First of all, let me say thanks to anyone reading this and willing to help. I just bought a used '98 SE, black, manual, 62k. It was an impulse buy - paid $12k for it, and will spend another $2k to fix things up - the car wasn't taken care of properly. Did I get robbed?

Question #1: After I drive the car, I notice a smell coming from the engine area - like burning plastic. Can't find what it is. Any ideas what it could be?

Question #2: How do I replace the shift **** on the manual transmission? And does anyone know how to get a new one, OEM for the '98?

Question #3: Bridgestone Potenzas RE950, Dunlop SP SportA2, or Yoko Avid V4?

Sorrry if questions are inappropriate for the present forum. Thanks. I have tons of other questions, but will wait with those.

Nic

 

manual ****. this question comes up OVER AND OVER again-
please search for the answer if you dont like mine, which is. cut that sucker off if you dont want it anyway- its tough to get off, but i guess if you have patience.

 

with a little grip and forearm strength, i twisted my manual **** off

 

1) Get a tune up
2) You can get a new one from courtessy parts, or you can also pick one up from the dealer (if it costs more than 50 i say its better to go aftermarket).
3) potenzas have a good grip and a long tread life( i like these da best). Dunlops are good too, stay away from yoko's.

 

heh, after about an hour of cursing and bitshing i finnaly just started to hack away with a knife, it was pretty fun actually.

 

no...you did fine..

i paid 12.5 for a mint 98, 58K driven by a woman(good/bad?) it stayed under 4K rpm its entire life=good...thank you woman..

I like the bridgestones.

get h&R's.. wsp ypipe. and cai....be cool like me..run 14's and be happy.

 

You didn't need to cut the **** off!! It comes off the first time without damage to the leather if you use a large pipe wrench and 2 pieces of wood between the jaws of the wrench and the leather of the ****. After you get it off the first time, thereafter, you can do it by hand.

 

First of all, thanks to all that have replied.

95emeraldgxe, i am not sure I know how broad the definition of a tune-up is. I've changed oil/tans fluid/coolant, plus all the filters. I'm also replacing a malfunctioning air intake temp. sensor. The dealer ran a check up said everything was fine - that was before I bought the car and noticed the burning plastic smell. I found out about the air intake temp. sensor after taking the car to the dealer and running a comp. diag. on the engine - my sevice engine light came on - and that is the only problem they found. I am wondering if the smell can be clutch related - I'm still fairly new to a manual transmission.

Speaking of which - the guy i bought the car from claimed it had a new clutch - how can i tell?

And the last question for the day - what is the cheapest way to get rid of some serious bumper scratches on both front and rear? I've gotten an unofficial quote of around $600 to repaint both.

Thanks to everyone - your help is very much appreciated!

 

95emeraldgxe, please elaborate on why you think a tuneup will elimate the plastic burning smell. Please educate me. I would like to know how you came to that conclusion. Thanks.



For tire opinions I would go to tirerack.com and select the desired tire. Most if not all will include opinions/ratings submitted by people who have actual experience(s) with the tire(s)

If you frequently feather the clutch with excessive rpms on the tach during standing starts and between gear changes you will burn the clutch. Burned clutch smells similar to overheated brake pads, which may be the plastic burning smell you've described. Since you're new to manual trannies, have someone more experienced ride with you to observe. I've been in other people's car in which they feather the clutch at 2000 rpms on a standing start to avoid stalling-on a level road and mis-time shifts (before letting clutch go they'll throttle too early and let go of the clutch pedal too slow, causing a lurching effect when the clutch engages).

Some ways to check if the clutch is "new" (good) is one of several ways:
1. During a standing start, slowly let the clutch in while in a taller gear(3,4,5)w/o gas. If the clutch is good you will immediately stall.
2. Drive say 40-50mph and shift into 5th and floor it. If the tachometer increases w/o a corresponding increase in speed your clutch is weak.
3. With the engine on depress clutch pedal to about 1 in from the floorboard and move the shifter into any gear. If the clutch is good you should be able to shift into gear with no resistance. If the clutch is on its last leg you'll feel a "wall" when you try to engage a gear.

 

Thanks! I thought 2000rpm's wasn't that bad How about the following occurence: on a standing start, in 1st gear, i keep the rpms constant (say at 2000) and slowly let go of the clutch. As I reach the point where the clutch should engage - the rpms abruply drop to idling level, and if I don't increase the pressure on the gas pedal, I stall it. Is this normal?

And yet another Q: will the floor mats from a '00 and up fit on a '98?

I will probably get the prize for the most questions asked within a 24h period!

Nic

 

Under no circumstances should you leave a safe distance between you and the car in front of you no matter how fast you're going. If you do, the space will be filled in by somebody else, putting you in an even more dangerous situation.