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Post by fribo on Oct 19, 2018 13:59:23 GMT -5
Hey, I’ve been reading this thread the past few hours. Pretty cool stuff. I’ve had my 04 comp g about 6 years now and I still love the car.
I’ve got some mods into it, front and rear power logs and downpipe, intake, 1.7 roller rockers. Some interior stuff like a gauge pillar pod with the aero force/boost/oil pressure gauges, some audio stuff. If you still have the stock air box I recommend pulling it out and getting some sort of open intake with a cone filter, the supercharger scream is beautiful and gets muffled by the air box.
I just had the engine in pieces over the winter for the LIM gaskets and installing the rear power log. That was a decent job, did all my tensioner/idler pullies and the valve lifters while everything was apart.
If you’re keeping the car I highly recommend making sure the lim gaskets are updated with the good design. Mine were just failing at 140k miles, and many go long before that.
Also - When you mentioned about your gauges dying, I’ve seen that before. At one point I tried to move the ground location for the battery and I chose a bad location. My gauges were dying randomly and my aero force wouldn’t work, signifying that the OBD/pcm weren’t getting good voltage either. It took me forever to figure out the cause being the battery ground connection being messed with. I retapped the factory location, got a new bolt and put it back to original with some electric grease, and all the electrical gremlins disappeared instantly.
Just as an aside, the EGR system has a real purpose. When combustion temps in the chamber are high, (over 2500* I think), there are pollutants formed called oxides of nitrogen. These are especially nasty to breathe and are the main component of smog problems in cities.
The EGR prevents that by putting burnt exhaust gassed into the intake, which means if there’s more stale, already burned exhaust in the intake, there’s less room for oxygen. Less oxygen means less fuel can be burned on each power stroke. Less fuel being burned means less heat produced, so it prevents these oxides of nitrogen from forming.
There’s also some evidence that the lower combustion temps help piston rings and exhaust valves survive longer.
It’s interesting to note that the 3800 originally had the egr valve when it first became law, but they were produced for several years without the EGR because they were passing smog tests without it. GM started putting them on the motors again because the motors without the EGR were burning exhaust valves and throwing piston rings.
Yeah it carbons up the intake pretty bad and looks ugly, but it seems like generally it’s a net positive for the car!
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Post by COMpulse on Oct 22, 2018 13:41:59 GMT -5
Cool, another Comp G owner. Welcome to the site. You can probably understand why I got a 2013 Taurus SHO after my Comp G died. 4 doors and boost.
I used to have a ZZP shopping list with rockers, power log, tuned PCM, maybe even an intercooler. But I never got around to it with other responsibilities. I modified the airbox a few times. At one point I gutted the stock airbox, put a cone in it, and opened up the air inlet. I mucked with a fenderwell intake too. But yeah the sound of boost is a beautiful thing.
I am aware of the LIM gasket issue, as it was a problem on my old engine. I've been keeping an eye on oil consumption and how the oil looks (and the coolant), and so far I don't believe there's an issue there (yet). I need to determine if the existing gasket is the plastic one or the good metal one. That's about as far down into an engine as I'm comfortable going at this point.
I think my gauge issue is tied to the OBD reader. The gauges only die when some sort of communication error happens with the OBD reader. I noticed that I can bring the gauges back to life by re-initializing the OBD reader through software. I modified some of the code in DriveLine to catch when communication is lost and re-init, and I've not had much issue since. I'm still keeping an eye on it, and I'll take a look at the grounds too.
This week I will be replacing the blinker stalk in the steering column, since mine is now activating my high-beams when I turn on the right turn signal.
I read the wiki on EGR, and it still kinda seems like a fart/nostril tube to me. I mean, obviously it's been tested and verified to be good for the environment so I'll go along with that. It just seems like introducing inert gas into the combustion mix would have some effect on stoichiometry. And yes, the carbon build-up. It seems the solution to exhaust pollution now is to just hide the smog as solid crud caked onto the inside of the engine.
And it's another potential vacuum leak.
And yes I do still love this car. It's shockingly easy to squeal the tires. It looks good and has a decent community online for resources. And it just has a good feeling of connection to the road.
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Post by COMpulse on Oct 30, 2018 7:16:07 GMT -5
Blinker stalk replaced. It's just two T-25 torx screws, hidden under a plastic 'clam-shell'. Separate an pull apart the top and bottom plastic pieces covering the steering column. Find one T-25 torx screw on top, and one facing the steering wheel. Turning the wheel 90 degrees counterclockwise will allow a straight driver with a torx bit to get on the screw. Once unscrewed, carefully unclip 3 different electrical connectors. Replace stalk, reconnect wires, and reassemble. The hardest part is the plastic cover. Everything about it sucks. The job took me around an hour, and I still don't have the plastic clam-shell fully clipped together where it should be. But at least I'm not flashing my brights at people anymore.
