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Welcome! The next post (long post warning!) contains an updated version of my "Laundry List" post. I've had some time to consider what I wanted to do with the car and what needs to be done immediately. This list is the result. I'm planning to update this post as things get done or get added to the list.
Please feel free to comment, share your knowledge, share links, or ignore as you see fit!
Driver's side door
R̵̷̵e̵̷̵p̵̷̵l̵̷̵a̵̷̵c̵̷̵e̵̷̵ ̵̷̵w̵̷̵i̵̷̵n̵̷̵d̵̷̵o̵̷̵w̵̷̵ ̵̷̵r̵̷̵e̵̷̵g̵̷̵u̵̷̵l̵̷̵a̵̷̵t̵̷̵o̵̷̵r ̵̷̵ ̵̷̵(̵̷̵w̵̷̵a̵̷̵i̵̷̵t̵̷̵i̵̷̵n̵̷̵g̵̷̵ ̵̷̵f̵̷̵o̵̷̵r̵̷̵ ̵̷̵p̵̷̵a̵̷̵r̵̷̵t̵̷̵)̵̷̵
A̵d̵j̵u̵s̵t̵ ̵w̵i̵n̵d̵o̵w̵.̵
̵W̵h̵i̵l̵e̵ ̵i̵t̵'̵s̵ ̵a̵p̵a̵r̵t̵ ̵t̵h̵i̵s̵ ̵t̵i̵m̵e̵,̵ ̵P̵M̵ ̵a̵n̵d̵ ̵r̵e̵c̵o̵n̵n̵e̵c̵t̵ ̵t̵h̵e̵ ̵l̵o̵c̵k̵ ̵a̵c̵t̵u̵a̵t̵o̵r.
R̵e̵p̵l̵a̵c̵e̵ ̵c̵o̵u̵r̵t̵e̵s̵y̵ ̵l̵i̵g̵h̵t̵ ̵a̵s̵s̵e̵m̵b̵l̵y̵.̵
S̵w̵i̵t̵c̵h̵ ̵t̵h̵e̵ ̵m̵a̵p̵ ̵l̵i̵g̵h̵t̵ ̵f̵o̵r̵ ̵a̵ ̵b̵l̵u̵e̵ ̵L̵E̵D̵ ̵o̵r̵ ̵f̵i̵n̵d̵ ̵a̵ ̵b̵l̵u̵e̵ ̵l̵a̵m̵p̵.̵
̵ ̵I̵n̵s̵t̵a̵l̵l̵ ̵n̵e̵w̵ ̵s̵o̵u̵n̵d̵ ̵b̵l̵a̵n̵k̵e̵t̵ ̵a̵t̵ ̵r̵e̵a̵s̵s̵e̵m̵b̵l̵y̵.
Get a replacement for the missing long screw.
Passenger's
D̵i̵s̵a̵s̵s̵e̵m̵b̵l̵e̵ ̵d̵o̵o̵r̵ ̵a̵n̵d̵ ̵P̵M̵ ̵a̵n̵d̵ ̵t̵h̵e̵ ̵l̵o̵c̵k̵ ̵s̵y̵s̵t̵e̵m̵.̵
̵ ̵A̵d̵j̵u̵s̵t̵ ̵w̵i̵n̵d̵o̵w̵.̵
̵ ̵S̵w̵i̵t̵c̵h̵ ̵t̵h̵e̵ ̵m̵a̵p̵ ̵l̵i̵g̵h̵t̵ ̵f̵o̵r̵ ̵a̵ ̵b̵l̵u̵e̵ ̵L̵E̵D̵ ̵/̵ ̵l̵a̵m̵p̵.̵
̵ ̵I̵n̵s̵t̵a̵l̵l̵ ̵n̵e̵w̵ ̵s̵o̵u̵n̵d̵ ̵b̵l̵a̵n̵k̵e̵t̵ ̵a̵t̵ ̵r̵e̵a̵s̵s̵e̵m̵b̵l̵y̵.̵
Get a replacement for the missing long screw.
Speaker / Amplifier (Driver's side rear) (Low priority but so far it's not costing anything)
I took this apart on 11/2 and it looks like the speaker is good. There's no sign of water infiltration and the speaker looks brand new. Perhaps this weekend, I'll swap sides for speaker and amp to ensure that it's not a wiring issue. If it's the amp, cost will be at least $139 + $18 unless I can find a used one.
Glove box switch
One of the prawls is broken. I may be able to repair it with a touch of CA glue, but if I can find one cheap, it's worth doing.
Center console light flashes on and off. Probably the switch needs cleaned.
