The trials and tribulations of a weekend do-it-yourselfer
Here are some descriptions of problems that I've had with my car and some of the things I've learned about it. I provide this information here on the very slim chance that it might be of help to someone. It's not in any particular order.
Also, please note that although I've tried to be accurate here, I have occasionally noticed a typo, poor description, etc. If you believe that you've found an error here, please let me know. Use some sense when working on a car. Doing the wrong thing can be disastrous. I intend this information as a modest guide to try to help others not as the ultimate dissertation on automobile repair. I don't want to discourage people from learning but when it comes to working on a car, if you don't know what you are doing, maybe you shouldn't be doing it. Proceed at your own risk!
I drive a 1988 Chevrolet Camaro IROC-Z with the 5.7 engine (without the 1LE package). It had 139,000 miles on it as of mid-February 2009.
Please keep in mind that all of these notes do not necessarily apply to other cars. Even 1988 Camaros that aren't IROC-Z Camaros have differences that make these notes inapplicable in some cases.
Don't replace good parts!! Well, of course! Who'd want to replace good parts (other than a crook)?
Seriously, being certain of your diagnosis can be a difficult thing. If you've got a good idea of how your car works, you've studied the service manuals, and you've been methodical in your troubleshooting, you shouldn't replace good parts very often. Still, there's always the risk of wasting time, effort, and money if you misdiagnose a failure. Try your best to identify the bad part. Now, rather than replacing it, just pretend that you replaced it and that the problem remained. What would you do next? Sometimes, of course, this isn't practical. Nevertheless, it's a technique that's prevented me from replacing good parts more than once.
The car was hard to start sometimes, especially when cold. It would run rough for a moment and produce a cloud of white exhaust. Sometimes the Service Engine Soon light came on.
On cars built at that time, getting the error code out of the car's computer is really easy. All you need is a bent paper clip-- really!!
I got the code and found that the error was that the mass air flow (MAF) sensor was reporting a value that was too low. The dealer finally fixed it by replacing parts like crazy. Eventually, they accidentally replaced the bad part without knowing which one it was. Their nonsense cost me over $800 (this was a gazillion years ago when $800 was actually worth something). They refused to refund the money for the unnecessary work they did so I sued them and got most of my money back. After that, I decided that I would do as much of the work myself as I could. (Later examinations of the dealer's work showed an incredible level of incompetence. They went out of business many years ago.)
The problem was that the MAF power relay was flaky.
Top
Bad Idle/Dies Immediately/MAF Sensor
In late 2002 and with no warning, the engine idle became very rough. The response to the throttle was almost nonexistent. The engine would sometimes die. After I allowed the engine to cool, it would start but run for only a few seconds. The problem was that the MAF sensor was bad. There was no failure code stored in the computer.
Once I got to the point of suspecting the MAF sensor, it was easy to prove that it was bad. The engine refused to run with it connected. When I disconnected it (with the ignition OFF, of course), the engine would run. It didn't run properly but it would run. I verified that the connections were okay and concluded that the sensor had to be bad.
The MAF sensor is easy to replace.
Top
MAF Sensor Relays
The MAF sensor operation requires 2 relays. One of them is for the power to the sensor and the other is for the burn-off cycle. These relays are on the firewall on the driver's side. They are on a bracket with the fuel pump relay. The 2 MAF relays are both the same and may be listed in a parts catalog as a general purpose or fan relay. These relays cannot reliably do their job. I've replaced both of them so many times that I've lost count.
Top
Alternator
If you've got one of these cars, or any GM car of similar ilk, keep a sharp eye on the volt meter (if your car's instrument cluster includes one) and a good ear to the engine compartment. Don't be surprised if you've got a lousy alternator. As of November 2001, my car is on its sixth one. I joke that I need a spare alternator more than I need a spare tire! Three of them failed electrically and two of them failed mechanically (the sixth one hasn't failed... yet).
If the alternator fails electrically, you can probably keep driving on the battery for a while depending on exactly what's happening. Eventually, the battery will give-out and then the car will suddenly stop and absolutely nothing will work.
