Alright, so here are some pictures of my 1993 SSEi. I got it of Craigslist in December of 08. It needed some TLC. Did have a new windshield put in just before I got it. After driving it home from NH, it actually sat in garage for 2 months. We gutted the interior and cleaned everything before putting it back in. Replaced the sunroof gasket as it had shrunk. I think moisture was getting in the car because of that. He bought it from the original owner and the orig owners id card from Pontiac is still with the owners manual. The car is running strong at 231K miles. I've put about 20K on it so far.
There was some bug in the ABS system for a while. During the winter, the ABS light would come on and at random times at slow speeds, the ABS would briefly kick on. When the snow melted, the light would go off and the problem would go away. We picked up a cheap Kent-Moore breakout box to try and diagnose the problem but that didn't really go anywhere. I finally replaced the ABS box under the dash with one from a junkyard car early last year and the problem as gone away completely. I'd love to know what was causing it!!! I've had to replace both front wheel bearings (pass side a week ago). Actually, I could hear the right side bearing going and when I hooked up the scanner, it said the left side sensor was bad! A good tip is that the ABS sensor can be removed and replaced. I believe you can do this with the wheel bearing on the car but not sure as I removed the good sensor from my bad bearing when it was off the car. I plan to swap it with the bad sensor soon. Though the actually sensor has been discontinued by GM, many dealers still have the bearing sitting on their shelf. The part number of the sensor is 10457144. Your dealer should be able to search other dealer's stock for it.
When I got the car, various things on the digital dash were not working/not lighting including the odometer, which would only come on at random times. I sent it off to Model Electronics in Ramsey NJ and they went through the dash for what I thought was a reasonable price. It has worked perfectly ever since! It originally came with the cassette player but after a tape got stuck in it, I swapped in a stock CD player my brother pulled from a 94 SSEi in a junkyard.
Some work I will be doing in the near future on the car is putting in clean rear control arms. Mine are crusty as well as the bushings so I got some cheap and clean from a low mileage Olds 88 at a junkyard. They are all painted/new bushings pushed in and ready to installed when I get a chance. I just picked up a cheap AC Delco oxygen sensor to replace the original. No codes for it but it is the original and I think putting in a new one will help the fuel economy. Gas tank and straps will probably be due in the next year.
I also have new GM rear weatherstrips/seals for the rear door jambs around the wheel lips. The metal insert in both of mine rotted out along with the bottom of the door jamb so I will undertaking that project when the snow melts. A note about those weatherstrips, when I got them from my local dealer, he told me that they were about to be discontinued to get them while you can!
I found the original "Summary Build Document" (build sheet) sheet by accident when working on the power antenna. It was stuck in between the underside of the trunklid and the trunklid padding behind the pass side trunk hinge. Here are two pics of it:
The previous owner didn't take too much care of it and ran it on regular (found the gas receipts under the seat). It was actually running rough when I got it due to really old spark plugs. I changed the plugs and wires again last year. Towards the end of summer last year, it started running real rough again and sounded like it wasn't firing on all cylinders. Did a compression test and it confirmed that one cylinder was not firing. Off the top end of the engine went.
What we found was quite amazing. Part of one of the exhaust valves had broken off but by sheer luck, did not cause any internal damage to the cylinder! It must have shot out the exhaust when the valve opened.
At that point, we decided to take the other head (rear) off and have both gone through by the shop. It turned out that both heads had cracks in the combustion chambers. There wasn't too much of the front of the (front) cylinder head gasket left either. Fortunately, we had a 94 Olds 88 that ran great until 230K miles when the original trans went. The motor was fine so off those heads went (interchangeable) and they ended up being clean and are on the car now.
I was told that head problems are uncommon on these H bodies and I agree. We've owned probably 6 H bodies 1992-1996 and only the engine in a 96 LeSabre seized at 210K miles due to coolant getting in the cylinders. Probably bad head gasket. That car is actually still on the road. Put the engine in from my rusted 96 Olds 88 with 206K miles and the Buick is still running great at 236K!
One other thing, we replaced the gasket that goes behind the supercharger pulley as just about all of it was gone. It's nice you can get those parts (Eaton) on ebay for cheap.
Sure love the H bodies. The part being so interchangeable makes them easy to work on. We run them as long as they will last. The bodies usually rust out before any problems with the drivetrain.
Warren