AMC Eagle Den Forum
The Shop => Project Cars => Topic started by: mojobean on December 06, 2009, 07:09:38 PM
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The current on the slab project is a 81 california emission kammback. When we got it the clutch slave cylinder was so badly corroded you couldn't push the clutch in. The PO replaced the friction and pressure plate but not the slave cylinder. To pull the shifter out the PO cut a slot in the tranny hump to peel back the sheet metal to get access to the three bolts. The bell housing was cracked at the ear where one of the starter thru bolts was at. The front diff was hanging OK but the bolts weren't tight. The exhaust is gone. What I've done thus far. I pulled the tranny and the bell housing, repaired the ear by welding and and shaping, then reinstalled. replaced the U-joint bolts with grade 8 allen head cap bolts. Replaced the hard lines, slave and master clutch cylinder,Brake booster, master brake cylinder and the two hard lines going to and from the proportioning valve.(all with spare parts from my stock) I yarded out the ECM, and the feedback carb. I am replacing it with a non feedback BBD, I got the rebuild kit today and will be soaking and cleaning this week. I'm replacing the stepper motor carb with a non feedback from an 80 concord. I've checked the wiring diagrams for the ECM Test and compared what I have on "cali-carl" to the brown "big-boy" kammback that came from here in washington. For the ECM I would supposedly have two wires going from the ECM to the distributor. All the wires into my distributor come directly from the four way plug coming from The ignition module. Same as the "big boy" washington kammback, and the same plug formation/orientation. What I'm thinking is that I could place the non-feedback carb on, with same wiring setup, leaving the stepper motor wiring, and the ECM mess disconnected.
(http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc199/rukusandfreeway/AMC/blue%20kamm/th_IMG_0225.jpg) (http://s213.photobucket.com/albums/cc199/rukusandfreeway/AMC/blue%20kamm/?action=view¤t=IMG_0225.jpg)(http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc199/rukusandfreeway/AMC/blue%20kamm/th_IMG_0224.jpg) (http://s213.photobucket.com/albums/cc199/rukusandfreeway/AMC/blue%20kamm/?action=view¤t=IMG_0224.jpg)(http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc199/rukusandfreeway/AMC/blue%20kamm/th_IMG_0223.jpg) (http://s213.photobucket.com/albums/cc199/rukusandfreeway/AMC/blue%20kamm/?action=view¤t=IMG_0223.jpg)(http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc199/rukusandfreeway/AMC/blue%20kamm/th_IMG_0207-1.jpg) (http://s213.photobucket.com/albums/cc199/rukusandfreeway/AMC/blue%20kamm/?action=view¤t=IMG_0207-1.jpg)(http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc199/rukusandfreeway/AMC/blue%20kamm/th_IMG_0206-1.jpg) (http://s213.photobucket.com/albums/cc199/rukusandfreeway/AMC/blue%20kamm/?action=view¤t=IMG_0206-1.jpg)
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I pulled the fuel tank yesterday. The gas might well have been from 2004, as the tags read. The sending unit was corroded and the float was half eaten away. The gas has that orange color and the "submarine smell" (the only other place I've smelled that was in a submarine and the sub smelled better.). The PO had cut the fuel vent line at the check valve and just left it. I put my spare tank in and the spare fill neck and strapped it all back together. I'm currently soaking the old concord carb and it looks a sight better than the tank, but dirty,dirty,dirty.
I'll post pics as soon as I remember how to do it.
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How is the tank itself?
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:o ;D
I didn't think anyone would reply to my post. ;)
The tank itself is great on the outside, in fact it still has tags that read the name of the dealership in California. The inside however is filth, it looks like the sending unit ( I'll post pics I swear). Between the sending unit and the tank the O ring looked Ok but it was too large, and I think it got contaminated with water.
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Does it look like this on the inside?
(http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/packrat_2006/AMC%20Eagle%20SX4/PDR_1016.jpg)
The only thing I can think of, car related anyway,that smells worse than old dead gas is burned up auto tranny fluid, burned up 80W gear oil in a rear end that was run with a leak until there wasn't much oil left in it or 60 year old gear oil.
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Nice to see the ladies getting in the thick of it. Mojobean - you go girl!
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I just saw this post, lol... before I saw you mention "I thought no one was going to reply to this", I had noticed the date of the first post and your first reply... I was like, dang, how'd I miss this one? Two days and no replies, lol.. I didn't think it was THAT boring, LMAO!!!
