bigtimmyd
10+ Year Contributor
- 57
- 0
- Jul 19, 2012
-
Government Camp,
Oregon
Hello, My name is Tim and I live up on Mt. Hood in Oregon. I have owned my 91' Talon for almost a year and it has been a love/ hate relationship! I didn't realize how hard it would be to own and upgrade these cars! (Alot of people from what I've been reading!).
I'll break down the last year and details of the love/hate part. I bought this car from one of my childhood friends for $1900. He claimed to have put $2000 into the head and cooling system about 6 months before, and it seemed to run great minus a weak battery, which he claimed just needed to be charged. Well, he was wrong. About two weeks into owning the vehicle, I was driving and noticed my oil pres was very low and engine was bogging at WOT! I thought the motor was done but it turned out to be the battery... then the alternator. Conveniently, less then a week later the brakes started squealing. Bad, fast. I live on a volcano. Lots of hills to go up and down. Major wear and tear territory. Hard on a DSM, I came to learn! Anyways, replaced the pads and rotors in the rear (They were DONE for!). Cars fine. Oh I forgot to mention the coolant disappearing? Yes, even up until this day (which is weird because of what Im about to write)...
Lovin the car, drive into town to buy groceries. Drivin home, 50mph, 5th gear, baby'n the car, only WOT once that day. Car just dies. Great. Pull over, leave the car there. Praying.
Long story short, timing belt (yup). 14/16 bent valves. Fast forward 3-4 months.
Car is OK, $2500 later, upgraded head and parts feelin good. Not much power gain? Well that was before I actually decided to LEARN about these cars. hahah. Anyways, I'm at the beach after a long party weekend at a seafood and wine festival. Pull out of the hotel, wow car is in neutral all the time. Nice. AAA to my parents house. (BTW I never had AAA until I became a DSM owner, now I'm one of their best customers!)
Fast forward 2 months. Clutch, gone. Went and financed a 07 Trailblazer with a warranty. Ok, Talon is not DD anymore. Good. We need to put some love into this baby. New clutch/ flywheel/ TO.
Present day. Well about two weeks ago. Taking a cruise. go to car wash. Driving home. about 70-80+ up the hill around all the fun corners yay! Pull into my small local gas station, and wow, temp in the red! Great. I just put coolant in there. Wait, why am I still putting coolant in this car when it has less than 3000k on the water pump, thermo, and HG!!!!!!
Well, fans weren't kickin on. Screw it, time to follow the upgrade path and actually learn about my car! Wow, nothing is easy! In process of major mods (for me).
Just bought:
Walbro 255
FIC 1050
both sensor that weren't working.
Within the month:
16g turbo
FMIC
dual row radiator and hoses
GM Maf and maft
dsm link and wideband
FIC fuel rail
adj FPR
That should keep me happy for a while right? I think I will be impressed. I am also preparing for a bottom end rebuild and shep trans in Nov. Hopefully she lasts that long, but I believe that I have more knowledge everyday about this car and learn from my mistakes. Now I understand the DSM motto, turning drivers into mechanics daily. Fun!
Thanks for reading, sorry its so long, I'm excited!
I'll break down the last year and details of the love/hate part. I bought this car from one of my childhood friends for $1900. He claimed to have put $2000 into the head and cooling system about 6 months before, and it seemed to run great minus a weak battery, which he claimed just needed to be charged. Well, he was wrong. About two weeks into owning the vehicle, I was driving and noticed my oil pres was very low and engine was bogging at WOT! I thought the motor was done but it turned out to be the battery... then the alternator. Conveniently, less then a week later the brakes started squealing. Bad, fast. I live on a volcano. Lots of hills to go up and down. Major wear and tear territory. Hard on a DSM, I came to learn! Anyways, replaced the pads and rotors in the rear (They were DONE for!). Cars fine. Oh I forgot to mention the coolant disappearing? Yes, even up until this day (which is weird because of what Im about to write)...
Lovin the car, drive into town to buy groceries. Drivin home, 50mph, 5th gear, baby'n the car, only WOT once that day. Car just dies. Great. Pull over, leave the car there. Praying.
Long story short, timing belt (yup). 14/16 bent valves. Fast forward 3-4 months.
Car is OK, $2500 later, upgraded head and parts feelin good. Not much power gain? Well that was before I actually decided to LEARN about these cars. hahah. Anyways, I'm at the beach after a long party weekend at a seafood and wine festival. Pull out of the hotel, wow car is in neutral all the time. Nice. AAA to my parents house. (BTW I never had AAA until I became a DSM owner, now I'm one of their best customers!)
Fast forward 2 months. Clutch, gone. Went and financed a 07 Trailblazer with a warranty. Ok, Talon is not DD anymore. Good. We need to put some love into this baby. New clutch/ flywheel/ TO.
Present day. Well about two weeks ago. Taking a cruise. go to car wash. Driving home. about 70-80+ up the hill around all the fun corners yay! Pull into my small local gas station, and wow, temp in the red! Great. I just put coolant in there. Wait, why am I still putting coolant in this car when it has less than 3000k on the water pump, thermo, and HG!!!!!!
Well, fans weren't kickin on. Screw it, time to follow the upgrade path and actually learn about my car! Wow, nothing is easy! In process of major mods (for me).
Just bought:
Walbro 255
FIC 1050
both sensor that weren't working.
Within the month:
16g turbo
FMIC
dual row radiator and hoses
GM Maf and maft
dsm link and wideband
FIC fuel rail
adj FPR
That should keep me happy for a while right? I think I will be impressed. I am also preparing for a bottom end rebuild and shep trans in Nov. Hopefully she lasts that long, but I believe that I have more knowledge everyday about this car and learn from my mistakes. Now I understand the DSM motto, turning drivers into mechanics daily. Fun!
Thanks for reading, sorry its so long, I'm excited!
