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Comments
did you hear somewhere this would make the car not shift?
i plan on going early monday to cadillac, so hopefully you can respond in time
This car came from another Olds dealer, and was kept in flawless condition for his wife. Brought it to a local dealer and asked for an oil change. They L.O.F.'d the car, and told me that it had an excessive oil leak around the crank seals. Have to pull the engine and cost around $2400.00. (By the way, the car has been sitting in a garage in storage for 45 days, and there was not a drop of oil on the floor.) Has anyone been through anything like this before? Also, I was told the original dipsticks do not show the correct oil level..is there a new part available?
The dipstick issue - as I understand it - was on early '95s. I believe they realized it and put in the proper ones half way through the year. Your '96 should be correct. And yes, there was a TSB in it and a replacement available.
Good luck w/ your car. They really are great if you can get past the occasional whallop on repairs. (having said that, you may want to skip my next post)
My wallet can't handle this!
Just before thanksgiving, the fuel pump went out on the 'Rora, leaving me stranded crosswise in the middle of a busy road during rush hour. (course it wasn't a tunnel - I should have listened to Henry when he suggested replacing it as scheduled maintenance)..... $ 525
Then the steering rack went out two weeks later. New rack, PS hose and alignment............... $ 915
So far, $2000+ and counting.
Then, last week the Air pump, Front brakes and turn signals went out on my Ford Truck, all within 2 days of each other..... $ 645
Then this saturday the 'Rora let me down again. Went to Walgreens, got in the car to leave. She fired up first hit - as usual - then after about 3 seconds just quit. Hasn't fired up since. The engine turns over as it should, but won't fire. Seems more like an electrical issue than fuel. But what do I know? DAMN. Here she goes on the flat bed again...... Triple AAA is loving me.
However, it seems I will become a member of "the Rack" club if I keep the car.
I really do like my car. My thing is that my 95 has 90k on it and I put on 80k of it. To get another Classic where I dont know the history is a concern of mine. We all know how tempermental these cars can be. At 50k miles and $8k for another one, am I paying $8k for somebody else's problems?
At least you got some real hardware out of it, and stuff that requires a lot of work to replace like the steering rack and fuel pump. Our "reliable" car with only minor problems has cost as much or more than your power steering and fuel pump problems. And your car has twice the power and twice the lux of the Nissan... So there is some perspective.
I had to type this whole thing again when it didn't post...
also had them take a look at why its making popping noises.......am i going to be a member of the rack club??? they said it is leaking fluid from the stearing gear (about $1,400) had some play. did this cause popping noises when comming out of turns? anyone know? they also said i had a bad ball joint (around $340) the ball joint i know i can fix, been there done that with a different car, hopefully its my drive axels that are causing the popping going around corners though.
total bill $327. better than expected. if anyone lives in the apple valley area of mn, Id go to Walser cadillac off galaxy and 42. they could have easily charged me more for having to take it apart 2 times, they charged me less than originally estimated. they even called me to begin with to ask if i had the originall trans gasket because my new cork one isn't re-useable, but the oem one was ($50), i didn't but it was a nice gesture. not only that, they where very nice and washed my car really good! sucks im out a total of $440, but could be worse. definatly taking my cars there from now on
I never saw any oil puddles under my car, but I understand, from my dealer, that the oil tends to leak onto/collect on the plastic engine cover, then spray along the underside of the car, rather than puddle under the car when stopped.
If you are meticulous about checking your oil, you can hold off on this repair (and save up your $$$ - though it will eventually need it). The dipstick on the car really sucks - it's worse than the 1960's-era flasher can sound (another pet peeve - one of my few with the car). I know of no alternative/replacement unit, other than checking your oil 3-4 times and throwing out the reading that doesn't match the others :-)
Steering gear issues seem to be common as the years go by/the mileage goes up (I'm at about 73K). Mine is doing the same thing. I'm holding off on the repair, and just checking the p/s fluid regularly, but eventually this will have to get repaired as well (hello warranty company!).
I think I posted a list of Common Aurora Problems in the main Aurora board - I know if you search on A/C compressor, you should find my message(s)...
