Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see May lease deals!
Options
Popular New Cars
Popular Used Sedans
Popular Used SUVs
Popular Used Pickup Trucks
Popular Used Hatchbacks
Popular Used Minivans
Popular Used Coupes
Popular Used Wagons
Comments
Yokohama makes a good set of tires too, but unless you drive your car close to the edge on a regular basis, I'm not sure it's worth the extra money.
Jim
". . . but unless you drive your car close to the edge on a regular basis . . ."
This IS the AURORA Board, RIGHT???
Aurorabill
I second the Dunlop SP Sport A2's. Put them on my Aurora back in early April, replacing the Michelin MXV4's on my '98 Autobahn. Whereas the Michelins were junk (the car sat for nearly a year before I bought it), the Dunlops are great - best rain traction I've ever had, and they don't squeal (something I did constantly with the Michelins).
Had some continuing grief with my car - after the tires + brakes, an AC compressor (ext. warranty), and an idle air control motor (low throttle/check engine light, also ext. warranty), I noted significant vibration when braking. Sure enough - the (year-old) front rotors were warped (they had to be replaced when I bought the car, because the originals were warped and rusted from sitting). I had them turned, but the vibration is still there (not as bad) - if it gets worse, I'll probably replace them and double-check the rear calipers to make sure they're not stuck open or something (the rear rotors seem clean/not rusty). Yes, I do use my parking brake.
Nothing still beats the looks, the performance, and the ride, though :-)
--Robert
You will not be disappointed with performance, longevity and especially price. I have them for 2 years and they are really a good tire.
You can have them installed by a local installer as well.
Seegirt
Matrix, their website is Schucks.com if you haven't got the fpr yet.
The car took forever to start the other day and it has backfired on startup in the past. From what everyone says here I figure its the fpr. With 75,000 miles (its your call Henri) figured I might as well do the plugs and wires. I've already pulled the plastic pieces out of the top and bottom of the airbox so figured I might as well drop in the K&N since I think she deserves it.
I am really happy with the results of the plug/wire combo I chose. I notice a large performance increase but that was because I had a faulty plug or wire so I really can't say it was any better than the ones that were in it. It would be interesting to see a dyno with platinum and copper. Although I think a dyno would differ to greatly to notice any gains.
I havent tried anything other than ACDelco. I suspect though if I had to replace 3 alternators in a period of 2 years there might of been something else wrong cuasing the altenators to go bad.
1. New Throttle body assembly $510
Covered by WarrantyGold Extended Warranty
2. Rear Passenger Window Motor $165
Covered by WarrantyGold Extended Warranty
3. All new wires and plugs,
Dealer charge $500;
I am paying for the wires and plugs. Does this seem like a lot for this?. First replacement of plugs and wires.
platinum plugs. The wires were sixty something dollars, I don't remember the price for the spark plugs. I recieved my shipment in four days! The clerk at the post office was amazed. Pre Sept. 11th however.
Then again, there's a guy at the Lexus forum who was paying almost $100 for an oil change (my local Ford dealer charges $14.95 for my SVT Contour) and wanted $1K for a brake job.
Sooo... I guess you're not the only one getting gouged.
Aurora had multipoint fuel injection(an injector for each cylinder). I told him I didn't think so as it has a throttle body and tuned intake runners. The question I now have is how many injectors do we have and do they spray fuel into the throttle body? Where's Garnes when you need him.
Also, many other factors determine how much fuel gets sprayed too, like the throttle position sensor and the O2 sensor. I imagine for emissions reasons the engine temp is probably used to so that the catalyst can be heated up quickly if cool.
One thing I'd add to the fuel feed discussion is that I'm pretty sure the temp sensor in the air box (maybe the new Aurora has it on the intake tube) gives the computer more information about the air properties (colder denser air probably gets more fuel than warmer less dense air - even at the same air flow rate) coming in so the most precise amount of gas is used. When I pulled the temp sensor while the car was running - it did goof up the F/A ratio at WOT. You really couldn't feel the difference, but the dyno showed the different ratio and the resulting power drop. Thankfully the computer corrected itself in a short time.
I'm still amazed at how efficient the car is - or cars in general now. It seemed at first, cars got better mileage because they were just making them lighter (and crappier too - 80's). There was some improved efficiency, but the cars now seem much better than the 80's.
I still have a 77 Monte Carlo with a pathetic 145 HP 305 V8 (it's very smooth though - and looks very cool nicely restored with "crager" type wheels). It weighs the same as my 98 Aurora - almost identical. At 65 mph, the best highway mileage it got was maybe 18 mpg. I think city was about 12 or so. On a percentage basis, the improvements in fuel efficiency are incredible - plus the car has over 100 more HP. We've really come a long way.
