeorge, do you want me to come and take it off your hands??? It could be number 6, 3 TSTE's in one place... :read: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeorge Posted January 25, 2004 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2004 HAHAHA How about you bring one of those to me to let me just park her??? acctually I have been thinking of contacting B Cool and seeing how much a new Radiator would cost to have made they make Custom Applications like that for around $400-$500-600 I bet we could get a better deal if I could get like 10 people who need new ones.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff M Posted January 25, 2004 Report Share Posted January 25, 2004 Hey Jeorge, a while back a good friend of mine and Jim’s, named snippy got her TGP radiator re-cored (with a 3 row like we have) for $175, that was the cheapest ever re-core to date, most have really only been from $200 to $300, so might want to do some calling around to radiator repair shops. If you have to get a new end tank, just remember the one on the passenger side has larger than stock transmission cooling line attachments (everything is better on a TGP :-) )and the hole for the rad level (and supposed corrosion sensor). I have seen a lot of cores and all had levels of being plugged up, most pretty well plugged up, but that happens with any car that has not had regular maintenance such as flushing and filling with rad fluid and distilled water every 2 or 3 years. And as for the other problems, and this is not bragging, believe me the amount of emails takes many hours of my life away answering, but I know for a fact 13 or more years and 100K+ miles has to wear out something, and there are a lot of things that can wear, and I have helped more owners in emails since 1996 than this board or other boards have ever seen, like I say not really something to brag about when its you having to endure all those repairs and learning curves, but I have gained a lot of experience, knowledge and wisdom from all those efforts with those owners, and many great friendships and favors retuned. If you had owned the car since new I think you and all of us would have a better appreciation for having a trouble free car over the last 13 years or so, its just those getting these cars (again not as well cared for) used with some miles that puts our patience to the test (and wallet). There are a few that have posted on here stating when they buy a 13 year old car/TGP, and since they know what wears from listening on here, they just go ahead and expect to replace as many items as they can afford, sort of planning that into the initial cost of buying the car. I do the same, soon as I get a TGP I start going through replacing things; the crank sensor right off, spark plugs and wires, then onto the coil packs and ignition module, confirming the proper matching of cylinders to coil taps. Then check what goof-ups the previous owners/repair guys left me, things like plugging the bleed port on the tranny vacuum modulator, or threw it away not knowing what it was. Then save up some more and just do all the injectors and fuel pressure regulator, and the cheap cost $30 complete vacuum line assemble off the top of the throttle body (while the upper intake is off for the injectors and FPR), this new vacuum line assembly goes so dang tight into the top of the TB it does not need any clip or tie-warp to hold it into place and have tested it to 17 psi, but use some radiator fluid to lube it so it will go in, the idle and run the engine without boost for a few days to let the rad fluid dry up!! PCV Valve of course and crossover/02 sensor. Replace the oil pressure sending unit. Then brake accumulator. Then clean out all the crap magnetically stuck to the brake fluid level sensor magnet, tons of crap comes off of it (from pump running too often having a weak accumulator) and getting this out of there saves it from plugging up the passages and such in the Power Master saving me headaches later. Replace the leak prone rear brake line distribution block (AND fuel filter while down there!!), then fill the Master Cylinder with fresh brake fluid, flush all the lines, then fix the back calipers with that very affordable $5 bronze sleeve that takes care of the hanging up problem, new brakes and rotors and done for a long time to come. Drain the tranny fluid/flush is better, fill with synthetic with 4 quarts over. Once everything with the engine is up to snuff, then chip and air filter upgrade and see how soft the tranny shift, any gears not having some level of firmness to them, out goes the stock vacuum modulator and in goes a new adjustable one, crank the screw till the down shifts when coming to a stop start to hang, back it out and up shifts will be as firm as you can get without a rebuild, and firmer shifts now will keep the clutches from slipping best they can and last as long as they can. Check the cooling fans bearing tightness so I know to replace the fan motor before it fries and I overheat, check the problem prone main fan connector for discoloration and melting plastic and repair as needed, same for the fan relay and its contact points. Flush the rad fluid when the colder stat is installed with the chip. Tighten the loose trans fluid lines at the aux cooler, pull the cooler down and pull out all the leaves and mud and rocks and debri so it can cool again! Remove all the intake pipes, clean out all the oil film on these and mainly the silicone hoses so things don’t pop off later, when putting the upper intake pipe back in, use a longer 13 mm bolt to use all the threads in the thermostat housing (too often the few threads use by the too short stock bolt are dead and chewed, sometimes needing to be re-tapped!), and some anti-size of course!! That about does it for typical work, more like restoration but it’s the only way to have a nearly trouble-free driving experience with a 13+ year old car, but few cars running good with give the level of driving pleasure the TGP and TSTE can give. You can spread these jobs out over paychecks/weekends of spare time, but aside for the benefits of things running right, you learn enough about your engines components and workings to never be challenged if future work or troubleshooting is needed, been there-did some of that sort of thing. Well like I said above, not to brag but I know these cars pretty good, and its been great to have so many others here get a lot of good knowledge under their belts and help here, takes a load off of me, but still have numerous emails to tend to (many more come after I post like this ), just looking for a spare moment to type up mass amounts of info like this on my web site for immediate access to those in need, it will happen. As for the window motor; the holding mechanism in the express down controls holds too long, causing the motor to burn and creating a dead spot when it runs, I know of some owners who make sure to release it when the window gets to the bottom, or remove the clip that holds the express down on the button, all this to avoid burn spots in the motor. Once you got a bad enough burn spot, new motor is the only true fix. As for your starting problem, things to check and consider. Grease or things not greased and hanging up in your old starter, carboned up armature/brushes contact points will work a battery hard, along with old or thick viscosity oil, Mobil now has 0w30 and 0w40 for us chilly types (I am in MN too!). Bad (loose and/or corroded) contact at the batter and/or starter and/or engine! Thing to check is when the engine is running, what charging volts you are getting, better be 12.8 minimum, more like 13.1 to 13.4 or a little more if there is a drain from things running when you test, if not then the alternator might be hanging in there but could go out, and what I have found that takes these out is bad grounds at the battery, engine block and front clip areas (and positive at the starter related only to hard starting). Next would be to take an ohm reading between the subframe and engine, there is supposed to be a level of ground isolation between the 2 (sounds odd but it’s the truth). If your readings are below 100 ohms, even near zero ohms, this will take out your alternator (unintentionally proved this one to myself with my TSTE, and 3 witnesses!!!), unfortunately the fix is to replace the motor mount on the passenger side, the one down in the subframe pocket, a bit of a procedure that I won’t spend more time typing here (fingers getting sore and got more things I need to get done as usual) just let me know if this ends up being your results from testing! Well, chin up and good luck! Jeff M Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idbeast Posted January 26, 2004 Report Share Posted January 26, 2004 Jeorge Wrote: HAHAHA How about you bring one of those to me to let me just park her??? OK, but only if you take it out every 2 weeks and drive it like you stole it. (It always gets driven like that!!!!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeorge Posted January 26, 2004 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2004 Jeorge Wrote:HAHAHA How about you bring one of those to me to let me just park her??? OK, but only if you take it out every 2 weeks and drive it like you stole it. (It always gets driven like that!!!!) I use to take mine out every thursday and Drive it like a Rental but now its to icky out to do that... however the VR4 still loves playing in the snow at 100+ (won't tell you how much +) yeah im stupid but you only live once Right.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.