Got it home & started trying to make it reliable... Pulled the engine (for multiple reasons).
New steering rack, alternator, starter, power steering pump, hydraulic lines, rear seal, timing belt, water pump, oil pump, $500 valve job, FI connectors replaced, all gaskets (even exhaust) replaced, tires, coils... i dont even remember everything i did to it!
Got it all back together after 9 months, wife takes it out after 3 days of driving... something wedges between the timing belt and the crank pulley (all nuts & bolts were meticulously accounted for during the rebuild), shreds the belt, and takes out #1,3,& 5 exhaust valves!!
Recover for a few days, take it back apart. More new valves, another oil pump (cuz piece got broke off), new T belt & accessories, more valve work, more $$$.
Got it back together, wife drives it for about 20 hours & alternator goes out! Get supposedly good rebuilt one, 20 hrs later it goes out. Go to local alternator guy & we find out the one rebuild shop in mexico that does this limited series alt is pressing the ring like .006" too much onto the shaft, & all rebuilds have the same prob. So he fixes both of my alternators!!
Wife drives the car for 2 years & 16,000 wonderful miles. Happy times! Then one day... about 1 mile from home...
Car stops & starts smoking inside - smells like burnt electronics. Tow it home. Wouldnt crank. Started checking relay, fuses & all that good stuff. Got out the ECU & found one chip had completely burned up. Tore it down to the T belt to make sure it didnt jump a tooth - it didnt. Found the CAS was bad, and thought culprit was corroded CAS connector. The "event" also killed 3 fuel injectors. Replaced all that stuff, car runs ok, but when revved its unbalanced, so something still not firing - find #5 injector not clicking. Start chasing connections. Lucky me, i find a damn short in the harness between #5 & the ECU!!! Now i get to spend $600 on a harness and pull the engine again! I still wonder if the CAS connector caused the problem, or the short? Which came first?
Is there a moral? Yes - spend the $600 & change the stupid harness if you have your engine out!!
Half of me says sell the car before something else catastrophic hits, the other half says whats left to break (i'm sure plenty!)? Keep it and get some miles out of it.
