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Many times self adjusting drums do not self adjust properly if at all so you might want to try what the GM service manual says to do. Measure the inside diameter of the drum and then adjust the shoes outward until the widest part of the shoes is the same as the inside diameter. Hopefully the drums will adjust better. My ’04 Grand AM SE has about the same rear drum setup and brake adjustment is lacking.
By the way most GM cars stopped using adjustable parking brake cables several generations ago. I know that the final N Bodies do not have adjustable cables and am pretty sure that the final N Bodies did not as well.
Nice video, but I would be a bit worried about trying this on a car such as my Grand Am which has Aluminum steering knuckles.
The Ecotec does not have a replaceable PCV valve, but an internal reed style PCV valve inside the intake manifold. Some oil seems normal inside the resonator but I am not sure how it can get into the air intake tube. As long as the engine is not using any oil you are fine. Ecotecs should not burn or leak any oil but keep an eye of the oil level just in case.
I would recommend checking and changing out the PCV breather hose between the resonator and the cam cover if it is cracked and/or oily. Plus you can get a lot of crud build up inside the hose. IIRC the hose is a piece of 15/32″ emissions hose that cost about $1.19 a foot at Autozone or a $5 molded hose from the dealer.
P.S. Are you using a proper 32mm oil filter socket? These cost about $9 at O’reileys for the Lisle brand socket and $12 at Autozone for a generic socket. This may allow you to remove the filter without moving the AIT and risking damage to the IAT wiring.
The IAT will not cause the problems that you have mentioned above. Usually a harsh shifting transmission is common if there is a problem in the circuit on GM vehicles.
Ditto on checking the FPR for a ruptured diaphragm. This is a very common problem on GM vehicles, especially on the 3100/3400 series of engines. Use a Mity-VAC or a long clear piece of aquarium tubing so that you can see a slug of gasoline coming at you when you are sucking on it. A good FPR will hold vacuum without any gasoline.
There should be a SES light and a trouble code if the IAC is too much out of whack. Try cleaning the IAC and the throttle body with TB cleaner. Think about cleaning the MAF while you are at it if you have a fine enough touch and a can of MAF sensor cleaner.
It could be a bad anti drain back valve (ADBV) in the oil filter. Some oil filter brands and models are not that great and will leak down as you have described timewise. Purolator and Wix tend to be the best and have a nice ADBV in general.
Maybe emissions equipment related? Many cars have air injection pumps and all cars have EVAP system purge solenoid valves that will turn on within seconds of the car starting.
This is a non problem. The EVAP test may not run if the coolant or inlet air temperature is above or below a certain range (about 40F to 100F). This means that it will be impossible for the test to run sometimes during the summer and most of the winter in many places.
Goggle P1000 and click on the ford trucks link. Seems this is a common problem and again a non issue.
Had a P0455 (newer version of P0440) on my ’04 Grand AM with the Ecotec engine. For GM 4 cylinders (but not GM 6 cylinders) GM did not program in the DTC test where the PCM will test the circuit condition of the purge valve solenoid and vent valve solenoid so with the key on there will be +12 v on one wire. The other wire is PCM grounded so do not mess with it. If you have a shop scanner that can start the EVAP test and can feel the solenoids working. If the purge solenoid turns on and off with a pair of jumper clips then test then remove the purge solenoid from the car and use a 1 ft length of (IIRC) 1/4″ fuel line on the intake port of the purge valve and suck on it. There should be no vacuum leak and when jumpered it should be like sucking through an open hose. Do the same on the purge port side and you should have the same results. If not then the valve is bad. Test the vent solenold the same way as you did the purge solenoid by checking voltage, applying voltage and applying vacuum. Note that the only reason for the vent valve solenoid is basically to test the EVAP system but there is not test to test for it closing completely and not leaking enough vacuum tripping a P0440/P0455. From what I have seen online it is the most common component to fail and cause a P0440/P0455 on the GM car or truck. Stuck closed/dead purge solenoid will do the as well as a rubber hose that is bad and the fuel filler neck are quite bad for failing with a pin hole leak on FWD GM cars. Fuel caps that leak are quite common and can cause a P0440/P0455 but usually in combination with another leak. Check all visible plastic Evap lines in the system carefully, double check all rubber hoses, and triple check any rusty looking steel components in the system (including the fuel tank where possible).
FYI I changed out the fuel cap first (no luck), the purge valve solenoid (leaky when closed which would cause a P1441/P0496) and the vent valve solenoid (actually held vacuum off the car but very dusty inside with a spider nest ) using these testing techniques. Not the best way to do it for sure, but many mechanics are clueless on how to check these systems with smoke machines and at $55 from Rockauto.com for the parts much cheaper then taking it to a mechanic.
GM cars (especially FWD) seem to have a lot of problems with the fuel pressure regulators leaking internally and flooding out the engine, causing poor fuel ecomony, and rough running with hard/no hot restart problems. You can test it easily by using a Mity-Vac pump and clear tubing on the FPR vacuum port to see if raw gas is coming out and if the FPR is holding proper vacuum for a period of time. You can see if there is gas in the FPR from a broken diaphragm if you use a long enough piece of clear tubing.
Many of the Kobalt ratchets, sockets, wrenches, and drive acessories were made by Danaher in the USA . The same company has the made Craftsman tools such as those for over 20 years. Sadly both Craftsman and Kobalt have recently started to sell Danaher tools made overseas, with Kobalt being mainly made in Taiwan this year and Craftsman slowly but surely going over to mainly made in China Danaher products for the past few years. Even some of the tool truck guys have overseas tools (usually very high quality Taiwanese) creeping into their trucks.
Snap-On is fine as is Mac, Matco, Cornwell, etc. But you have to be careful about the warranty issues with the tool truck guys. Mac will not warranty many parts on a $150 flex head ratchet for example and it can take weeks to get the needed parts. Also Snap-On will not warranty screwdrivers for abuse (prying, etc). Craftsman will take back all of those items under those conditions (no rust warranty though) and the worst thing that can happen is you get a salesman that does not want to warranty the item so you ask another salesman/manager or go to a different store. No way that you can do that with a tool truck guy.