The mechanical failures won't show-up on the volt meter (at least, not until it's way too late) but have the symptom of being very noisy. The problem is usually that the bearings fail. Don't ignore this! I've heard a story (that I believe) about a guy who ignored it until the shaft seized-up. There was enough torque on the shaft to tear apart the alternator causing a fire under the hood!
Top
Starter
The car is on its second starter. A noteworthy symptom of starter failure can be that the car won't start but the battery isn't dead (the headlights still come on brightly). When you try to start it, you might hear a click and then the car might start on another try. If the car won't start, try banging on the starter with a stick or something. What happens is that there gets to be a bad spot (or maybe more than one) on the commutator of the starter motor. If the starter happens to stop with a brush on a bad spot, it won't start next time. When you bang on it, you might jar it slightly so it will make better contact. Obviously, this isn't a repair. It's just a way that might work to get you home. Don't expect to see an open circuit if you put an ohmmeter across the starter (although it is possible). The normal resistances involved here are fairly low so it doesn't take much of an increase to cause a failure. Also, almost all ohmmeters use a low current to measure resistance. That is very different from the high current that the car's battery is trying to push through the starter. That higher current will raise the temperature of the circuit thereby increasing the resistance. The low current used by a typical ohmmeter won't do that which may mask the failure.
Replacing the starter is a lot of fun if you like punishment. It's just barely possible to get it out between the exhaust system components. In fact, it's probably easier to drop the exhaust so you've got a little more room. You'll need a universal-joint adapter for your socket to get at the bolts. You don't need to completely remove the exhaust or its bolts; just loosen the bolts enough to drop it a little bit.
Be careful when reattaching the power wires. The bolt that the power connects to on the solenoid is copper which is very soft. I was unable to find a torque specification for this. Although I tried to be careful, I ended-up stripping the threads and had to replace the solenoid (I was unable to locate a parts shop that had only the copper bolt). That meant, of course, removing the starter again!
Top
Rear Brakes/Parking Brakes
I was stunned at the rear brakes. They are not mirror images of each other! They're the same! (The front brakes are easy.)
Why does it matter? Because, for some reason, the bolts to remove the calipers must be removed towards the center of the car. On the passenger side, it's not possible to remove the bolts without removing the control arm! You can't change the brake pads on the passenger side without taking apart the suspension!! The fun really starts when you have to reattach the control arm. You've got the coil spring for the right-rear wheel pushing the axle in one direction and a 3,300 pound car's weight going in the other direction. It's a neat trick getting the control arm back in place. Actually, there is a trick to it that makes it a little easier. There's a hole in the top of the control arm that can be used with a screw driver to help leverage the arm back into position.
-
I had a shock when I got new tires one time. The rear rotors were scored. The one on the driver's side was repairable but the one on the passenger's side was scored too deeply and had to be replaced. How could this happen? Shouldn't the wear sensors start to squeal before this happens? Well, maybe. The pads had not worn symmetrically. The outboard pads had worn more than the inboard pads. Since the sensors are on the inboard pads, I didn't get a warning.
Also, the cylinders didn't move in and out the way they are supposed to and had to be replaced. I was told that this isn't uncommon because of the parking brake. The parking brake on these cars pulls a cable that pulls a lever at each rear wheel's brake. The lever turns a screw assembly that's in the cylinder. That assembly pushes the piston against the pad to activate the parking brake. Eventually, the seal at that assembly fails and a brake fluid leak results at the cylinder. Typically, this leak will be very slow but it's still a leak and must be promptly serviced. Also, sometimes, that assembly doesn't turn freely. Keep reading.....
-
The parking brakes on these cars are supposed to be self-adjusting but the mechanism is not reliable. The service manual gave me the impression that the only adjustment needed is to remove any slack in the cables. That's important, of course, but it's not the only thing to consider.
When you pull on the lever in the car, the cable pulls a lever at each rear wheel. This rotates an assembly that goes into the cylinder and applies the pads to the rotors. As the pads wear, there's a ratchet mechanism in that assembly that is supposed to take-up the space created by the pad wear. Unfortunately, this doesn't work reliably. Eventually, the pad wear becomes sufficient that the parking brake is useless. Of course, that can mean that the rear brakes aren't properly contributing to braking the car when driving. The adjustment can be made manually.