Hey, looks like you've got a got a good start... you're saving all the old "dirty" parts too right? You can clean that tank and filler neck.
And when the heck were you a sub? Not often you hear of a female in a sub!
Keep up the good work!
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Havent gotten a photo of the inside of the tank yet.. chargin the camera battery right now. but heres some shots of the outside, the sending unit (ugh), and all the nasty gas that was in there. the brown crud in the bottom of the pail is what the old gas looked like.
(http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc199/rukusandfreeway/AMC/blue%20kamm/th_bluekammgasrancid121009.jpg) (http://s213.photobucket.com/albums/cc199/rukusandfreeway/AMC/blue%20kamm/?action=view¤t=bluekammgasrancid121009.jpg)(http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc199/rukusandfreeway/AMC/blue%20kamm/th_bluekammgastank-tubs121009.jpg) (http://s213.photobucket.com/albums/cc199/rukusandfreeway/AMC/blue%20kamm/?action=view¤t=bluekammgastank-tubs121009.jpg)(http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc199/rukusandfreeway/AMC/blue%20kamm/th_bluekammgassend121009.jpg) (http://s213.photobucket.com/albums/cc199/rukusandfreeway/AMC/blue%20kamm/?action=view¤t=bluekammgassend121009.jpg)
as far as the submarine.. i'll find my photos of that to enlighten everyone. ;) I agree about the old gear oil, nothin worse than gettin that stuff in your hair. :o
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I bet thats what mine looks like on both of my SX4's... they both sat for years... I never cleaned out the tanks. Just filled them to brim with some gras treatment to dilute the nasty stuff as much as possible... then I never let it drop below half a tank, just kept filling it up to dillute it more and more... then finally, I just ran it totally dry... carried a can of gas with me for a week in the orange SX4 just waiting for it to run out of gas and die, lol! Recently, I syphoned (spelling?) some gas out of it and it was totally clean. The only time it ran rough was when I first fired her up after sitting for several years. It literally blew out cobwebs for about 10-15m and then she ran great. I did this on both of my SX4's.
It's probably not the best way to do this.... Mojo is doing the "right" thing to do. I'm just sharing my experience for the guys that don't have the time or knowledge to clean the tank or swap in a new one.... or if you just had the idea I did, which was - to heck with it, I'm ripping it all out soon anyways.
So yeah anyways... my gas guage is stuck on both vehicles. I'm guessing the float has disintegrated.
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I pulled the radiator out while everything was frozen, the fins were corroded and it will have to be re-cored.
(http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc199/rukusandfreeway/AMC/blue%20kamm/th_IMG_0202-1.jpg) (http://s213.photobucket.com/albums/cc199/rukusandfreeway/AMC/blue%20kamm/?action=view¤t=IMG_0202-1.jpg)
I finished rebuilding the carb and it put it back in, after spending two days trying to figure out my choke. I put the tang for the unloader in backwards so everytime the coil expanded it closed the choke. ??? ::) I went with the 49 standard vacuum diagram and reworked all the hoses per spec. I'm going to fab a braket today for the diverter valve and put in a single air injection system that I had laying around. I pulled out the mcu like I said then I pulled out the stepper/mcu harness and hooked all the loose electrical connections back where they go save for two-one I'm not sure where it goes(maybe to the trans) the other is a ground I have to splice a spade on and connect to the firewall. Then later today perhaps I'll work up a gravity feed fuel supply can and hang it over the carb and drip fuel into the carb and try to fire it up. ;)
pic of corroded tank sending unit:
(http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc199/rukusandfreeway/AMC/blue%20kamm/th_IMG_0203-1.jpg) (http://s213.photobucket.com/albums/cc199/rukusandfreeway/AMC/blue%20kamm/?action=view¤t=IMG_0203-1.jpg)(http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc199/rukusandfreeway/AMC/blue%20kamm/th_IMG_0204-1.jpg) (http://s213.photobucket.com/albums/cc199/rukusandfreeway/AMC/blue%20kamm/?action=view¤t=IMG_0204-1.jpg)
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That is one nasty sending unit.
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Thanks for sharing this project. Looks like you have some work on your hands, but it looks like it is coming along nicely.
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got everything hooked up and put the gravity feed fuel system in. I can fire it up and it starts but wont stay running. Im going to check the timing, and if that seems ok, I'll pull all the vacuum and run it like the blue sx4, and leave the air injection open.
