It's been a while since I posted last. Since the T25 blew, lots has happened.

221430 mi - T25 Blew
221482 mi - 16g and oil change
221795 mi - 2nd 16g and ARP Headstuds

Yep, that's right. I managed to kill a 16g in about 200 miles. Justin (jusmx141) honored his 30 warranty and replaced it. When he tore it apart, the shaft had eaten itself alive and the bearing...

I've been having this problem with the car stuttering anytime I really jumped on the gas. It would start breaking up at about 10psi. I had done a boost leak test and replaced the TB shaft seals. The AFRs were about right for a stock car (9.5 give or take) but it was sputtering badly.

I had ordered up some new spark plugs with my last order to STM. Figured it was about time to put them...

Yep, it failed again. The list this time:

• Bad front passenger wheel bearing
• Bad tie rod end
• Bad lower ball joints (control arms)
• Exhaust leak

I knew from before that the axle would not come out of the hub. I had tried to get it out when I pulled the engine. So, I got everything ordered again. I had broken a exhaust mani to turbo bolt, so I ordered a new set of ARP ones.

...

October 31st, 2008. 215k miles.

I procrastinated and took my car in on the last day inspection was due, expecting it to pass. Since I'm up in Erie, I took it to a shop up here. I just pulled it out of the phone book. When I took the car, it was nothing like what was at the shop. They seemed to specialize in old domestic cars. Great.

They inspected it. They found......

It's now June '08. 209k miles.

I started leaving oil spots under my car every time I parked. Big spots. 8" diameter spots in about 5 hours. All I knew was that the oil was coming from behind the lower timing belt cover. I couldn't afford the downtime to fix it though. I was working 5 days a week 15 miles from my house. It had to wait until the end of August, when I planned to pull...

It's now May of '08. 210k miles on the Talon.

I hear this loud grinding sound and the car shakes at about 70 mph. If you guessed wheel bearing AND tie rod end, you'd be correct.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSsC-lWB1lg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=so0vL-ZOwY8

Turns out, that impact into the hillside did a bit more damage than before.
...

March 8th, 2008. 207k miles on the car.

I'm on my way home from school in Erie, PA for spring break. I'm not planning anything exciting for the week. Just sitting around. As I get ready to leave, a big snow storm (the largest that year) starts to move through the area. Erie get 24" of snow. I leave after the first 4" are on the ground. It took me an hour and a half to get...

Then came problem #2 on January 30th, 2008 with about 203k miles. My car started acting really funny. I don't even how it was acting, but I finally decided to open up the hood and look around. This is what I found.



Yep, laying right there was the vacuum hose to the BOV. Except I didn't know it was a BOV, and I didn't know what it did. After a quick...

So, after fixing 155 dings in the paint on the hood, 9 small cracks and a bulls-eye in the windshield, and some rust in the door jambs and trunk, I thought my car was perfect.

Then came October '07. Car had about 201k miles. I took my car in for it's first inspection under my ownership. My family is good friends with the guy who inspects our cars. We've know him for over 20 years. They're...

In the beginning, there was darkness... then the PO turned on the garage light and I got my first look at the car that would soon be mine.

I found the ad in the local classifieds (should have kept the clipping ) asking $5000 for a fully loaded, well kept, 97 Eagle Talon Tsi AWD auto with 191k miles. I had been looking for a 5 speed for 3 months, so I was slowly becoming more open...

Ok, so I'm making this for a few reasons.

1. To keep track of maintenance.
2. To have something to hand to the next owner (if I ever have to sell my car because of misfortune).
3. To watch my car transform from some business man's 191,000 mile DD into a college kid's dream car. (Yes, I'd take a DSM over any Italian car, call me crazy, my friends all do.)

I've had my car for 2 years, so the first...