The lever at the rear wheels fits on the assembly that is the problem. Remove that lever and the seals/washers that are there. With the lever off, you'll see a screw with a hex "head" in the middle of it. (Maybe a hex "waist" would be a better name. There's no doubt an official name for a part like that but I don't know what it is.) Although this looks like a simple screw that goes into the caliper and the brake cylinder, it's actually more complicated than that. If you turn the hex "head" in, it will quickly go into the assembly and the pads are released from the rotors. Don't get too carried away with this because as the assembly goes in, brake fluid will leak out. If you turn the hex "head" out, it will apply the pads to the rotor. What you need to do to get the parking brake adjusted is to turn the hex "head" in the direction that makes it go in without letting it go in. To do this, you need to put a washer on it and tighten it against your wrench with the nut (depending on your wrench, you might be able to do this without the washer). Now, when you turn it in, it won't be able to go in so the ratchet will click. This takes-up the space caused by pad wear.
With the assembly ratcheted into where it should be, the next step is to reattach the lever. This didn't go as quickly as I had expected. The problem is that its hex hole will, obviously, only fit over the assembly in 60-degree increments. It was necessary to rotate the assembly to get the lever to fit over it. Doing that changes the adjustment. In order to get it installed properly, I had to do a trial-and-error fit of the lever. I had to redo the process of making the ratchet click. It took me several tries to get the lever to fit with the assembly in a useful position.
Top
Brake Warning Lamp
The GM service manual for this car states that a brake fluid pressure problem will cause the warning lamp on the dashboard to illuminate and that it will remain on until the problem is corrected. This is not necessarily true! It's possible to have a failure that will cause the warning lamp to illuminate and to then go off on a subsequent press of the brake pedal. If the BRAKE warning lamp ever illuminates when you press the brake pedal, you've got a serious problem that must be serviced immediately!Don't kid yourself into thinking that the problem is minor just because the warning lamp didn't stay on!
It's also important to note that it's only the DIFFERENCE in pressure between the front and rear brake systems that is used by the warning system. The pressure is not measured/checked. The pressure could be way too low to have any chance of stopping the car but as long as the front and rear brakes systems have failed more-or-less proportionally, the warning lamp will NOT illuminate.
THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS A MINOR BRAKE PROBLEM!
Top
Power Brake Booster
The power brake booster has failed twice. The first time was in mid-2001 and the second time was in late 2008. The symptom was a hissing sound when I applied the brakes. More force on the pedal and more distance on the road became necessary to stop.
This is a tricky item to replace although I thought it looked like it should be fairly easy.
Four threaded studs on the booster go through the firewall. You have to remove 4 nuts under the dash. This is a big problem because there's not too much clearance for a wrench. I found it was a little bit easier with a 3/8"-drive socket than a 1/2"-drive because they are a little smaller (I couldn't find a 1/4"-drive of the right size).
You have to disconnect the brake pedal from the booster. Note that when you do this the pedal will release the brake light switch. This will kill the battery after a while so either disconnect the battery or pull the fuse.
Okay, the nuts are off-- note that there are 2 that hold the master cylinder to it-- and you've disconnected the vacuum hose. Now all you have to do is remove the unit from the engine compartment. This takes some maneuvering because there's just barely room for it to come out. It hits the plate where the strut for the front left wheel is attached to the body of the car. It might be that your car's alignment is such that this plate is more away from that space than mine is. Mine juts out to the rear a little and the job was harder as a result.
Now the REAL fun begins: getting the new unit installed. I had a terrible time with this the first time I did the replacement. There just wasn't enough clearance in the engine compartment to get all 4 studs into their holes. I had to slightly enlarge the holes in the firewall and shorten one of the studs on the booster. (It seems that GM knows there's a problem because the holes are already elongated--just not enough. This thing just isn't very precisely made.) The second time I did the replacement, it was a lot easier-- just the luck of the draw, I guess. Keep the nuts loose until you've got the brake pedal reattached. The slop in the holes is needed for this, too. The pedal attaches with a special clip set and it's real fussy about being straight.
Top
Water Pump
I had to replace the water pump twice. It started to leak. It was fairly easy to replace. The service manual (at least the edition that I have) claims that everything but the kitchen sink has to be removed to replace the pump but that's not true. The pump is very easy to get at.
