Hey everyone,

Old fat white guy from Jersey here. Not really into the import scene but was a watercooled VW guy back in the '90's. Now I'm more of a traditional hotrod guy, I'm building a '29 Ford roadster pickup. I do like to tinker and work on my own cars when I can but as I get older (48) I am finding that I am becoming more of a cheapskate and buying older used cars as I am just not impressed with the new cars out today.

Lurked here a little to find out what to look for when I was looking at a 1998 CL 2.3 5spd. I really like the way it drives. It's smooth and comfortable and sporty enough without being a high profile ticket magnet.

I'm picking it up tomorrow and the first thing I have to do is get an alignment done and change the oil. Other than that I plan to keep mostly stock as I am going to use it as a DD.

Plan on continuing to lurk and take advantage of all the info here.

 

Welcome.

Sounds like my story. I'm 57 - bought a silver, 98 2.3, 5-speed in late 2009 and have put 80k miles on it myself. I've kept mine close to stock as well. It a great car

 

Thanks. I thought I got a pretty good deal at 2500.00 with 122K until I saw that someone got one with 44k for 2550 off craigslist in CT. Although I must say that anything driven those few miles would concern me. Wife had a civic that she only drove 9 miles a day and it literally fell apart from lack of use.

 

Welcome 2500 isn't bad at all.

 

Welcome from an even older guy.

 

 

lol were ALL young at heart if were on these boards...welcome welcome...

 

Welcome aboard!

 

Welcome, Not really a cop magnet car, most people don't know what it is if you debadge it.

 

Thanks. I used to have a Crown Vic, great car for a traveling salesman with the two body trunk. Had to get rid of it because of what I called the Crown Vic effect...everyone thinks your a cop even if it is light blue, alloy wheels and no window tint, single exhaust...leather interior too which was nice. They either slam on the brakes if you come up behind them on the highway or drive really frickin slow.

 

I picked up the car and went to get the alignment done as it pulls to the right and now I am told the caster in the front and rear is way off so it looks like either the suspension is bent or frame (hope not) will probable take it to a body shop to see if the frame is bent before going after suspension components. Going camping this weekend (not with the CL I have a '00 Cherokee) so won't get to it til next week.

The engine bay needs a lot of love but it looks like the belts were changed recently. I'll post a pict soon to to gross you out. I will probably start a new thread as I intend to use it to keep track of the stuff I need to do and want to do. It will be a sort of no build, build thread.

 

Congrats. I would keep it in here instead. If need be the mods can retitle the thread. This keep the forum tidy. But did you carfax the car?

 

welcome

 

I did carfax it and it was clean.

 

Picture of the nasty engine compartment and the soon to be gone aftermarket intake that sucks hot air from under the hood rather than cool air from inside the fender like the OE unit and is really loud and annoying on the highway. Anyone got and OE unit they don't need? Otherwise its off to Harry's U pull it in Hazelton PA to grab one.

 

Oh and I replaced the windshield wipers .

Still waiting on getting over to my mechanics so he can check out the suspension so the hard pull to the right can be fixed.

Drove it in the snow on Monday night... quite interesting, will be getting a set of snow tires for next season for sure.

 

Welcome brotha. I'm a newbie myself, hoping to get mod info nd cl fam lol

 

Went to Harry's U Pull it in Hazleton PA on Tues, man it was cold. They had a couple of CL's and a lot of Accords so I was able to get a stock airbox and piping for a whopping $12.32. I was also going to pull a valve cover but the wind was really strong and cold so I'll go back and get one later.

I love just walking around to see what they have but again it was too cold.

It is supposed to warm up this weekend so maybe I'll get to the airbox install but I'm really working hard on getting my A back together so it may have to wait.

I also changed the plugs, wires cap and rotor as they looked like they were original.

It's at my mechanics to check the cause of the pull and to get it up on lift to do a once over.

 

Finally got the airbox installed and the pull looks like it is due to tires as it went away when I rotated them. The tires are shot so I will be getting a new set soon. Had to replace the AC compressor so that blew the budget for tires for a while. Got to get to the ABS light, assuming its a sensor. The hood lip in front is rusting so the next time I am at the U pull it I going to see if I can grab one.

 

The ABS light is most likely a wheel speed sensor

 

Yeah thats what if figured, haven't had the chance to check the code.

I did pick up a factory service manual and it has answered a lot of my questions, its like the analog version of this forum.

 

FYI, its pretty easy to test the abs and get the codes. There's a blue two pin connector under the glove box that's plugged into a dummy socket. Remove that jump the pins and read the dash... I made that sound easy, but it only took me 15min to find all the info needed. Let me know if you need help. Mine was the accumulator seal, which is very expensive to fix and a common problem. I just opted to make the light go away and live with no abs, very cheap fix lol

 

Welcome from another FNG. And ps, this is the Internet. You can be whoever you want-any age, any body type, etc. So I'm a 22yr old male underwear model who hails from Bali. My tan is extra golden today.

 

Thanks. The connector is actually hanging down, mocking me, so obviously someone was messing with it.

 

Haven't done anything myself lately. But the A/C compressor needed to be replaced. I have been working on and putting my Avatar up for sale as I am not renewing the lease on the garage I rent.

She's running good, fingers crossed, so in the next few months it will be tires and the ABS sensor.

 

Used the A/C for the first time this past week, its been hot as hell. I need to get it checked again as the air is not really cold either in auto or manual mode. Too hot for anyting else but normal maintenance. Still need to get tires though.

Also time for a new Avatar courtesy of the 17 year Cicadas. They are gone now but were really noisy for two weeks. Seemed to be less of them than last time but since they only come out every 17 years its hard to remember.

 

Sounds like it needs a recharge, assuming it's getting slightly cold. If it's just hot air, than who knows. If you do it yourself, it's cheap and not hard. You can fill it and check for leaks.

Coming from someone that has the kit, but hasn't filled his corolla, because, eh, it's not that bad lol.

p.s. I've only seen a half dozen cicadas, I hear them, but that's about it this time around.

 

I'd guess you just need to get it recharged and it'll work fine. Did tires fix the pull issue for good or did it come back?

 

Hopefully needs a recharge and doesn't have a leak