Problems! Problems! Problems!

[nrobidoux]

Car: '98 Saturn SC1 - Standard transmission

Short backstory: I got lazy (depressed). Engine seized. Swapped it out. Couldn't get it to start. Went to Alaska for 2 years. Came back to go to North Dakota. Need car.

The problem there was that I forgot to hookup the CPS. So that's fixed. My radio is working. New battery installed. Problems with water in the oil fixed. A few other things finished up, properly installed the driver side transaxle. Put cotter pins in the tie rod ends and control arms. Tightened a few loose nuts and bolts.

Today I went for a test spin. I had two problems prior to that:

#1. Heater sometimes works. Sometimes does not. I removed the heater core and dumped out the water. Then filled up the tubes and blew the water out with my mouth. A little bit of stuff came out. At most enough to barely cover the bottom of a bathroom dixie cup. I removed some rusty looking debris in one of the hoses as well but it wasn't much. The system prior to that had been flushed chemically and with water.

The heater controls seem to be in proper working order. For once the cooling system seemed to take ~7 quarts (almost two full gallon jugs of water). Everything seemed to be fine after reinstalling the core but then on my test drive I turned off the fan so I could hear the car. Put it on again later... no heat. Moved temp control back and forth... no change.

#2. OBD-II code P0446. Looked it up has to do with the vent valve. So I tested the connector with the car on (not running), 13.5 V. That seemed okay. Applied battery voltage to solenoid, it works. Code seems to appear after a short break between starts. Haven't tested it... might be as short as five minutes. But if I clear it and restart it within 30 seconds or so the code remains cleared. If I clear it when running it stays cleared.

I also cleaned the surface of the intake manifold where the purge line enters... code still appears. I got some advice in the chat room but curious about others opinions before I go all out on this one.

*****That's it for prior. Now newly discovered problems:

#3. Every light worked fine while the car was on jack stands. Dropped it. Turned on the car. No running lights. High beams work fine though. And I think the running lights are the high beams not fully powered. So the bulbs are fine.

#4. A biggy that I need to do more tests to help narrow down the potential problem tomorrow morning, excessive brake pedal travel. I found that out during my test drive to "clean" the breaks of rust.

I'll check the pads but I'm fairly certain they are fine... maybe rusty... but otherwise fine. Break fluid was above the line prior and after the drive. When I turned the car off and pump the pedal and then hold it, it builds pressure and maintains it. Start the car and press... near zero resistance. At least I get some braking power when it is near the floor.

****Thanks for your help.