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well Eric, i dont have a cell phone, i dont need one. and i think they are kinda stupid. and as far as safety. i am an adult man. i dont feel i need a nanny state to be there in case i get in trouble. if i cant get myself out of trouble, than what ever happens happens. and it should be my right to go through life being able to live that way… we keep relying on more and more of this crap. and people there for have no skills or sense of self reliance any longer. and i personally do not want any part in it. and i feel that in a country that claims to be so concerned with freedom ,i should be able to make the choice whether i want an agency tracking my every movement or not (among other things, such as possibly listening to my conversations, and seeing how fast i drive)… i am not trying to turn this into a debate. but thats how i strongly feel. and that is my motivation on why i want to get the on star out of my car. because it is after all MY car. i should have the right to do so. i suppose its a good thing i like old cars so much. because when everyone else is being driven around by there cars, i will still be DRIVING mine. it will be that way soon too. they are already parking and stopping themselves..
i have the 07 uplander mostly to just drive in the winter. because i dont want my old chryslers rotted out by the western new york state salt. but its a sad thing that i dont feel comfortable being in my own car. and i might not be able to do anything about it…
i just got a set of kobalt wrenches that my dad picked up for me. im not sure what they are called but they twist where the box end and the open ends are not flush with each other.. they seems really nice for made in taiwan stuff. super heavy and the feel great.
also wright tools really are nice. they probably have some of the best quality i have ever seen. i would personally say better than snap on, mac, cornwell, matco, s-k… anybody. i only have a few things of theirs but i really like them. also i recently found an old broken socket of my dads that was wright. probably from the 70’s. it was a 1/2 inch drive 9/16 12 point. someone probably used it on an impact wrench as it had cracks going up each of the four corners on the drive side. i called the company and asked them how i could exchange the socket. they told me to just destroy it and they would mail me a new one. that was it. no question asked. it was nice. now when i called s-k about a broken 3/8 wrench, they were so helpful. i had to mail it to them. at my expense. and then pay for them to ship me a new one. it really isnt worth it… so ill just keep it until i find an s-k dealer… if i ever do. seems they are extinct. they couldnt even tell me of any on my side of the state! (western new york) i bet s-k wont be around much longer… its a shame. because i do like their tools…
i am no mechanic and have never been to school. but i do work on cars alot. and my father used to own his own repair shop/ used car dealership for years. i am actually pretty new to mechanics. and i am just learning on my own. i have a whole jumble of old tools and some newer cheap ones. i have stuff from almost every brand ever made. and this is what i have to say. there are certain tools you can buy cheap. say brands like duralast, stanley or even cheaper stuff like tekton. which i actually like quite a bit. even though they are super cheap. you basically have to buy the cheapest tools you can get away with for certain jobs. things you have to put alot of pressure and use on, buy better stuff. but i would say that craftsman or s-k is about as expensive as anyone really needs. i really wish s-k was easier to buy. seems there are no dealers for them any more. i know you can buy some of their stuff from sears website. but not in store.
also i think a really good way to go is to try and find older tools at garage sales, flea markets, pawn shops… you can often find snap on tools there even. but there are also some really good old brands that arent around any more, that you can buy from people super cheap. i would say some of the best are j.h. williams, proto/plomb, bonney, barcalo, cresent, duro-chrome/ indestro, wright, new britain, (old) stanley, par-x (older economy snap on brand, before blue point. has snap on warranty), herbrand, walden, thorsen (make sure its old thorsen, not the new hijacked name, made in china junk), wizard (western auto house brand)… and many others. in fact many of these companies were located in buffalo new york, or a short ways away. and i live 65 miles from buffalo. so i especially love to find and use j.h. williams, cresent, barcalo, mckaig-hatch, and old blue point (before they were a snap on company). these old tools were made very well. and i have plenty of tools from the 30’s and 40’s that i use. i got some recently from an estate sale and they look brand new! and they work great. you can always buy them cheaper than the new made in china stuff. and they will last years longer! another thing that was kinda cool was i have a really old family owned hardware store in my town. i was looking through all their bens of sockets. most of them are from the 1930’s-1960’s. and i found alot of new old stock snap on. and they only charged me about $1 a socket. so get out there and take a look. i bet you can find the same type of stuff in your area.