DISCLAIMER / WARNING: Anyone doing any work on a steering column should probably spend the extra 60 seconds to remove the fuse for the airbag before beginning work. I did.
Unrelated, I woke up this morning to a cold house. Boiler not working. Just spent $1500 on it two months ago. Waiting for the technician to arrive.
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Post by COMpulse on Nov 27, 2018 14:50:25 GMT -5
So, I was driving my car over the weekend, and I noticed a knocking sound when I'm coasting. Probably 3 knocks per second, varying with engine speed. Sound goes away when I hit the gas, or when I'm not moving. Yesterday, the knocking sounded much worse. Like, serious problem any moment. So, I did some googling. The three suggestions were CV joint (which would not surprise me), motor mounts (also believable) or loose lug nuts. But a failing CV joint usually make more noise when turning as far as I know. And the motor mounts were just looked at.
So, I went outside. I looked under the car. Nothing obviously broken. Then I looked at the wheel. One of my lug nuts is gone and the stud is broken. Gonna baby it up to the tire shop in the morning to get fixed. It looks like a job I could do myself if I want to take the brake caliper off, pound out the stud, and seat a new one. Not really feeling it. It's 30'F outside.
Glad I caught it before catastrophe.
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Post by jhornbr225 on Nov 27, 2018 19:53:17 GMT -5
Yes, glad you caught it before it got more serious. Be sure to tighten those remaining lug nuts before you drive it any more. If it's making noise, they are loose. Not having one lug on a wheel is not the end of the world. Heck, pay attention in parking lots and I bet you'll find at least a couple cars missing a lug or two.
Once, before I had a good garage, I was at my Mom's, working on my 1979 MG Midget. I had at least one wheel off for some reason. After putting everything together, I started to drive home. I don't remember hearing anything, but something caught the corner of my eye. I carefully brought the car to a gentle stop and edged off the road. Turned out the flash I saw out of the corner of my eye was all 4 lug nuts from the one front wheel. I'm surprised the wheel stayed on. I stole one lug nut from each from the other three wheels so they all had three. After getting it home, I was able to find a place that sold MG lug nuts, so I bought four, and I was back in business.
So yes, get it fixed. But as long as the other lugs are tight, losing one stud on a wheel is not that big of a deal. High speeds and high cornering forces are probably not a good idea either. In Michigan, I'm sure you see plenty of those idiots that drive with the compact spare, at 70MPH, just like everything is normal. Now those folks are just asking for trouble.
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Post by COMpulse on Nov 28, 2018 9:26:24 GMT -5
Well that's getting fixed.
They also noticed: Rack and pinion leaking power steering fluid. I never noticed a drop of fluid anywhere, but the pump does make noise and I haven't checked the fluid. Some part of a strut mount is broken. And the trans mount is still loose and probably garbage.
They offered to fix it all and do an alignment for $1100 today. After asking what the most urgent issues were, I decided to just get the lug nut stud replaced and the trans mount. They reminded me that they offer financing. Tempting. I might take it back up there on the weekend.
That rack and pinion shit is expensive.
I miss having a vehicle with a warranty sometimes. But I'm hoping to hear back on a new job that's almost 100% telecommute. If I didn't have to drive to work every day, it would be difficult to justify a car with a payment.
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Post by jhornbr225 on Nov 28, 2018 18:24:29 GMT -5
Wow, $1100? On one hand, you replaced the motor. You have the patience and the gumption to do some of that stuff yourself. I am then reminded that you are in Michigan, and it's cold. And from what I recall you don't have a heated garage.
My wife's CRV leaks power steering fluid somewhere. I notice that it gets to the low line about once a year. I never see a drop anywhere. If it was leaking bad, I'd look at it, but for a few ounces a year, and no mess on the garage floor... It can wait.
Strut mount? I'm sure you could take it apart, borrow a coil spring compressor from Advance or Autozone, order some parts from RockAuto, and fix it. But again, if the price is reasonable... It's cold out.
Yeah, depending on what you buy, car payments are what? Several hundred a month? So that $1100 is a few months of payments. If the Rack and Pinion is the bulk of it, and it's not really badly broken, your total could be much less.
