1993 Estate Wagon Questions

[jcwren]

I just recently purchased a '93 Estate Wagon, and there's a couple of questions I have about it.

1) How to determine if it's optioned for keyless entry. I don't have an owners manual, and only 2 keys came with it (no fob). Did all cars ship with KE, and if so, how do I determine the FOB I need (it appears there are several?)

2) Any recommendations for trim sources? I know that the wood "paneling" is impossible to find, but how about molding and such? I have a couple pieces that are dinged up, and I'd really like to clean the car up as much as possible.

3) Intermittant vaccuum motor problems (I think). Occasionally the fan does not seem to kick in to high speed inspite of being indicated on the display. Other times it does, but I don't get high speed air flow out the vents. Without having crawled up under the dash yet (it's raining... foo), it seems the a vaccuum motor may not be actuating, or a door is stuck. Any typical problems to look for in this?

4) Anything in general to watch out for? Any particular problem areas known in the '93's? Leaks (weather or engine), expensive things to *really* avoid breaking, etc?

Other than a few dings and scratches, a non-working left rear window motor, and the drivers side door panel not being firmly attached to the door, I picked this car up for $1950 out of AZ. Seems like a solid little ("little", heh!) ride. I've wanted a BREW for a few years now, and ran across this one. My one regret is not having held out for a '94-'96 with an LT1, preferrably a Collectors Edition. But then, I'd have need another $4K.

--jc

[tbone844]

I've had the same car for over 2 years now. 170k miles. Only things that have gone awry was the altenator (typical with GM cars) When i first purchased the car the motor mounts were all fouled up, so i had them replaced at the same time as the altenator (i think the fact that the engine wasn't sitting right is what caused the altenator fan to seize up) Oh and i had to yank out the bottom of the fan shroud cuz it had warped and started hitting the fan blades.

Breaks are a constant repair for me. Rotors are expensive for this behemuth, so don't let the pads wear to metal to metal.

The driver's side auto-down window button just recently broke, I'll be fixing this next weekend. And I guess I have the same problem mentioned by someone else about surging idle. I thought it was by design to warm up the car faster, guess not.

Odd electrical problem, where if i open the glove compartment, the radio resets, and if i turn on the dome light, the door locks repeatedly lock themselves. Just little shorts that I can live with.

My struts are SHOT. But I'm driving the car into the ground so no major repair costs are coming out of my pocket.

Cruise/Turn signal short. Using blinker sometimes disengages the cruise control. Not a big deal for me.

Other than that, trans shifts smoothly, no leaks, starts up every morning, goes 120 miles every day, and no one has tried breaking into it yet. If only gas prices will go down, I'd be happy.

PS-a shade tree mechanic had informed me that the car is equipped with some type of antiknock sensor that somehow burns through regular gas, I have been putting mid grade, and premium in since then, I think it's helped, I get around 20-25 mpg highway cruise control driving with premium. But like i said he was a shadetree, and i haven't compared it to give an adequate testimonial.