Now that 0 to 60 seems to be all that matters - oh yeah, and weaving around cones in a parking lot, cars are being geared for off the line acceleration only and those fuel efficiencies seem to be going back down on many cars. Never mind overall drivability, passing power, highway mileage and rpms. 0 to X is it.
Does anyone own a 2001 4.0 that has spark knock? If so, what was done to it to stop the knocking?
Thanks for the reply
Have you seen the Letter from the Town Hall Manager on the Town Hall Welcome page? If not, you might want to follow that link to have a look.
And hang on to your seats. Change is never easy - for any of us - but resolving the Search problems we've had will be worth the pain.
Pat
Sedans Host
Last weekend on vacation, 300miles away from home (Chicago burbs), my car starts to smell like gas. I stop at a Wallmart for further inspection, too find out that the hood is slighlty smoking. I open her up and get blasted by the smell of RAW GAS. There's a small consistent bit smoke rising from were the throttle body meets the block. #$*%. The whole car smells like gas now. I made it back to the cabin ok (20miles from the Walmart), but now the inside cabin smells like a gas station. My girl and I want to crack the window but of course it's raining cats and dogs too.
Back at the cabin I checked for any loose connections, but couldn't find the problem. Didn't drive her the rest of the trip up in Michigan. On the 4 hour ride home, I left before my friends so they could see me stranded on the side of the road, Hopefully not on fire-testing out that GM Firewall. We made it home fine though, other than smelling straight gasoline for 4 hours. Actually got 25.4 mpg on ride home, go figure? Unload my stuff and went staright to the dealer to drop off.
It turned out to be the fuel rail(s). I was hoping it would be the FPR (Fuel Pressure Regulator) since they have a history of going bad, but it wasn't. OK how much for the fuel rail? "That's $460 NOT covered by your extended warrenty sir." DAM IT. While you got the fuel system apart, how much MORE for a new FPR (since these go bad on these cars and I haven't replaced it yet). It ended up being $580 Bucks out of pocket.
A little bit of good did come out of this though, I now have nice New Chrome fuel lines by the block. The old ones were black rubber. Caught my eye right away.
But the best part of that $580 is that IT DRIVES FASTER THAN EVER BEFORE!!!
Sigh=$580 bucks more into that Classic Addiction
I STILL LOVE MY CAR!!!
800wattAURORA
I've been SUPER BUSY these days. Now time to call around for a Dyno date yet. I will find time tomarrow. I sanded down the inside edges of the the intake kit to smooth out the air flow. Can't wait to put it in. I think I have the Throttle Body Replacement steps memorizied from my service manual.
I need new tire too, soon. Can't decide. I want the stock chrome's too. Probably going to call AAArims if I can't get new knock offs from a Collision parts maker, keytone. Debating on wither to get michielns or something or go for the VOGUES. That white wall will look sharp on my white Aurora. Found a Fellow Aurora driver down the street from my work who has a pearl white Aurora with Vougues and the stock chromes. Looks pretty good with white wall and gold strip. But looking at his car i get distracted by the BIG ICE-MAN stickers accross the WHOLE front and rear bumper.
Back of my mind says go for the Vogues, But hum? What's everyone think?
Since I'm getting new tires and rims, might as well put in new KYB shocks up front and get some AC Delco self-load leveling Rears put on so it all can be done under 1 alignment. Should change handling a fair amount.
800wattAURORA
Check out the thread, get the part for the redesigned alternator, and get thee to your dealer ASAP...
Hope this helps,
--Robert
What if?....The post about Edmunds changing the format got me to worrying...what happens if this board goes away? Where are we to go to keep up on each others' cars? Any ideas of other discussion boards where we could go in case of Edmunds discontinuance of this board?
Does anybody know the wieght of chrome wheels and the wieght of the alloy wheels?
RJS, Garnes,Shucknet what is your take?
Bad Gas? Flush fuel system?
There is no way that knocking is normal. If they don't know how to fix it, then swap the engine. See if that fixes it. If not, keep swapping parts until the whole car is new or the problem is fixed. The "we don't know" thing is total crap. The customer shouldn't have to suck up the dealership's ignorance of a fix. If they don't know how to fix it, then start replacing... If they don't want to endure that expense, then they'd better start figuring out how to fix it.
Oh, he said it was gasoline independent. And it gets worse in warmer weather. It sounds like an engine problem. Maybe a bad knock-sensor, screwy ignition coils, or some PCM problem. Whatever it is, it certainly isn't normal. It's a shame that there are some dealerships that just try to stick the customer. It's even more shameful that sometimes GM facilitates it. I don't know what they think the impact of that will be. Obviously it will turn a person off to your products, and probably forever. It's very hard to win back people who had bad experiences.
I doubt Edmunds will drop our Owner's Club or lose the messages. I think they are just going to change the format/appearance of the boards. If they alienate all their users, they will obviously have some problems.
