Need a few How - Too's

[Nate's Alero]

First.....got the trac off and ABS lights on..... how - to #1......how to change wheel hub and bearings..

how - too#2 the overflow resivor is empty....how do i tell what kind of coolant is in it.

how too #3 what the f**K do i do about the peeling dash???? its pissing me off....

got my project/restoration alero from the back end of a dealership.....in the junk pile... it runs and drives, pretty good acctually...starts, well not good but hell, its got OLD gas in it....

for 300 bucks im happy

i guess he gave the car to his daughter for her 16th birthday, after a week she called him and said the car overheated..... he says the cooling fans are not working, i say naw, the coolant bottle is empty......which leades me to my next question, how the hell do i tell what kind of coolant is in it, with the bottle being pressureized...

[surreal_awakening]

Just drain it completely, flush it, and put in new coolant and it wont matter what kind you use. Might be a good idea considering you dont know the history of the car.

[Nate's Alero]

true.....sounds like a plan, but i need coolant NOW, should i just add distilled water, and drive around for a bit and see the color?

[cherrington17]

depends on the temp outside. i wouldn't put only water in, if it might freeze.


if the coolant is that low, adding THAT much water might drastically raise its freezing point.

[Blktrax]

If it over heated its going to over heat again. You need to tear it down and find out why. If you mix the wrong coolants it can gel it in the radiator, block and heater core and then you'll have a bigger mess to clean up.

[Nate's Alero]

well i know, i mean, meh, im not so sure on what to do, im not even sure if it overheated! i mean, i found this car at 2 in the morning, came in at 8 am next day, they told me it was siezed, jumped it, it was not, they told me the tranny was bad, drove it. it isint. i mean, jesus....i dont know the history on this thing..

[cherrington17]

why not drain the radiator and find out what was in it?

[shonky_alero]

sounds like the thermostat would be a good place to start.

[TheEdgeofSanity]

yeah, i'd change the thermostat and while you're at it, change it out with new dex-cool. if it was a dealership owner's daughter's car, i'm sure it was serviced at the dealershipand had dex-cool in it. i'd be afraid that the head gaskets are out of it or something. also, i'd check to make sure the wheel hub sensors are plugged in. pull off the wheels and check the wires running into the hub. thirdly, i'd run some fuel injector cleaner through it after you burn this tank of gas out of it and maybe have the tranny fluid checked or changed if the previous owner said the tranny was bad.

[Nate's Alero]

Originally Posted by TheEdgeofSanity

yeah, i'd change the thermostat and while you're at it, change it out with new dex-cool. if it was a dealership owner's daughter's car, i'm sure it was serviced at the dealershipand had dex-cool in it. i'd be afraid that the head gaskets are out of it or something. also, i'd check to make sure the wheel hub sensors are plugged in. pull off the wheels and check the wires running into the hub. thirdly, i'd run some fuel injector cleaner through it after you burn this tank of gas out of it and maybe have the tranny fluid checked or changed if the previous owner said the tranny was bad.

alright, ill take your advice.... how to drain? does it have a drain plug?

[surreal_awakening]

Yeah. Get underneath the car, remove the plastic shroud so you can look up and see the front of the engine and the radiator. On the radiator on the passenger side of the car is a drain plug. Blktrax is right, though. Just be prepared for it to possibly overheat again, until you find out the actual problem causing the reported overheating.

[alerored04]

Screw the drain plug. It's plastic and breaks. Pull the hose off the bottom of the water pump. Just be prepared for a mess. If you are not sure of the coolant use the yellow prestone universal stuff. Cant screw that up.

[TheMeaningOfLife]

The do-it-all repair kit

[99alerogirl]

kinda old post, but my trac off and ABS light (no SVS) just came on about 10 minutes ago driving home. is that the hub or bearing or what? the car doesn't drive weird at all.

[CactusWill]

Originally Posted by cherrington17

why not drain the radiator and find out what was in it?

No shit sherlocks... Drain that bitch and you will know what is in there.

[Nate's Alero]

Originally Posted by 99alerogirl

kinda old post, but my trac off and ABS light (no SVS) just came on about 10 minutes ago driving home. is that the hub or bearing or what? the car doesn't drive weird at all.

have the codes read.. that will tell you, g to autozone or somewhere of that nature. and have them read the code

[99alerogirl]

oh so there's a code even with no SVS? i didn't know that... thanks i'll get it checked out tomorrow!

[bdyman]

it takes dex-cool, do the fans work, check the basics like a fuse for the fans, check the oil is there coolant mixed in, what about the heater core, is it leaking

either have the dash re done or get a new dash

the wheel bearing is not to hard, when i do then i remove the knuckle for my own ease, remove the caliper, remove the rotor, remove caliper bracket, remove the outer tie rod, remove the bolt on the lower ball joint remove both tie rod and ball joint using a pickle fork

remove the strut bolts to the knuckle, remove the knucle, i find its faster and easier, if a botl on the hub is frozen ya can heat it up and remove the hub allot faster then on the car

[Nate's Alero]

the car has been fixed for a while, but thanks for all your inputs!