What Spare Starquest Parts, Tools, Fluids

[Starfighterpilot]

The question of what spare parts, tools, fluids, and jacks that Starquesters carry with them used to come up about once every 6-8 months in the past. I haven't seen this question posted in quite some time. I am seeing a lot of new guys on the boards in the past couple of months, and maybe they haven't put together their "must have" list yet.

 

The past 6 of months I have been driving long road trips a lot with my Starion. Occassionaly, I have had to do minor things to her to keep her happily moving on down the road. Because of the amount of miles I have put on her each trip I carry a selective amount of spare parts, fluids and must have tools. I even carry a brand new OEM MITSU fuel pump.

 

What spare parts, tools, fluids, and jacks do you carry on board for travels around town, and on longer road trips?

 

So here is your time to shine. Have at it.

 

KEN

[ColdScrip]

The question of what spare parts, tools, fluids, and jacks that Starquesters carry with them used to come up about once every 6-8 months in the past. I haven't seen this question posted in quite some time. I am seeing a lot of new guys on the boards in the past couple of months, and maybe they haven't put together their "must have" list yet.

 

The past 6 of months I have been driving long road trips a lot with my Starion. Occassionaly, I have had to do minor things to her to keep her happily moving on down the road. Because of the amount of miles I have put on her each trip I carry a selective amount of spare parts, fluids and must have tools. I even carry a brand new OEM MITSU fuel pump.

 

What spare parts, tools, fluids, and jacks do you carry on board for travels around town, and on longer road trips?

 

So here is your time to shine. Have at it.

 

KEN

 

I believe when discussed before, the best thing to do was tow your parts car everywhere you go.

[SOTTY]

AAA membership, 10 and 12 mm sockets/wrenches and a few others , belts , rad hoses, alum floor jack and water , thats about it , just completed a 3,000 mile round trip to Texas and back in my 88 ,none of the above needed. Edited December 5, 2009 by scottygibb

[Starfighterpilot]

I believe when discussed before, the best thing to do was tow your parts car everywhere you go.

 

Not to be a smart A**, but as also discussed in those posts, YOU haven't done YOUR Maintenance or Preventative Maintenance very well if you need to tow a parts car everywhere you go with your Starquest.

 

This is a bad reflection on YOU not your Starquest.

 

For What It's Worth.

 

KEN

Edited December 5, 2009 by Starfighterpilot

[TexasQuest]

I mainly drve mine on the weekends maybe 20 miles total. My car is in tip-top shape so the few miles I drive it I carry nothing.

[SOTTY]

Not to be a smart A**, but as also discussed in those posts, YOU haven't done YOUR Maintenance or Preventative Maintenance very well if you need to tow a parts car everywhere you go with your Starquest.

 

This is a bad reflection on YOU not your Starquest.

 

For What It's Worth.

 

KEN

Agree 100% , preventive and regular maintenance of your Starquest is your key to many happy reliable miles , these cars are not the problem , its the owners ! Edited December 5, 2009 by scottygibb

[Cobalt60]

Well I keep a pair of jack stands. Although I dont have one at the moment, Ive really been wanting to carry a fire extinguisher with me.

[vbrad511]

Not much in my Quest. Flashlight, set of links...and i never leave without the cell phone.

[joey_crandall]

BEER! no not really an extra knock box water and some extra fusible links and a 3/8 drive socket set and some wrenches never had to use any of them tough.

[ColdScrip]

Not to be a smart A**, but as also discussed in those posts, YOU haven't done YOUR Maintenance or Preventative Maintenance very well if you need to tow a parts car everywhere you go with your Starquest.

 

This is a bad reflection on YOU not your Starquest.

 

For What It's Worth.

 

KEN

 

Yeah I just found that specific post rather funny

 

Biggest thing I have seen with people and their cars is that they don't do preventative maintenance and things break.

 

Anyways, knock box, fusible links, injectors, jump box

[Starwolf]

Nothing...it all weighs too much and I drive a street race car!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Timing light, 8,10,12,14mm tools, no jack because im retarded but i need one, and a lot of other misc things. lol

[Komeuppance]

I carry a super low profile scissor jack from an Olds since my car is lowered a bit.

 

-Robert

[Scotty Dont]

All I have is a 1/2 combo wrench to adjust my boost controller...

