Another Canadian has signed up
#1
01-27-2009, 11:07 AM
Another Canadian has signed up
Hello all!
I'm from near Montreal, Quebec, Canada (the cold North!). I don't own a Monte myself but my girlfriend has a 5th gen '95 LS, with ~170000 km (105000 miles). She bought it 2 years ago to replace her crashed Honda Accord. Previous owner was a mechanic, but as I told my girlfriend, it means nothing when buying a used car. :p
While I'm not a mechanic, I like to tinker with my cars and fix 'em myself (with a lot of help from manuals, internet and my dad). I always owned Volkswagens though (currently a Jetta TDI), so I'm much more used to "german engineering" and that's why I subscribed here. GMs may be simple to work on, but you gotta get used to it first and know the particular bits & tricks (like every makes). I'd like to do some preventive/normal maintenance on the Monte to cut down repair costs, and learn the common weak spots to check 'em out before they break. I may not post much, but I read/search a lot don't worry!
The car had a few hacks done to it by the PO:
ABS deactivated (was told it was useless/borderline dangerous (in Winter) anyway - if it's like the late 90's Cavaliers, I agree)
Headlight switch override - lights are always on with ignition, no matter on the light switch setting.
The secondary radiator fan doesn't come on automatically anymore. Driver must toggle a switch way in the lower dash when/if temperature rises. I don't remember the reason behind this.
The poor Monte has had its share of problems in the cooling system area. Various coolant losses, had to change a few gaskets, and there's still a brown crust in the overflow tank after 3 flushes (GM dealer). Maybe Dexcool related? I don't know, I'll have to check the engine version (I heard the "plastic intake manifold" one is more prone to troubles, right?). Now the temperature gauge only rise halfway to normal temp (which means no cabin heat in Winter). Could it be the thermostat? It sometimes smells of coolant on startups too.
Otherwise, it's in good shape and pulling strong.
Oh well, sorry for the long introduction. I'm glad there's a forum related to these cars (not only the real deal, older, classic Monte Carlos like I thought first), I already found some infos here and may have some questions soon. See ya later!
I'm from near Montreal, Quebec, Canada (the cold North!). I don't own a Monte myself but my girlfriend has a 5th gen '95 LS, with ~170000 km (105000 miles). She bought it 2 years ago to replace her crashed Honda Accord. Previous owner was a mechanic, but as I told my girlfriend, it means nothing when buying a used car. :p
While I'm not a mechanic, I like to tinker with my cars and fix 'em myself (with a lot of help from manuals, internet and my dad). I always owned Volkswagens though (currently a Jetta TDI), so I'm much more used to "german engineering" and that's why I subscribed here. GMs may be simple to work on, but you gotta get used to it first and know the particular bits & tricks (like every makes). I'd like to do some preventive/normal maintenance on the Monte to cut down repair costs, and learn the common weak spots to check 'em out before they break. I may not post much, but I read/search a lot don't worry!
The car had a few hacks done to it by the PO:
ABS deactivated (was told it was useless/borderline dangerous (in Winter) anyway - if it's like the late 90's Cavaliers, I agree)
Headlight switch override - lights are always on with ignition, no matter on the light switch setting.
The secondary radiator fan doesn't come on automatically anymore. Driver must toggle a switch way in the lower dash when/if temperature rises. I don't remember the reason behind this.
The poor Monte has had its share of problems in the cooling system area. Various coolant losses, had to change a few gaskets, and there's still a brown crust in the overflow tank after 3 flushes (GM dealer). Maybe Dexcool related? I don't know, I'll have to check the engine version (I heard the "plastic intake manifold" one is more prone to troubles, right?). Now the temperature gauge only rise halfway to normal temp (which means no cabin heat in Winter). Could it be the thermostat? It sometimes smells of coolant on startups too.
Otherwise, it's in good shape and pulling strong.
Oh well, sorry for the long introduction. I'm glad there's a forum related to these cars (not only the real deal, older, classic Monte Carlos like I thought first), I already found some infos here and may have some questions soon. See ya later!
#2
01-27-2009, 12:25 PM
Monte Of The Month -- August 2009
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Highland, IN
Posts: 5,827
RE: Another Canadian has signed up
Welcome. It looks like you have your hands full. Good luck.
#3
02-04-2009, 06:48 AM
RE: Another Canadian has signed up
Welcome to the forum from the southern partof Canada. Windsor, Ontario. (We barely qualify as Canadian. LOL)
You really do have your hands full with that one.
Something I learned about professional mechanics: A lot of them don't spend much time on their daily driver. Simple reason. Working on their own car doesn't make them any money and put food on the table.
You really do have your hands full with that one.
Something I learned about professional mechanics: A lot of them don't spend much time on their daily driver. Simple reason. Working on their own car doesn't make them any money and put food on the table.
#5
02-06-2009, 02:21 PM
RE: Another Canadian has signed up
Eheh, thanks for the welcome. Bah, the car runs without trouble, the PO's hacks per se are just annoyances (mostly the fan switch, I mean try to find a way to explain its use and how important it is to a girlfriend 
) that I don't plan to fix. I just hate trying to fix other person's mess (true in computer as well) when I don't know how they did it.
The ABS, I don't know, maybe just a fuse has been pulled. *shrug* No idiot light about it. Maybe I'll investigate, but my gf isn't used to ABS and would freak out when it engages anyways. Heck, she cringes on her seat when she hears my car's ABS working while I'm driving. "What the hell was that?" with an undertone of "I hope your car isn't going to fall out in pieces!"
True thing for mechanic's cars though. My dad has had his air-cooled VW repair shop for 30 years now, and his own cars weren't always top shape (though he had some gems at some times).
) that I don't plan to fix. I just hate trying to fix other person's mess (true in computer as well) when I don't know how they did it.The ABS, I don't know, maybe just a fuse has been pulled. *shrug* No idiot light about it. Maybe I'll investigate, but my gf isn't used to ABS and would freak out when it engages anyways. Heck, she cringes on her seat when she hears my car's ABS working while I'm driving. "What the hell was that?" with an undertone of "I hope your car isn't going to fall out in pieces!"
True thing for mechanic's cars though. My dad has had his air-cooled VW repair shop for 30 years now, and his own cars weren't always top shape (though he had some gems at some times).
#6
02-06-2009, 02:54 PM
RE: Another Canadian has signed up
welcome sry to hear about ur problems! coolant smell and no heat? have u ever had the heater core checked out? often times if u can smell collant in the passanger compartment the heat core is leaking. also with the sludge it could actually b plugged. the thermostat could b the cause of ur no heat as well. take the thermostat out and put it in a pot on the stove and heat the water up. c what temperature it opens at (or if it is always open or never does) this is an easy test to diagnose ur tstat. i actually like the idea of the lights being on constantly. i have considered doin this myself on my monte.
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