WOT

Well the rear has gr2's so Im probly going to do the same in the front. I think my springs are fine so I probably wont touch those. I just didnt know what exactly is sandwiched under my strut and body. Is there any threads on here with anyone taking the front shocks out and showing the removal process?? Sounds like alot of pieces need to be bought individually though, wish there was a kit!!

I think I got it, thanks for the tip guys, I started it up and blasted the heat on auto full blast. Popped the cap and a good 500-700m went in. Aparently thats enough to make a good difference int he temps the fan blows because my ride to work was toasty warm. Hope thats all for this thread!!

Enough tranny fluid to come out of the dipstick is ALOT more than the spec ammount, it only take 10-30min max to drain the fluid down to an area in the "green zone" I paid to have this Vq tranny serviced once already, and I would definitely take all precautions in preventing another

Over the max mark is never "normal" I find it gives false readings like I said when you chck when its warm as oil has just run up the fill tub and gets on the dipstick when you pull it out. Since there is a cold mark, why not let everything flow down back into the pan and get an uncontaminated reading?? Warm might be what the manual says, but I can never get a consistent reading

No... I put the heat on full for 10 seconds BEFORE drained it lol I didnt know you had to have the heat on while filling...

To flush my block and rad, I simply stuck the garden hose into the rad cap hole with low pressure until all green stopped coming out of the lower rad hose. Then I connected the lower rad hose and removed the engine drain plugs, and let clean water flow through those for a while. Then I let the water drain out of those drain holes and I drained my rad via the little drain plug at the botom of it. I then put in 2-3liters of coolant mix, started the car, took the rad cap and air vent on the firewall off, filled with coolant until it came to the top, gave the rad hoses some squeezes, no bubbles came out. Sealed it up The trouble is though, I then went for a drive, maybe 12-15min, my aftermarket temp gauge went up to only 150* at its highest and kept going down to 135ish when driving (its cold as hell I guess) but the car would never produce any heat through the vents?? Like no heat at all I parked the car before I head to work. Im hoping before I leave I will pop the rad cap off and see I need alot of topup or something. Stumped why i have no heat, but Im pretty glad that thermostat is outa there!!! Id appreciate any help

SO I swapped the thermostat just now, I think I found a problem, maybe the problem all together. Im assuming this gasket isnt supposed to be ann crunched and munched under that spring with loose rubber gasket dangling around. And heres the new pretty beast installed And my naked engine bay with winter engine cover

The front end of my car needs some love, I hit bumps and tracks way to fast and its taken its toll and now repaying me with clunks and not so comforatable noises when going over uneasy unstable roads. Ive replaced the sway bar end links with oem ones twice now. And just recently a set of new lower ball joints that I am unsure of there quality (was ebay, Im actually kinda pissed I used them) But Im thinking my problem may lie in my shocks or the mounts/bearing above it Is there anyway to isolate or check these parts individually?? Ive never done the front struts so I dont know how to take it apart or what exact parts are in there. My 2001 is 2wd so it may be different than alot of yours anyways I dont know the difference Are there any kits available for the items I would need for the from strut replacement OTHER than the struts? I read that OEM is best but I cant find a list of things to buy for my 2wd

How much are you looking to spend at the lowest? I know my neighbour keeps his black one in his basement. Maybe $40 for a case of beer would persuade him lol, but your in the states shipping would be a bit for such a long item and I dont know how much your looking to spend

Sweet thank I appreciate it. I didnt notice you could click your own username up there in the corner lol I must of clicked the help button beside it 20 times.. and it is of no help..

Theres a trick to silicone spray, put all the windows down as far as possible. Shake up the can stick the thin nozzle into both window tracks per window, so 8 different lube points. With the window down you can easily see the track of the window. Spray down those tracks LIBERALLY, no little squirt squirt, it takes alot of lube to clean out a dirty track, takes me a whole can the first time I do it everyyear. I used maybe 1/3 can everytime I just feel like doing it, you really want to lube those tracks and get the gunk out. Throw the window up and down a couple times, repeat if you want. The most important part is just geting right into the track so your not just lubing the inside of your door and are actually geting the track, and most people just spray for 1-2 seconds and think there done. SOAK IT I live on a dirt road so I do this $3 treatment twice or so a year

Check it cold on a perfectly level surface is the method I found best to find out tranny fluid levels. After the car has been running the dipstick seems to get some blowby or oil run off down the dipstick tube that gives hard to verify readings. I just check my trans oil after its been sitting for atleast 2 hours or so, make sure all the oil has settled down. And I would definetely put it back into the spec region of the dipstick, I dont know of a way to remove just a bit of fluid though, maybe just loosen the drain plug until it JUST starts to slowly drip and let however much you want drip out... would be kinda tough lol get er done

Does anyone know of a good write up for drum brake replacement/overhaul?

