Car guru's help!

[nouseforaname90]

Okay. So. I decided that instead of dealing with the sky-high labor charges from the shop, I would replace my brakes myself.
Its not hard.. fairly straight forward.
But my one question is.. when replacing my rotors I have heard that there is a thin film of plastic on them that I need to use a solvent to get off?
How do I get that off?
Are there any other little "tips" that I should know about changing brakes?

Also, I'm having a few problems with my car.
1) The right turn signal works fine, but the left turn signal stays on and does not blink when I turn it on. I know one of my two turn signal bulbs is blown.. would that cause it to not work properly? I assumed it would still have to blink..
and
2) My car will randomly stall out when I slow down and I have to put it in neutral and start it back up. The weird thing is that it starts up right away. I figured that it was water in my gas causing it to do this, but after 3 tank fulls and 2 bottles of dry gas, it is still occuring. Not as frequently, but it still happens. What could possibly cause this? It is very annoying..

Thanks alot!
Ben

[SYKO]

Okay. So. I decided that instead of dealing with the sky-high labor charges from the shop, I would replace my brakes myself.
Its not hard.. fairly straight forward.
But my one question is.. when replacing my rotors I have heard that there is a thin film of plastic on them that I need to use a solvent to get off?Never heard of a plastic covering on a rotor, just put it on and dont over use the brakes for a couple miles
How do I get that off?
Are there any other little "tips" that I should know about changing brakes?

Also, I'm having a few problems with my car.
1) The right turn signal works fine, but the left turn signal stays on and does not blink when I turn it on. I know one of my two turn signal bulbs is blown.. would that cause it to not work properly? I assumed it would still have to blink..
and you need to replace the turn signal flasher, its easy it pops off easy and their cheap
2) My car will randomly stall out when I slow down and I have to put it in neutral and start it back up. The weird thing is that it starts up right away. I figured that it was water in my gas causing it to do this, but after 3 tank fulls and 2 bottles of dry gas, it is still occuring. Not as frequently, but it still happens. What could possibly cause this? It is very annoying.. try putting a new fuel filter on and new plugs, also make sure the air filter is clean.

Thanks alot!
Ben



:beer :welcome:

[nouseforaname90]

Okay.. where is the turn signal flasher? haha
I'm usually pretty good with mechanical things but solving problems apparently is not my strong point.
And son of a gun I never thought of the fuel filter!! I just put a new air filter on, so I would have to assume the fuel filter is the problem. I'm an idiot. Thanks alot!

[nouseforaname90]

One last question.
My AC stopped working and when I tried recharging it, I found out that there was something more wrong than it just needing recharged. The pressure was way high.
Is there a common problem, such as the compressor going wrong (1994 Buick Regal), or is the AC something I shouldn't mess with and just take it straight to a pro?

[SYKO]

the flasher should be under the dash next to or withthe fuses, its usually round but can be square, as for your ac, sound like the expansion valve went out, im sure it has that, and not the oriface tube that newer cars have, you will have to have a shop dig into that as ac systems are usually beyond most peoples ability to repair.

[night4creeper]

on the ac issue, it could be the compressor. I just had one on a dodge that would build extremely high pressure (450psi +) on the high side and high on the low side(50 psi). Probably going to need someone with more knowledge lay their hands on it.

[Erics350x]

If you have a blown bulb it wont flash on some cars, change that first. As for the rotors clean em with brake parts cleaner or carb cleaner (there is a film on most new rotors that needs to be cleaned off). As for the high pressure on the A/C thats normally caused by overheating, which usually is caused by the condencer fan not working when the A/C kicks on. Stallin could be a number of things, is you engine light on? If so, take it to Autozone and the'll check it for free. Probably the TPS or MAP.

[300rman]

well...the brake rotors need cleaned with solvent.......walk into auto zone....by the CRAB CLEANER, there should be cans of BRAKE CLEANER. you want to get the.....carb cleaner! HAHA no. get the brake cleaner.

old, tired motor would cause this. as long as it starts right up, no big deal. try some SEAFOAM tank treatment, it may help. stuff works wonders.
if the SEAFOAM doesnt help, get a quart of dextron/mercon tranny fluid and dump it in the gas tank. little known fact, it cleans your injectors.
if that doesnt help, deal with the problem i guess.

as for the brakes, make sure you
A. push the piston back into the caliper so the new brake pads dont seem to big.
B. when you are done, PUMP YOUR BRAKE PEDAL with the car running (NOT MOVING) until you get the appropriate brake pedal feel, or you will find yourself running into something.

[Mosh]

Are you doing the front or rear brakes?Rear disc brake calpiers are notorious for feezing up the slide pins on those GM w body cars..You will probably have to get new calipers for the rear.When they freeze up,they quit working and burn out your fronts prematurely.If it has the rear disk brakes,I would bet they are frozen up and the rotors are rusty.Then it will need new calipers.
The front brakes require a huge torx bit socket size 60,to get the brake pad brackets off to change the rotors..You will need a 1/2 inch breaker bar to loosen them.Use plenty of silcone grease to lube the caliper pins.

If you have the 4 speed trans and a 2.8 (vin w) or 3.1 v-6, vin number T(the 8th digit of the vin number),the battery has been disconected,and the computer lost its memory for idle.They will stall at times.Sometimes,if you keep driving them for 35 mph for 5 miles constant,they will relearn on their own and stop stalling eventually.
If not,then you need to take it to a shop and have scanner relearn the idle posisiton.They should only charge you 30 bucks.Auto-zone cant do it,it needs to be done by a professional.
If it has a different engine,the stalling could be something else entirely.
A little more info on the car would help me more with the diagnostics and tips.
The a-c has to be looked at by a pro.Cant help you without seeing the pressures my self.

Hope this helps.I worked for GM for 16 years.

[nouseforaname90]

It has the 3.8L V-6 (3800 Series I)..