PontiacBonnevilleClub.com

The wife and I just had a child, so we decided to pick up a Bonneville to supplement her Acura RSX.

Just bought an 01 with 130k on it. Needs a ton of work, so I'll be lurking and possible asking a few stupid questions.

Welcome! There are no stupid questions. You'll find a lot of guys here (and gals) that like to answer questions.

Welcome!

Welcome! As said, there are no stupid questions

and if it is stupid... its been asked before

That's true!


Welcome to the Community!

Welcome!

Thanks for all of the welcome's.

I'll start by listing the vehicles issues, and what I'm thinking... you guys can tell me if I'm on the right rack.

Fuel gauge doesn't work - ordering 15824379 from GM right now.
Rear Shocks are trashed - What's the preferred replacement?
Needs tires - Anything to specifically stay away from? This is an SLE with the 17" crosslaces.
The console has a couple of busted parts in it, searching local junk yards.
It has an SES light, with 5 codes. I can't remember them all, but...
Faulty fuel gauge
Purge solenoid malfunction
Coolant coming up to temp too slow
...
...


The worst of all... the front end is an absolute mess. I need to get it up in the air soon to see if there is a specific component that is worn, but it's really bad. I'm considering just replacing everything (Tie-rods, lca/ball joints, cv shafts, struts, rotors, brakes...etc). It has 130k on it, and I'm pretty sure everything on the car is original.

Welcome to the club! Like the others said there are not stupid questions. And you will get alot of help with your car here.

03zq8 wrote:The console has a couple of busted parts in it, searching local junk yards.

I can help there. PM me with your needs.

Here's the first newb question...

If I pull the radio the fix the burned out bulbs, will the passlock be an issue? Can i just pull it, and put it back in and it'll work?

You can pull it and put it back in, no issues at all.

Next question... when replacing the rear shocks, is it prefered to go with the "Max Air" air shock replacement? Or to go with a standard gas shock?

If going with an air shock, is there typically anything else that needs replaced? Air system wise?

Welcome!! If there's a stupid question, I've probably asked it, lol.

Go with the Max Air, and no, nothing else needs to be replaced unless bad.

The coolant not coming up to temp issue is the thermostat, almost 100% likely. Also a great time to do a coolant flush and fill.

New shocks installed!
New outer tie rods installed!
Replaced the EVAP Purge Solenoid, SES light gone!

The shocks and tie rods were absolutely wasted. Need to get an alignment and some new tires this week, and she'll be safe to drive... I will still have some odds and ends to tie up though.

Did you check the T-Stat? if that code comes back up i'm willing to bet that its stuck open.

It seems to be functioning correctly. I cleared the code and it hasn't came back in 60 miles.

I plan to do a coolant flush soon, I'll replace the thermostat when I do.