[Killtodie]

I keep all my tools.

 

extra hoses, clamps, vacuum tubes, tape, zip ties.

 

no spare or jack though

Edited December 6, 2009 by Killtodie

[JAinsworth]

Around town, nothing. On road trips, I carry pliers, wrenches, screwdrivers, fusible links, tb rebuild kit, spark plugs, timing light, ecu relay, other various relays, v/c gasket, thermostat and gasket, vacuum line, and a bunch of other stuff. Mine has never broke down on me, I just carry this stuff in case someone else needs help. Of course, I've always done the routine maintenance and a yearly cleaning and dielectric greasing of all electrical connections on the car to reduce the possibility of breaking down. But as of today, I no longer own a starquest.

Jimmy

[mikec]

For long trips, the stuff I worry about most are the electronic items on StarQuests. Electronics can fail without warning. And, given the age of these cars, if you do break down on the open highway you can forget about getting towed to someplace that can repair the car. So I always have a spare ECU and ignitor in the car. Sometimes the distributor pick-up coil. Always have spare fuses & spare fusible links in any car. A basic multi-head screwdriver (Husky makes a 4-headed one sold at Home Depot with a lifetime guarantee; works great) and a few metric wrenches will handle any "side of the road" repairs you might be able to do.

 

Long trips? My extra packing included:

* radiator repair tape because you never know what you might run over that can jump up and snag the lower radiator hose. I had somebody drop a muffler once right in front of me... couldn't avoid it either (traffic in the lane next to me, mountain on the right) so I tried to "run over it" in my Corolla. It bounced and speared the inside of the front tire. Freak accident. When it fell off the car in front of me, it practically stopped dead on the road - it didn't skid in the direction of the car that dropped it wiping out most of my stopping distance. I was probably 3 or 4 seconds behind the car that puked this muffler yet that wasn't enough. It could have easily bounced and snagged a radiator or v-belt hose... or could have punctured the oil pan.

 

* V-belts for the same reason.

 

* Flashlight.

 

* A large soda bottle of fresh water - for me. If the car does break down on the highway, I'm screwed: I'll likely be on the side of the road in the California or Nevada desert. For folks that highway drive in the north side of the country, blankets and other "keep warm" survival stuff should be reachable from inside the car. Chains, flares, etc. ought to be in most cars all the time.

 

mike c.

[DzNutz]

Screwdrivers and a spare ignitor. BFH for good measure.

[Vnomous1]

I zip all over the place. No spare parts or anything.

 

As mentioned before Preventive Maintenance, maintenance, maintenance is key. Most of us (older guys) get it. We work on these cars and cover all the bases. So no need to carry a bunch of stuff. But you must exercise some common sense; So I do have AAA, but you need something like that anyway, no matter what year vehicle you drive.

 

Personally, I feel like if I cannot get in the car and go anywhwere, it ain't worth having (of course I mean after I have gone over the car throughly). I don't know everything, but I am pretty serious about my maintenance, and the thought of having to pay someone else to do maintenance on my car(s) makes me physically ill, except for exhaust (welding) and body work...that I won't do. And not to mention most of the shops won't or don't know how to work on these things and if they do, they want an arm & leg to do it. So, it is imperative that owners of these vehicles (especially) practice good maintenance.

 

Thank GOD for this site and all of you that have provided SO MUCH information, I truly appreicate it. I only wish folks would stop hacking these cars up and parting them out simply because an engine or transmission repair is needed or some other minor repair. Stop hacking the wiring harnesses to $%^#! I digress....sorry.

 

 

[jwrape]

I agree with knock box, fusible links and MAYBE a ECU. But the other two could fail at any time if they are original.

[TexasQuest]

I just threw some jumper cables in there other night since it was hard starting probably due to freezing temps. I'll be keeping those in there for awhile.

[Starfighterpilot]

Here is what I haul around with me.