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I pulled all the vacuum and ran what I consider to be the bare essentials. I can get it to fire and run somewhat smooth with the choke closed with about a .125 gap to the air horn. I figured it was running to lean, so I adjusted the vacuum piston gap and turned the allen screw in to enrichen it. I got it bottomed all the way with little difference. Idle mixture screws are at 2 1/2 out.
thought I'd take a break, its wet out. Seattle winter ;D
I was just reading some other posts in the fuel systems. Currently there is a gravity feed feeding the carb, How much does the fuel pump pressure play in the mix?
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right on, I'll back the idle screws out more to see if I can get it to run richer, double check for more vacuum leaks, probably just run the PCV and the distributor for now. When I rebuilt the carb I couldnt get the main jets to budge so I cleaned them out the best I could just by soaking ....In an answer to my own question, it would seem having the fuel pump hooked up to the gravity feed is the way to go. After I did that it stayed idling just fine. I suppose the circuits need a fair amount of pressure for all the air bleeds to work :-\..So I got it running, now I'm off to get fuel and check out the system with a vacuum gauge and fiddle around with some small stuff before I tackle the brakes.
AAAAgh my starter just broke, the internal housing snapped off. ???
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Glad to hear you got it running. Thanks for the great descriptions of your work. I'm sorry to hear about the starter.
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I had to shim the starter. never had to shim a starter before, especially a motorcraft. I used a 3/16th guide plate and it pushed it far enough away so it wasn't' grinding or binding. I'm not sure what that was all about. The bellhousing that I welded to fix the starter ear cracked again. It wasn't,t the fixed ear causing the problem, cause I replaced it with a spare and it still did it, so who knows. I got it to start,run, and backfire out of the carb and that's good enough for now. I have half the exhaust in, no muffler or tailpipe so its runnin super lean,and its probably out of time from resetting the distrib after pulling out the computer. I have to plug up the air injection intake holes on the exhaust for now, till I can get it running smooth and then I'll debate putting it back in. I got into the brakes a little today and got 3 out of the four bleeder screws out but the front pass. side caliper screw wasn't budging. Had to bust out the acetylene torch to heat up the metal but to no avail., drilled it out and plugged it with a bolt ( the spare screw I had still dribbled after it was tight-must of drilled to far) I did a Quick and dirty check on pulling fluid out with a vacuum pump, fronts are Ok(except pass side) rears I can get no fluid out, so I may have to replace the hard lines from the proportioning valve back, just my first impression. So he is off the slab for now, till I can get the rest of the exhaust. No sense in trying to run it for tuning with half the exhaust.
Up next is a 79 spirit. 304 4 speed. Start on that tomorrow.
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Good work getting it running. I've never had to shim a starter before either.
Good luck with the spirit.
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wow sounds like alotta fun Freeway!
I can't wait till my house is far enough along so I can post threads like this again... I love the last line the best...
"Up next is a 79 spirit. 304 4 speed. Start on that tomorrow"
It's awesome to have enough projects to already be planning "next". Love it! Keep up the good work!
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That Spirit Project sounds like a lot of fun. There's a guy about an hour from me selling a 79 Spirit minus the engine and transmission for $450. Wish I had the money and time and another garage spot.
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put the Spirit away and pulled the Kammback out onto the pad again. doing a little here, a little there, finally getting the hang of having numerous projects. I replaced the calipers, and the master cylinder. Replaced the timing chain and changed the pulley system from serpentine, to standard v-belt. Took out the air injection, and I'm running the basic vacuum. Got it fired up and drove it back to its little spot in the back yard. ;D Runs pretty good.
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as far as the submarine.. i'll find my photos of that to enlighten everyone. ;) I agree about the old gear oil, nothin worse than gettin that stuff in your hair. :o
Yes, subs smell nasty, especially a 30+ year old boat getting a major overhaul.
I think the thawed out freezer space in an old carrier smells worse though-
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oh crud! i completely forgot to post the sub pics. i will do that now, over in..um.. it doesn't exactly fit anywhere. I will tentatively stick in in Lobby and can always move it.
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I took it out for its first maiden voyage. I had to replace the parking brake mechanism. The brakes were froze when we picked it up and I remember pushing in on the parking brake, and it had pulled the shoulder bolt right through the bracket, i'll either fix it or strip it, I'll probably fix it. I had a spare so I put that in. I welded up new exhaust, and had to adjust the clutch a little. We put a new hatch seal on it, so we can keep the tarp off. Took it out for a drive. A few things need to be reworked, clutch resevoir still leaks and I forgot about that serpentine water pump runs backwards ::), ooops.