There is a problem keeping the gaskets in place when installing the new pump. This is easily solved with a little silicone RTV.
The worst part of this job was flushing the system. The drain valve placement on the radiator leaves a lot to be desired. It is almost impossible to get at and the fluid drains from the valve onto members of various parts of the underside of the car. It then runs along these members and falls to the floor all over the place under the car. It is much easier and absolutely worth the cost to get a pump and pump the fluid from the system with a hose put down through the radiator's filler neck.
Top
Engine Coolant Temperature Switch
There is a coolant temperature switch that can operate the fans without the computer. This switch closes when the temperature gets too high. This activates a relay that turns on the secondary cooling fan. It can also turn on the primary fan. The one in my engine failed closed so both fans were always on. This switch is on the engine block above the starter motor. It can be difficult to get a wrench over it to remove it. When it comes out, coolant will pour out of the engine block.
Although getting at this switch isn't too easy, it's not really terrible, either. You'll want a tool with a thin "head" and a handle that isn't too long. I had to try quite a few before I could get the part loose. A socket will fit in the space but I couldn't get a ratchet up there. I had to use a tee-bar type of socket handle that wasn't too long.
Top
Radiator
I was stunned that the radiator tanks were plastic. The metal core has tabs that are bent to hold it onto the plastic tanks. Of course, this is not the greatest thing in radiator design. It reminds me of the little toy cars I had as a kid. Metal tabs were bent here and there to hold the toy together. That's how the radiator was made. Eventually--and with no warning, it let loose and most of the coolant quickly drained from the car. I replaced it with an all-metal radiator. This was a moderately easy job. The lower transmission fluid connection is a little awkward to get at. Removing the right-side fan makes it easier to get at but removing that fan is awkward, too.
To my great annoyance, the all-metal radiator (brass) didn't last as long as the original aluminum and plastic one. Its failure was easier to deal with, though. Instead of a catastrophic loss of coolant, it developed a modest leak. It wasn't reasonable to repair it so I replaced it with an aluminum and plastic radiator that has a lifetime guarantee....
Top
Coolant Overflow
If the engine coolant is always overflowing the recovery bottle, a likely reason is that the radiator cap isn't working properly. The car had this problem from day one. A guy at a radiator shop told me that it's often caused by the cap releasing at a pressure that's too low. That allows coolant to flow into the recovery bottle too soon. When the coolant expands with temperature, more goes into the recovery bottle and it overflows. A new radiator cap solved the problem.
Top
Rumbling Exhaust
In early 2001, the exhaust started to get louder and louder. I listened under the car and the noise seemed to be coming from the catalytic converter. I put my hand under it and I could feel exhaust coming out towards the center of the car. I brought the car to a shop thinking I probably was going to need a new converter but the problem turned-out to be that the bolts were loose. This is a recurring problem.
Top
Shocks/Struts
I replaced the shocks (in the rear) and struts (in the front) on this car. It was a lot of work but I did it.
Replacing the shocks was fairly easy except for reinstalling the carpet which has to be removed to get at the top of the shocks. It was a nightmare to get the carpet back in place. There's a trick to installing new shocks that makes getting them into position a lot easier. Keep the shock compressed until it's nearly in place. Don't cut the strap that keeps it compressed until you've got it as close to its final position as possible. As it's expanding, quickly get it into its final position.
Replacing the struts was a big job but not overwhelming. The bolts that hold the end of the strut to the front wheel have to be torqued to over 200 foot-pounds. Don't screw this up! These bolts hold the front wheels in place so doing it right is critical. On one side of the car, this was "easy" because I could pull up on the torque wrench handle. On the other side, I wasn't able to do it by myself. I had to have help.
Other than that, I did the whole job by myself.
Top
EGR Valve
At the age of 12, the car failed the smog test for the first time. Although the emissions were within limits, the EGR valve didn't work so that was a failure. The exhaust coming out of your car could be cleaner than the air that goes into it but if that valve (or any other part of the emission-control system) doesn't work, the test fails. At the age of 19, it failed again but this time the emissions, mostly NOx which is the EGR valve's reason for being, were out of tolerance. (There was more wrong this time than just the EGR valve. See Catalytic Converter.).
