The SX/4 money pit

[Smitty]

Who knows, I might get lucky and skip the knife this time.  It gets old after a while.  Got busted up a little in the service and have had 8 knee operations and 3 other procedures for skin cancer removal so I feel it is someone elses turn.    It may not look like much but a lot of work has gone into the SX/4.



I am sure a lot of you have had the same experiences.  You start one thing and then the list grows as you see things that really should be "taken care of" as preventative maintenance.  That has been the story with this car.  All it really needed was to bleed the brakes but I figured why not do everything so I know it is all good stuff.  There was a growl in the water pump and rust in the radiator so why not do both and might as well do all the belts and hoses too.  That mindset has taken a weekend project and stretched it into a month.  Now it is a matter of a few minor things (I hope they are minor) and getting it out of the garage to see what kind or road manners it has.  I think I should get most of it back together tonight unless something else comes up.  With houses and land selling around here the day they are listed we need to drop everything if a house or land comes along that we think we  like.  That has  been part of the delay so far has been the search for a house closer to work. 

Long winded this morning, sorry.

[Gil-SX4]

Isnt it allways like that, wille you are working on something you see something ells an think "Hey since I'm in to the repair mode I migth as well take care of that it looks worn out. How do you think mine got in to the boxes?

[way2phastphil]

 It's called " Preventive Maintenance." Fix it before it breaks, so you aren't trying to patch it up on the side of the road at 3:00am. 

[IowaEagle]

If you carry anything more in your car than the hood release handle then you are tempting the breakdown gods.  But now I am way off topic.  Must get back to Smitty.  While you have the hood up you might as well do the TFI and get rid of that yucky fram oil filter.

[Smitty]

Actually, I am going to do the HEI as I have a pile of them in my cabinet.  Oil, filter and all that stuff is yet to be done.  We are looking at some property tonight so I doubt if much will get done tonight.  I finished off the shocks and all the Ebrake stuff last night so the next task is to bleed out the brakes.  Then I can road test it.  The shifter is annoying but I can make it work with 2 hands so I can road test as is.  The garage is one big mess.  Once I get the SX out it will take an evening of cleaning and putting tools away, cleaning oil and brake fluid spills etc. 

Skeezix ventured out to the garage last night and got her first really good look at the SX/4.  Even though it is on jackstands I told her to get in and try it on for size  .  She got in and looked around, asked a few questions about wires and all (the lower package tray is out for now) and then sat there for a minute or two, real quiet.  She looked down at me (I was on the floor doing the air shock line) and said "this will be fun to take to work".  Another convert.  Now I will probably have to get one for her own although she does like the wagon.

[IowaEagle]

I think Lynne (Starwalker) is opening a dealership.  Any tips on replacing the e-brake cables would be appreciated.  Thats on my to do list too.  Especially parts numbers.

[IowaEagle]

Thanks.  I already have rebuilt/renewed the rear brakes with all new hardware.  The front cable is probably the same for all -- the rear ones would be different for series 50 cars.

[IowaEagle]

Off the shelf at Advance.  Just plain old "f" parts.

[IowaEagle]

They have under the Eagle -- no problem.  Go to the Advance site (Parts America) and you can get the Wagner/Raybestos/Bendix #'s.

[Smitty]

 a lot of the part numbers are the same as the wagon.  see my post
http://forums.amceaglenest.com/index.php?topic=2844.30

I got most of these parts from Rockauto so I will do a comparison on cost

[IowaEagle]

I don't like how PA revamped their site.  They list only the popular stuff and you have click an extra time to get the complete list.  Set up for week end warriors not serious wrenchers.

[IowaEagle]

An exellent How To by Smitty that was moved to the How To Section.   By request it is reposted here as well.

Looking through my slips from NAPA I can provide the following info:

Brake hoses front       36929      $33.53
Brake hose front         36928       33.53
Brake hose rear          36965       22.74

Those are the flexible brake lines.

Caliper                       242-1009   15.95
Caliper                       242-1008   15.95
Rotor                         4885771    24.70
Wheel Cyl                   4617510     9.68
wheel cyl                    4617509     9.68
Brake hardware rt        80663        9.54  Roackauto    78526S     6.65
brake hardware lf         80664        9.54

Brake cable   NAPA   92934   $28.94        Rockauto    LH    F103389   19.19
Brake cable   NAPA   93030   $25.51        Rockauto    RH    F86044     19.19
Brake cable   NAPA   92566   $27.98        Rockauto    front  F102003   21.79

The parking brake cables are the same for all models.  On the SX/4 the excess cable for the front is wrapped under the fuel lines and tied off.  On the wagon it is a straight shot to the bracket for the rear cable hookup.

When doing the front parking brake cable, unhook it from the rear cables and press about halfway down on the parking brake pedal and then release the brake.  This brings the cable end up so that you can slip it out of the bracket on the pedal assy.  Make sure you have the battery unhooked so you can move the fusebox out of the way.  Otherwise there are a few sparks  Grin.  I reused my old cable retainers as I did not like the new type supplied with the new cables.  I also saw no difference in quality between NAPA and Rockauto.  Both had to be ordered so save $22.26 and get them delivered to your door.

The only annoying part about changing out the rear cables is that you have to reuse the mounting tabs that hold the cable to the axle assy.  They are a pain to pry open and are usually covered in road gunk.  The other thing I found out is to pull the rear cables forward as far as possible with the brake drum off and clamp a vise grip right at the end of the protective sheathing on the end of the cable that gets hooked up to the front cable.  This helps when you go to hook the front and rear cables together as you are not pulling against the spring pressure on the brake drum.  You can always hook the front cable up first and fight with the return spring on the brake drum but I found this the best way after doing both the wagon and the SX/4.

It should not take more than 2 hours if things go moderately well.  The one thing to remember is that there are 2 retaining clips under the carpet in the drivers side floor.  The front one is usally hidden under the accumulated years of dirt and debris and is located just at the upward bend of the floorpan as it transfers into the firewall.

Have fun

[roninkai]

hey isnt that john rosa's sx/4 you bought or am i mistaken? the brush guard's a dead giveaway, let me know if you ever want to sell the car, hehehe

[IowaEagle]

How goes the project Smitty?

[Smitty]

Basically, at a complete standstill.  The weather here has been so hot and humid that I have not had the desire to do much of anything.  I do not tolerate the heat well, let alone the humidity.  Last week I had some minor work done on my throat and the meds don't agree with me.  Our house goes on the market 1 July so what time I do have is going into finishing a bunch of small details and hunting for property to build the new house.  We meet with the realtor today at 5:15 to put an offer in on a parcel that is about 10 minutes from work.  We shall have to wait and see. 

I do not think I am going to get lucky with the tranny after all.  I had it running to sort out the vacuum lines and to make sure the new valve cover was sealed up.  It ran great but I still need to bleed the brakes.  Have to make a canister for my vacuum pump to pull the fluid through as gravity is not working.  Went in the next day and the floor has a huge pool of tranny fluid again.  It leaked for quite a while so I think it may be the torgue convertor draining.  The weather is supposed to break tomorrow so I will probably get out there tomorrow night to finish up all the small stuff and then see what the deal is with the tranny leakage.

It is always a challenge.