Other than that it runs well.
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I've been driving this car for about a month now. The brake light always stays on, probably a sensor on the parking brake. I got the fuel gauge working, the little reostat inside the sender had a loose wire that I was able to fix. It needs shocks and rear hatch struts, and the gear shift/fork? is a little wonky in 3rd(it will grind unless its pushed in slow and easy). What a nice car. ;)
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Make sure the parking brake pedal is pulled all the way up.
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Mine stays on in the wagon all the time too.All new brakes, front and back, and a new ebrake cable front to back,and both sides.Light just stays on and on and on.
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Does it look like this on the inside?
The only thing I can think of, car related anyway,that smells worse than old dead gas is burned up auto tranny fluid, burned up 80W gear oil in a rear end that was run with a leak until there wasn't much oil left in it or 60 year old gear oil.
lol, been through that with gear oil before. It's rare for me to gag from smells, but that was like nothing else..
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i'll check the pedal this weekend. never thought of that.
when i drug this car home.. i had plans of making it the "show" car.. all prettied up and such. but honestly.. i REALLY like the wear on the paint. (not to mention that if i put new carpet in it, to replace the section thats not there.. well, it wouldn't hold up well) but who knows.. someday maybe. I honestly am not sure why the mister started calling it cali-carl, other than it used to be a cali car, but carl it is not.. the name will be changed at some point. (just as soon as i can get the Cali DOL to find the darn title.. or atleast not be closed on the days i actually get a chance to call them ::))
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*UPDATE* on the title issue.
the mister called Cali DOL for me in an attempt to retrieve the title. Unfortunately he just picked a field office to call and ended up with a girl who had a smarta** way of dealing with the public and essentially just tried his patience. Its a bit hard for him to bite his tongue and not be smarta** right back, and i felt terrible. Proud of him, yet sorry he had to put up with the unprofessional-ness of this girl.
Not to mention she said it was impossible for us to buy the car. I don't put too much weight in that statement since WA DOL says otherwise, as its registered, i'm driving it, and the only thing holding it up is transfering the title.
So, i have a month before i need to get new tabs... but i have to give olympia something by then. This is getting to be a problem acquisition. :(
I may have to be a "bad girl" and go another route. ::) well, my father DID always say i was a hoodlum.
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Gotta love bureaucracies. Should have asked for someone higher up on the food chain. Doesn't always work if they cover for each other, but sometimes it does.
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update:
haven't gotten any further on the title.. but we've been driving the car fairly often. drives well, the starter sound is the only consistent gripe. I haven't done much about the third gear since its fine if you just let it ease/slip in while shifting. if you don't put any pressure on it it will go in on its own smoothly. :)
this week i pulled the dash and the mister replaced the heater core. yesterday i hooked up the heat controls and today i've decided that while the dash is unattached.. i will replace the horrid KRACO radio that was in there with a factory am/fm. then i will put her back together, throw some factory working speakers in the doors and pull her out to her street spot for driving.
i just wish it wasn't so chilly today, i'm trying to get rid of a cold.
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I have an 81 Concord with the same computer wiring/system. From what I have read, it sounds as though you have disabled the computer system from the 81 Eagle. What I am wondering is, would you be willing to part with the vacuum switch assembly (on fender wall, right across from distributor) and 3 solenoids on top of the valve cover? I understand completely if you want to keep them for a "just in case" situation, but I figured it doesn't hurt to ask? Thanks.
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where did you get the hatch seal, Apes17's kammback needs one dosen't leak to bad yet
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where did you get the hatch seal, Apes17's kammback needs one dosen't leak to bad yet
American Parts Depot has seals available. For wagons the trunk seal from a 87 Caddy works great on the hatch.
Do you suppose that would be a one year only from the Cadillac, or would other close years work?
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MY KAMMBACK IS NOW TITLED AND LEGAL!!! :hello2: ;D :blob1: :occasion14:
California DOL had nothing in its database except for a 'release of interest' on microfiche from 2002. WA DOL decided that was enough to clear the car and gave me a title!!!!! I'm sooooooooo happy!! now the fun part starts. i'm thinking new paintjob!!
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That's Great !!
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Got my actual hardcopy title in the mail today. :-\ imagine my surprise when it said it was black. this is definately a blue on blue from the factory .. however, since it horribly needs a paintjob.. and i didn't get to do my sx/4 grey/black like i'd wanted.. i'm considering doing the kammback grey/black. so, eventually.. the title will be somewhat correct. ;)
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Congrats on the title! Its always such a relief to make it through the DMV maze successfully!
