Late '99 SEL; Crimson Blaze; Automatic; non-ABS

First I found that my coolant overflow tank is odd ... it's a 5th Gen tank.

Now, I purchase a FSTB but can't install it due to the location of an empty, what appears to be a mounting post/bracket for some component.

Do all of you other 4th Gen guys have this little guy mounted on your driver side strut tower?

 

yes, i have that bracket as well. jesus your engine bay is clean, does it never go out in the rain?? how many miles do you have on maxy??

 

Well Son of a Bi*ch then ...

False friggin advertising on my GD tower brace.

Yes it sees rain. I drive it daily. It's just that the motor gets washed when the car gets washed. You don't neglect to wash your a*s crack when you shower do you?

Exactly 137,500 as it sits in the garage.

Your compliment is very much appreciated BTW.

 

My 99' had the same bracket. I wound up taking a mini sledge hammer and a chisel to it. Apparently its a piece to something that never was implemented. It comes off fairly easily, just be sure to cover up the spot with paint .

And +1 for an excellent condition engine bay.

Edit: majority of 4th gens dont have this. Iirc its a 99' thing and not every 99' has it.

 

my engine bay is clean but i have to deal with northeast salt and snow which is a constant battle. my sig is my engine bay and i just cleaned it when that shot was taken. what do you use, or how do you clean everything that nice?? i have meguires products and armor all gel but still doesn't look that clean.

 

Dawn ... that's it ... on a stone cold engine.

About a 1/4 cup of blue Dawn. Fill a 5 gal. bucket making it all foamy and sh*t. Throw the super sudsy water all over the engine bay. Close the hood. Wash the exterior. When I'm done with the outside, open the hood and rinse down the motor. I use a leaf blower to dry the motor and e-compartment.

If and when you do this the only caution I'll give is that you soak up, blow out or shop vac up as much water outta the cylinder valley that you can. The knock sensor is down there.

With this being a regular and routine part of my hygeine pracices ... you see what you get. Nothing special just soap but on a regular basis.

Wanna see the motor in my truck?

 

Was this method started proactively? Id like to get my engine bay spic and span but considering how long its been neglected (cleaniness wise, mind you) i doubt something this easy could do the trick.

 

I guarantee that you do it like 3 or 4 times, you'll be quite encouraged.

Dawn is some fairly stout stuff.

 

dude, he lives in florida and obviously this cars garaged. i'm parked outside and the engine see's salt, snow, rain, etc. plus, i don't think he drives that everyday either. if i had warm weather and my own garage, my max would be 100% immaculate, mechanically and under the hood as clean as the outside. ( we all know what this means kids )

 

Right ... Like an intensely beautiful girl who smells fantastic, likes football, loves getting wasted and loves cars but also has fu*king syphilis. Whatever. Detail your ride half as*ed and be proud ... Look clean but live dirty. I tend to like the "whole" package.

 

I don't.

You can just grind it off

 

I believe what he was trying to convey is the woes of living where roads are salted. Whole different ballpark from the southern half of the US.

 

I know ... I've been drinking and when I've been drinking I can, given the right situation, get a little pissy.

My sincere apologies ... no offense intended.

 

Not true. It's used on my 99 5spd.

 

Really? What for? I chiseled that crap off when i went to install my strut tower bar. Of all the threads i read i only found people saying either they didnt know or that it was part of a design never implemented.

Now im curious..

 

Really ... What's with the suspense Alfred Hitchcock?

 

Probably has carbon fiber wrapped onto it haha

 

Holds the clutch line on 5 speeds?

 

Well ... It's gone now. I just chiseled it all gone.

Looks like two rivets and a good amount of body panel adhesive batten it to the strut tower.

In the morning I'll drill the rivet holes, do a "finish-off", clear coat it; add some plastic rivets and install the tower brace next weekend.

 

Well, I was only half right. The big sucker is not used on my 99 5spd, but the little sucker next to it is used for vacuum lines for CA spec swirl valves on the LIM. Sorry about the confusion.

Your Max must be Fed spec Turbobink, because my Fed Spec 99 Auto doesn't have the swirl valves on the LIM and therefore no vacuum lines.

 

Wow. That's crazy. Thanks for sharing. I always read the motor should be luke warm to help dissolve/break up the dirt/grime; never stone cold.

 

That's it!!

But, like I said ... it's gone now.

Nonetheless I'll keep it in the instance that a subsequent buyer might want the whole story.

 

So youre saying that it is used on the 99 cali specs? My car is a 99 cali and had nothing attached to it at all.

 

My 97 Cali max has a bracket on it. Shaped differently but not being used.

 

Have 2x Fed spec 97 here.
One SE one GLE, both have that.

 

My 98 gxe fed spec has it

 

My i30 has that too.