the_Roc

I'm a college student and I have a 1986 IROC-Z

The car is great. I love it to no end, but being that is coming up to it's 18th birthday and all, and like all cars, it's not performing like it did when it rolled off the factory floor.

In a nutshell, it's great for 30 mile radius from where I live, but I just don't know if I can trust it, say if I go on a road trip. I'm not willing to take the chance.

Anyway, my car's main problem is that it eats Alternators. I've replaced about 8 of them in the past 2 years. 6 of them are from NAPA and 2 are from O'Reilly. They ARE reconditioned... but I'm a college student Is there anything I can do?

As for other problems: My car is power everything, but seats and side mirrors. I put down both windows... one stops; easy fix - DO ONE AT A TIME! But They both are *really* slow going down. I can't emphasize their snail speed with comparances to my girlfriend's 626 window motors. Then my hatch motor is crap... I've tried to rebuild one with my dad out of 3 of them and they're just worthless. My gauge lights aren't the brightest... and do those eBay neon/new gauge kits work? How do I get more electrical power to everything? Mechanically, it's sound, but my dad says it couldn't hurt to get new wiring done. My A/C is very **** with the power of air that shoots out... MAX A/c for my car would be medium regular A/C level for another car... and it fluctuates the temperature of the A/C when I drive... which sucks when I'm driving in the HOT summers of Houston, Texas. Then my Tach reads that it idles at 1500 rpm... (the previous owner took out the original rear end and replaced it with a lower rear end from a 1988 IROC-Z... mine had a 3:23... I don't know what I got... ... The brakes make this loud crunching sound when I stop from coasting 10-20 mph.... and how do you fix the cruise control?

If it were your car and 18 years old, what would you check to make sure it's reliable... like a certain checklist of items to make sure that it could go for a 500 mile round trip and not just... die?

I can definetly see a bunch of replies for "Buy a new car!" -- but my only options for the same car would be a Moostang or something import-ish that are in my price range. So if anyone can help me, i'd really appreciate it!

breathment

were all the alternators you replaced under warranty?

Morley

First, change all fluids and filters including rear end fluid, brake fluid, power steering. Do a good tune up with good wires and cap & rotor and use AC plugs, not fancy rapid fires or split fires, just plain AC Delcos.

Power windows? No problem. Remove the door panel and plastic cover under it. Now with mineral spirits, clean all of the metal window mech parts and allow to dry throughly. Next lube them all with white grease. (the white grease from the factory gets old and sticky and slows down the windows) The windows on a 3rd gen were never as fast as the newer Jap-Crap cars, bigger windows and longer distance to travel.

If the wiring in the car is working DON'T mess with it! that is one of the biggest problems people have, wiring that someone else screwed with and never got right.

Hatch pulldown motor, check Top Down Solutions for the repair kits or just clamp the slide in place where the hatch will close fully and leave it until you can get that motor fixed.

Does you heat blow as wimpy as your AC? I'm betting all of the foam seals at the duct joints is gone and you are leaking air behind your dash.

What size alternators were you buying? Get a NEW alt (104 amp +) and have it professionally installed & checked or install it yourself then take the car right to an electrical shop and have them check the charging system throughly. Also a bad/weak battery can and will kill an alternator.

the_Roc

Breathment, yes all my alternators are under warranty, but it's just a hassal to get them one after another

Morley -- My heat may blow as wimpy... when I first got the car back on the road, (yes it was in worse shape before) the a/c was spitting out some black/brown/gray foam out of the front vents... it was weird... but I never thought too much of it because we converted my car to R134 A/C and I didn't pay too much attention to it.

I think I'm getting 92 amp alternators... I can't really remember... I'm finding hatch pulldown units for cheap online, so I think that problem is taken care of...

hydric

do you have a huge sound system with an amp?

if so, u may need a capacitor or a condensor or some sort..

anything else u run that is electric other than the stock set-up (windows, mirrors, etc)?

take your battery to autozone n have it tested, like suggested above...

icebird_1981

about the gauge light there is indiglo gauges u can get also there is back lit. do a search on this board and u will see the diffrence.

the_Roc

I don't have a system... I have a 50 dollar Koss Cassette Head Unit with Pioneer speakers

Stekman

yea, reading the problems, i was going to say, check the battery charge, but i got beat to it.

Morley

That crap it was spitting is what was left of the seals for the ducting. You are leaking air up under the dash, in several places I'd bet.

SkyWarrior

SO you want reliability.
1. First, if you're far away from home and don't completely trust your car don't get on it too often and expect nothing to break.
2. Always carry a spare, and a way to inflate it.(and a jack)
3. Check your oil before you go on long trips, including tranny fluid, and brake fluid.
4. Most importantly, check your hoses like radiator and heater hoses along with vaccuum lines. A good flush never hurt anyone either!