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Have a week of stay-cation and have 3 things on the list (+possible interior detail):
1. Clean intake
2. Seafoam
3. Replace sway bar links
Started with the intake today and thought about making a video but there's several out there and this one was done well:
https://youtu.be/L6KoD5V2hVk
Whole process only took an hour, including cleaning mass air flow sensors, which isn't bad considering I've never done it. As you'll see in the pics it doesn't look like this has been done before and it was bad enough I moved the plenum which led to a CEL that was corrected by throttle relearn.
Eww! It's texturized. I'm no expert - but I experience lag in throttle response, periodic idle drops and strained idle for the first 30 seconds after cold start. Might be related...
Cleaned up well. Much better! As expected - it runs better. Dealer oiled the engine for me as part of the pre-delivery detail...time for some Simple Green.
Seafoam today - 1/3 can intake, 1/3 can fuel tank.
Standard process using brake booster vacuum then 30 minutes to sit. Slight hesitation on start but not much smoke. It is raining and I let it idle for a few minutes (typically start and drive) so may have been more smoke than I realized.
I've been using Seafoam since about 2003 and while it's always quite the smoke show, typically I feel slightly noticeable difference in performance but not like today. Although I did drive the car yesterday after cleaning the intake and relearning throttle to clear the CEL, performance increase is substantial. Rear end gets squirrelly (G37x), transmission is very responsive to throttle input and it shifts quicker. I realize the butt Dyno isn't always accurate but it feels like a different car. Also realize that if I reset the ECM the car will drive different if the previous owner didn't have a spirited driving style.
How many miles where on the car when you did this? Crazy how dirty those TBs can get. Got mine with only 30k some miles on it and had similar build up.
If previous owner did nothing but city driving there could have been quite a bit of build up that just broke loose; allowing her to breath a little better. I'd swap out the oil if it's near changing time.
curious to see the end link replacement. i think that is soon to be on my list. should be straight forward, and i'll likely go with MOOG parts which have grease zerks.
By the number of miles put on by the second owner - I would say mostly city driving and the car is just over 69k. I have about 1,500 on the last oil change (when purchased) but will be changing the oil fairly soon switching to full synthetic.
curious to see the end link replacement. i think that is soon to be on my list. should be straight forward, and i'll likely go with MOOG parts which have grease zerks.
Someone said prepping was the toughest part and they were right - once I got started it took 20-30 minutes per side. I did use liquid wrench first and also tried to lift one side at a time - mistake as it puts tension on the sway bar. Once entire front was lifted it was easy.
Tried to save some money and find replacements that didn't need greased - found Beck/Arnley at Rockauto for $26/ea. plus shipping. Guess that was a mistake as the threads stripped before I got to 100 ft. lbs. (spec is 120 ft. lbs.) so I'll be sending them back.
Tried to save some money and find replacements that didn't need greased - found Beck/Arnley at Rockauto for $26/ea. plus shipping. Guess that was a mistake as the threads stripped before I got to 100 ft. lbs. (spec is 120 ft. lbs.) so I'll be sending them back.
That's a real bummer. I know how much of a pain it is when things don't go as planned.
From my experience the only time torque specs really play a significant role is when assembling a engine.
I have a impact and when doing any work on suspension, exhaust, brakes, etc on a car I just tighten things to 3-4 ugga duggas and call it good.
Back when I didn't have electric or air tools I changed my front and rear sway bars and tightened the end-links and brackets down as tight as I possibly could with my ratchet..
Pulling out the torque wrench to tighten down the end links is a bit over-kill. I guess if it helps you sleep better at night than go for it. I'm willing to bet the end-link would have been just fine even if it was torqued to just 80 lb/ft.
That's a real bummer. I know how much of a pain it is when things don't go as planned.
From my experience the only time torque specs really play a significant role is when assembling a engine.
I have a impact and when doing any work on suspension, exhaust, brakes, etc on a car I just tighten things to 3-4 ugga duggas and call it good.
Back when I didn't have electric or air tools I changed my front and rear sway bars and tightened the end-links and brackets down as tight as I possibly could with my ratchet..
Pulling out the torque wrench to tighten down the end links is a bit over-kill. I guess if it helps you sleep better at night than go for it. I'm willing to bet the end-link would have been just fine even if it was torqued to just 80 lb/ft.
Probably right. I torqued the factory parts back to 100/60 and will do the same for the replacement. I agree 120 is a lot as wheels are snug at 80.
Hoping this fixes the rattling over small bumps but once off I didn't think the the OEMs where sloppy.
Have a feeling I'll be sore tomorrow after fighting with this today 😬.
Got the replacement part (same) and got them installed and torqued to 62/80. Found the issue was the cheap nuts that shipped as they stripped internally and it wasn't the bolts. Used the factory nuts along with the factory washer and all is good. I made a series of videos that I'll edit and post.
Noise is 90% gone so most of it was coming from the end links. I'd still like to get rid of the rest of the noise as it's still clunky and the car should be quiet over bumps. Is sway bar bushings an issue on these cars?
A follow-up question on the end links - how did you test to see if they needed replacing? Mine don't have any noticeable play or clunking, but I can turn them fairly easily by hand in their normal rotation path. I've got 108K on the car, so they may be getting worn out and it might help tighten up the front end some. Any advice would be appreciated.
To recap - I had a rattling noise when going over small imperfections that went away when I lightly applied the brakes. Had a local shop, Tuffy, inspect and drive the car and they indicated the noise was coming from worn stabilizer end links. Off the ground they had a lot of play but didn't "rattle" or make noise.
After replacing the front end noises are mostly gone, however I have OCD, this was an expensive car, and I sometimes drive the the radio off and front windows down so I don't like to hear any noises. Will eventually figure out what else needs to be replaced.
10-09-2017, 07:40 PM