Anyway, the valve is beyond a nightmare to get to. It's under the plenum! You have to do a major dismantling just to get at the EGR valve. Incredible. The plenum must be removed. To do that, you have to unbolt both runners from the plenum and remove one of the runners from the intake manifold. This is not fun. Many of the bolts are nearly impossible to get to. They are Torx T-40 heads. I found it necessary to have a selection of Torx T-40 tools available to get at the various bolts. At first, I thought is was necessary to unplug the injector connectors to get at some of the bolts but it isn't because there aren't any bolts behind them. There's one bolt that goes from the manifold into the runner instead of from the runner into the manifold like the others. This is very sneaky. The only bolts that go into the plenum are the ones that go through the runners but because of the tolerances involved and the gaskets bonding to the metal, you've got to remove one of the runners from the intake manifold. Also, there are nylon (or something similar) pins that get stuck in the plenum and into the runners. These hold the gaskets while you put the runners and plenum together. When removing the plenum, be careful not to let them fall into the runner and down into the intake manifold! Once you've got the plenum off (which will take a very long time unless you've done it before in which case it will only take a long time), you can remove the EGR valve. Although its bolts are easy to see (now that the plenum is off!), getting a wrench onto them is not easy. To get at the one in the front, I used a small 3/8" socket on a universal joint but found it easier to use a crow's foot. To get at the one in the rear, I used a very short 3/8" box wrench. If there's a good reason for this arrangement, I sure can't think of what it would be. There's a temperature sensor on the EGR valve. It must be unplugged from the car's wiring in order to unscrew it from the valve.
I removed the runner on the passenger side. To get it completely off and to reinstall it, the EGR valve must not be installed. The reason is because the runner must be rotated out of/into place and the valve gets in the way. I don't know if a similar thing would happen with the runner on the driver's side. It isn't necessary to completely remove the runner to get the plenum off but the gaskets should be replaced at the runner/intake manifold. To replace the gaskets, it's necessary to remove the runner.
A few notes about the bolts that go through the runner (at least, on the passenger side!):
- They are M8x1.25 metric.
- Those that go into the intake manifold are 3 lengths-- pay attention when you remove them.
- They go into aluminum so damage to the mating threads is a very real possibility even if you think you're being careful so be EXTRA careful.
Top
Catalytic Converter
At the age of 19, the car failed the smog test. (It hadn't been tested in years because I lived in Florida for a while and smog tests aren't required there. Upon returning to California, a smog test was required.) One problem was the EGR valve. The other was the catalytic converter. I wasn't able to diagnose this myself. That and the repair were done at a shop. The HC, NO, and CO levels had been too high.
Top
Rough Running/Cuts-out
Near the end of 2000, the car developed a really odd problem. Sometimes it would run rough, stall for a second and then magically start running okay as if nothing had happened. It didn't depend on temperature, speed, acceleration, hills, or anything else. I brought it to a shop and the owner took a look at it. He said that he couldn't get the problem to occur but noted that the fuel filter was in desperate need of replacement. He wasn't confident, though, that it was the problem. It wasn't.
The trouble got worse and worse and the tachometer started acting very erratically. The engine would randomly stall for a second and then magically go back to running fine. Eventually, it got so it would stall and not go back to running but it would always start again when I turned the key-- until one night on the freeway miles from anyplace when it quit and wouldn't restart.
I did some troubleshooting and found several problems.
The MAF power relay was intermittent so I replaced it (see Hard Start/MAF Sensor above).
The big trouble, though, was the ignition system. The computer reported a failure code that the "EST" was bad. The EST (Electronic Spark Timing) module is the electronic version of points. Incredibly (or maybe not), there are a number of failures that can occur that set the same failure code. Basically, the EST has two electronic switches in it. One does the job of old-fashioned points: it turns current on and off to the primary of the coil. The other switch selects whether the "points" switch is controlled by the computer or locally by the distributor. It also has an amplifier in it that provides a signal indicating the position of the rotor.
I looked at the spark plug wires and found that the main problem turned out to be a result of more bad work done by the dealer years earlier. They had not routed the spark plug wires properly and they had finally been damaged. There had been arcing between one of the wires and the coil connectors. This had been the cause of the weird tach behavior since the tach sensing is done at the coil. A number of other wires had been chafed and it was apparent that there had been arcing in a number of places. It was also obvious that one of the wires had not been attached to the distributor cap properly. The boot was over the terminal but there was no metal-to-metal contact.
