Sometimes its the simple things

[David]

That makes a car feel so much better.

Suggestion for you Eric one ETCG1 channel, and that is sometimes a simple repair can have a major impact on how a vehicle behaves.

Some back story. I’ve never been rich, and when it comes to cars, I skimp on the initial price, alot. Out of the 3 cars I’ve had, I’ve bought 2 with cash, My first one was 89 Dodge Daytona with a 2.5l L4 engine. It was a horrible car with multiple problems. I got out of it and got a 98 Buick Regal with the 3800 Series II engine because its been stated that the engine is very reliable once you fix the minor issues. I paid 3K for it but one issue I never got around to before the head gasket blew (mostly my fault, coolant was uber low and I never knew it) was the torque struts. The engine moved around quite a bit and it had vibration issues while in gear. That wasnt the only thing wrong with it when the gasket blew and repairs were just too costly. Thankfully the engine blew while traveling to look at an 02 caddy. I didn’t know the guy had an 05 Impala with a 3.8 in it but when I did I was torn. The caddy was $800 less, and with less mileage but I knew the Northstar engines were problematic to work on and I was familiar with the 3800 engine and how to work on them. Paid $3K cash and drove it off the lot. I actually for once LIKED driving my car again. It was in pretty good shape despite having 151K miles on it and the engine was probably rebuilt recently (painted block… not factory and the rocker arms look clean). Best of all, it had AC, something that I had for about 1 year with the buick.

However recently it started developing a bad vibration while in gear (neutral/park was fine) and got worse anytime a load was placed on the engine while at idle. Another issue was the engine felt like it was bouncing around quite a bit. Things got really bad on especially hot days because for some reason it felt like the brakes were somehow loosing grip and then regaining it like a warped rotor. Around this time my dad also bought a brand new Kia Soul and I got to drive it a bit. While driving it, it made my car feel like an absolute crap bucket when in fact, it was just fine.

Going off of my misguided assumption that the torque converter was bad or something in the transmission was simply worn, I was was resigned to the fact that it was just too expensive to fix. It turns out that both sections of the torque struts were completely past their sell by date. On the wishbone side of the strut, the rubber insert no longer felt rubber and felt more like hard plastic, and on top of that there was considerable play. On the radiator bracket side, things were far worse. Both had developed a crack running the width of the rubber section and threatening to rip apart. On top of that, there is considerable play in the rubber insert, whereas a brand new one has none.

I found the exact parts made by the same people as the ones found at Advance for about $56 on Amazon after it was said and done vs the $200 at Advance.The first parts to arrive were the wishbones and I opted to go ahead and install them. I was shocked at the difference those alone made. It did nothing about the engine moving back and forth, but it almost completely removed the vibrations while in gear. Once the bracket supports came in and those were installed, it felt like I was driving a new car. It made the entire car feel different, and in fact there are more vibrations in neutral/park than there is when in gear. I actually went to shift into drive once thinking I was still in neutral 😆

$56 and a half hour of time made a car go from clunker to bargain… Sometimes it really is just the small and simple things in a car that can make a world of difference.

Topic

[EricTheCarGuy]

Indeed it is. I touch on the topic. here.

[Author]

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