Hope this helps,
--Robert
vacationing in Florida, and missing his Aurora terribly (this 4 cylinder Altima just doesn't cut it :-)
I know what you mean, Henry, about buying someone else's problems. At least we know what we've fixed and how we've maintained our vehicles. When I bought mine it had 50k on it. It now has 105K. Of course, it was a dream until the warranty ran out at 75K, then the repairs started to hit. Pretty much everything I've had done to mine has been since the 75K mile mark.
Robert, I hear what your saying. I owned a Maxima many years ago. Bought it new and kept it to about 120k miles. Loved the car, but it definitely wasn't the highly reliable car the Uncle Ben's lovers would have us believe. On the Max, the mark was about 60K miles. Thousands of $$ spent on it in about a 10K window.
Oh well, gonna have the 'Rora towed today. Maybe I'll get my favorite Triple A driver a Christmas gift. (It's sad when they know your neighborhood)
Merry Christmas everyone!
Larry
Also, even though I LOVE my Silverstar headlights, I am putting back in the stock ones. The 2nd one of the Silverstars gave up. That now makes both of them that have crapped out in less than a year. I will try to take it back and get an exchange like the first one that quit.
Rots of Ruck,
Steve
The other thing I would think it could be is brake fluid (it is clear and thin, not unlike water, except it will bubble up and such when actual water gets on it). I've noticed that oftentimes brake places won't remove fluid when you get new pads. So, if you've topped the reservoir off when the pads were worn, it will be overfull when the calipers are pushed back for the new pads. Since it is sealed, it won't just run out at once but rather leak out over days and days. Just a thought.
I'll have to see how long my Silverstars make it. Though, you leave your headlamps on all the time, right?
Happy I did not have to see dealership.
Greg
Congratulations on your success!
Did the misplaced filter keep the solenoids and/or valves from operating properly? Or was there another reason for your success?
My '97 was built in September 1996. Do you happen to know if the bracket was in production then?
Les
If so, could you post some more info on the kit and tips to install to for other
now that a few of us have went through it, we can tell you the do's and don'ts. if i had to do it again on a new car, id do it now that i know what not to do! biggest thing is when you sepperate the two parts of the lower valve assembly, MAKE SURE you see where those balls go! then even though your car doesn't have it now, make sure you put that plate on.
Greg
Thanks for the suggestion.
I have not added any brake fluid. It is down 1/2 inch from new car purchase.
Thanks for the suggestion.
Yes, I do run my headlights at all times. I may try another brand of headlights.
Just hit 28K.
Thanks for your help.
Seasons Greetings to all,
Steve
I had it towed home yesterday and the car actually fired up w/ starting fluid sprayed in the intake, so I'm sure it's a fuel problem again. The shop that installed the pump is closed this week for the holidays and I'm tired of not having the car to drive. Either the new fuel pump is bad, or the relay failed for some reason.
I found the relay under the back seat in a fuse block, but haven't been able to remove it.
Is there some trick to removing the relays other than just pulling them straight out? Lord knows I don't want to break something else. Any advice from someone who may have done this will help...
May the new year bring us all a reprive from breakdowns,and big repairs,we deserve it after caring for and loving these cars like we ALL do!
Could not have put it any better.
Peace.
Also the steering is starting to grumble again. Suspect ISS. Will mention again to dealer in hopes of a swap out for new.
Still have the start up-fast speed idle miss. Will mention that again to dealer. Not sure when a good time to take in.
Thanks,
Steve
Over the life of my car, I've probably had to add about a quart or two of coolant/water to the overflow tank. But spread out over 24k miles that isn't really bad. I haven't ever noticed drips, though. I assume it gets consumed.
Let us know how it goes at the dealer.
Oh, hey Steve, I tried to reply to your email, but got a bounce back saying you wouldn't accept mail from me. Check your email settings on AOL and ensure you aren't blocking internet mail.
Was the dealership you went to an Olds one? Try taking the car to a Caddy dealer for a quick overview (since the Classic Aurora and the '98 and up STS are very similar) - explain how much you've laid out, and how you can't afford them "trying" things. They should work with you.
Where are you located? Perhaps someone here can recommend a good dealership.
--Robert
Synopsis:
Feb '03 - Changed disks and pads on front wheels. March '03 - started getting SES light and my mechanic said it was a brake code. OK, fine, I knew the rear needed to be done, so I changed them a week or so later.
