What Did You Do To Your Car Today?

[RRocket]

Good color combo.

[Tortoise]

Agreed, such a classic colour.

Do you have any plans to tone it down a little? I feel like these things are great GT cruisers, so it would be more in line with its personality.

[Gurgie]

Agreed, such a classic colour.

Do you have any plans to tone it down a little? I feel like these things are great GT cruisers, so it would be more in line with its personality.

It is a very classic colour combo.

Wonder if you could add a set of resonators somewhere to tone it down? Unless you don't mind it as is?

[Firm]

I thought about it, would be easy to do, but I already have 3 other stock(ish) F-bodies.....including Mrs. Firm's red 96 which is basically the same car but with a stock 3.8L V6, and factory T/A WS6 suspension (I installed that many years ago), it's waaay better as a practical driver. But, it's her car and it's extremely clean, so I don't really want to put it through commute duties in Memphis. Some wild drivers here, and if someone smoked the green one, meh, but if her Firebird got taken out we'd both be pretty upset.

[Firm]

^What brand(s) did you go with?

Mrs.Firm had to run some errands this morning, and it was threatening to rain, so I told her to take the DTS as it was already dirty, and I'd just spent 3 hours detailing the Escalade, and the SLK was still nice and clean from last weekend's bath. She calls me an hour later as I am up on the roof cleaning gutters, saying that the brake pedal is going to the floor and doesn't stop the car.....Fortunately she was able to get safely into a parking lot. So, I jumped in the truck to go rescue her, turns out a main brake line from the master cylinder to the ABS block has failed (rust through at a spot where it transitions from a braided material to hard steel) and is spraying fluid everywhere.
 
I limped it to the Firestone Repair that's about 2-minutes from the house using only the emergency brake. They're open weekends but their 'master tech' isn't in until Monday.....So we'll see how that goes. I've had good luck with this shop for alignments, but never an actual repair. Tempted to do it at home, but really don't want too. Access really sucks, and I'd have to fabricate a new line, then bleed the ABS system - which requires a scanner.

Well, as expected, Firestone looked at it and took a hard pass, lol. So I grabbed the car and brought it home....Guess it's a DIY job now. The line I need is discontinued everywhere, but I did fine one company, Lines2Go (funny enough, a Canadian company...BC based) that makes a full stainless steel kit for the DTS, including the line I need. For $230 shipped I just ordered the full kit, I'll replace the line I need and keep the rest of the kit for future if needed.
Access to replace the line is pretty poor, but I think I can remove enough stuff to get access and get it replaced. The part I am more worried about is bleeding the ABS module after it's had a bunch of air introduced into it. My new Launch X431 scanner should be able to do it, but I've never done it before....

It's a good thing I have a few backup cars because this means it'll likely be down for a couple weeks before I can get to it.

[Gurgie]

^What brand(s) did you go with?

Mrs.Firm had to run some errands this morning, and it was threatening to rain, so I told her to take the DTS as it was already dirty, and I'd just spent 3 hours detailing the Escalade, and the SLK was still nice and clean from last weekend's bath. She calls me an hour later as I am up on the roof cleaning gutters, saying that the brake pedal is going to the floor and doesn't stop the car.....Fortunately she was able to get safely into a parking lot. So, I jumped in the truck to go rescue her, turns out a main brake line from the master cylinder to the ABS block has failed (rust through at a spot where it transitions from a braided material to hard steel) and is spraying fluid everywhere.
 
I limped it to the Firestone Repair that's about 2-minutes from the house using only the emergency brake. They're open weekends but their 'master tech' isn't in until Monday.....So we'll see how that goes. I've had good luck with this shop for alignments, but never an actual repair. Tempted to do it at home, but really don't want too. Access really sucks, and I'd have to fabricate a new line, then bleed the ABS system - which requires a scanner.

Well, as expected, Firestone looked at it and took a hard pass, lol. So I grabbed the car and brought it home....Guess it's a DIY job now. The line I need is discontinued everywhere, but I did fine one company, Lines2Go (funny enough, a Canadian company...BC based) that makes a full stainless steel kit for the DTS, including the line I need. For $230 shipped I just ordered the full kit, I'll replace the line I need and keep the rest of the kit for future if needed.
Access to replace the line is pretty poor, but I think I can remove enough stuff to get access and get it replaced. The part I am more worried about is bleeding the ABS module after it's had a bunch of air introduced into it. My new Launch X431 scanner should be able to do it, but I've never done it before....