i think its kinda dumb for people to go out and spend all their money on brand new snap on , mac, matco, or cornwell even if you work in a garage everyday. i mean really. how often will say a craftsman tool break or not do the job? i mean even some of the harbor freight stuff works just fine. and is MEGA cheap. so people should save their money. only buy some of the expensive stuff if you keep breaking a certain tool or something. spend you money more on specialty tools, to do jobs right. and the better electronic tools.. save your money!
i was thinking of asking the dealer. but i figured about the same thing. they wouldnt be too helpful. i have heard that the older ones can be removed without any problem at all. but after about 2006 it could cause some issues… im not sure though. id like to find out, because i just dont feel comfortable having this crap in my car!
also. without the on star coming into play at all, the ecm of most all vehicles these days are like black boxes. havent you heard about the thing that progressive insurance has now? its a device they give you and you plug into into you car. it downloads all the information like speeds, how many miles, distances driven… all kinds of stuff. and then they take that information from the device and depending on how you drive your car, your insurance can be cheaper… now i dont know about how any of the rest of you feel. but anything like that just freaks me out. and i dont want any part of it.
so ill figure a way to get the on star out sooner or later. i guess ill just have to rip my dash apart and try and find it. then un plug it and see what happens. if the car wont run right ill keep it plugged in till i figure out how to bypass it… either way its gotta go.
or i forgot to mention. i have also done a complete tune up. plugs, wires, cap, rotor, coil (tested bad) and it has a new air filter….
well eric, i did a basic check of the timing chain stretch just by rotating the water pump pully back and forth. of corse its not anywhere close to exact numbers. but i know it took about an inch, inch an a half of pully travel before the rotor moved. so that tells me the chain and gears are in pretty bad shape. from what i know these engines pretty much ALWAYS need the timing set replaced at 100 thousand miles. (this car is at 140) i know alll about the dumb nylon gear coating… dumbest thing chrysler ever did to an engine, if you ask me.
this could be the problem. i never over looked it. and i for sure want to correct the problem, because i know the chain is an issue, i just dont want to do it in the middle of winter outside… so i am trying to rule out every other possible thing. because to tell you the truth i just have a feeling that isnt what is causing it.
the fluctuating idle i mentioned doesnt always fluctuate. it only changes up and down about 150 rpm or so while warming up. it will start off fast. then about 3-5 minutes later it slows down. and stays that way for 5-10 minutes. then it will speed up again and level off and stay what ever speed i set it at. it really seems like it is being caused by the computer. because there are certain system that come on and off during warm up. and i think it is being caused by that. there is an air injection system. which comes on when first started then shuts off when the engine gets a certain temperature. then erg will come into effect. and also air/fuel metering comes into effect after the o2 sensor gets to 600 degrees. and it effects a “mixture solenoid” inside the carb. this solenoid is basically a plunger with a jet in it. and only changes the the air/fuel ratio while crusing or acclerating. during idle, only the idle circut and idle mixture screws effect the mixture…
i really hate this stuff because its a bastardized way to run a car! its in between new and old technology. and it was never meant to be. it was only slapped together because of government regulations. so i dont really even think you can get this stuff to run right no matter what you do. i am getting very close to giving up on it and just buy an electronic ignition conversion kit for $150-$200. i should have done that in the first place and i could have saved tons of money and time! to make it work truely right though i would need an old style , none feedback carb. but probably as soon as i can find a holley 2280, or carter bbd for real cheap somewhere i can rebuild and slap on, i will do that. i guess i can buy a carter bbd from the parts store for a 74 plymouth valiant 318 for about $150. so thats not too bad. but i am quite broke these days. so im looking for something more like $50!
anyways eric. i seem to always talk your ear off. but i do that with everyone. especially when i get going on cars! haha. but thanks for all you do. its great that you are having the success that you are doing what you love, and want to do. it really is an inspiration. keep it up!