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Well, she/he.. we still don't agree.. but Cali-Karl, being the trooper she/he is... is now on medical leave for awhile. Always outperforming any duty we asked..and going.. and going... and going like the scrappy little thing she is.. she finally blew the rear main seal.
She'd been a daily since we got her running a couple years ago, and finally got her title last summer. In December she took the hubby up to Concrete for a job.. had some fun in the mountains and mud.. and brought him home again to civilization. Then two weeks ago yesterday, she took him up again... and I got a call at 10:30pm on a Sunday night. She had made it to within 20 minutes of her destination... and just about where the Elk like to run the roads.. she blew. So.. being the loving owners we are.. we carry AAAplus...
At 2am I was standing outside in my jammies welcoming my little girl home. She looked a bit 'injured' in an ego kind of way as I pushed her up into the driveway the next day. Did a brake job and tuneup on BigBoy to take over for her and sent him out to ferry the hubby up to the wilderness.
Since I will need to pull the engine on Cali-Karl, we decided that she deserves a bit more. So she will be getting the rebuilt engine we had done for MojoMaxx (who ended up getting an already running wagon 258 because of time constraints).
Cali-Karl will be getting the rebuilt, and some new parts since they will be accessible already, and then some loving and doting upon to show her how much we appreciate her raring-to-go spunkiness since being pulled out from under the pine trees on Mt. Hood. Will keep this updated as the surgeries progress.
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Its always a relief to have that title in hand...Without it theres always that fear of having a huge paper weight with thousands of dollars and dozens of hours invested.....Congrats
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a late late late thanks for all the title congrats.. and i previously missed the offer of taking the computer related stuff off my hands
I have an 81 Concord with the same computer wiring/system. From what I have read, it sounds as though you have disabled the computer system from the 81 Eagle. What I am wondering is, would you be willing to part with the vacuum switch assembly (on fender wall, right across from distributor) and 3 solenoids on top of the valve cover? I understand completely if you want to keep them for a "just in case" situation, but I figured it doesn't hurt to ask? Thanks.
i don't think we had all those little doodads, but i could look and see.
correction on the engine swap… we rebuilt the sx/4 engine finally, and since i didn't like the 84 wagon engine i had put in it,, she got her rebuilt one back. took her up north to a club meeting, and lost all my gears on the way home. AAA towed her straight to my tranny guy (whom i called at home and told him i was dropping her off) and she is now getting her tranny rebuilt. :)
I WILL NEVER PARK HER FOR MORE THAN A WEEK EVER EVER AGAIN! (she was NOT happy at being parked for over a year)
so the cali-carl is now still waiting, silently.
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aaaaand SHE IS BACK ON THE ROAD!!. Well,, she was for about a day. hubby drove her to the gas station as she only had a few cups of gas in her, and as soon as he parked her the ignition switch locked itself, key release would not budge. that was last weekend. since i had to take the steering column apart, we ordered up a new switch, and today i spent the day taking the whole thing apart, checking and rechecking to make sure everything worked. and it worked fine right up until i put the lock plate on. can't get the switch to turn or the key release lever to move at all. >:(
tomorrow i will do the whole thing again. i am missing doing something i think. maybe with the rod?
also, i seem to have broken the end of the spring clip that holds in the buzzer contacts… do i really need the buzzer contacts in there? it doesn't buzz anyway. is there any reason i need to have this piece in there?
worst of all, it is parked in the street.. NOT in my driveway.
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Toss the buzzer piece. Not an absolute need on these. The ignition slider is probably dead and jamming the switch. Undo it and see if the key operates like it should. (I've had the same trouble in many AMC and GM vehicles. Same switch that caused the recent recall!)
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Toss the buzzer piece. Not an absolute need on these. The ignition slider is probably dead and jamming the switch. Undo it and see if the key operates like it should. (I've had the same trouble in many AMC and GM vehicles. Same switch that caused the recent recall!)
We are friends with a family that is in the lock/security business...they won't touch anything that says GM. I've had a couple of ignition lock cylinders fail in our DD Eagle. :eagle:
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I take mine apart when I get them and lube the tumblers with a mix of wet graphite spray and PB L'aster so I don't have problems, but the electric sliders seem to go bad for no reason.
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this starter is the only one i got to fit correct without a shim or eventual breakage.
New Tech Replacement Starter N3212
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/mci-n3212