The rotor and distributor cap were quite worn. They had about 35,000 miles on them. The rotor was quite carbonized. I couldn't tell for certain if there had been arcing to the EST but it seemed so.
I replaced the plugs, wires, rotor, cap, and EST. The improvement in performance was remarkable.
Getting the rotor off was a nerve-wracking job. It was stuck on the distributor shaft. I was able to remove it by applying enough force--something I really don't like to do because of fear that something will get damaged. Happily, I didn't damage anything.
Replacing the plugs is not an easy job. On the driver's side, they can all be reached from the top. On the passenger's side, only the front plug can be reached from above. The others have to be accessed from below.
Getting the wires rerouted on the passenger's side was very difficult. It's not easy to keep them away from harm near the exhaust manifold, etc. Keeping them away from the coil and its wires is easy.
Top
Self-honking Horn
The horn button failed and the horn would honk without any pressure on the horn button.
The horn button can be removed by pulling it straight away from the steering wheel. Be careful, though, because there's a wire attached.
Behind the button and attached to it are two closely spaced metal plates about 3" across that contact each other when the button is pushed. These plates are held onto the main part of the button assembly with what I'd euphemistically call plastic rivets. There are 3 of these "rivets" per metal plate. Two of them on one plate had broken so that plate just flopped around.
The wire is attached to one of the plates with a locking press-on lug. The other end of the wire goes into a hole near the center of the steering column (in the steering column, there's-- presumably-- a brush and slip ring). That end of the wire has a brass rivet on it. There's a coil spring on the wire behind the brass rivet and a plastic sleeve on the wire behind the spring. The brass rivet makes an electrical connection with the brush.
Well, that's all fine and dandy but I have not been able to figure-out what is supposed to hold the brass rivet in place. I had thought that the plastic sleeve would hold it in place by putting pressure on the spring but there's no way for that to happen. It doesn't make any sense to me. It seems that it's either the wrong part or something's missing (or the design is nonsense). If something fell-off or broke, where is it? The cavity in there isn't very big and is enclosed so I should see anything that broke or fell away. It seems to me that I've been lucky that the horn ever worked at all.
Anyway, I couldn't make sense of it so I got a replacement button and just pushed it back together the way it was when I took it apart. This is hardly a comforting thing. It works but that doesn't make me happy because I don't think it's installed well. I checked several service manuals but they were of no help. If anybody knows how this is supposed to work, I'd sure like to hear from you. (See the Home Page for contact information.)
Top
Transmission Mount
The transmission mount cracked repeatedly. I'm not sure how many times it was replaced. Eventually, I had it replaced with a decent aftermarket mount and that seems to have solved the problem.
One symptom of a broken transmission mount is a fairly loud "clunk" during quick acceleration or when quickly releasing the throttle during quick acceleration. There may also be a noticeable delay before the car accelerates properly because the torque isn't getting to the wheels until the twisting of the transmission is stopped which, of course, doesn't happen until the gap caused by the crack is closed.
Top
Daytime Running Lights
Get daytime running lights!! Who wants those? You'd better want those if you want a safer ride! I'd say that the number of times I get cut-off dropped by about 50% after I got daytime running lights. Despite the lack of enthusiasm for daytime running lights, studies have shown that they really do improve safety quite a bit. I suspect that eventually they will become required equipment. This is history repeating itself. Seat belts were considered ridiculous by a lot of people for a long time.
I had a lot of trouble getting the running lights retrofit module. At the time, GM was running TV commercials proclaiming how great it was that they were doing this and that they could add them to older cars. In the ad, they even showed a Camaro being retrofitted. None of the dealers on the San Francisco Peninsula would help me. They were either ignorant or rude or both. To make a long story less long, I finally decided that if I wanted this, I'd have to force the issue. If I waited until I could deal with somebody who had a brain, I'd be a million years old and still no lights. Incredibly, I accidentally found a guy at one of the dealerships I'd already vainly tried (Stewart in Colma) who knew what he was doing and who cared about it. The part had to be special ordered. The part number is: 12370445 (note that these cars do NOT have mini-quad headlights). It cost a little over $60 (this was years ago). It's about the size of a computer mouse. It took me a good part of an afternoon to install it. You have to splice into the harness in several places.
