hickabilly

I just went though this last week. I've had the car for 6 yrs, and always kept the cooling system in top condtion. Flushed the system every other year, checked the tstat, upgraded the fans AND wired them together to they all came on at the lowest temp sensor, and if I arrived at my destination and the fans were running, I'd let'er idle until the fans turned off just to minimize heat soak. The temp gauge never went over 1/4 while the car was in my care. Yet, last week it developed the EXACT same symptoms as yours. Pulled the head, and low and behold, three cracks in the head. Hopefully yours is just a head gasket, but be prepared for the worst, because it might be. These are old cars prone to head problems so the odds are stacked.

Well, my dilemma is that this isn't much more than a 3-400 dollar car as it is. The interior was already dry-rotted by the desert summers before I even got it. And it was essentially totaled (entire drivers side damaged) in a hit-n-run a few years ago. With the help of the classifieds section on this site I managed to piece together / rebuild the steering and suspension and get it roadworthy again, but the body damage remains, as well as some non-essential electrical problems. The only person it was of any value to was me (because it drove so awesome); and I hate to see it go (its been the daily driver for 6 years now), but between my poverty and the car's condition, a new head is hard to justify.

Well, it's looking like the end of the road for the car then. I sure as hell can't afford a new head. And I've combed the local junkyards for Quest parts before without any luck.

Ok. Head is pulled. Outside of the discoloration on cyl 3, nothing too obviously wrong to my eye... but I haven't really had a chance to clean up the head or block much yet (on account of my apartment building briefly catching on fire, so limited utilities at the moment). I did find it strange that cylinder 1 is a bit out of round. That's normal, right? I'll link to some pics so you all can take a look if you want and share your two cents. Head, intake side: http://i41.tinypic.com/11ufdyh.jpg Head, cylinders 1 and 2: http://i44.tinypic.com/e9g28o.jpg Head, cylinders 3 and 4: http://i43.tinypic.com/33lf3x1.jpg Block & pistons: http://i43.tinypic.com/20p1tg5.jpg

Not yet. Head pull is scheduled for Sunday. Life just keeps getting in the way. I really did not need this in the middle of the holidays, (what with family and friends in town and office parties and all that crap). I did manage to start the process- pulled the valve cover and plugs. Judging by the plugs, the problem is in cylinder 3. And even that plug wasn't too terrible. Underside of the valve cover is pretty clean too, so it's looking like I caught this pretty early (fingers crossed). In any case, as soon as the head is off I will be cleaning the cylinders to minimize the chances of pitting and whatnot. Another question though- assuming it is just the gasket, how much is a reasonable cost for a machine shop to deck the head?

Well, I'm 99.9% sure I've got head problems, but would like any words of wisdom from the Quest elders before I start tearing into this puppy. She's been a little shakey on cold startup for the past week or so, but other than that, runs like a champ. This morning though, after the initial shakeyness died off, I noticed white smoke coming from both the tailpipe and from under the hood. Popped the hood and found smoke coming from the underside of the turbo and looks like from where the exhaust mani meets the head too. Actual water dripping from the underside of the turbo as well. There is coolant in the oil. Oil in the coolant. I shut 'er down and called a cab to get to work. My tools are across town right now, and I won't be able to get them till tomorrow, so I haven't been able to pull the plugs or delve any further into the problem. I'm assuming I've either got a blown head gasket, or cracked head. Is there any way of telling which it is more likely to be before I actually remove the head? Is there any chance the problem could be something let go in the turbo itself? Even with a blown head gasket, I would not have expected to see water actually dripping from the turbo like it was.

I'm needing the entire hydraulic clutch line- from the master cylinder to the slave. Obviously I'd prefer one in good shape, and the 10mm flare nut (that screws into the master) not stripped or rounded. Anybody?

Interested in getting a driver side front fender. 88 widebody. White if possible, but not required. Might you have one?