Well mother nature screwed me out of my drive and my g/f's flight is delayed til tomorrow but you think my thermostat is fudged?? Because the coolant wants to burst out when the car is off and I want to release the rad cap?? What do you mean when you say "release the pressure from the system?? (open the cap?) Im fine working with coolant, but I think I remember the last time I tried to open the rad cap after the car was slightly warm and the car was running @!*% got bad real fast and coolant came a gushin haha I bought a new thermostat and housing and hoses just because Im stupid for not doing it 2 weeks ago when I did everything else and I got a STEAL of a price on everything.

I poured slowly and squeezed the upper and lower hoses Im sure, and when I pop the cap in my driveway and squeeze them there are no bubbles coming out. I also noticed that once when I popped my rad cap, coolant felt like it was going to rush up, car was completely cold, but as I was turning it slowly open I felt pressure coming up and I think some coolant rushed into the overflow...

Am I stupid?? (dont answer) But I cant see where to change my avatar, on the only other forum I use its in s control panel menu. How do you guys do it?? Thanks!!

I did some reading in the FSM about 2 coolant drain plugs on the block aswell, didnt know if those were necessary, or should be used. The girgling is kinda pissing me off though. Im going to pick up my girlfriend an hour away tonight so Ill be ssure to check the lower rad hose after that drive.

EDIT: please just scrool down to post #10/11, new updates Hey guys, Im having a bit of a mind bender on my coolant system. I think I may just not have done the procedure correctly. I installed a new rad 2 weeks ago, just a factory replacement from a local rad shop. Put the new rad in, hooked the lines back up, filled it with coolant, drove, topped it up. Never thought about it again. Now for the heck of it I popped the cap on the weekend and it needed maybe 500ml before it overflowed the rad. And now im noticing some "gurgling" water noises coming the hoses under my dash upon startup and first acceleration. I popped the cap twice today after random driving and both times it wasnt as full as when I closed the cap. I also noticed that after my 20min drive my lower rad hose was still COLD... mind you its really cold here, but I think the thermostat should have openned... So Im quite nervous of overheating this beauty VQ engine. Does anyone have any insight on how to cure this?? I just orderred an OEM thermostat and housing and new upper and lower hoses. And also the 2 hoses in the bottom middle of the rad that I think go to the cooler. Any insight on how to do this right the second time around would be much appreciated. I figure a new thermostat and housing and hoses and a full fill with the proper coolant and distilled water is a start!! Thanks! sorry if this is so long I even took alot out lol

I sold my mint black one on ebay for a pretty penny.

straight from the factory bo

Nylon dash tool removers you say eh... Are they common in stores?? Hell I would love to get away from my method of puting a piece of electrical tape over a flat head screw driver!!

I know Im the odd-ball lol I think it would be hard to have them honor a lifetime warranty on something like a balljoint. But if you were to try that, would you just call them up to make sure they have 2 in stock, take your broken ones off, take another vehicle to the store and try and get them to exchange for free?? Id be very pissed if I pulled the ones off to find out they wont exhcnage them or something Im debating going with a warranty one, but dont know what options there are in canada, my truck seems to eat these things though

Im very interested. if you could pm me when you can a price for a pair of them shipped to ontario with maybe a pic and some info on them (width/metal type) Id appreciate it and probly take some off your hands, a pic would help to Finally put my pipe bender to good use lol Id love to do this mod and make a little thread about it, would probably look pretty nice in the engine bay to

Ive messed with Moog, cheap ebay, napa house brand. All suck to me Im back to oem now and they are the only ones that have made it past 10k miles or so. But they were $210ish canadian at the dealer for the pair Mind you my truck is lowerred and maybe that means it eats them a little faster. The cheap ebay ones were the worst, didnt last 2 weeks

Ive got geolanders for the winter to. They work great