Weather strip and door seals.
This really needs to be done before the snow flies. It's going to be a make-do-with-the-cheapest-set-possible as the good ones are approaching $1000. There's a seven piece set eBay for less than $300. I need to find the door seals that I already have and see which is what.
Tach
Need to find my research. I've asked for some advice on the Corvette Forum and CAC regarding this issue but, IIRC, I can remove the tach-filter and wire around it. This might be the best course as the tach started working when I was pawing around the filter last week.
Opti plug
Mousie damage. I taped the bare wires. But should probably run some new ones at some point.
Targa top needs replaced or relensed. ($300)
Detail Engine compartment
IRAN Shock actuators
IRAN Shocks
Radio mod
This is a winter project. I think the mod is the way to go until I can afford to get a replacement system with an android OS. It has minimal cost. The idea is the make an insert for the cassette door and mount a USB power outlet and a 1/8" mini plug there. The power can be split off the radio power or perhaps pulled from the cassette player itself but I think I'll need to step it down to 5ish volts. The 1/8" plug will be wired in from the tape head wires
Repair Hole in driver's seat leather. No idea how. Need to look at options.
Antenna repair and PMs.
The long term goal is to replace the whole shooting match with something internal. (Ugly. Looks like an afterthought when deployed.)
The new mast has not retracted all the way since I installed it. The instructions suggested that there was still a piece of the plastic antenna guide that was blocking the proper operation. I need to find the wrench and pull the mast out and then perhaps pull whole mechanism out and find the problem. While it's apart, I can clean and wax the mast.
Buff out nose and tail
Sun visors need replaced or rebuilt.
Remote start
The original PKE system was replaced with a remote starter system. I have one fob the works and one that doesn't for that system. The system is working again but there is an issue in that the remote start occasionally sounds the horn randomly. Need to look into why it does that and the expense of updating / replacing the system.
Track down which remote start system is in the car and re-program that remote that hasn't worked since I got the car.
Install BT ALDL box. (Got the part. Need to get power to the ALDL. Winter project.)
See if the PKE fob still works.
Last edited by gdgeorge; 11-27-2017 at 10:04 PM.
Reason: Added another project or two.
Begin Install BT ALDL box. I purchased a Red River Bluetooth box, and installed it under the driver's side knee bolster. I've posted in another thread about the power issues. I think that in the long run, I'll pull pin-g from the DLC and use that to power the thing. For now, I'm using a USB cable from the cigar lighter. It's a bit problematic as it's really ugly and the plug tends to lose contact, but it's working well enough that I can get ALDLDroid set up. I'm seeing some issues with connection, lots of checksum errors and it's not connecting every time, and those are next on the trouble shooting list.
Worked on Speaker / Amplifier (Driver's side rear)
I completely disassembled the audio system in the way-back yesterday. The driver's side amp has pretty much got to be the issue as, when I switched the two amps amps around, the one from the left side still didn't work. The speaker is fine. It's interesting that that driver's side amp looks to be in good condition. That is there's no sign of arcing or blown parts. In fact, there's no indication at all, beyond the fact that it's not coming on, that would indicate that anyone let the magic blue smoke out.
The good news is that I found a couple of posts indicating that I can use amps from several model years of the Infinity Q30 or the Nissan Maxima. Those are easier to find, and apparently much less expensive. I'm headed to a couple of junkyards within a week or so to see what I can find.
Repaired Driver's side courtesy light. (Done)
This turned out to be a simple fix when I discovered the missing piece in the garage! I was pleased to see a) that I hadn't thrown it away as I thought, and b) I knew what it was this time!
Struck another item off the list today! It looks like I cleared the 76 (Lateral Accelerometer out of range. Long post follows...
"Man, these cars are a weird mixture or electric and electronic technologies"
Issue: Service ABS and Service ASR lights illuminating regularly.
Initially pulling the codes showed a 72 (history) and 76 (current) set. On clearing the codes, a test drive saw only the 76 reset. This was not a surprise as the issue has been around since I got the car.
Troubleshoot DTC 76 (Lateral accelerometer out of range.)
The lateral accelerometer measures yaw rate (lateral g force) in cornering and feeds the data into the ASR system. DTC 76 sets when the lateral accelerometer data departs from an accepted range for more than 7.5 minutes. When 76 is set, the ABS and ASR systems shut down and will not function until the code is cleared. Non-antilock breaking (i.e. old school Chevy power brakes) is still operational).
