Sunday, March 28, 2010

Starter in 944 and Possible Source of the Thunking in 95 Cad

Today the starter is coming out of the 944. Of course this took some doing, first we had to push the car onto the street and then push it down the hill to push start it. But the lip of the drive way to the street was too steep so we had to pull it out with another car. Then we push started it and put it up on ramps in the garage.

The bolts holding the starter on were on super tight it took a while to get them loose. But it's off now. The original plan was to put new brushes in it, but I ordered the brushes over a year ago, and can't find them now. Also, apparently we need the biggest screwdriver ever made to get to them.

After looking online, it seems the cost of a starter for the 944 has come down, so I'll be ordering a rebuilt one for $99 from Kragen.




We also looked at the Cadillac to see what fell off,  The engine compartment revealed a huge chunk of deteriorating plastic that had fallen off the firewall. After searching for a while we discovered the bushing on the sway bar near the rear drivers side wheel had lost it's fastening strap and bolts. I'll have to find one of those.

Friday, March 26, 2010

Terrible Sounds

Today I drove the '95 Cad to a meeting, not very far away, but the sounds coming from the car were terrible! Lots of metal on metal clunking. I'm not going to drive it until I figure out what it is.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Something Fell of The Car

While I was driving to the bank, something fell off my car, I saw it roll away behind me in the rear-view mirror.  A thumping sound immediately started. I'm hoping it's not the hydraulic engine mount that has gone out...

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Cadillac Club tour to Filoli Gardens

Took the 67 eldo to this tour I was leading for the Nor Cal CLC club, We went to Bucks for brunch, and then to Filoli to view the spring gardens.

On the way down 280, the steering wheel cap shifted, and the horn started sounding. I found that holding the cap half way on with the palm of my hand kept the horn from sounding, but once I got off the freeway, found it difficult to turn the wheel and keep the cap depressed half way so I kept sounding the horn off. There were a lot of "sorrys" to fellow motorists. If you've ever heard the horn in a 67 eldo you'll know why. it's like a freight train is behind you...

I tried taking the cap off to stop the horn from blowing, but couldn't get it to pop off, and it was creating way too much noise...

When we got the Bucks, Jim ran into the hardware store next to the restaurant, and got some black electrical tape. We wrapped that around the cap to keep it help in place.

The tour itself was fun there were about 6-7 cars that showed up one other eldo (a '69), an XLR, a LaSalle, and a couple of 60's devilles.

Monday, March 08, 2010

944 died on me, I'm wondering if it's the alternator. battery just died, no warning. also, somethings loose in the suspension too, it shimmies when I make a left turn on the freeway.