brokebill

what application do i have to look up to find a 2 row radiator that will drop right in? i know i saw it in an old thread but cant seem to find it now. looks like advance and autozone both sell the single row for $100. i hate to just throw money at it and still not have it fixed but since the slight overheating is so consistent it almost has to be a restriction issue. i could not find any cold spots in/on the radiator and it looks to be in good shape but looks can be deceiving. i just cant believe that a ? year old thermostat and a month old thermostat would stick in the same place and act the same way so... but a new radiator(even the $100 one) and hoses, thermostat, antifreeze and add in TN tax(9.5%, high because we have no state tax) and it quickly becomes about $200 bucks so i just want to e sure i'm not throwing money away that could go toward the countless other issues the car has. it responded well to just flushing it with water and changing the thermostat last time (mostly the flushing i think) so it does make sense its a restriction issue but i just want to make sure theres nothing i'm overlooking. thanks, Bill

ok, it set rock solid for almost a month at 1/4 rarely even reaching 1/3. the last couple days it sits on 1/3 and occasionally gets to 1/2 when going uphill or sitting in traffic. i know thats not reason to panic, but its probably gonna start creeping back up a little at a time. i did not use an OEM thermostat. why exactly the need for OEM on this part? i really dont want to have to invest in a new radiator if thats not what it is. could a cap possibly be connected to this issue? just hard to believe it could stay so solid for a month and then start the old pattern again. thanks. Bill

i did my belts a few months back, (how i found this site) got mine a tooth off, ran horrible, had to turn the distributor as far as it would go to get it to run at all. just left my busted front timing covers off for easy access the next time. (even i can change them in about 30 min. with the covers off) and i keep extra belts and my old pulleys in the back. after my 2nd or 3rd time redoing them to get em right, it started getting easy. also, no real grime or buildup on the uncovered belt yet after several months. good luck, Bill

did you test the wire going from the cap/top of the coil to the the distributor cap (comes with your spark plug wires) or one of the small wires which are screwed to the coil? thanks, Bill

please do. i pass by it too and have never got to stop and check em out. i asked about em on here a while back an no one had dealt with them. might be a little gold mine sitting there beside the interstate. thanks, Bill

thanks for the offer but have to keep nursing this hitachi for now. might holler when its axle time though (havent done one yet ) thanks, Bill

did my wagon last year. 20% on rear doors back, 35% on front doors. by far , the hardest was the hatch window. not as flat as it looks. ended up overlapping 3" strips (5 or 6 " strips wrinkled") the doors were a breeze. with no door posts, i just cut the tint a little big, put it on real wet, and after a few minutes of drying a good sharp razor blade trimmed it up real neat. none of it looks perfect, but it came out pretty good and made the car look a lot better overall. also noticed that the warmer it is outside, the more cooperative the tint is. good luck and have fun thanks, Bill

86 GL, 2wd, 5spd, hitachi carbed wagon i know how pointless it is to troubleshoot a feedback hitachi, but i've noticed when coasting down a mountain in neutral that when i take a left turn (counterclockwise) the idle will drift up a couple hundred rpm and when taking a right hand curve (clockwise) the idle will drop a couple hundred rpm. is this characteristic of anything in particular? (float sticking, something on the tank side of things, etc.) i know, its a feedback hitachi, but i know lots of yall have vigorously and stubbornly studied and troubleshot these things before you washed your hands of them in favor of webers and fuel injection. appreciate your knowledge on the subject. thanks, Bill

where are the new $50 cardones? i'm only finding them for $65. any experience with duralast? i know experiences vary, but i've had pretty good luck with autozone parts and service. thanks, Bill

my 86 GL was doing that the last couple months after years of staying at 1/4 to 1/3 on the gauge. pulled the thermostat out, flushed out everything(motor and radiator), put in a new thermostat, and its back down to 1/4 & 1/3 on the gauge for the last 2 weeks. not sure if the thermostat or the flushing fixed mine but either way sometimes it is the simple things. (thank God) i was to the point of rewiring my "secondary" fan to stay on all the time but so far so good. also, is your primary fan belt driven? if so is the fan clutch ok?(had a Ford run warm on account of that) good luck, Bill