The lateral accelerometer uses a Hall effect sensor (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hall_effect_sensor) that measures yaw rate as deviation from a voltage which represents 0 G (about 2.5 volts). Turning to the left pitches the LA to the right and causes the voltage to drop. Turning to the right causes the LA to pitch to the left and the voltage to increase. The harder the turn, the more deviation. These deviation is translated to g-force for the ASR system to interpret. (Note: Bosch literature indicates that later model sensors can differentiate between normal yaw rates and breaking the rear end of the car loose but I'm not clear that the ASR works that way. I think it works by measuring wheel speed...)
Armed with this knowledge and the FSM chart, troubleshooting was straightforward.
Step 1. Monitor the LA output voltage. I think that you can do this from the console on the 93, but I used a MasterTech 3100 with the GM Chassis cartridge.
Switch Off and connect the MT.
Switch On:
Turn on the MT
Load the Tech 1 cartridge. (F0)
Access the Chassis app. (F1)
Enter the year, type, and fourth letter from the VIN at the prompts
Select ABS ASR
Select Data
Right Arrow until the LA voltage appears.
(You can also hit RCV for an extended data list but it is limited to the G readings.)
Since the engine is not running and you're not turning, the voltage should be 2.55-2.85 (indicating 0 G)
Problem 1: My car was reading 1.33
Step 2. Disassemble enough of the center console to access the LA. It's under the radio.
Switch off.
Disconnect the ground at the battery. (Don't ignore this! You'll be pulling the Cigar Lighter and it's got power even with the key off.)
Set the parking brake as you'll want to be able to put the shifter in different positions. Mine's an automatic but the FSM pix for a manual look similar.
Remove the shifter button by carefully prying it up. I started in the back and then worked my way around until it popped free.
Remove the shifter ****
Pull the snap ring inside the ****. It takes a fairly long set of snap ring pliers to do this.
Work the **** free. I put a bit of WD40 in to act as a penetrating oil and the **** came free.
Remove the Console Trim Plate
Remove three screws, one under the rubber drink holder, and two under the carpet in the Center Console Compartment.
Slide the Trim Plate back and then disconnect the lighter, automatic shifter light, and the accessory plug harness.
Remove the Center HVAC difussor by pulling two Torx head screws, one on either side.
Expose the LA by removing the Accessory Trim Plate.
Pull one bolt on top (under where the diffusor was) and two from the bottom.
The FSM says to pull the Radio Control, but I didn't have to.
Remove the two bolts holding the LA in place.
Step 3
Reconnect the battery.
MT reconnected
Switch on.
Roll the LA to the right 90 degrees. (Right side down.)
Check voltage. Should be 1.05 - 1.35v.
Here's where it went wrong for me. The reading was correct. And when I checked the voltage with the unit straight up it was functioning as advertised.
Step 4.
Roll the LA 180 degrees to the left. (Left side down.)
Check voltage. Should be 3.5.
It's right. Again. At this point the LA appears to be fully functional. I swapped the new-to-me one in and it functioned identically.
Step 5. Carefully inspect the wiring and look for intermittant issues as I "wiggle test" each wire. No dice.
At this point it was too dark to work so I put stuff away for the night and picked up with step 6 the next day.
Step 6. Test drive and see if the code re-sets.
I did and it did. Not only that, the LA showed 1.1 volts again, sitting still, rather the 2.55-2.85 range. Further, when I moved it around, the reading did not change.
Bingo! I replaced the LA.
My son and I "test-drove" about 20 miles of nice, twisty roads.
DIC remained silent (except for the Sevice SRS light-- but that's for some other time.)
Tomorrow, I'll put things back together. I'll keep an eye on it, but right now it looks solved.
My thanks to Hib Halverson, RobWav1 on the CAC, and the other folks from here who chimed in on this issue.
Your speaker amp may just need new capacitors. If you're handy soldering and de-soldering on circuit boards, you may be able to repair the bad one and service the others pretty cheaply.
This afternoon, I sat down and put the driver's side door back together after replacing the window regulator yesterday. Then it was time to sit down and spend some time grading student work... And then the mail arrived with my new shock gear from Captain Z.
Fireworks. Bells ringing. Banners flying. What could I do but install it?
I opened up the hood, popped the actuator off! If you haven't been into one of these yet, let me tell you: the retaining pin that holds the gear onto the shock is small. Really small. I mean it is so small I had to go outside... Well, you get the idea. I used a small allen wrench from precision screwdriver set as a drift pin, paying careful attention to not losing that little pin. I carefully tapped the allen wrench when it got to the point that I could no longer push easily by hand.
Almost there... (Now, you all know what's coming next.)
