New J30 Owner...how am I doing!?

[Chappy]

Bought the 114K 95 J30 for my son back in Oct for $3800. He put 7,000 miles on it before he gave it back to me.

Since then:

Tires: $509Battery: $91Stereo: $416Timing belt, water pump, tensioner, all drive belts, fuel pump removal and install , thermostsat replacement, transmission flush and fill $1,268...

Total: $6,084

I think I'll just live with the remaining issues:1) Non-op sunroof and rear windows2) ABS light is on but brakes seem to work fine. My mechanic thinks its likely a sensor. 3) Leather wear on the driver side door panel. 4) Fuel gauge does not work ~ the boy ran the tank dry x2 likely screwing the fuel sending unit?

How am I doing with repairs !

Can anyone clue me in on the engineering of the gas tank sitting behind the rear seat? Seems counter-intuitive. As an aside my son installed a 600w amp among other stereo bling-bling into the trunk and wired the ground to the fuel pump!!! He pushed so much power through the amp that it melted the ground wire to the fuel pump, very scary stuff.

On the timing belt etc repair: The tensioner was toast, the belt could have come off at anytime. With 122K on the belt it was in decent shape ~ some spider-web cracking beginning on the backside. My wrench of 15 years was impressed with the build on the engine.

[ceningolmo]

Don't go surrendering yet! Lots of help to be had here in the J/M forum... we might be able to help you finish up some of that stuff without spending too much money.

BTW... pictures are required immediately.

[elwesso]

really you're not doing too bad... Forget the stereo, that doesnt count for anything in my mind (when talking about a used car with "issues").

We can test the ABS system for problems, however the common one on the J30 is the relay.

The sunroof can be repaired but its a time consuming project. parts are not expensive because you can get a rebuild kit, but it would take the better share of a day (of paid labor) to drop the headliner, replace the cables, and so on.

when the fuel pump was replaced they most likely damaged the sensor.

[driverdriver]

Welcome to NICO Chappy!!!

The ABS light issues is an easy fix. Basic instructions can be found here:

zerothread/222029

All you need to do is replace the ABS relay.

[Chappy]

Thanks for the ABS relay tip. Parts list shows a right and left relay, is there anyway to tell which I need?

I did a search for the sunroof repair and saw the links and instructions. More than I want to tackle. Anyone have this done by an aftermarket sunroof business, or is this a dealer-only job? Cost?

[driverdriver]

The bigger one (I can't remember if its right or left) is usually the culprit.

I'm sure an aftermarket sunroof company would tackle it, however its a lot of labor. Most of us have taken a weekend and worked on it ourselves. The most time consuming part is taking the headliner off and putting it back on without breaking any clips.

[J30Guy612]

Sounds like your doing a great job so far Chappy, and even though you overpaid for the work done on the car, it's all completely worth it in my opinion.

After all of the maitenence you just had done, the J should give you years of trouble free driving When these cars are taken care of properly, they will drive like the first day off the lot