Ordered suspension parts and a door skirt from him. Everything was nice and straight and just as described. And VERY thoroughly packed. Wasn't my first dealing w/ him, and probably won't be my last. :thumbsup:

I've never been a huge knife guy (never had a legit reason), but for some reason, people keep giving them to me as presents. ...I wonder what that says about me... Anyway, among other things, I've got a Rambo Survival Knife - given to me as an ETS present frm a couple of my superiors when I left the Army. Definitely an 11 on the 1-10 intimidation scale. If I ever move out of the urban jungle, maybe I'll find need for it. In the meantime, I've only ever used it to open a can of beans when my can opener broke. I keep it hung near my bed in the off chance of intruder. V-42 Combat Knife -evidently, an old school Special Forces knife: Found it while mountain biking in the Franklin Mtns here near Ft. Bliss. --I use it as a letter opener :ninjaturtle: Some crazy German brand butterfly knife. Cousin gave it to me when he came back from Germany. I've become pretty good at doing the whole fancy flipping it open and around thing. It's somehow relaxing to do it too. Sometimes when I have to read or write something for school that takes a lot of thought, I'll just sit there and think...while flipping the knife around. Helps me to concentrate. Strange? I also use it to clean under my nails. :thumbsup:

Yah, I've gotten Supra, AND DeLorean. The DeLorean thing pissed me off too considering what crappy cars they actually were. Things aren't any better w/ the Merkur either. Everybody thinks it's a Saab.

Bought a used 7" rim from him. Quick transaction, and the wheel was nice and shiny and straight and scuff-free. Looked practically brand new. Good deal. Good guy. :happy0030:

That's actually not a bad idea. Obviously the car was able to drive away from the scene, but Neons being cheapo cars -and this one being involved in a felony- it's likely the perp didn't think it was worth fixing. Either that, or it made its way down to Mexico, as I live just half a mile from the border bridge... I hate to have to agree with you, but I kinda do. I mean I know cops can do good things a lot of times, but my experiences w/ them haven't exactly been rosy. I'm not gonna waste time with long stories, but I've been in cuffs twice in my life, and both occasions were total B.S. that never amounted to any charges (because I had done nothing wrong), and didn't accomplish anything but to waste my time and the cop's -and on one occasion, scare the hell out of my girlfriend. Plus, as a child, I got to watch a cop leisurely write my mom a ticket for speeding on an Easter morning (no traffic)- ignoring her pleads for help getting to the hospital while my brother had a massive asthma attack in the back seat. That guy can go straight to Hell. So, yah, I initially looked at this latest round w/ the police as something of a fresh start with them, as it was the first time they viewed me as a victim, rather than a criminal. A lot of good it did.

No, I have no clue where the stupid Neon is. I and my family members have all scoured the neighborhoods around me, with no luck. Plus, I got a copy of the police report, and it does mention an intersection where the car was spotted, but in reality there's nothing around that intersection except a closed down store, a bus stop, and the public library. There's no residential stuff around, and bus lanes and parking meters take up most of the street. So either the cops got the intersection wrong (entirely possible), or the car was there only briefly. Plus, the license plate number was taken out of the police report- presumably b/c they don't want me doing their job and finding these people myself. So, right now things just are what they are. I drive around a lot for work, and believe me, not a single Neon I see during the day escapes my scrutiny, but I'm not gonna lose sleep over it though. Things like this have a way of working themselves out. While I'm not gonna say I flat out believe in "Karma", I've been on the giving and receiving end of Karma-like justice a bit too often to dismiss it. And on the plus side, things are looking up for the Quest. She should be back on the road before too long- in all her fenderless glory. :crutches:

As per this thread: http://www.starquestclub.com/forum/index.p...t=0&start=0 I'm in need of: Strut bar Lower Arm Stabilizer mounting bolt (and the hardware that goes with it: sleeve, bushings, nut, etc...) ^All of the above, for the driver side.^ Also might be interested in a non-shp front wheel. Thanks.

Ok, so after two months of the car sitting around while I waited for the "special traffic investigator" at the police department to do his thing, I finally got to start work on the car. For those of you interested in the investigation, it mainly consisted of the investigator going on leave. He sent a letter (lord knows what it said) to the address the license plate was registered to. ...then he went on 6 weeks of vacation. During that time, I asked that the cops reassign my case. They said they would, but didn't. Dude finally gets back from vacation, and tells me the address the car is registered to is "invalid". Case closed. So, despite the fact that they have the exact year, make, model, and color of the perp car, as well as a license plate number, they can't find the fool. I'm thinking it's more like they don't think I and my car are worth their time.... Anyway, on to the mechanical stuff: Strangely, the steering components actually seem alright. Tie rods and joints are nice and tight and look unbent. Mainly, it looks like I'm needing the parts in the attached pic. Reply, or PM me if you have the parts. I'll post in the "parts wanted" section as well. Strut bar Lower Arm Stabilizer mounting bolt (and the hardware that goes with it: sleeve, bushings, nut, etc...) ^All of the above, for the driver side.^ In addition to those, I'll be needing a new front wheel. While it'd be nice to have a matching SQ wheel, the shipping alone on such a thing would probably be insane, so I'm open to ideas about a wheel I might find off a more common car in a junkyard that would fit. (it's a non-SHP by the way). As for the body. ...well, it's just gonna look like crap for a while. I'm gonna just drive around w/o a front fender or door skirt for a while. The back fender, I might be able to pop out to look somewhere near normal at some point.