Then, I found that it is my front driver's side brake that is dragging. I had the disk reground and put new pads on. I was ok for a little while, and ended up having to get new disks and pads again a couple months ago. With the dragging the disks appear to be burning. They looked almost plack when I pulled them last time. They are also grooving pretty badly, and its always in the same place.
Now, I've still had the problem intermittently until now. The last week or so has been terrible. I get SES every time I drive, and sometimes the exhaust start to blow blueish gray smoke when the SES comes on. The engine always idles rough when the SES is on.
The only code I'm getting is still the brake code, and the only time I get the rough idle or smoking is when the SES light comes on.
Is there some sort of sensor that could be bad? Am I missing the real problem completely? This thing is making me so mad. I have put more that 40 hours into figuring out this problem, now, and I need some sort of resolution. My mechanic is stumped, but he doesn't specialize in Olds.
Has your mechanic done anything with the brake caliper? Sounds to me like the problem is a stuck piston inside the caliper or that the caliper is not free to slide side-to-side on its mounting pins.
The OBDI system in your '95 may be different in this respect, but OBDII ('96 and later) turns on the SES only for emission-related problems. Non-emission codes can be set, but will not turn on SES. What is the specific brake code (and associated text to go with it) that your mechanic reports? It is strange that there are no other codes except the brake code, given that your engine is running the way you describe. Maybe it's time to get a "second opinion" on the codes.
How could I check for a caliper piston that is stuck?
In #1473 you wrote:
"With the dragging the disks appear to be burning. They looked almost plack when I pulled them last time. They are also grooving pretty badly, and its always in the same place."
Is it both front disks or just the driver side? Where are the grooves appearing? Inboard, outboard, or both? The reason I ask this is to try to isolate the problem. I'm thinking that excessive wear on both inboard and outboard (and especially if both front brakes) would indicate a problem with brake fluid pressure not dropping when the brake pedal is released; that would indict the master cylinder (rjs200240), flex hose (alcan), a sticking piston, or the ABS brake pressure modulator valve (BPMV).
On the other hand, if the grooving is on only one side of the disk, that indicts the caliper sliding mechanism. Did you inspect and lubricate the caliper pin bolts, sleeves and bushings when you replaced the pads? If not, that could be the source of your problem.
Do you just remove two nuts and plastic cover?
How is the tension adjusted?
I would appreciate any suggestions.
I read on one posting something about cam belt damaged when water pump belt failed.
Does the 95 have a cam belt?
Thanks for the help.
Don
The Northstar uses cam chains, not belts. These chains it is said will go over 250,000 miles easy. The water pump belt will reach it's load tolerance and fail WAY before the chains or cam sprockets are endangered.
Now the tricks of a trade. In the old stereo console systems and anything else with a defective speaker, if a new speaker wasn't readily available, the tech might stuff tissue between one edge of the cone and the speaker frame forcing the coil back to alignment. The duration of this fix is unreliable, and especially so in an auto where vibration must be taken into account. Sometimes loosening mounting screws or stuffing something between the speaker frame and the mounting surface and retightening will do the trick. This is you are compensating for the original pressure that initiated the problem.
My wife picked up a Sable this last summer that had two speakers doing this. Examining them, Ford put a bend in the frame for mounting a clip. That stress over time may have been the problem, but it didn't fix the hanging of the coil. Remember, we are working with relatively close tolerances here. Playing with the cone, I located the perceived misalignment of the bore. I laid the speaker on a flat surface. I put a block of wood on the magnet and struck it with a hammer on the edge that I was trying to force into alignment. Caution!!! the glue holding the magnet in place can break and so can the magnet itself. The objective here is to shift the frame, subsequently the bore for the voice coil. It took several licks with the mallet and checks in between. That is hooking it back up and applying pressure to the edge of the cone to see if you are accomplishing the intended. This was last June, and both speakers are still working properly to this day. If these were Bose speakers, I would have hesitated using this technique. Also when you mount the speakers back, make sure you are not applying uneven forces to the frame of the speaker. I would go so far as to find thin rubber bushings for the screws and only snug them. Maybe loctite so they don't back out. Obviously these are not cheap speakers.
How do I check the caliper pistons? Aren't they located inside of the caliper?
I'll have to pull out my service manuals tonight and take a better look. Thanks for the help so far. I've parked the Aurora in the meantime, so I have to drive around the beater '92 Crown Vic.