Some things my Laser rs/t awd does that i dont really like

[GSLENK]

After owning my car for a month, here are some things i find uncomfortably odd... let me know what could be the cause and/or what may need attention asap or in the near future.

1) Second gear is weird to go into. The ideal shift is when i gently get past the synchro, then shove it into gear really fast. no noise no weird feeling. If i take too long to engage the gear after passing the synchro, it sorta grinds, or feels really notchy. doesnt grind, but doesnt feel as good as 1, 3, 4, 5... has no problem going into any gear at a stop. (obviously has a problem accelerating in any gear but first from a stop )

2) reverse is also a little weird. most of the time it is ok, but sometimes, i have to let the clutch in a little bit so it engages smoothly. seems like something may be out of alignment. it wont grind, unless i dont engage the clutch a bit while shifting back. it will grind sometimes (like 1 out of 5 times) if i dont "double clutch" into reverse, and the shifter is stuck between neutral and reverse. I have gotten used to this so the grind is a very rare occurence now.

3) When I let off the brakes, i hear a click. only with the windows down, air/stereo/noise-makers off i can hear it. if i am parallel parking for example, it will go away after the 3rd or 4th press. same with sitting still in the driveway and pumping the brakes (engine on). once i get moving, it cannot be heard (because of road noise i assume) but after getting above about 5 mph, the click will reset and start clicking on release (once per release)

4) I put a subwoofer in. 1000w rms, paired with a 1000wrms amp. one time while bumping hard for 15 minutes, and driving under 3k rpm, no boost... the radio cut out, like it reset itself. is this a factory "self preservation" feature? last car i had "outbumped" the whole car died with/before the radio, that car was an 85 vette, and a 91 saturn sl2.

5) After heavy rain, the hatch stores a little bit of water under the plastic trim. when i pop the hatch it all pours out. there is rust on the rear windshield wiper motor. i assume the wiper seal/gromit is the culprit. confirmation? if i wait a few days, the water eventually dissapears and there is no drip when i pop the hatch.

6) Drivers window goes up 3/4 way, then looses alignment. I usually just back it down a bit, push the window back into alignment for that last 2 inches, and i goes back up perfect the rest of the way.

7) door/hatch/glove compartment lock heyholes are sometimes a pita. i guess some graphite type lubricant will resolve that.

 

[DSM1G90]

Second gear is weird to go into

Change fluid with Redline MT-90 .. does a good job solving that issue .. or your syncros are tired and a tranny rebuild is in order.

Reverse is also a little weird. most of the time it is ok

Once again, maybe a tranny rebuild is coming up. Mine does the same at times, why I double clutch before going into reverse.

When I let off the brakes, i hear a click. only with the windows down

Head to a brake shop on this one. I has a similar sound and had to get the front brakes completely done.

I put a subwoofer in

Remove Sub and amp - it doesn't match the stock line resistance and the radio totally hated it. GM and DSM's are different animals-don't try to mix them together! (why do sub owners like that thump crap? It ain't music - can't sing to it, nor it sounds uplifting-just "police magnet" stuff)

After heavy rain, the hatch stores a little bit of water under the plastic trim

Welcome to the world of having an old car. Replace gaskets and grommets.

Drivers window goes up 3/4 way, then looses alignment

Take it to a glass shop to realign the glass with the regulator and guide rails in the door. Mine did the same, but I fixed this issue myself, but you need to know what you're doing, for if you don't you can bust that glass pretty easy.

Welcome to the world of the DSM. If you don't like the car, there are plenty who would love to buy it from you.

-DSM

 

[GSLENK]

Remove Sub and amp - it doesn't match the stock line resistance and the radio totally hated it. GM and DSM's are different animals-don't try to mix them together! (why do sub owners like that thump crap? It ain't music - can't sing to it, nor it sounds uplifting-just "police magnet" stuff)

I left out info. I have an aftermarket headunit, the speakers are powered by the headunit. (factory dash tweeters, alpine type r 6.5 front doors, no rears (they blew already, and i didnt have replacements for them so they will stay out until i have excess money to blow.)

The amp is wired 4ga from the pos battery terminal. 4ga grounded to body, just like all my other cars.

