Went and pulled an Eljefino...

[Ramblejam]

Originally Posted By: JimPghPA
Saved for future reference.

I'll try and update a little as I progress with it.

Appreciate the Suburban compliments. It's been very good to me, and done everything I've ever asked of it; from road trips, exploring off-road, towing, to blasting through huge snows drifts on country roads these past couple of years. A very versatile and capable vehicle.

Originally Posted By: ls1mike
8.1 or 6.0?

Tuned 6.0L
4.10 gears (which make a BIG difference with these engines)
89 Octane (really keeps KR down vs. 87)

Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
Is that from the China Grove Copart?

Raleigh

So, did a little maintenance on it today...oil/filter, air filter, PCV. Couple quick notes...

-Tires are Goodyear all the way round, with minimal wear and 2015 DOT code. More money there alone than the car purchase price, and it'll save the expense of finding a decent/quality set to put on it.
-Turns out the transmission has a spin-on filter and drain plug. Very nice! Also turns out that the fluid looks nearly new (bright red), so no need to even mess with it.

As I mentioned before, there wasn't much oil in there, and whatever remained was in terrible shape. Some of you will think I'm nuts to pick this oil for a $150 car, but I've had very good luck with it in the past (stopping consumption/leaks, internal cleaning), so in it went.

Here's the oil filter that came off. Couldn't locate it on a cursory look, and had to consult YouTube to find the thing. Turns out, it's hidden above the axle. No sense of scale in the picture, but it's a tiny little thing and much smaller then the Fram that went on. Went with the largest/highest holding capacity filter I could put on there (XG3600), as I know there's going to be a bunch of junk floating through the system.

 

[spasm3]

Originally Posted By: Ramblejam
Originally Posted By: JimPghPA
Saved for future reference.

I'll try and update a little as I progress with it.

Appreciate the Suburban compliments. It's been very good to me, and done everything I've ever asked of it; from road trips, exploring off-road, towing, to blasting through huge snows drifts on country roads these past couple of years. A very versatile and capable vehicle.

Originally Posted By: ls1mike
8.1 or 6.0?

Tuned 6.0L
4.10 gears (which make a BIG difference with these engines)
89 Octane (really keeps KR down vs. 87)

Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl
Is that from the China Grove Copart?

Raleigh

So, did a little maintenance on it today...oil/filter, air filter, PCV. Couple quick notes...

-Tires are Goodyear all the way round, with minimal wear and 2015 DOT code. More money there alone than the car purchase price, and it'll save the expense of finding a decent/quality set to put on it.
-Turns out the transmission has a spin-on filter and drain plug. Very nice! Also turns out that the fluid looks nearly new (bright red), so no need to even mess with it.

As I mentioned before, there wasn't much oil in there, and whatever remained was in terrible shape. Some of you will think I'm nuts to pick this oil for a $150 car, but I've had very good luck with it in the past (stopping consumption/leaks, internal cleaning), so in it went.

Here's the oil filter that came off. Couldn't locate it on a cursory look, and had to consult YouTube to find the thing. Turns out, it's hidden above the axle. No sense of scale in the picture, but it's a tiny little thing and much smaller then the Fram that went on. Went with the largest/highest holding capacity filter I could put on there (XG3600), as I know there's going to be a bunch of junk floating through the system.

The longer 3600 series is what i run on my saturns, easier to install and remove!
I'm using microgreen and fram ultras.

 

[SatinSilver]

Surprised it had a Microgreen filter on it. I thought those were rare outside of here of course. Interesting tires, atf are in good shape while the oil was toast.

 

[CharlieBauer]

I love these kind of threads.

Congrats and well done to the OP for his find.

I have often wanted to do something similar but for a modern classic.

Subscribing!

 

[Nick1994]

Thanks for the heads up about copart.com. I won an action for a 2001 Buick LeSabre today for $225. I didn't know about all those auction fees and buyers fees so after everything it comes out to $478. Still room to make some money though, I bought it as a car to flip. Has about 250k miles but if it turns out to be mechanically sound maybe I'll drive it a little bit, I doubt it though.