I'm not real sure myself what is in store for us, but I do know it is just a matter of reformatting what we already have. Have you read the letter? Take a look -- if you want to ask more about it, hop over to the Ask the Town Hall Hosts discussion on the News & Views board.
But trust me -- we are not taking *anything* away, honest!
Pat
Sedans Host
Shop manual talks about needing a tool to remove/reseat the injectors.
By the way, I'm a first time post, long time browser. 95 with 115k miles.
800wattaurora - I'm putting 2001 chromed alloy Aurora 17's on my 98. I hope to have them on by July. I think the current stock Aurora 4.0 wheels look great and are what should have been on the classic or at least an option. If anybody is interested, I know where you can get them for about $750. There are some catches - they are actually the non-chromed factory originals that have been stripped and then chromed. The center caps are not factory original so you have to spend another 160 or so to get the right ones with the Olds symbol. Still the wheels are GM, they look great and the total price is reasonable for such an upgrade using a chrome alloy wheel. I hate most of the aftermarket wheels stuff. Tacky is putting it mildly IMHO. Most of them look like they belong in the deli as a meat cutter.
Matrixfrog - All the Aurora wheels are alloy as far as I know and should weigh the same whether or not they are chromed. The Aurora 17's I have in the basement are about 20 lbs or so. I think the shipping data on the box of 2 shows 44 lbs (if my memory serves me right). The box is pretty beefy, so I'd guess the factory 17's are about 20 lbs each +/-.
I say go for the aftermarket wheels you can beat nothing like some 18 or 20's for the Classic Aurora. I have on my 1999 Black Aurora, I know I'vee said it before some 18 inch Lexani chrome wheels with some Nitto eXtreme tires size 235/40ZR18. I say go for the 20's, if you don't feel comfortable with the 20's then check out some 18" rims. The Classic Aurora just looks more agressive with bigger wheels, plus my Aurora handles cornering way better than with the stock wheels. If your willing to spend the money for some 18 or 20 then go for it. When I first bought my 18's I was like damn they look nice but, now I wish I had bought the 20's. Oh by the way I'm willing to sell my 18 inch wheels drop me a line here if anyone here is interested in upgrading thier Aurora. Peace.
How do the 18's fit? I assume you got low profile tires? I would like to get bigger rims but I dont want to pay and arm and a leg for tires.
Seriously, though, wouldn't 20"ers result in a rather stiff ride? And wouldn't they add a lot of unsprung weight? This can hamper acceleration and braking because of the extra force required to rotate the mass (more than if you just put the extra weight in the trunk or something). Plus it can make the ride more clomp-clompy as that extra weight hits bumps and such.
Thanks for any info.
My Aurora exhibits the same symptom. I'm going to try to take the plastic cover off the column and see if there are tilt wheel bolts that need to be tightened. There's some sort of weird hex thing holding it on though, so I'll need a special tool. I wish I knew what was causing it.
The FIX that worked for me was to stop pulling on the wheel. I now make it a point to just grab the A piller if I need to use a little leverage to get out the car.
The Shop King
How do the 18"s fit? I assume you got low profile tires? I would like to get bigger rims but I dont want to pay and arm and a leg for tires.
__________________________________________________
The 18" rims fit well or I should say more like perfect because I bought them from http://www.superbuytires.com they specialized in nothing more than wheels and tires, there fore they will let you know what fits into your vehicle. There not going to sell you something that won't fit into your Aurora. As for the bolt pattern & size, I think it's 115mm lug pattern, size 16x7, 5 lug of course found on http://www.AAArims.com and yeah for my tires I went with size 235/40/ZR18 since I went up to sizes from 16 to 18, I had to get low profile tires to even out the fitment, even then I still have about3 inches to play with, that's why I'm considering getting 20" rims. Getting bigger rims is not going to create any problems on the Aurora,
the only thing you might notice, it would be your break pads being replaced slightly sooner than usual and yes you will feel the asphalt closer to your Aurora but, that's because of the larger rim. I've gotten used to my Aurora rolling on 18's and it just looks more aggressive, you can't get that from your stock Aurora.
frog- Thanks for the other site info. Not that I think edmunds is going anywhere, but in this day and age you never know and I thought that it would be a good idea for us to all land in the same place. In 10 years or so we'll need to be scheduling national Aurora car club events so we'll need to be able to stay in touch.
Thanks,
Ken
2K1, 3.5
Now the weirdness... The next time I got in the car, both the Change Oil Now and Change Trans Fluid Now messages appeared on the DIC. Both had zeroed themselves to 0% life left. The oil life should have had about 60% or so left and we all know the Trans Fluid life has never been below 99%.
My first reaction was to blame my son or wife for pushing buttons.. but realized, of course, that they couldn't have set the life to zero for either one. Nothing else was reset or lost, every other value including clock, seats and radio presets were unchanged. And, I was able to reset each value to 100%.
What's up with this? Anyone else have anything like that happen?