The irony being that its selling for way more than 1500 quid.

You may be more accurate than you think, averse!! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numbers_station You can listen to lots of the stuff here: http://irdial.hyperreal.org/the%20conet%20project/ Of course, it's impossible to decipher, but mildly interesting.

Yah, it's up and down play. Not really noticeable w/ the belt on b/c of the tension. But it's definitely obvious with the belt off. I'm not running it like that, largely because the car's still out of commission from the accident a few weeks ago, but I'll definitely get it fixed before I put the car back on the road. Thanks for the help.

Replaced the belts the other day, and with the belt off, I noticed my alternator has some play in the rotating assembly. Is a bearing going bad? Is this even something to worry about? The alt works fine other than that, but it freaks me out a bit. I just want some confirmation before I go laying down the money for another one.

Took it for a spin today. Gotta say, overall I like it. Was a little worried when I first turned it over, as it was idling pretty rough. But found a vac hose had come off the turbo. Plugged it back in and she smoothed right out. It is much more comfortable than the Quest, both in leg space (for my 6'5"ness) and overall ride comfort. As far as acceleration/performance- it is not the Quest by any means; but once ya get it goin' and stick the throttle, it downshifts from 3rd to 2nd and pulls solid. Really the only issue was it'd slip out of 1st at red lights- and I'd have to rev her a bit to get it back. I had added some transmission fluid to it before the drive... maybe I should've added a bit more. Other than that (and the boost gauge), everything works. Lookin' like I'm gonna be having that Merk. ...as soon as dude can find the stupid title. (Really, how do people not know where their important papers are!?!? That's what file cabinets are for. Seriously, they're like 30 bucks at Office Depot)

Wasn't looking for anything specific as far as needing to know. Just trying to get a feel for how the car is generally viewed, as it is a rarity, and probably turbo-4 banger enthusiasts (such as all of you) would know more than most. I swear I'm not a masochist-- I always start out just lookin' for a cheap honda or toyota or somethin'- but really the only ones in my price range are crappy burned out ricers or college kid cars w/ 800000000000000 neglectful miles on them. Then I stumble across this one in a million car that's in way better shape than any dropped civic, but totally enigmatic in its own right. Found the Quest the same way. I should know more tomorrow. Right now all I can tell you is the guy selling it says it runs just fine (and I've dealt with him before- he's a good honest dude). Beyond that, I know its got a puddle of x-mission fluid under it, but if Ford's C3 tranny is anything like the C6 -with which I am very familiar, it could just need a couple days of good driving to seal back up. We'll see. ...and David- it's brown and browner with a brown on brown interior. Seriously- reminds me of when my dog barfed up Arby's curly fries- only with a black stripe along the bottom of the sides. But hey, I'm not that concerned w/ appearances.

Minus the all-important intercooler. Plus, this one in particular is an automatic. Still, it is intriguing. And considering my Quest is KO'd at least until the detective handling my case gets off stinkin' paternity leave, and my truck is really too much of a creampuff to risk parking in my neighborhood, I have half a mind to spring for some cheap wheels. I'm gonna go give the Merkur a more thorough inspection tomorrow. If I think it'll last me at least a couple months w/o having to put too much effort into it, I might spring for it.

Anybody familiar w/ these cars? I've got a chance to pick up an '89 for cheap. From what I gather, it's kinda like the StarQuest's fatter slower German-American cousin.

I cleaned the part up, and found a tiny little Chrysler 5 point star on it, along w/ some teeny little serial numbers. Took the thing to the Chrysler dealer parts dept today. Dude behind the counter was really very cool and seemed to get into his role in this little CSI mystery. He used a magnifying glass to make out the serial numbers, and looked it up. ...That part was only used on one car model, for one year- it's a vac reservoir for the cruise control on a 2000 Dodge Neon. It mounts right near the front of the passenger side fender. Called the PD Investigation dept that's handling my case and let them know I had this bit of evidence/info. Turns out, they had already "taken note" of a 2000 Neon w/ damage parked a few blocks from me. They're gonna come get the box in a day or two and try and make a match I guess.