What did you do to your S-Series today...

[Waiex191]

This was actually a few days ago - returned my '98 SC2 to service. We sold the 2008 Mazda. To get the SC2 going again, I did the following:
1) charged the battery
2) put in 3 gallons of gas
3) started it up
4) drove it some

It's been sitting since spring and hasn't been driven a lot since I was sent to work from home March of 2020. I think I parked it fall of 2020.

My wife has been driving it to work since we sold her Mazda. I'm going to sell our rusty truck and then buy her some sort of SUV thing. Then the SC2 will be mine again. Not that I drive much.

But, it has been really nice to drive a Saturn again, especially with the 5 speed.

[El_bell]

Replaced the main dash frame in my 97. My old one had been cracking above the passenger side airbag for a while now. The local yard finally had a Saturn to grab a complete dash from to replace mine with. The front pad does technically come off of the dash frame but it’s held on with rivets. The FSM doesn’t even mention removing the pad from the dash frame, so I’m guessing Saturn doesn’t expect the pad to be replaced separately anyway. Wasn’t to hard of a swap, just took a while with all the things that have to be removed first. Looks way better than before though imo. No cracks and the seam actually lines up without a gap now. Dash squeaks and rattles seem to be pretty much non existent for now but I’m guessing those will return over time

[bumpdraft]

Changed the transmission mount and checked the Diff Pin. https://imgur.com/a/E9ktwSk

[V3DT]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZXYxnIuKoM

Put a camera under my car to check the wheels & suspension.

[Waiex191]

I put a hitch on the SC2.

[mistahsnowman]

Replaced the brake lines and now will be ordering new rear wheel cylinders and rear brake parts since the rear bleeder screws are completely rusted away!

[Waiex191]

I used my trailer hitch for the first time today.

[ErikTande]

Originally Posted by Waiex191

I used my trailer hitch for the first time today.

that's awesome

[Blueboy]

Replaced the horn on the '98 auto SL2.

This is the second time it failed. The first time was about 5 years ago and it failed "On", and was replaced with a horn from the junkyard.

About a month ago the junkyard horn failed "Off", and today it was replaced with a new oem horn from RockAuto (and it works good).

Also from RockAuto received two oem type Saturn oil filters.

Didn't get a magnet from them for some reason.

[A2Saturn]

Installed new Denso spark plug wires and stock NGK spark plugs. I had installed new plugs about 1500 miles ago. After that install, there was bucking of the engine and a slight misfire at various times. The wire on the #2 cylinder had some corrosion on it, and I noticed the #1 spark plug had oil on it.
The car is running so much better with the new components installed. It looks like a new valve cover gasket is the next part to be replaced with the leakage found.

[Goggles Pisano]

Read a thread on wiper blades and fetchitfido mentioned using 24" and 20" blades instead of 22" and 21", so I thought,"Why not?" and replaced mine.

[El_bell]

Originally Posted by Goggles Pisano

Read a thread on wiper blades and fetchitfido mentioned using 24" and 20" blades instead of 22" and 21", so I thought,"Why not?" and replaced mine.

Ditto! My passenger side wiper has been kind bad for a while now and thought this size might be worth a try. Really happy with how they work. It's a nice little improvement to the drivers side without really hindering the passenger side at all.

[ultravioletnk]

Originally Posted by Waiex191

I used my trailer hitch for the first time today.

haha, that could be janus aside from the wheels! gotta love seeing a coupe towing, it's not the usual image people associate with the body style :3

[ultravioletnk]

got the rear disc suspension swapped into phoebe. it went well overall except i rounded off the brake line flare nuts and since i couldn't find a flaring tool for iso bubble flares in town i had to just torque them down onto the new suspension with vise grips. jank af but well, i'm confident they're well attached and sealed, no issues there after bleeding the lines. perhaps once i have a proper flaring tool (i did order a set!) i'll go back and replace them with new nuts.

however! i'm starting to understand why my professional mechanic friend never has anything good to say about dorman. someone had ruined one of the parking brake cables on my donor suspension, so i just ordered a pair off rockauto thinking they'd be fine... well lo and behold the dorman cables i got are about 2mm too short! even with the parking brake adjustment at its loosest, the brakes drag a bit. i'm not sure what i'm going to do about it yet but i'm really coming to understand said friend's complaints about aftermarket replacement parts being garbage. if only we could still readily source saturn oe these days....

[El_bell]

Fluids and filters done today before the winter. Engine oil was last done in May about 3k miles ago and trans fluid was last done the end of 2018/15k miles ago. (After previously not being done for the last 18 years/~70k miles)

Castrol GTX Magnatec 5w-30 for the oil + OE filter
Walmart Super Tech Dex/Merc used for the tans fluid + red eBay filter

[SRGW]

Changed oil and filter 1997 SL1. Out Walmart Synthetic 10w30 and Purolator 20195. In Walmart Synthetic 10w30 and Purolator 20195. Filled up windshield washer checked trans fluid, brake fluid and power steering fluid. All OK!! Ready for winter weather.

1995 SL1 236,300 2005>2018
1997 SL1 93,700 2014>????
CHECK YOUR OIL!!

[SRGW]

Car ran perfect yesterday. This morning 38 degrees and no start, battery OK, no spark. Changed CPS and now OK. When I had my 1995 the CPS failed the same way, no warning.

1995 SL1 236,300 2005>2018
1997 SL1 93,800 2014>????
CHECK YOUR OIL!!

[PrestonIII]

This past Wednesday:

I replaced the instrument cluster with a wrecking yard part after substituting in my original odometer into the replacement to keep my mileage correct. My original speedometer had failed with a burnt circuit board. I had the junkyard cluster already, having purchased it 4 years ago while looking for good odometer gears (no luck with that back then: bought new parts from Europe at the time on ebay).

Since the top was off the dash, I replaced a Keyless Entry system that I had installed a few years back. That previous system just quit responding to the remote. Plus it had been installed in 3 previous cars before ending up in the Saturn. I bought a new system on ebay and wired it into the existing wires from the previous system.

On Saturday (today):

I replaced the upper engine mount (which had split it's rubber part) with a heavy duty part purchased on ebay. Well worth the effort! Less vibration, and smoother operation!

I put new front brake pads on my car. In the process, one of the brake slider pins broke off inside the caliper mounting bracket as I tried to remove it. So I ended up buying new caliper brackets, new pins, and new pin seals. Now the brake pedal is MUCH more firm, I'm guessing because the caliper was flexing around the frozen pin when I pushed the pedal. Now it's not flexing.

Preston

[El_bell]

Sprayed some of my favorite anti rust juice on the rear door sills and trailing arms. It has worked great on keeping the door sill rust from spreading the last couple of years and I'm hoping it will work just at well for the trailing arms mounts. Gave the parking brake mechanism some as well since I've read they are a known weak point for these cars up north.

[Waiex191]

I'm using my hitch again.

My kid is home for Thanksgiving and his SL2 is in the background.