Despite my "light" taps, when the pin came loose, it went flying. Or so it seemed. Actually, it fell down into the actuator cup and was quite easy to find once I calmed down and stopped searching the next block over. I managed to dig it out with an awl.
But then the fun really began. You never realize just how large your hands are until trying to replace something like this. It rapidly became clear to me that doing it by hand wasn't going to get it. So I switched to a pair of needle nose pliers. I carefully put the pin into the plier jaws and was carefully getting ready to attempt to insert it into the gear on the shock when I noticed how much slop there was in the jaws of the <sproing!>
This time I know, roughly, where the pin landed. Even so, man, that's a tiny pin in a large driveway. At one point I thought about trying to replace the pin with a piece of paperclip but that proved just as problematic as the pin, so I went back and found the pin.
Needle nose pliers take two... And I dropped the pin into the actuator cup. Yep, those hands *are* mighty large. And how is it that my fingers are suddenly twice as large as my hand?
This time the awl wouldn't pick the pin up. My magnet was too large to get anywhere near the pin, but once I discovered that a steel nail (and not a number of other things!) stuck to the magnet, could reach where my suddenly gargantuan fingers couldn't, it worked nicely to retrieve the pin and the bits of paperclip that had suffered the same fate.
Switched out the needle nose pliers for a set of slip-joint and... Hmm. Dropped it pretty fast that time. And watched it bounce its merry little way between the tire and the inner fender all the way to halfway under the car.
By now, I'm used to looking for the little devil, you understand, so it took mere minutes to find.
Turns out the trick seems to be to start the pin through the gear before you mount the gear on the shock. This way, the thing goes right together. Problem solved, right?
Wrong. So here, the FSM failed me. The instructions note that you shouldn't need a lot of force to reseat the actuator and that there should be an audible "click". Nothing about how to line up the gear before mounting the actuator. Well, I got nothing. Nary a click nor anything else for that matter. I did finally get the thing to seat well enough to get the retaining ring to retain the actuator, so that's something...
I get in. I start the car. Systems do their thing and come online and (drum roll, please): the DIC is dark! No warnings, nothing!
Then I went over to talk to my neighbor for a bit, and when I came back the Service Ride System lit back up. <sigh>
So I pulled the new codes and got:
14 -- Maybe I didn't get the actuator mounted properly. Hopefully, that's it as I'd rather not have to rebuild actuators yet.
23 -- probably not anything but rather from when I was turning the key off and on working on the regulator.
32 -- Actuator out of position. This is new. But 32 is the right front, which is the one on which I just replaced the gear.
So, my friends, my question to you is: how to properly align and install the actuator once the new gear is in place? All tips welcome!
Thanks,
Jerry
Edit: as I was putting up my tools, I found the pin that I installed when I replaced the gear... What, you say? I'm wondering if perhaps the pin broke in two when the gear broke or somehow wound up in two pieces? I'll look at it again tomorrow and see if I installed only part of the pin, in which case, I'll tap in the left-over piece, assuming that I can get it started. If I do that successfully, do you suppose it will stress the new gear?
Edit 2: Started the car this morning and everything come online nicely. Drove about 20 miles to work and no DIC lights. Still going to check the pin on the passenger front shock actuator at some point. Actually, if I can find a replacement, I'll just straight out replace it.
In other news, I can check the Driver's side window regulator off the list. It took way too long to get here but was worth the price. Install was pretty easy following the FSM instructions. Took two tries and I don't have one of the bottom bolts in. But it works for now and it will do until I have to take the door apart again.
Note: adding L&R lock actuators to the list. I cleaned everything up and still couldn't get the driver's side one to work without multiple tries.
Nice looking car. I just turned mine over 60,000 miles. My dad was the second owner and inherited it.
FYI, the speakers in back are easy to get to. It's 6 screws, I think, to pull the conver, and then four to pull the box. The amps (1 per speaker) are attached to the box. Replacement speakers are available and the Amps can be rebuilt or replaced, or perhaps sourced used. (The ones from certain Maximas and Infinities will fit as well, although their tuning is slightly different so I'm told to replace both sides at the same time.
I'm debating what I'm going to do as the driver's side rear is not working. (Process of elimination: swapped the passenger side box over and it worked. Swapped speakers and the driver's side work on the passenger's side.) I'm either going to replace the whole kit-n-kaboodle or just fix the amp and just replace the head unit. There look to be some drop in replacement touchscreen | Android head units for between one and two hundred dollars. I'm not in a hurry though.
11-03-2017, 02:08 PM
Jerry's 1993 Ruby Project
