My '95 Caprice Classic STW, "Sally"

[Arquemann]

Cool, just blew a rear brake line.
Add one more thing for the shop's to do list.

[87gtVIC]

Better than blowing it after. Like you said...add it to the list.

[Arquemann]

Better than blowing it after. Like you said...add it to the list.

Yup, happened to blow it less than 5 minutes from home. Futzing around a parking lot, late at night with some friends.
Sucks to spend more money again, but I'm very glad the line blew now and in a somewhat controlled situation. Going on a 500+km cottage trip next weekend, would suck to blow a line 25km from the nearest paved road or way further from anything resembling a repair shop.

[87gtVIC]

Blew two brake lines on my cv ages ago. Once while going onto the emissions machine (when that was still a thing) for inspection. The other in my driveway. Both happened in a very safe manner/area.

[gadget73]

had one pop in my old truck just around the corner from the house. Turned around and came straight back home. At no point had I gotten over 25, and it was only the back brakes so I could still stop. I lost a fuel pump in that truck in the driveway too. One morning it just wouldn't start. Things break, but its awful nice when they break with 'convenient' timing.

[Arquemann]

I fetched the car from the shop earlier this week, they did the oil change and replaced the busted brake line.
Apparently the line itself was some weird thick-walled stuff, which they didn't have in stock and had to go get it from elsewhere.

They also confirmed that the trans mount is completely shot and torn, and that the front shocks are kinda done. Checked some leaks aswell, guy said the engine oil leak is from the timing cover / dizzy and not the oil pan. Wet trans crossmember is most likely just from the engine oil and not the trans leaking. I ordered new front shocks and a trans mount. 11.98€ per shock on closeout from RA, Gabriel ProGuard, police/taxi spec. Local shops didn't have any HD shockss, only overpriced cheapo tier Gabriels.

Installed the aux high beam this week aswell. Ended up buying the 180W LED bar from a friend. Trying to mount it nicely proved to be quite hard, so I went the crude yet effective route. Two M8 bolts right through the top of the bumper and into the crash bar.
Sure it's a clean install, but I got (more) holes in my bumper now. The front license plate mount decided to shatter among the process, I've got the plate ziptied for now. I ordered new single row plates without the EU-tags, should fit and look better.
Also installed the new Philips Nightguard Platinum bulbs I bought, old ones were already XtremeVisions. Conclusion is that I won't see SHIT with these headlights.

Illegal yellow tint because I find yellowish light wayy easier on the eyes and seems to help visibility in the white winter.
Still need to aim the LED and adjust the headlights a bit aswell.

[gadget73]

thick walled line? hm, I thought GM used standard 1/4", unless its the armored crap. That looks like its got a steel wire wrapped around it, and to splice it you have to un-wrap the wire which usually doesn't actually work.

[Arquemann]

thick walled line? hm, I thought GM used standard 1/4", unless its the armored crap. That looks like its got a steel wire wrapped around it, and to splice it you have to un-wrap the wire which usually doesn't actually work.

Eh, dunno. That's what he said to me. I don't think I've seen the spiral guarded line on this car.


Anyways, cottage trip (again)! This time in the Chevy. Really takes the washboarded dirt roads like a champ, except everything rattles...
Friday was cruise night, then saturday morning off to a car show and to the cottage from there. A night of rock n roll, beer and booze, got home today afternoon.

Now I'm really noticing the effects of the stock tune vs the tune that was on the car. It doesn't jerk anymore, but the MPG took a considerable hit. 570km this weekend and the tank is empty, mostly highway driving at 80 to 110 kmh.
I don't like the jerking but I really don't like the fact that the highway MPG went down by like 5 mpg...
First I'll reflash the jerky tune back in and fill it with premium fuel, see how it does. Looking at the original tune on TunerPro, the spark tables are super spicy compared to stock.



In the middle of nowhere, old ass cottage, friends and good times. And a dog! with the newest favourite chew toy, a piece of firewood.

[Arquemann]

Through the process of elimination I have come to the conclusion that the jerkiness is caused by: the converter lockup.
The factory tune just happened to hide it pretty well.

Oh well. I'm not replacing a torque converter anytime soon, if at all for this car, so it'll be what it is for now.
I will probably play around with the TCC engage/release maps and such to maybe have it release earlier and with less TPS%.

Also replaced the old ill-fitting license plates and put in a new air filter. New front shocks and trans mount came in, those plus the fuel filter on the to-do list for this year. The trans mount might be a thing for a shop to do, it seems like a proper PITA.

[gadget73]

if someone did work on this, its quite likely the pulse-modulated converter lockup has been deleted. It was a common thing, mostly because the PWM lockup roasts the lockup clutch. When that is deleted it engages and disengages the converter like an extra gear. Its done in the transmission, don't know the fine points but apparently its quite simple to do.

[GM_Guy]

On shifts, without being able to feel what you are describing, it is something that is usually wanted on this side of the ocean when one builds up a trans. Firmer = faster shift & engagement. Unless its doing it under light throttle, don't worry about it for the winter. I've never had issues with any of my trans that shifted hard enough to snap your neck. Our golden yardstick in the old days was if it can't scratch the tires (squak the tires) during the 1-2 shift, its not firm enough. If you are scratching them on the 2-3, you've got everything you can out of it. =-)

[gadget73]

The 1-2 in my S10 was a bit too much, it would regularly bark the tires on a 1-2 on dry road at anything over about half throttle. Kind of a pain in the ass in the winter on snow.

[Arquemann]

Well, new front shocks installed, trans mount fixed. I did the fuel and air filters also.
I utterly lost my patience last week trying to replace the shocks myself and took the car to the friend's shop last night.
Canadian winters + Finnish winters = rust, a lot of it.

Nevermind what I said about the trans mount previously, it is actually intact, but it wasn't exactly "attached" like it should. Or attached really at all...
But now it is and it made a noticeable difference in low throttle upshifts, less of a slam and more of a firm shift now.

New front shocks made a very satisfying improvement aswell. Absolutely not too firm even though being HD versions of already police spec shocks, just mint.
I guess it really helps that the shock fluid is inside the shocks, not on the outside and around the general area


A few things to do still:
- Remove cluster and clean dash contacts
- Remove bulb from "CHANGE OIL" -light (fkn annoying and reset procedure doesn't work)
- Grease joints when it's time to change to winter tires

Hopefully she'll serve me well for the winter. Inspection is in December and I really don't want any more surprises.

[gadget73]

did the old mount have the rubber separate from the metal part? Thats usually how they fail, often mixed with a fluid leak so it turns the rubber into black mushy goo.

[Arquemann]

did the old mount have the rubber separate from the metal part? Thats usually how they fail, often mixed with a fluid leak so it turns the rubber into black mushy goo.

No no, the mount was intact, like I said. The rubber is fine, bolts not so much. One was missing, bottom nut was tight, the other upper was loose.
The old mount is still in there, now attached properly. The mechanic (friend) said that it was definitely good to reuse, also it'd be an absolute PITA to replace. The crossmember is basically a deeeeeep cradle and the mount is at the bottom, under the tail housing. He said it might be barely possible to replace it without dropping the crossmember. And to drop the crossmember, the exhaust has to be removed.