Feb 18 2007
Roxy Calms Down and Oils Up
Just a quick update on the ‘02 for those of you who care. I spent a while working on her this afternoon and finally got the oil changed. It took the help of my friend Dave who is a Mac Tool rep to get the drain plug out. Nice having a friend who has all those special tools. The filter still isn’t changed due to that being on too tight also. Seems the previous owner really like to tighten things down. In my over 20 years of working on old cars this is the absolute worst case I have ever seen of over-tight everything. If it wasn’t such a pain it might be funny. Might be, but isn’t.
I also got the idle adjusted down. Turned out to be a slight adjustment to the actual idle control, but more importantly the throttle return spring on there just wasn’t up to the job. I replaced it with one a little shorter and stronger, adjusted the idle, and now Roxy idles happily at around 950 RPM. Much nicer than the 1500 to 1700 that she was doing.
Finally, and this was actually a few days, I replaced the spark plugs. This was not a big thing in itself, but I am hoping the combination of new plugs, clean oil, and calm idle will improve the gas milage. Right now she is averaging somewhere between 19 and 20 miles per gallon. I am hoping through this and other improvements to get up to at least 23 to 25.
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1) Remove the license plate.
2) while pulling tight on the license plate bracket loosen and remove both mounting screws, remove bracket and let hang on bumper.
3) push the grommet for the wires into the trunk leaving the wires there’s NO need to cut them.
4) working around the wires take a longish thin screwdriver and aim in the hole up towards the trunk lock cylinder, fish around some to get your bearings.
5) at the far end of the cyl on the right side you will eventually find the lever for the trunk latch that you need to push hard (just like pushing the button when the trunk is unlocked but with a terrible leverage point) on to pop the trunk open.
It really helps the first time to have good working visual knowledge of the 2002’s trunk latch mechanism. This is where a friend with another 2002 can come in really handy, so you can compare angles of approach and get that first hand knowledge.
6) lastly fish the wire grommet back into position and re-install the license plate bracket and plate.
Good Luck
Good idea!!! Thanks for the input. Now off to try it…
[...] thereby placing at younger than my office-mates instead of older, what does this car have that Roxy, the 2002, doesn’t? Well, for starters it has air-conditioning and heat that works. Also door [...]