(to clarify) my hub had been replaced and nothing was regreased on the inside side of the cone washer. since i was thinking stripped hub nut or axle , not until i went to change rotors did i notice how dry that side was compared to the other side. some good greasing and my year long fight with a constant loosening axle nut was over. the cone washer direction is of course real obvious . if you get a new axle nut & "spring" washer (packaged together and pretty inexpensive) the ones i got were stamped "out" on the correct side. mines an '86 so i hope it applies to yours thanks, Bill

use lots of good grease when you put it together. my axle/hub nut kept backing off no matter how tight i got it and no matter how big a cotter pin i put in it. turns out lack of grease was allowing the nut to turn with the wheel, causing it to back off. hope it saves you some headache. thanks, Bill

went to fine tune my clutch cable today and ITS ALREADY FRAYING ON THE FORK END! no warrranty, but they will replace it. just have to get by on their replacement till i get an OEM one. head on the floorboard under the dash, half in and half out of the car, neck craned, back strained.... at least 2 more times. thanks, Bill

so if it gets too annoying then fix it the way i did the ecs light. (piece of electrical tape over it, but i do check the codes. speedometer is unhooked so it gives a speed sensor code after driving 20 min. or so) good to know it shouldn't affect running. thanks, Bill

probably just a side-effect from old wires being moved around when changing clutch cable, but its good to know a much as i can about my cars different systems. thanks, Bill

my shift up light on the dash (which i never knew it had) has started occasionally coming on. if it was coming on at the appropriate times, i wouldn't be worried, but there no rhyme or reason to it. where does this get its readings/input from? is this a sign of something to come, or just one of those things? thanks, Bill

the last 2 clutch cables that were in the car felt like an old dump truck. the action on this one is a lot easier to work. also the last 2 needed to be threaded a lot further down(2" of thread showing) this one adjusted to where theres probably only 1/2" of thread showing at the fork end. is it just a difference in brands? thanks, Bill

thanks, i'll keep a check on it. i didnt use radiator flush or anything, i just shot a lot of water through everything from every direction. but i will keep an eye on it cause i still question the thermostat failing in that manner. thanks, Bill

not sure about the one i took out (hot, tired, aggrevated) but this one (by chance) is routed under. thanks, Bill

ran it almost 3 hrs straight last night, then off and on all day today. temperature stayed on 1/4 the whole time. also had a good hitachi day in which that 22 year old contraption mixed air and fuel like it was made to do .( you know how rare those days are) still never had a thermostat that went bad for that long and was so consistent in its slight over heating. like it was constantly sticking in the same spot. thanks, Bill

clutch cable snapped today. had to put one on a little less than 2 yrs. ago. i know thats not like every couple weeks, but still seems a little soon to replace again. they both snapped right at the clutch pedal. luckily autozone had one in stock so no down time, but i usually have to order every little part i need and wait for days at times. i carry a lot of spare parts with me from timing belts to coathangers and everything in between so i was just wondering if it is a known weak part i should have on hand. thanks, Bill

flushed it out and put in a new thermostat and seems to be back to its old self.(hope i dont jinx it) set right on the 1/4 mark. i'm used to thermostats failing a little more suddenly and totally. never had 1 semi-fail for months. thanks, Bill

few months back, car started running warmer than usual under even slight load increase. it has always ran showing at about1/4 to 1/3 on the gauge and hardly ever drifted to 1/2 or above. the car sees hard conditions. short trips, lots of hill up and down, and lots of curves. the temperature is one thing that till now has remained constant and it really needs to be performing at its best for what it has to go through. its not simply weather related cause it doesn't matter if its in the 60's or 90's, it pretty much acts the same. when first started cold, it warms up good but seems to get a little warmer before the thermostat opens. then it dosent fall as low on the gauge after it opens(closer to 1/2 than 1/3 like it used to) when under slight load, it drifts above 1/2 alot and when really climbing an incline it now gets to 3/4 when it used to see about 1/2. it will still show as low as 1/3 under no load , coasting conditions. thanks, Bill

so just something stamped on a universal coil? counting the suppressor, my coil has 6 wire on it. 3 on pos. & 3 on neg. terminal. besides the obvious 3 (2 from dis. & 1 from supressor) where do they ll go. (underhood of my car is a mess of mysteries from previous owners) thanks, Bill

why do they say this?