2003 SLE. 133K.
Bought a year ago w 118K. Changed trans filter and fluid at that time (dropped pan, not a flush). Pan had normal layer of dust in it, no shavings or metal. Fluid was dark brown (like used motor oil). Dropped pan again last week, fluid also dark (was dark right after the first change ...

Well, I happened to be laying on the ground under the car yesterday. (was getting ready to change oil and trans fluid).

How much "give"/play is considered normal in the forward front lower control arm bushing?

On my car, the two sides were not equal, with the left side looser. I could, with hand ...

Probably very little to do with your particular failed PS pump, but:

PS fluid is not ATF!
ATF is not PS fluid!

Your concepts of pressure and temperature comparisons between the two are very wrong. PS systems run pressures over 1000psi all the time. They get hot and burn up the fluid, too. PS ...

The throttle body will never ice up. Icing occurs when there's a temperature drop at the throttle and the air flowing through it meets a certain set of conditions of humidity and temperature. The temperature drop that causes icing occurs in carburetors and throttle body injectors where fuel is ...

I am getting ready to do the LIM gasket replacement on my 128K 03 SLE.

The posts and wisdom here are all for replacing the UIM while you've got it apart with an improved UIM that keeps excess heat away from the manifold so that there is a reduced tendancy to burn/erode through to the coolant ...

Tires recently balanced. I watched them do it, insisted they re-spin after and show all zeros.

I will check rack bolts tomorrow.

vibration starts around 68 and continues up to at least 80. I did not spend any significant time past 80 with my daughters in the car this weekend. The vibration pisses ...

The thing is, the clicking or clunking doesn't bother me much...the play does. I am thinking since one fix for the clicking is to grease it, that the clicking is not really a significant source of looseness...just irritation. That's why I asked about noise vs. play in the intermediate shaft.

Just ...

And death shake is common in 99% of the 00+'s. I think only one person has gotten it out? Someone else will chime in about it.

Years ago I drove an 03 Olds Aurora for 14 months and 23000 miles; it was a company car I picked up at the dealer brand new. I liked that car; it was one of the 'final ...

Play in steering wheel. About 3/8". Slight click/clunk when rapidly turning wheel back and forth a small amount, more noticeable with engine off.

New outer tie rod ends. Wheel bearings newish (under 5k miles). No noticeable play in ball joints or control arm bushings.

What else is there?

Car has ...

Update and..... it's fixed.

After twice removing and replacing the CV shaft to replace the seal in the trans, I gave up. I thought perhaps the shaft was somehow eating the seals up (rough spot on the surface, etc.) or the bearing was shot or whatever. As time went by, I started to notice odd ...

So far, the only non-dealer, non-junkyard source I've found is Rock Auto, at $25 each.

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Thanks for the informative answer. This reflects what I've correlated from numerous posts; although the rear caliper bracket seems seldom mentioned.

My SLE's brakes fade on the first hard stop/slow from 80ish. The pads are at about 50% and are unknown brand. If I am going to replace pads ...

And Im sure brakes on the Fbodys are superior in stock form that the GXP units.
I don't see evidence of that. The main player in fade resistance is heat capacity. In a standard brake (ie cast iron rotor as opposed to carbon fiber or ceramic rotor) the heat capacity is mostly determined by how much ...

F-body upgrade then is a dual piston caliper and more pad area (perhaps). No increase in rotor diameter, thickness, or mass; thus no increase whatsoever in heat capacity, thus negligible increase if any in fade resistance. Pads, if larger, will last longer, but that's not my goal. My goal is to ...

01bonneSC wrote:Id do an F-body upgrade for the fronts....

I've noted a very few people mentioning this, but never with any detail -- so what does it entail/what are you upgrading/details would be appreciated.

I've read a bunch on brake upgrades here, and am having a little trouble with one area I hope somebody who's done this or has both can answer:

upgrading to the larger GXP rear brakes seems like a rotor and pad swap, but when I look up pads on the various parts sites (Autozone, Advance Auto, NAPA ...

Relatively new-to-me 2003 SLE.

I've done some maintenance stuff like plugs, etc. and gutted the airbox and added a K&N panel air filter. It at least sounds better!

I've read on here that the exhaust flows well (although given my experience with other GM cars I am having trouble fully believing ...

Ok, so today, I went and looked at it all again. I took the new seal I'd bought and it was a proper, tight but not tight, fit on axle. So I yanked the old one ( a bit of a trick...so much room to work in the wheel well there...). Other than being old and stiff, it had no discernable issue. You can ...

Background:

My first Bonneville, although I drove an 03 Aurora for a year as a company car.

Bought an 03 SLE last month, 108K and noisy front wheel hub bearings. Replaced both, but the driver's side repacement had a defective WSS, so I had to do it over. Somehow in the process, I galled the hell ...

Just did this fix to my 03. A couple notes:

The lamps in the heated seat controls are also very similar to the Radio Shack bulbs; the RS bulbs are a bit brighter. You need to know how to solder to do those, though. The seat heater control lamps are in surface mount carriers. Pry out the base of ...