mat@hou4b.UUCP (Mark Terribile) (02/23/85)
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Well, the exhaust system on my '82 Reliant finally bit the macadam after
88 670+ miles. The battery was replaced four months ago (bad cell).
Now, I'll have this car paid off by the end of next month (3/85) and I
would like to get as much life as I can out of it, subject to the following:
1) Reliability. If the exhaust had dropped on the Pulaski Skyway
over Newark at 23:00 I would have been much unhappy ... and I would
have had to drive down off the Skyway with the pipe dragging. Since
it was the front pipe that dropped I might have messed up the rear
axle. Obviously, I can't be having too many major failures.
2) Economy. If the car becomes vastly more expensive to operate or
maintain I might as well buy another.
I'd like to know what actions I should take between, say, now and 100 000 to
hold the car together. I'll drive it as far beyond that as it will hold up.
Some facts: The car has had all engine, etc maintenance and more or less on
schedule. I replace lights, etc, myself, but that's about it. Everything else
I pay for. At about 58 000 the torque converter began to slip when warm. I
had the pan dropped, the ``filter'' replaced, etc, and all was well. I have
had some problems with the transmission hanging up and not shifting to 3rd but
these seem to happen about once every six thousand miles or so.
The body has no severe rust, but there are a couple of places where the paint
is not really sound. I'm not very good on cleaning and waxing ... and it's
frowned upon by management at my apartment. I've (gently) rubbed the visibly
affected areas down to the zinc and covered them with large amounts of touch-up
stick. Not great, better than nothing. Most of the problem was around the
left rear wheel opening.
Is it worth having the car stripped and repainted before the next winter? How
much can I expect to have to pay for it? (flat red autobody paint is fine.)
The engine's appetite for high octane has slowly increased. Now only Sunoco
93.5 octane will reliably keep it from pinging. Sunoco 92 pings fairly
easily (I've got the 2.2 liter engine, which is NOT supposed to be allowed to
ping). Amoco 93 and Shell's 92-octane are good most of the time. In some
weather though, they will ping.
Is it worth paying for a carbon-and-valve job? Will it prolong the life of
the engine? I drive this car fairly hard, as I believe that dawdling on the
road is inconsiderate, and as I am (too) often in a great hurry. Most of my
miles are on open highway, 50 mph or more, but I regularly do local and city
driving as well.
What about the coolant hoses? Should I have them all replaced? How about
the flexible brake lines? And the fuel line? My car isn't covered by the
recalls, but I've had a couple of leaks. Should I just get them all replaced?
What have I missed? Well, the coolant's been changed before the winter, but
I've never had the radiator chemically cleaned. Is this worth it? There's
no evidence of corrosion visible and the cooling system still seems to be
effective.
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from Mole End Mark Terribile
(scrape .. dig ) hou4b!mat
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