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I just got back up to college after Christmas Break, this time with the Brick. The trip was slightly over 200 miles, done in about three hours and twenty minutes. My car is an '89 244 GL with an auto tranny and sunroof.
The car performed well, I thought, with only a few concerns. Those are what I want to bring up.
1. At speeds around 60 or 70mph, the car seemed to jiggle side-to-side. Our mechanic told us the front left suspension arm (or bushing, can't remember) was going and would eventually need replacing, but we haven't fixed it yet. I guess the problem stems from that part. It wasn't noticeable for most of the trip, fortunately.
2. The sunroof got stuck. It's just a manual crank, and I had had problems with it before. I opened it to start out the journey, but eventually decided I wanted it closed (at higher speeds). However, about an inch and one full crank from being closed, it jammed. The crank wouldn't turn at all. Opening it slightly and fully and then trying to reclose it wouldn't work. I left it alone, tried later to no avail, left it alone for a while longer, tried it, and got it shut! It's ornery, I suppose, and eventually needs to be taken apart completely and put back together. Is there anything I can do in the short-term to prevent problems? Should I keep it closed?
3. The biggie. I've heard of this problem before but it had never occurred until today: the overdrive got stuck on. I used overdrive maybe once on the whole trip, preferring to keep the car in fourth gear for cruising and gas economy. However, right as I was preparing to exit the interstate, I changed lanes and found the cars in front of me slowing quite a bit. I turned on overdrive on the gear shift to slow the car more speedily, and then clicked it off once I was at a good following speed. It went off, but came on seconds later and stayed on. No amount of pushing of the button on the gear shift would get it off, and I left it alone after a few tries because I knew that others had experienced the problem. Once I got parked, I turned off the car and turned it back on, but the overdrive stayed on. Driving it a little later in the evening showed no change. I'll let you know if it's fixed when I drive around next (tomorrow, I predict), but I get the feeling this is a mechanical problem, perhaps involving "solenoids" or something like that. That probably means a trip to the mechanic.
I'm a not-mechanically-inclined, poor college student. What can I fix with the most basic of tools without breaking something even worse?
Other than those issues, the car did very well. I haven't driven it on any long trips since I've been the primary driver of the brick (three years), and before then it hadn't been on anything longer than a two-hour trip in several more years. The cruising speed for the first hour and a half was close to 90mph (on American interstates!) and subsequently 75-85. Even so, I still have probably a third of a tank of gas left. All together it was fun bricking!
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