It uses the low-beam headlight filaments at reduced intensity for the daytime running lights. (The parking light/headlight switch on the dashboard still does what it always did except, of course, when it's in the OFF position.)
The module is marked "AC Delco" but is made by Pacific Insight Electronics in Canada.
Top
Headrests
If your car has adjustable headrests, ADJUST THEM!!
I've been hit from behind twice on the freeway. The first time, the headrests were all the way down just like they were when I got the car. It was months before I could move my head or neck without pain. I realized that if the headrests had been adjusted properly, I would have had a lesser injury. I adjusted them so that the movement of my head backward was minimized. A few years later, I was hit again. Although the damage to my car was considerably greater, the damage to my neck was considerably less. Instead of months of pain, I had weeks of discomfort.
Top
Heater/Air Conditioner Blower
The heater/air conditioner blower failed after almost exactly 14 years. At first, I thought the air conditioner failed but I quickly realized that the problem was that the blower wasn't working. It was intermittent and would work sporadically.
Verifying that the blower itself was at fault was easy. There was voltage at the blower's connector so there was little doubt that the blower itself was bad. I checked the resistance through the motor at its terminals to the harness (unplugged) and found that it varied over a wide range if I solidly banged on the motor. This, of course, explained why its operation was intermittent.
The blower was easy to replace. It's held in place by several hex-head screws that you access from the right side of the engine compartment. A couple of them are a little awkward to get at but it's not too bad. The hose going to the motor is to air-cool the motor. It has nothing to do with air conditioning or refrigerant.
From the old blower, I had to keep the "fan" itself, a clip from the motor axle, and a ground lug terminal (in other words, don't throw anything away until the job is done).
I suspect that the failure was caused by the motor's brushes wearing out. There was a lot of very dark dust that I think was the remains of graphite brushes.
Top
Air Scoop
These cars push air into the radiator with an air scoop (I've sometimes heard it called an air dam) that can come loose or fall off. It's a flat panel under the car and is made of fairly soft plastic. Because the car doesn't have much ground clearance, the scoop can scrape on driveways or hit curbs.
The factory hardware that holds the scoop onto the bottom of the car has a very great tendency to come loose. Eventually, the efficiency of the air scoop can suffer and it may drag on the ground or even fall off. I had a lot of trouble with this for a long time so I finally replaced all of that hardware with stainless steel aircraft hardware. I haven't had a problem since.
Top
Engine Almost Overheating
In the Spring of 2004, the engine temperature gauge began showing a much higher temperature than usual. It didn't get into the red but it got very close. I replaced the thermostat and the temperature indications returned to normal.
Replacing the thermostat isn't too hard. The hardware that needs to be removed, two bolts, is easy to see but you'll need a proper wrench to get it removed. I used an offset box wrench. To get at the front bolt, it's necessary to remove the little J-shaped coolant bypass hose. This is under the air intake so that has to be removed, too. That hose wasn't in very good shape so I replaced it. The clamps that held that hose in place were a stubborn pair. I replaced one of them because it just wasn't reasonable to reuse it.
Top
Engine Overheating
In the Summer of 2008, the engine temperature gauge went all the way to the red. After stopping and turning off the engine, I could hear the coolant boiling and steam came from under the hood. I was a long way from home so I took the car to a repair shop. The problem was that the cooling fan ground connection had deteriorated over the years and no longer made proper electrical contact.
Top
Engine Oil Pressure Too Low/Oil Leak
After about 20 years, the engine developed an oil leak. The pattern of oil spots that formed on the ground under the car was, at least partially, a lot of randomly placed dots. The oil pressure gauge showed that the pressure was a lot lower than typical. The problem was the oil pressure sensor. It had developed a leak and no longer properly determined the pressure. This part is very easy to replace. It's on top of the engine near the distributor toward the left side.
The odd pattern of oil drops that formed on the driveway was because the oil would drip down the engine and onto the underside of the car. The wind under the car from driving pushed the oil around here and there under the car. When the car was parked, these drops would fall in a seemingly random pattern.
Top
