Parked Here for the Night

I park my ol girl in the yard. Nothing like that ol CAT idling up the driveway about dark. After pulling out just before daylight with the goal of being home by dark. I miss the kids jumping up and down on the porch screaming Daddies home. I can't imagine parking my truck anywhere but home when there. Or not running that last 750 miles straight thru to get there.

 

Got up this morning and changed the plugs and plug wires on my Saturn. Seems to run a bit smoother. My next project will be replacing the valve cover gasket. I can tell that's where some of the oil is going. It burns a little too so I've been using Restore to build the rings back up. 4 our of 5 used car dealers swear by it, lmao.

Not only was this car a steal (worth $1200 on a good day, paid $800), it's a snap to work on.

 

My little one will run when she sees me, screaming "Daddy".

My oldest is doing stuff with her friends today so Lily and I are going up the road to visit my mom and stepdad. Nobody spoils like grandma!

 

Ain't that the truth no one beats grandma. I read a lot of different service bulitens on different things. They say the Saturn 4 cylinders are notorious for the valve stem seals getting hot, which causes them to break up in pieces and land in the pan. It usually causes a light blue tint of smoke. If that is what happened with yours it should run forever if you keep a oil in it. I have seen valve seals stop up a pickup screen which caught in time is just a flush it out deal and keep running. Years ago I had a Saturn for a gas saver I tried to kill it but was unsuccessful. lol

 

Those clothes lines don't look like they are regulation "adams apple" height.....

 

It threw a check engine light and started running rough when we got here. I'm thinking maybe if it's still logging a misfire maybe it's the coil pack on its way out.

I changed the map sensor as it threw a code for that too but it was still coding for that too. Someone on a Saturn site suggested cleaning out the sensor passage out with pipe cleaners.

 

Unloaded this morning in Phoenix, now sitting at the Flying J for a few hours. My wife flies in tomorrow evening and we load Monday morning for a run up to Reno, then a week of vacation.

My mother in law has an old Saturn Vue with like 180k on it. It is indestructible. She's driven it low a gallon of oil and not killed it. Only weird thing is that I have to change one or the other headlight bulbs about every 2 months. I'm guessing a bad wire somewhere is putting too much power to them, but its less frustration just changing bulbs than trying to diagnose it.

 

Well we should be in Grand Forks, ND by morning... No load out yet and probably nothing until Monday... So what is there to do in Grand Forks, ND??

 

Probably involves lipstick on a pig.

 

https://www.visitgrandforks.com/event-calendar