 

[Ramblejam]

What's the lot number?

 

[Nick1994]

Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Thanks for the heads up about copart.com. I won an action for a 2001 Buick LeSabre today for $225. I didn't know about all those auction fees and buyers fees so after everything it comes out to $478. Still room to make some money though, I bought it as a car to flip. Has about 250k miles but if it turns out to be mechanically sound maybe I'll drive it a little bit, I doubt it though.


For mine? 24191456

 

[Delta]

Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Thanks for the heads up about copart.com. I won an action for a 2001 Buick LeSabre today for $225. I didn't know about all those auction fees and buyers fees so after everything it comes out to $478. Still room to make some money though, I bought it as a car to flip. Has about 250k miles but if it turns out to be mechanically sound maybe I'll drive it a little bit, I doubt it though.


Bring that thing up North. We'll buy anything rust free!

 

[Nick1994]

Originally Posted By: Delta
Originally Posted By: Nick1994
Thanks for the heads up about copart.com. I won an action for a 2001 Buick LeSabre today for $225. I didn't know about all those auction fees and buyers fees so after everything it comes out to $478. Still room to make some money though, I bought it as a car to flip. Has about 250k miles but if it turns out to be mechanically sound maybe I'll drive it a little bit, I doubt it though.


Bring that thing up North. We'll buy anything rust free!
Lol, I'm picking it up tomorrow. Buying it sight unseen except for pictures online. Hopefully it runs and drives good and doesn't need major work.

 

[Ramblejam]

Away from a computer for a bit, so can't type much; definitely post here (and pics) about your experience getting it tomorrow. Look forward to reading!

 

[dishdude]

I've been interested in the Copart auctions, I'll be looking forward to watching the saga play out. Nothing better than a sub $500 car!

 

[Nick1994]

Originally Posted By: Ramblejam
Away from a computer for a bit, so can't type much; definitely post here (and pics) about your experience getting it tomorrow. Look forward to reading!
I created a thread about it in the photo section as well. I'll keep it updated.

 

[UncleDave]

Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
Surprised it had a Microgreen filter on it. I thought those were rare outside of here of course. Interesting tires, atf are in good shape while the oil was toast.


Im not. It was mentioned it was a fleet car.

It's likely that the car was on microgreens 30K /3 filter/ 1 sump regimen.

So what was drained out could have had 30K on it.


UD

 

[Ramblejam]

"A new law passed January 1st, 2007 known as 50% Floor will require the buyer to pay no less than 50% of the trade-in value on any vehicle purchased (excluding vehicles 20 years or older, recreational vehicles, motorcycles and any vehicles branded rebuilt). If the sale price of the vehicle is less than 50% of the trade-in value, the vehicle will be taxed on 50% of the trade-in value."

Ended up being taxed on $590.

Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
Surprised it had a Microgreen filter on it. I thought those were rare outside of here of course. Interesting tires, atf are in good shape while the oil was toast."

Great thing about fleet vehicles (coming from large companies/municipalities with good management practices) is they not only receive regular/constant maintenance, but when things do break, they're fixed properly. No half-a$$ stuff that's all too common with personally-owned used cars.

The downside is that drivers (unless required to do pre-trips) aren't going to be checking the oil everyday on something like a Saturn. So, with these using oil like they do, you're bound to encounter what I did.

 

[Ramblejam]

Update:

Have been trying to drive it a bit, and found a few surprising things...

