Wow, a grinding shift on a 2 year old car? Seriously? How is that acceptable?

Something like that would make me sick if it was mine.

GM put in Castrol as factory fill. :bazooka: There are more complaints about 1-2 notchiness with the M32 manual transmission than any other complaint about it. It ...

Here's one of the only dash shots of my LeSabre:

Bringing this back from the way-back...

It's been a looooong time since I was active on here. I've spent a lot of that time in the Cruze, having put on many miles for work. I ended up getting the tune and foglights, and installing a headlight harness. Much better!

In just under 2 years of ...

Does a LeSabre count?

Fuel pressure regulator is likely okay, then. Although a bum part could have been replaced by another bum part!

Did you tighten the + battery terminal enough or check it recently? That darned terminal loved to loosen up on my old LeSabre.

Bondo on bare metal and properly top-coated is a completely different kettle of fish than Bondo over rust. Bondo on clean metal is great. Bondo over rust is making a bigger problem down the road...

Tighten the battery cables down, especially the positive terminal. Is the security light on the dash on?

One last thing to check: fuel pressure regulator. Pull off the vacuum tube and sniff for gas. Any gas smell, it's time to replace it. Those things are flipping expensive for such a tiny part, though!

The problem with Bondo is that it doesn't stand up well on rusted metal. Something like long-strand fiberglass filler works much better.

Converting all the rust available and then covering the affected area typically works better. The best way is to rebuild the area with new metal if possible.

Those 2.7's with no sludge are super-rare, and will fetch a high price. Most of the easily-cleaned 2.7's are long gone by now.

What price range? $20k new car, or more expensive? Ford's bringing the Focus ST over here if he can hold out long enough.

I wish I could test-drive the ATS with the 2.0T/6MT. That's a tune and a few bolt-ons away from 300 hp.

2012 MZ3 is an all right car. My brother has a 2012 Skyactiv MZ3 hatch (yes, it's a proper manual transmission). It's competent at what it does.

I like!

And, good on keeping that sludger 2.7 going as long as it has! Something says that the 3.5 will do better, though!

Seafoam vs. Techron or something similar is no contest. The active ingredient in Techron (polyether amines) is the only cleaner that cleans carbon without leaving a residue itself. Chevron put a LOT of money into it, and it works well.

I'd try a bottle or two. A bottle of Gumout Regane High ...

Ooh, shiny! Should work very nicely. Nice OEM grade stuff, too.

H9's are nuts, 2100 lumens or something nutty like that. Shame about the lifespan, though.

I could see doing it for a very lengthy road trip. Likely better than nothing, and would make getting the bugs off a lot easier.

Have you thrown any fuel system cleaner like Techron or Regane into the tank? That was always good for a little bump.

The folks reporting mid-30's MPG were mostly Series II folks. I routinely got mid-30's with my Series II LeSabre, and a best of 39 mpg once.

Get a tow. A broken brake line is unsafe to drive on.

And, don't be surprised if they break some other lines trying to repair this one.

Ouch! I went through the same thing with my LeSabre. Between that issue, my earlier rust repair starting to rust out, and an expanding commute, it was time to part ways.

Harbor Freight often has low-profile 2-ton jacks on sale. If you're dreaming of getting a newer car someday, go with the steel ...

GM still does things the same way. My Cruze runs okay at 90*F, but definitely runs better at 75*F.

Glad to hear things went okay! And, enjoy the PA as it was meant to be!