I hauled this heap home today to use as a vehicle to teach the kids how to drive.
(introspective moment: Jesus... my kids... driving. Where did the time go? Time for a new adventure, together.)
The options I had on hand for this task prior to this were:
2021 Volkswagen GTI (DSG): Hah, as if, this is my wife's car and actually has resale value.
2004 Forester XT (manual): Nope. This is my car, despite Spawn2 thinking she'll get it some day.
2003 V8 4Runner (auto) with a 3" suspension lift: I wouldn't do that to the general public. This thing can cause mayhem.
1993 BMW 325is (manual): It's a crapcan that isn't exactly roadworthy at the moment. It's hopefully destined for a 20xx Challenge car someday.
So, I needed something that's not difficult to drive, isn't expensive to repair and isn't a rolling death trap for the drivers or passerby. The past few years have really berkeleyed the used car market up, so when this thing appeared on my feed, I messaged the seller right away, showed up when I said I would with cash in hand and wound up buying it. I feel like I over-payed a bit, but it was solidly in the middle range of "good" condition KBB value, which winds up being on the low end of actual transaction prices in my area.
Not to shabby looking, for a box on wheels.
The used flosser* was good for $250 off of the asking price, and the two pennies dropped the price by that much in actual, real world pennies.
The Witch Trial sticker covering the 3rd brake light will have to go, immediately.
WIth 228k miles on the clock, it's got a few issues. The alignment is a bit off, the seat has a known TSB level rocking issue, it's leaking oil from the valve cover, the E-brake doesn't hold terribly well, the suspension is a bit tired and the tires are a bit worn on the inside from the alignment issue. But the engine isn't knocking, the transmission shifts smooth, it's stable at highway speeds and it's not a rust bucket. Plus, I won't be tempted to teach the kids how to do a Scandiavian Flick in it, (yet) and my wife really seems to like the thing.
The first order of business will be to figure out all that's wrong with it, do all of the maintenance items (tune up, fluids, etc.) to start a fresh schedule and generally get it in the right condition for my kids to learn how to drive.
*Gross. Who does that?
I have had two Elements and thoroughly enjoyed them.
When you have that valve cover off, adjust the valves. Seriously.
Cousin_Eddie (Forum Supporter) said:
When you have that valve cover off, adjust the valves. Seriously.
Oh, right, that's a maintenance item on these. Thanks!
The car came with a maintenance type battery, and it was pretty low on water. I topped it off and put it on the trickle charger just to be able to move the Elemelon around, but I'm going to take everybody's advice and get a newer, stronger battery.
When I took the battery out, I found this suggestion of a mount. It wasn't a surprise at all, but it's not good.
They all do that.
I put motor mounts in both my Elements. The first one I used OEM and it was pricey. The last one I used Rockauto aftermarket ones. Very cheap and seemed to work about as well.
Put in the new AGM battery, rated for a bit more amperage than stock. Funny thing is that the non-AGM batteries were rated for 500 amps. Hope I made the right call, there.
Dropped my dielectric grease down behind the radiator and found out that the way the undertray and body panels snap together makes sense. NIce.
Found this neat Gear Wrench (10mm, of course) that's been there long enough that the gear mechanism is a bit frozen. New micro-project aquired!
I also got the 10 day tag from NC so I can drive it enough to set all of the codes and possibly pass inspection. While putting that on, I found that the old license plate screws have become one with this hatch door. Which is odd; I'm used to there being plastic inserts there versus welded metal. This'll be fun to try and drill out.
Just came here to commiserate on the young 'uns learning to drive. My kid just got his learner's permit and I took him out for the first time driving in my Rav4. We survived. He thinks he'll be driving my Porsche soon. He is mistaken...
In reply to Brett_Murphy (Agent of Chaos) :
Add deep creep, wd-40, or your penetrating fluid of choice, then heat it up with a heat gun. Drill out with a lefty bit.
Nice find! That motor mount is rather impressive in it's lack of mounting action....I assume the kids will be participating in the maintenance shenanigans as well? Fortunately I've blocked out most of the driver training horrors. I still want to get my 19y/o daughter into a street survival school this spring/summer.
I was messing around with my daughter's 2011 Civic this morning putting in a new head unit, and almost did the same thing with one of the license plate bolts. Fortunately I got them off, ran a tap thru, and slathered on a crap ton of antisieze with stainless bolts when I put the plate back on.
Recon1342 said:
In reply to Brett_Murphy (Agent of Chaos) :
Add deep creep, wd-40, or your penetrating fluid of choice, then heat it up with a heat gun. Drill out with a lefty bit.
That's the general plan. I'm just worried about how much heat I can put on it, since it's part of the hatch, which is cladded in plastic. I'm going to have to be really targeted and focused with the heat.
XLR99 (Forum Supporter) said:
I assume the kids will be participating in the maintenance shenanigans as well?
Correct. They're not terribly enthusiastic about it right now, since it's cold, but they understand how it will help later on. Some of their friends are interested in helping out and learning a bit, too. Which is good.
More helping hands and eyes are always welcome, especially when they're attached to kids who all have functional knees and backs.
Seat rock issue fixed.
One of the old bushings on the left, and a new bushing on the right.
Brett_Murphy (Agent of Chaos) said:
I got this thing to pass inspection, and it was time to put on the license plate. These was not fun to drill out, they were a huge pain. I think the old bolts are only coming out when they finally rust out. I won't go into how aggravating it was, other than to say I wound up running a self-tapping screws into the holes I made in the old bolts.
I also got all new driveline mounts and a ton of suspension parts, pretty much just copying what Tom did in his Element refresh.
The rest of the suspension is about the same.
I spent a part of the weekend throwing the parts cannon at everything, and have only managed to snap a few bolts so far. The ABS sensors were stuck in there really well, too, and went to pieces when I tried to remove them.
I knew it was going to be a more difficult project than the Southern cream puffs I'm used to now, but it's reminding me why I avoid Rust Belt cars, even if they're "not that bad."
It's raining today, so any major work on the Elemelon is on hold. I didn't want to let that completely stop me, so following the GRM philosophy that "any work on a project is better than none," I went ahead and got the knuckles ready to go back on the car, since I can do that on the workbench and it takes less than an hour.
My wife keeps eyeballing this thing as a Girl Scout mover, too. The GTI works well for local stuff, and she doesn't love the 4Runner, as she thinks it's too big. To be fair, she isn't a tall person, so she pretty much has to climb up into it, and it has no backup camera or anything. In truth, she just prefers smaller, more nimble vehicles, which is fine. The Element may slot perfectly into the small enough to not aggravate her and big enough to carry all of the Girl Scout stuff.
I've decided to keep an eye out on LKQ and some other sites to see if I can pick some Southern parts (knuckles, etc.) to swap out for the functional but ratty Northern ones.
The Element rattles and ticks over sharp bumps. This happens from all corners, but seems most pronounced in the front. The engine mounts looked good, other than the one I replaced.
I'm thinking maybe swaybar mounts?
The Element is still rattling. It's been a very low priority.
Today I took it in to get inspected. It failed for a leaking power steering pump. I knew it was leaking, but I never (not once) thought it would fail for that. I guess I'll be installing a new line here, soon.
End links front and rear fixed most of my Element's suspension noises.
In reply to Cousin_Eddie (Forum Supporter) :
New end links are what might be causing the clank. The previous end link had come apart, and it only started doing it after I put new ones on. I greased the bushings this morning, but haven't driven it yet.
In the minor win category, I didn't need a new line, I just needed to give the clamp about a turn and a half to tighten it up.
Yay, the Element passed inspection.