It's a good thing I have a few backup cars because this means it'll likely be down for a couple weeks before I can get to it.

Good luck with the repair, I'm sure you'll figure it out & get it done quicker than any of us pleebs that are on here... keep us posted.

[Tortoise]

Yeah, exactly that. I look forward to watching you make the impossible look easy.

[Firm]

Well, it took the better part of the day, but I got the DTS back in action....First of all, super impressed with LineToGo, kit arrived in 24 hours of order, and shipped from Nova Scotia! Pretty cool that a Canadian company has the only solution here, and for a great price! No issues with duties or tariffs, which tells me they've got their act together with USMCA clearances and whatnot.

Started early, removed the airbox entirely, and a bunch of other easy stuff that was in the way, and barely got some access to the ABS module. The old fitting was seized on and no amount of fighting it with line wrenches and PB Blaster was going to do it, so I ended up metal fatiguing the line enough that it broke off just above the fitting so I could get on it with a deep socket and super long extension. That made all the difference and I was able to get it out, and swap the new one in.

Bleeding sucked, as expected, and took hours to do it all completely.....jack stands, pulled all 4 wheels, 4-corner manual bleed, then 3 complete automated ABS bleeds using the Launch X431 scanner, then another complete manual bleed for good measure. Fortunately, the weather was pleasant and Mrs.Firm was around to help with the bleeding. Pedal feels great, maybe better than before, and car stops great. Nice to have fresh fluid to all for corners now too, the stuff that came out was pretty dark.

The working conditions on the ABS module


The fresh SS line installed

[RRocket]

As always...top shelf work!

[Revelations]

I'm guessing this is the first major headache the DTS has caused? If so, not bad and glad you were able to get it wrapped up.

[Gurgie]

As always...top shelf work!

Completely agree!! 👍👍

[Firm]

Thanks guys!

I'm guessing this is the first major headache the DTS has caused? If so, not bad and glad you were able to get it wrapped up.

The car was totally headache free from when I got it in 2018 until this year (ok late 2024) when it's started giving me all the typical DTS issues at once. First was the alternator, that was probably the worst, as it took 2 full days, and I broke the radiator in the process....So it got an alternator and radiator. Then the heater core got plugged up and didn't want to put out good heat, access is terrible, so I had really get creative to find a way to flush it out. Next the coolant crossover gaskets started weeping, which was another full day job, did the water pump and complete fresh of the cooling system then. Not really a headache, but I did the spark plugs as it was time for them a couple months ago as well.....So, I've spent more time under the hood of this thing than any other car in my fleet this year. It's at 118K miles / 190K kms.....Guess it's just hitting that time where a bunch of things are hitting their replacement cycle.

That said, I love the way the car rides and drives, it's simply one of the best long-distance cruisers out there. Lifetime average of 10.5L/100km, out of a 20 year old 300hp V8. I also dig the looks and the 'big old black caddy' vibes. Every time something like this happens I think about what I might replace it with, but I really can't land on anything I'd rather commute in.....Conti GT maybe, but you know that's only going to be worse for repairs.....So I just keep fixing it. At least parts are pretty cheap, and thus far, I've been able to do all the labor myself.

[Blueprint]

All of those early years wrenching on sexy garden tractors British roadsters are paying off, developping basic skills and understanding principles with simple, analog machines at first and then being able to move on, learn more and tackle serious jobs "the pros" won't even touch on more complex vehicles. Firm is definitely DIY Nobel Prize material   

[Johnnymac]

Great work Firm.  I know it's a lot of busted knuckles and time, but I bet the parts are pretty cheap.

I wonder if maybe the Crown Vic vehicles would offer a similar ride but maybe with slightly better reliability and likely even cheaper/abundance of parts.  I always loved the Mercury Marauder.

[RRocket]

Great work Firm.  I know it's a lot of busted knuckles and time, but I bet the parts are pretty cheap.

I wonder if maybe the Crown Vic vehicles would offer a similar ride but maybe with slightly better reliability and likely even cheaper/abundance of parts.  I always loved the Mercury Marauder.

Town Car! Same platform as Crown Vic.