 

Long road trips greater than 300 miles:

 

4 quarts of engine oil

Spare oil filter

1 quart of ATF for PS system

1 gallon of 33/67 solution antifreeze

1 brand new OEM MITSU fuel pump (still running the OEM original with good fuel pressure, but I don’t REALLY trust it)

2 electric relays for the radiator fans

A complete set of spare relays for every other relay type under the hood

A complete set of new tested fusible links

A set of clean and tested fuel injectors

2 sets of fuel injector o-rings

The pin which keeps the cam and the cam’s drive gear aligned

A spare hood latch cable assembly

A complete set of various size fuses

Various sized hose clamps

About 5 feet each of various sized wires used in the Starquests

A complete set of various wire sizes & types of electrical connectors

Roll of electricians tape and various sizes of shrink tubing

Lower radiator hose

Complete set of spare belts

OEM PCV valve

Fire extinguisher

A set of commonly used nuts, lock washers and bolts used on the Starquests

1 Complete set of 3/8 drive, 8mm to 19 mm of both shallow and deep well sockets

Set of metric ratcheting/open end wrenches, 8mm to 14 mm

A 24 mm socket (I think that’s the size) for the crankshaft front bolt

A 3/8 drive ratchet with extensions

A 18 inch 3/8 drive breaker bar

A good combination wire cutter, stripper and crimper

Multimeter, which at least, measures voltage & ohms

A couple of sets of jumper wires that I made

Slip lock, needle nose, and vice grip pliers

Ball peen hammer

A set of screwdrivers that I know will correctly fit almost all of the Starion’s screws

Jumper cables

Flashlight

Smaller 1 ½ ton roll around floor jack

 

I make sure that the donut spare tire is at the correct air pressure

BEFORE I leave on the trip, I fix any mechanical or electrical nagger potential problems that could cause me to break down on the road.

 

Around town:

 

4 quarts of engine oil

Spare oil filter

1 quart of ATF for PS system

1 gallon of 33/67 solution antifreeze

2 electric relays for the radiator fans

A complete set of spare relays for every other relay type under the hood

A complete set of new tested fusible links

2 sets of fuel injector o-rings

A set of clean and tested fuel injectors

A complete set of various size fuses

Various sized hose clamps

About 5 feet each of various sized wires used in the Starquests

A complete set of various wire sizes & types of electrical connectors

Roll of electricians tape and various sizes of shrink tubing

Lower radiator hose

Alternator & PS spare belts

Fire extinguisher

A set of commonly used nuts, lock washers and bolts used on the Starquests

1 Complete set of 3/8 drive, 8mm to 19 mm of both shallow and deep well sockets

Set of metric ratcheting/open end wrenches, 8mm to 14 mm

A 24 mm socket (I think that’s the size) for the crankshaft front bolt

A 3/8 drive ratchet with extensions

A 18 inch 3/8 drive breaker bar

A good combination wire cutter, stripper and crimper

Multimeter, which at least, measures voltage & ohms

A couple of sets of jumper wires that I made

Slip lock, needle nose, and vice grip pliers

Ball peen hammer

A set of screwdrivers that I know will correctly fit almost all of the Starion’s screws

Jumper cables

Flash light

Smaller 1 ½ ton roll around floor jack

 

Sounds like a lot of “stuff “ doesn’t it. But you would be surprised at what you can haul around in a Starquest if you bag most of the spare parts in baggies and stash them away under the spare tire, front and rear seats. I have a small toolbox the JUST holds All of the small tools. I lay the sticks of sockets and the breaker bar on the deck above the spare tire. The jack, well that's another matter, it takes up space. I also have a list in the glove box locating where I have this stuff stashed.

 

All of this stuff weighs a lot, about the weight of an average person. BUT I would rather have the tools and the parts on hand if I break down and I have to have them NOW, especially on the road trips. Over the years I've learned the hard way that I'd rather take this stuff rather than kicking myself about why didn't I bring that tool or part. Especially at 1 AM in the middle of BUM **** NOWHERE.

 

For What It’s Worth.

 

KEN

 

BTW - Even with all of this "stuff", clothes and other BS loaded in the Starion, I'm still getting 22.5 - 23 MPG running between 70 to 80 MPH on the long road trips.

Edited December 9, 2009 by Starfighterpilot

[Vnomous1]

Ken...that is alot of stuff my man.

[Killtodie]

damn ken. kinda defeats teh point of a daily driver.

[boostdquest89]

How? He drives it daily, (thats what that means) lol

[SOTTY]

 

 

I only wish folks would stop hacking these cars up and parting them out simply because an engine or transmission repair is needed or some other minor repair. Stop hacking the wiring harnesses to $%^#! I digress....sorry.

The best piece of writing ive read on this site in a very long time.