dennyt

'94 Loyale 5spd. I know this is a really basic question, but neither of the manuals I have show the starter relay, and I didn't find it after a few minutes of looking under the hood. I want to add a start button because: I turn my car off at long stop lights Starting it with the key turns the stereo off, and it takes 4-5 seconds for it to come back to life, which really annoys the GF It would also be cool to bypass the clutch interlock So, can anybody point me to the starter relay? Thanks!

Is your car completely undriveable when it's cold? You'll warm it up faster by driving it than by idling it, and you won't be racking up 0's by the minute. It doesn't get down to zero here, but it was in the teens around thanksgiving. On cold mornings I wear a down jacket, hat & gloves, and I have a $1.99 fleece blanket (bonus points for the girlfriend who's always cold). Maybe some butt heat would get you into your car sooner...

You're getting 0mpg when you're warming it up, so quit that. Driving the car will warm it up, and you'll get >0mpg while doing so. Find ways to keep the engine warm: combine trips, block off some grill area, go from mechanical to electric fan, add a cardboard hood insulator, or get a block or oil pan heater if you can park near an outlet.

Shirley

Front wheel bearing. Feel the hubs after you drive, if one of them is warm...

Thanks all, but I'm not ditching the 4wd parts. This would be a spring/summer/fall swap-out. I love the 4wd in the winter! I'm liking the idea of just removing the rear axles, that sounds like it will accomplish most of what I want. I checked my odometer on the highway, it reads +0.3 miles over 10 miles on my summer tires (165/80-13) and my snow tires alike (185/70-13), that's 3% high, so I'm getting closer to 35mpg.

Thanks for all the tips. Yeah, a 2WD coupe would be better, I remember getting 30mpg without even trying when I had one of those. But I want to keep the wagon, it's what I've got, it's running well, and I use all of the space at least once a month. 3-4 people with backpacking / climbing / skiing / biking gear will fill the wagon right up. How much higher is the 2WD final drive ratio?

What I've done so far: Higher tire pressure (44-50psi) Installed a kill switch on the injector ground wire, so I can coast with the engine off (down hills, to stop lights, etc) without turning off the headlights. The brake booster works for 3 pushes of the pedal, after that I bump-start the engine to refill it. On long down-grades I leave it in gear. Removed the clutching fan, kept the electric fan Covered up the lower grill opening with coroplast for the winter Upgraded to a heated O2 sensor Put a potentiometer in parallel with the coolant temp sensor to trick the engine into thinking it's warmer, which reduces cold startup enrichment Removed the power steering pump, drained & capped the lines (it's not that difficult to park it). Put a shorter belt on, removed the AC belt. Removed the AC fuse so I can run the windshield defogger without turning on the AC. I put it back in during the summer. Removed passenger side mirror. Tests show these are ~1% each. Installed a wide-angle rearview mirror, but if the car is full of gear, I really miss the right sideview. Looking into lower-profile mirrors. Swapped out the hubcaps for some 4-slots from '86, and filled the slots in with coroplast. Moved the front turn signals flush with the bumper (better visibility at intersections, too - they used to be buried) Synthetic oil in the engine, tranny, and rear diff Installed a vacuum gauge to monitor engine load, and to avoid "flooring it". Keep the needle above 2 to avoid open-loop enrichment. My next big project will be a front bellypan, similar to this: http://autospeed.com/cms/A_2456/article.html There's a general list of mods here: Ecomodder.com The biggest change you can make is in your driving style. Avoid idling, combine trips to keep the car warm, etc. Driving Techniques

Thanks for the info. Yes, this is part-time 4wd, with a manual transmission. I still think I would see an improvement from pulling these parts. Stirring up that diff oil, accelerating / decelerating the rotational parts, and dragging the whole thing around (50-100 lbs?) adds up. I started at 24mpg, getting 36 now, and going for 40. Several 2% improvements can add up. Just as much fun has been learning & finding a reason to play around with a "non-performance" car.

Howdy, I'm the proud owner of a '94 Loyale wagon with 211k on the clock. My mods are more in the direction of fuel economy than performance, so next spring (after ski season!) I'm thinking of removing the driveshaft, rear diff, and rear halfshafts. Some obvious questions: -Will the transfer case leak if I pull the driveshaft? -Will I need the outer CV stubs to hold the rear wheels together? I'm guessing yes, so I'll probably grab some from a junkyard so I can take them apart & run just the outer stubs. I've had fun reading some of the posts here, thanks for being a great resource.