First off, that I actually enjoy driving it!
Second, is that everything works. I don't know if this is more a testament to Saturn, or a fleet maintenance program.
Around town it's much torquier/responsive than I thought it'd be (thinking of high-strung 4 cylinders), and quick off the line without a lot of throttle.
On the backroads, it really handles quite nicely; light weight, low cg (you feel like you're sitting on the floor), front/rear rollbars, and the larger tire/wheel setup make for a nice little package.
On the open-road, it's not over-boosted (with very light/zero-feel) steering like many GM cars I've been in. Turns out the SW2 has an EVO setup: http://my.cardone.com/techdocs/PT 20-0024.pdf

Since this is after all an oil forum, I'll mention that I'm quite happy with Mobil 1 High Mileage 10w-40. Consumption has been minimal so far, and it runs nice and quiet. Looking over on some Saturn forums though, there's a small chorus saying that due to the engine design/timing-chain orifice, you must run a Xw-30 in these or you'll cause damage with the heavier weights. It hasn't been terribly cold this winter, but last night was a bit different; those from the northern locales will scoff, but this is downright frigid for this part of the country:

Yes, I know that's a wind chill map (which has no affect on machine). Actual air temps were around +5°F this morning, and the Saturn fired right up after having sat all night; no noises, no oil pressure light, nothing amiss. Mobil 1 doesn't supply CCS/MRV on their data sheets, but given that High Mileage 10w-40 has a pour point of -44°F, I'm going to make a guess and say that its pumpability at temperatures I'll experience here isn't going to be an issue.

 

[bowlofturtle]

How does one buy off copart as a normal person? When i was first told about that site, i looked and its like you needed a business license of something.

What are the total fees? I saw a post about fees.

 

[supton]

Originally Posted By: Ramblejam

First off, that I actually enjoy driving it!
Second, is that everything works. I don't know if this is more a testament to Saturn, or a fleet maintenance program.
Around town it's much torquier/responsive than I thought it'd be (thinking of high-strung 4 cylinders), and quick off the line without a lot of throttle.


Back in 2000, I test drove Saturn, Civic, Corolla. Wound up with the Saturn. I wanted a bare bones econobox, 40mpg. The Saturn was the "nicest" to drive out of them. Granted, later on I regretted it (but I don't think the others were much better, none are considered "great" cars today, save perhaps the Civic), as it was gutless--and harsh--above 3k, and turned into an oil burner. But for mundane driving, where one didn't need to rev past 3k, it really was much better than its competition. To this day, I think my replacement for that 2000 Saturn--a 2004 VW diesel--actually had less off-idle torque, and was easier to stall, than that old Saturn.

 

[Ramblejam]

Sounds like you had a SL1 (SOHC), Supton? Never realized until doing some research before getting this one that there were two models (SL1/SL2 for the sedans, and same 1 or 2 for the coupes/wagons), quite different from one another (engine, gearing, suspension, wheel/tire size, interiors, etc.).

Originally Posted By: bowlofturtle
How does one buy off copart as a normal person?

Either go through/pay a broker, or purchase in states that sell directly to the public (no licensed required). Everything is laid-out over on the Copart site, including their fee structure.

 

[supton]

Actually, I had an SL, no number. Basest of base, it had the optional cassette player, passenger side mirror and a/c. Nothing else. No ABS, no mats, and no power steering. SL1 would have gotten PS and some other amenities that escape me now, but same drivetrain. SL2 got the DOHC engine, and shorter gearing for more spirited driving (engine turns faster on the highway in top gear, and the lower gears were spaced closer together, but overall it was the takeoff ratio).

 

[Ramblejam]

Learned something new; thanks, Supton!

Still haven't done any maintenance other than the aforementioned oil/air filter and PCV.

MPG over on the fueleconomy.gov site is listed at 22 city/32 highway. Had around 1/2 a tank when I got it, so first fill was 1/2 a tank of fresh 87, and a couple bottles of Regane. Filled up near empty today. Usage has been purely short trips, and somehow managed to hit 26 MPG.

After some more research on the Saturn forum, I was quite surprised to find out these are set-up much like the LS engines I'm familiar with; they'll run just fine on 87, but are right on the ragged edge, and have no issue running deep into single digit knock retard (even on clean, well running engines). Just bumping up to 89 eliminates mostly all of it, and that's what I filled up with this time. Curious to see how it responds.