I dont see how this creates an impedance problem. The sub is completely isolated from the DSM side of things.

We will have to agree to disagree on opinion of subs. I dont use it all the time, for example, near my home, in the hood, near my destinations, near police etc. I have been successful for 6 years in avoiding cops and robbers from finding my sub.

The back massage it gives is awsome btw... and of course females love it.

where are my grommet/gasket sources? dealership?

BTW, i love my car... its like the vette, except the rear seats, fuel economy, and police avoidance are all viable options whereas the vette they were mandatory sacrifices or non existent.

 

[Dhan]

7) door/hatch/glove compartment lock heyholes are sometimes a pita. i guess some graphite type lubricant will resolve that.

I wouldn't use graphite powder for these locks (graphite is more for indoor locks), a quick spray of WD-40 will help. The tumblers are ancient by now. Mine are the same way, just be gentle.
I popped off my glove box lock and brought it to a lock shop after it jammed. They opened it up and removed the tumblers so it couldn't be locked anymore, but it works smoothly now.
If you're mechanically inclined and have an hour or two to kill, you can open up your car door and clean up the door locks a little. I brought the removed lock cylinders to my local locksmith. They cleaned them and lubed them for $5.

 

[DSM1G90]

For locks, "Tri-Flo" - loaded with Teflon, and what locksmiths uses for gummy locks, is great stuff!

 

[Anubis_4_99]

For locks, "Tri-Flo" - loaded with Teflon, and what locksmiths uses for gummy locks, is great stuff!

Tri-flo is awesome stuff, use it daily at work and it freaking works miracles.

 

[GSLENK]

thanks for the locks pointer. I used a little silicone for the hatch lock, its was night and day... for the first 2 turns . I figured silicone was the safest lubricant i had laying around until i could find the real deal stuff.

will def cop me some tri flo

 

[DSM1G90]

Yea, head to a hardware store to find Tri-Flo since it's more towards this form of usage..

(and sorry on the knock about the sub thing, for I have total hatred to them.
I live in a neigborhood that, a few years ago and down the next block, were some young adults males who rented a house and didn't care about neighborhood respect.

They come roaring down the street in their low-rider ricer vehicles with their subs driving hard which would rattle our windows to where we who live on the previous block filed a series of complaints with the police and took the owners of some of these vehicles to court for disturbing the peace ...and they pleaded not guilty, for they thought they had the right to do whatever they pleased.

Well, their court date came, and those owners suddenly pleaded guilty, but with a hefty fine for each .. and one of them was later caught and convicted of drug dealings (house was a 'drug house') and the car was destroyed for hauling contreband.

The rest soon moved out and our neighborhood was quiet once again. It seems that the owners of these "thump vehicles" have total disrespect for peace and quiet and making it very unfair to us who love our peace and quiet. Like "why should we HAVE to listen to that crap, when they don't hear us?")

sorry for my rant ... - DSM

 

[dsmvenge]

SUBS= LOOK AT ME LOOK AT ME

 

[GSLENK]

Totally agree with your stance on niose pollution. I do very little of that. I mostly pollute the highways where I can only be heard by the cars next to me and meet ups where people are expecting you and other to do that mess.

I dont care if people look at me. bass is just one of those things... that i cannot be without. and its not crappy bass either. its an alpine type x and the matching amp, with a box that i built to "alpines optimum specs" or whatever that means, by myself, slot vented. I plan on making another vented box that actually fits under the hatch, and behind the rear seats.

Im just as much an audio nerd[car audio, cant afford home audio fidelity] as a car tinkering nerd. im sure there are other pointless hobbies worth ridicule too.

At least im bumpin 12 inch speakers and not 12 year olds wayyy off topic but f-ing hillarious like what was he thinking? oh wait its hard to think when your on drugs...

Oh and if you look at me, because you hear me... you will see this, completely oblivious to the onlookers/listeners

Also i think i found the trunk leak. I ordered the grommet for the rear wiper anyway because it does look rotten, but also the old dude whoe owned this car before me, had an infactuation with ginormous antenna. there was a hole the size of the windshield wiper hole, dead center of the hatch. I found it rusted under the seemingly clean base for this imaginary monster of a CB or AM radio antenna. (the actuall antenna was removed prior to me first seeing the car.)

