Penny the 2003 SLE

[nos4blood70]

It was a fun Wednesday and Thursday actually, but I replaced the condenser. It was pretty straightforward and I have nice ice cold AC again.

[95naSTA]

nICE.

[Sirius]

nICE.

I see what you did there.

lol

[nos4blood70]

Almost through summer, still enjoying some canoeing and mushrooming hunting! Wedding is coming up on Saturday, the 2nd. Wish she was a little more presentable but the S2 will be in operation for that day.

Been enjoying strapping the canoe to it. AC works incredibly after the new condenser. Car feels solid! I used to think 250k miles was out of the question, but if she makes it to the end of next year I think we will get there.



Found some golden oysters

[95naSTA]

Nice. Love the boat^2 action. Early congrats on the wedding!

[nos4blood70]

Thank you very much sir!

Was using either my parents' Lexus GX470 or my friend's Tacoma for transport of the canoe but the Bonneville gets much better fuel economy! Once we figured out some attachment points, it's a not a hard thing to do with the pool noodles.

[nos4blood70]

An into winter we go. First snow of this half of the year.

Fixed my EVAP system by replacing the vent solenoid by the rear driver wheel. Ever since 2016, I would intermittently have code P0442, small EVAP leak. Always managed to sneak it past emissions by driving the car with less than a quarter tank for a few drive cycles. It more recently turned into P0440. The purge solenoid under the hood looked good, although the vac line going to it was cracked. Replacing it did not cure the code. I decided to poke around and removed the vent solenoid. It basically broke apart in my hands, and something was rattling around inside. A new one fixed the issue, but it took approximately 100 miles and 5 days to get it to clear all codes. Whew, another emissions test to be passed! Lol

Sadly, the literal next day the car gave me a present in the form of an airbag light. Hard to say what the cause is, as I need to find someone with a Tech2. All I know is my cousin drunkenly punched the hell out of my dashboard.

Anyways, here's to another winter in the ole rusty girl.

[CMNTMXR57]

Road salt season is upon us. I waited for the roads to dry up a little before I came in, but no dice. The G8 was still covered in salt and my wheels all coated (which REALLY pisses me off)...

A freakin dusting and they're dropping salt like we had a blizzard.

[Sirius]

A freakin dusting and they're dropping salt like we had a blizzard.

Here in Utah the look at the weather report. If it says snow tomorrow, they'll salt the road today. And how often is the weatherdope right? Yep.


And we're not anything like the midwest where you guys get the snow, freezing rain, etc. But they've taken up salting the roads nonetheless.

[95naSTA]

Nice on getting that rig through emissions and ready to go.

[nos4blood70]

Yup... Car is already salty sadly but at this point it's like the person who is 85 and been smoking since they were 13.

Someone at work had a Tech2, perks of working at an auto shop, even if it is an EV shop. Lots of seasoned techs.

The vehicle is throwing B0101 for the front end sensor.

[CMNTMXR57]

A freakin dusting and they're dropping salt like we had a blizzard.

Here in Utah the look at the weather report. If it says snow tomorrow, they'll salt the road today. And how often is the weatherdope right? Yep.


And we're not anything like the midwest where you guys get the snow, freezing rain, etc. But they've taken up salting the roads nonetheless.

Actually shocked they didn't put down the beet juice spray that they like to do around here first. You know, that major blizzard we had...

[nos4blood70]

The amount of salt they put down here is incredible. lol It makes me sick to be honest. I guess it's to be expected with how normal people drive and they need it but I'm surprised they haven't gone to an alternative like Colorado.

Anyways, went and actually did the emissions test yesterday and passed! On the way back, hit a pothole and bam... ABS and TRAC lights... Lol Now the car has no safety systems at all!

Looks like it's time for the annual front wheel hub. 19 year old me would be shocked to find out you can overnight a *shoot* hub from Amazon for $36. Luckily I've gotten so good at swapping these *dang* things it literally takes me 15 minutes.

[95naSTA]

That sucks on the pot hole.. I guess the hub bolts never get a chance to rust themselves in place.

[nos4blood70]

Swapped the sensor on lunch today! Super easy. T30, REVERSE thread. Just needed to lower the front of the splash shield and there is a little access hole there. New sensor had a different part number but in the end, when I started it up the light was gone! Disconnected the battery during the process.

[95naSTA]

Nice. That looked easy enough.

[nos4blood70]

You know it's easy when I did it in less than 15 minutes on my work lunch break while parked on the street. Haha

Now to narrow down which wheel hub is causing my ABS/TRAC failure. I wonder if the codes store in the system or if they can only be scanned while the car has the errors up.

[harofreak00]

The codes will store as history codes and will identify which wheel has the fault.

[nos4blood70]

The codes will store as history codes and will identify which wheel has the fault.

Good to know! Thank you Andrew!

[nos4blood70]

Happy new year everyone!

Some Bonneville/3800 winter thoughts after nearly 250k miles:

Regretting the 180 thermo and tune. Definitely not needed/recommended for a daily driver or close to stock power vehicle, depending on region/winters you experience. Heat up time and heat temp is noticably longer and cooler versus my other 3 cars. Wishing to go back to 195 and up the fans. Lots of condensation under oil cap even after a long drive. Been like this for years, clearly not a huge deal for the car at this age and mileage anymore but worth knowing.

Another gripe of mine is the AC behavior. As soon as it hits 40 degrees or below, no more AC for defog assistance, which sucks when it’s wet and snowy or your car is full of people breathing and moist lol my other vehicles will at least briefly cycle their compressors below freezing to aid in defog.

Other than that, great winter car. Robust doors, electrical system is stout, good heated seats that get warm and stay warm. Great traction. Understeer monster means great stability. Battery under the back seat is also wonderful for longevity. This nearly 21 year old car is only on its 3rd battery ever.

Stay warm out there!