learn alphabet soup, what should i fix, or give up and sell?
Posted: October 6th, 2012, 10:42 pm
Please Remember that this is my first import, and my first "weird engine" (camshafts belong down in the dungeon, not inside the valve cover. WTF???) that i've contemplated working on.
The Problem I have is a 92 mx3 1.8L manual trans
1) can you guys give me a crash course on your alphabet soup please??? I've been trying to search and read and search and read on every problem i'm having with this car, and I can only seem to understand half of what i'm reading, because the rest of it looks like a bunch of kids texting each other with acronyms. Please explain to me all this DE, ZE, BP, ADD, ADHD, FAA, FBI, CIA, ETC stuff. I'm pretty sure you're talking about car or engine stuff, but I can't seem to figure it out.
2) my car smokes. if it's been sitting a couple days, overnight, or right after decelerating via engine braking. so it's gotta be valve stem seals, or rings.
3) I currently don't have a job, already paid $900 to much for this damn car and had to put replace the rear pads/rotors/calipers, both cv-axles and fluid changes, and it STILL needs 2 tires, 4 wheel bearings/hubs, drivers window switch, seat belt, rear window motor, valve cover and intake gasket, AND now apparently it needs either a engine re-seal, overhaul or replacement, and I only have about $200 left before I'm COMPLETELY broke, and still don't have a car I can drive my son around in.
4) based on reading this forum for all the things mentioned in #3, I've figured out that the 1.8L engine seems to be the bastard child that nobody wants, and swaps for something else that is probably encrypted in that alphabet soup that I can't understand. Can you give me a ballpark figure on what one of these swaps would cost ($100-500, $500-1,000, $1,000+???)???
5) Any advice that you guys can offer to help me out, because I've barely had this car a week, and so far have spend more on this car than I have on the last 4 vehicles that I got for FREE, have spend more time under it, than actually inside of it, and am seriously considering putting it up on craigslist and cutting my losses. I have been looking forward to owning a tuner for a long time, and I'm so sick of this thing already that I'm not sure I ever want anything to do with tuners or front wheel driver cars ever again.
6) also wanted to ask: i've replaced valve stem seals on chevy V8's, Jeep 4.0L straight 6cylinders, and helped a friends with their fords, and those things are EASY to work on, because you just take off the valve cover, and everything is right there. hell my 3 year old could replace valve stem seals on one of those engines. But how the hell are you supposed to replace valve stem seals on these twisted, upside-down-inside-out engines with the camshaft in the wrong place??? If i understand correctly, i have to remove all the timing chain/belt stuff, then remove the camshafts that are for some reason in the wrong place, and then i'm supposed to somehow managed to compress the valve springs and remove the keepers that are INSIDE of a metal cave??? I looked at some pictures that somebody posted on this forum of their heads, and as best as I can tell, I would have to pull out my 4" angle grinder and a cut off wheel to remove all the metal from around the valve springs just to get at them................so...................is there a writeup or something detailing how it's actually done, cuz just looking at those pics, i lost any and all ambition of even wanting to open this motor, let alone trying to fix it.
7) what the hell is with these ungodly ridiculous prices for parts??? first nobody has anything in stock. then it seems that almost every single part starts at $100 and goes up from there (hell on the damn jeeps i don't think any of the parts cost more than $20-40). the only way that I was able to afford to fix as much as I have so far is by buying the cheapest crap I could find on ebay. I mean hummer and chevy 3500 heavy duty cv axles are only $80, but everybody wants over $100+ for these little remote control toy axles. WTH???
sorry for the rant, but i had so much fun driving this hooptie home, and was looking forward to putting many miles on it, and now i really don't think i want this thing anymore. I think i'd almost rather just get me another jeep or V8 truck and not drive anywhere anymore because I can't afford gas. But at least i know how to fix it, and parts are available, cheap and affordable.
The Problem I have is a 92 mx3 1.8L manual trans
1) can you guys give me a crash course on your alphabet soup please??? I've been trying to search and read and search and read on every problem i'm having with this car, and I can only seem to understand half of what i'm reading, because the rest of it looks like a bunch of kids texting each other with acronyms. Please explain to me all this DE, ZE, BP, ADD, ADHD, FAA, FBI, CIA, ETC stuff. I'm pretty sure you're talking about car or engine stuff, but I can't seem to figure it out.
2) my car smokes. if it's been sitting a couple days, overnight, or right after decelerating via engine braking. so it's gotta be valve stem seals, or rings.
3) I currently don't have a job, already paid $900 to much for this damn car and had to put replace the rear pads/rotors/calipers, both cv-axles and fluid changes, and it STILL needs 2 tires, 4 wheel bearings/hubs, drivers window switch, seat belt, rear window motor, valve cover and intake gasket, AND now apparently it needs either a engine re-seal, overhaul or replacement, and I only have about $200 left before I'm COMPLETELY broke, and still don't have a car I can drive my son around in.
4) based on reading this forum for all the things mentioned in #3, I've figured out that the 1.8L engine seems to be the bastard child that nobody wants, and swaps for something else that is probably encrypted in that alphabet soup that I can't understand. Can you give me a ballpark figure on what one of these swaps would cost ($100-500, $500-1,000, $1,000+???)???
5) Any advice that you guys can offer to help me out, because I've barely had this car a week, and so far have spend more on this car than I have on the last 4 vehicles that I got for FREE, have spend more time under it, than actually inside of it, and am seriously considering putting it up on craigslist and cutting my losses. I have been looking forward to owning a tuner for a long time, and I'm so sick of this thing already that I'm not sure I ever want anything to do with tuners or front wheel driver cars ever again.
6) also wanted to ask: i've replaced valve stem seals on chevy V8's, Jeep 4.0L straight 6cylinders, and helped a friends with their fords, and those things are EASY to work on, because you just take off the valve cover, and everything is right there. hell my 3 year old could replace valve stem seals on one of those engines. But how the hell are you supposed to replace valve stem seals on these twisted, upside-down-inside-out engines with the camshaft in the wrong place??? If i understand correctly, i have to remove all the timing chain/belt stuff, then remove the camshafts that are for some reason in the wrong place, and then i'm supposed to somehow managed to compress the valve springs and remove the keepers that are INSIDE of a metal cave??? I looked at some pictures that somebody posted on this forum of their heads, and as best as I can tell, I would have to pull out my 4" angle grinder and a cut off wheel to remove all the metal from around the valve springs just to get at them................so...................is there a writeup or something detailing how it's actually done, cuz just looking at those pics, i lost any and all ambition of even wanting to open this motor, let alone trying to fix it.
7) what the hell is with these ungodly ridiculous prices for parts??? first nobody has anything in stock. then it seems that almost every single part starts at $100 and goes up from there (hell on the damn jeeps i don't think any of the parts cost more than $20-40). the only way that I was able to afford to fix as much as I have so far is by buying the cheapest crap I could find on ebay. I mean hummer and chevy 3500 heavy duty cv axles are only $80, but everybody wants over $100+ for these little remote control toy axles. WTH???
sorry for the rant, but i had so much fun driving this hooptie home, and was looking forward to putting many miles on it, and now i really don't think i want this thing anymore. I think i'd almost rather just get me another jeep or V8 truck and not drive anywhere anymore because I can't afford gas. But at least i know how to fix it, and parts are available, cheap and affordable.