The car wasn’t running smoothly, and had stalled on me several times. I thought this might be because of a loose vacuum connection on the delay valve. I also had transmission fluid leaking out. I would find out later that I probably overcompensated, and added too much fluid back, which made the leak seem even worse. I decided I had to get the car looked at.
On Monday June 11th, I drove the car to work. I left work early to head out to DMC (Midwest). The car was running very warm. Once I got off I-90, I decided to stop for gas. Filled up the tank, attempted to start the car, nothing. It just cranked and cranked. Walked around back, and there’s a puddle of coolant under my engine. $H1T!
Called Ken, he had me try the Hot Start Quick Fix (which I now understand, but didn’t at the time). I probably failed to do this properly. And during my time trying to start the car, the starter decided to “stick” and just keep cranking even after I took the key out of the ignition. Panick set in, since I figured I’d drain the battery. It’s warm out, and I’m sweating bullets while wearing my good work clothes. While troubleshooting, people decide to come over and ask me questions: “Is this a DeLorean?” Not now!!!!
Disconnected the battery, reconnected it, but it still cranked. Called DMC (Midwest), and they had me change the relay for the starter. No more cranking. Tried the hot start quick fix again, and the car started! Went into the gas station, bought a bottle of water, and added some to the coolant.
Go to DMC (Midwest) and left the car there over night. In the morning, I was emailed the diagnosis:
Missing Transmission dipstick bracket
Need two vacuum hoses
Front main seal leaking (again?)
Bad RPM Relay (Explains the stalling)
Other bad relays
Wrong coolant bottle cap
Possible bad accumulator
Other smaller issues
To my surprise, Ken came and picked up the car. He did all the work, and even worked on my attempted door launchers install. I didn’t end up needing a new accumulator. Since Ken was really great about everything, I didn’t want to trouble him with getting the car back. I decided I’d go pick up the car. On Sunday June 24th, with the help of my girlfriend, we drove down in my daily driver (2004 Dodge Stratus Coupe), and drove back separate. Ken recommended I add a bottle of fuel injector cleaner on my next refill. After a few tanks of gas between cars, we got back home without any problems. I’m proud to say the car now drives better than ever.
Ken’s work:
Flush coolant
Install new Stainless water bottle and cap
New front main seal
Door lock adjustments
Replace some relays
Install transmission dipstick bracket
Install/replace two vacuum hoses
Test AC
Other small stuff
Costs:
Stainless Coolant Tank: $151 from SpecialTAuto.com
$3? Fuel Injector Cleaner from Meijer
Couple tanks of gas
Other costs withheld