Its really rainy now so i shall see if i cured the leak. also the sub isnt causing any problems for me now. That was definately a freak occurence, so we can stop talking about it.

That leaves the:
Tranny: Where can i find redline MT 90? i just used penzoil synchromesh because i couldnt find anything else and it had a generally good following here (that was before i started this thread.) I live in the metro area of MD/DC.

Brakes: ill get on that asap, might just be sticking a bit when letting go from the car sitting for a while. ill investigate further and start a new thread on brakes if i find a problem.

Window alignment: I think it is the 2 bolts holding the window to the slide. I wont know for sure till the weather calms down long enough to pull the panel. but from the immaginary axis that the window rotates on, the center or this rotation has to be from the 2 top bolts attaching the slide to the door, or the window to the slide. DSM 1g90, could you summarize what went on with your window when it was out of whack? (i have replaced a drivers window before, on a different car, but still, same cautious exercises here)

 

[DSM1G90]

Redline MT-90 can be found at NAPA Auto, Carquest Auto - any well-known parts stores ..(and not Autozone...gak)

DSM1G90, could you summarize what went on with your window when it was out of whack?

As with you, when (mine are powered windows..) the window would get 3/4 up the track, the leading edge would love to hang up somehow causing the window to tip forward making the trailing edge to run out of the track, thus having to rock the window up and down a bit along with holding the trailing edge so it would close flush.

I figured that the glass fell out of alignment with the holding bracket in the regulator (along with relubing the regulator's nylon track with Tri-Flo so it would run up and down better after I took the regulator out completely and gave it a good cleaning - nice thing about DSM's regulators is that it's cable driven with a spiral at the bottom to run both cables - not a plastic gear track or gear method as with some of the other makes..), in which, after I took the regulator out for the clean and lube and got the window mounted back in the riser bracket, I left all bolts loose until I could raise and lower the window without jamming by shifting both the regulator and window til it felt that it was in the middle of both tracks, then tighten the regulator's bolts first, gave the window another test until I knew that I was in the middle, then tightened down the window mounting bolts.

NOW, the big weak link in this whole chain is that the riser has nylon guides that runs in the track and these do get worn, which causes the out of alignment. Outside of heading to a yard and find a good regulator, one can realign the window and assembly to this wear so the window can still be in the middle of the required travel.

Yes, it sucks when things wear down, but as you can tell, they're not made to last forever...

Good luck and thx - DSM

 

[GSLENK]

thanks A lot for the description. mine are power windows and the symptoms sound the excact same.

On to the REAR WINDSHIELD Wiper GROMMET... Holy sheeeeeeee! I found one! in a dealership in CA. Just got it shipped over here to the east coast. Looks like I just bought myself about 10 more years of service out of my rear windshield wiper before i am forced by supply to pull it all out and patch the hole. Frikkin sweet!.
I will however have to patch the secondary, and maybe primary antanna holes while im at it, when the weather gets better, until then, duct tape has proven that its one of those 2 or probably both. I dont listen to the radio much but if i have to i find the antenna wire running inside the car to the back just as effective as the wire thing popping out of the car. Next warm day project, give the car a proper shave and maybe even a plastidip job...

Thanks for the pointers on everthing, my car should be like new in a week or so now. Aslo thanks for only poking fun at the sub and not chewing me a new ahole...

 

[DSM1G90]

I will however have to patch the secondary, and maybe primary antanna holes while im at it, when the weather gets better, until then, duct tape has proven that its one of those 2 or probably both.

Don't use duct tape- stuff all but dries out and flakes off in a quick.

Use electrical tape and stretch that tape well as you lay it over the hole.

When I got my Laser, some goon put a wing on it (and it was taken off when I got the car) and did a CRAPPY job of drilling the mounting holes in the deck. I sanded down the metal where the goon had drilled to flush with the metal and just laid a 4inch strip of electrical tape - tight - over the holes. Amazing how long that tape held until I found a hatch with a wiper to replace that fubared up deck (the heater tape was gone anywhos..) and repainted it to match the rest of the car.

Nah, I don't have the right to ream you a new one () , but thx anywhos. Good luck - DSM