Just bought an 2003 2.3L
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Joined: Feb 2010
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From: VA
Just bought an 2003 2.3L
I need something for my son to drive my daughter to school and this looked like the perfect fit. I don't want him driving a bunch of friends around because at his age he is restricted by how many minors he can have in the vehicle. Growing up I saw my brother pack the car full of friends and with the price of gas I wanted to avoid that. I probably paid a bit to much but I was in a bind with my other family car and needed a back-up ride just in case. Well that didn't work out so good because the dealer is still fixing my truck. I hope to pick it up soon. I had them replace the head because the valvetrain was making noise. They said that would be easier than shimming the 2.3L motor. Yesterday he said they got it running but it has a ping. So I'm thinking the tech messed up the timing. I only has a 100 K mi. and is really clean. The color is a beige but looks like a silverish tan. I expect to hang around here a bit because I have found other forums to be helpful and entertaining. I ride a Yamaha 650 V star classic and have been with those forums since 2001. I had a 1993 bonneville and that forum was good. My wife is on her third Chevy Astro van and that forum was helpful. My commuter car getting me through the winter is a 1988 toyota corolla and that forum is a headache. People mean well but they reply with generic obvious crappy suggestions and then nobody else replies. With a car that old I expected to find gome gurus and they were few and far between. I like to do all my own maintenance because I fix airliners for a living and can't see paying for something I could do myself.
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Joined: Feb 2010
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From: VA
I had my brother-inlaw look it over and he thought it had problems. We were cautious because it was an "as is" sale. He pointed out bubbles in the coolant overflow tank and heard the upper engine knock. I barely noticed it. We felt a bit foolish when the dealer mechanic showed us the coolant enters the tank at the top and creates the bubbles. All the coolant reservoirs I've seen use one hose on the bottom. This one must have two hoses fill and return. Well he pushed the engine noise to get a lower price and they decided to fix it. The tranny fluid has a burnt smell but I'll do a filter and partial fluid change to fix that. The truck was cleanned up very throughly so were were afraid of a polished turd. They're still fixing it because as near as I can tell they missed the timing set-up once already.
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