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Post by revheadkev on Nov 29, 2018 1:19:56 GMT -5
I choose to keep my 15 year old SUV rather than updating. It has some mods for better off-roading which I couldn't do to the newer models, like a strut lift for more ground clearance. Upgrading would be about AU$30,000 and that buys A LOT of parts for me to do repairs myself with.
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Post by COMpulse on Dec 3, 2018 12:36:39 GMT -5
So far, I don't mess with vehicle suspension. Seems like something where if I get it wrong it's gonna be a real problem. I don't even know the terminology well enough to talk about the parts of a suspension.
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Post by jhornbr225 on Dec 3, 2018 16:06:46 GMT -5
It's just nuts and bolts. And some bushings. If you have a manual for the proper torque values, I'm sure you can do it.
I've changed struts, ball joints, tie rod ends, control arms. I bought a Harbor Freight 20 Ton press, and I press wheel bearings in and out. I also pressed in a new intermediate driveshaft bearing.
If you can change the motor, you can do the suspension stuff.
About the only thing I don't want to tackle is putting Freon in the AC system, and that's only because I don't have the machine to do it properly. If the AC isn't cold, I take it to the shop. For $100, they check it out, and top off the Freon. I have not had any other problems with AC. Actually one time I thought it was low on Freon, but it was the air gap in the AC clutch. So they fixed it.
So, I think you can handle it. Just be concious not to take the strut apart without compressing the coil spring. If you are trying to take something apart, and it's not cooperating, check to make sure it's not under some kind of tension or compression that might hurt you if you force it apart. Also, if something won't come apart be concious of the fact you may have to put it back together so that you can drive it to the shop to get it fixed. It's either that or get it towed.
One time I went to change a rear hub, and the inner bearing race was stuck on the axle stub. If I gripped it with Vice grips, and scarred it up without actually getting it off, I would not be able to put the hub back on and drive it, as it would chew the bearing up quickly. So I put the hub on and took it to the shop. Now I've learned how to Dremel that inner race, then hit it with a chisel to split it and then it's easy to remove. So, you learn things. And YouTube can be a good reference.
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Post by kimnach on Dec 4, 2018 8:11:54 GMT -5
So, I think you can handle it. Just be concious not to take the strut apart without compressing the coil spring. If you are trying to take something apart, and it's not cooperating, check to make sure it's not under some kind of tension or compression that might hurt you if you force it apart....... Here is a good example of someone who was extremely lucky not to have gotten hurt: www.thirdgen.org/forums/suspension-chassis/757635-what-releasing-top-strut.html
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Post by COMpulse on Dec 4, 2018 10:12:10 GMT -5
Took me a moment to figure out that the coil launched the strut and hub down into the ground when he released the nut from the top of the strut tower.
Yeah, I'm okay with paying someone else to muck with this stuff. Too bad my car is now pulling hard to the left even though they did an alignment yesterday. So I need to take it back.
When I was working on swapping the engine, I think the closest I came to serious injury may have been re-installing the starter. That thing almost dropped right on my face. I think it took a small chip out of the concrete floor where it hit.
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Post by jhornbr225 on Dec 4, 2018 19:26:39 GMT -5
Yeah, that guy in the video got lucky. It looks like it almost clipped his knee.
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Post by COMpulse on Dec 5, 2018 9:55:56 GMT -5
Well, got the car re-aligned. They said it was way off and something had shifted. I'm not going to bad-mouth the shop at this point. They stayed late last night and then got it done this morning and called me at 8:30. I was already on my way walking up to the Enterprise car rental place, so it worked out well. I'm lucky to have an AutoZone, Belle Tire, and Enterprise all within a half-mile.
When I had the right strut mount done over the weekend, they said some part had been put together incorrectly by whoever did it previously. They're now suspecting the left side is also not correct. If the alignment goes out again that will be the next thing to consider.
Or it's possible that they're not clear on what "correct" is. I know the suspension on the car is part of the performance package and sometimes those performance parts/configurations are not what a tech is used to seeing.
Anyway, it feels a lot better. It was borderline unsafe yesterday. I think there's still a slight bias to the left though. I'll be keeping an eye on it for the next few days.
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Post by jhornbr225 on Dec 5, 2018 14:11:22 GMT -5
They should be able to figure out performance suspension. It's just extra braces, different sway bar, different bushings, etc.
People who don't know better say that the Acura CL was just a gussied up Accord. Well, crawl under the rear suspension of the two cars and tell me they are the same. If I remember properly, there were like 9 attachment point from each rear hub to the structure of the car. All that attachment keeps that tire planted squarely on the road under the stresses of cornering. As I recall, my Accord does not have that many attachment points.
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