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09-24-2007, 10:19 PM
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#1
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Right Lane Rollers
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 253
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Bought a Saturn
Just drove home with my 2000 Saturn. You can see some more details about it in my garage. One thing I have noted is that this car has LOTS of excess power.
Just curious, my car is (on the title) an SSL. I assume this means it is the SL1. I thought it was kind of odd. Did the change the name from SL1 to SL at some point down the road?
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09-24-2007, 10:38 PM
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#2
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"Right Lane Rollers"
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Ontario
Posts: 367
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Congrats - my wife had one. It drove at speed so effortlessly. When we had twins we had to drive tandem with the baby seats on the right side fore and aft and us behind each other. It was the only way we we could fit until we got the Accord. Other than the legroom, and the plume d'huile that affected some of them, it was a solid yet kickable car! My buddy's had his for ages. He carries multiple ladders on it and entirely too many spools of cable in it.
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09-24-2007, 11:06 PM
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#3
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*shrug*
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 7,406
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Sweet! How do you plan to figure it in to your driving with the old boat?
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09-25-2007, 12:33 AM
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#4
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Southern California
Posts: 2,099
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Fourthbean -
Muchas Felicitaciones! This way you can keep the miles off your Classic Chevy.
CarloSW2
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09-25-2007, 03:02 AM
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#5
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FE nut
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Elkhart, IN
Posts: 1,193
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fourthbean
Just drove home with my 2000 Saturn. You can see some more details about it in my garage. One thing I have noted is that this car has LOTS of excess power.
Just curious, my car is (on the title) an SSL. I assume this means it is the SL1. I thought it was kind of odd. Did the change the name from SL1 to SL at some point down the road?
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Congrats on a fine choice!  The SL and SL1 were two different trim levels.
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Horsepower is how hard you hit the wall, torque is how much of the wall you take with you.
2007 Prius,
  
Team Slow Burn
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09-25-2007, 05:33 AM
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#6
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Junior Member
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Lake Mills, WI
Posts: 126
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How does this impact our FETC team? We now have 2 SL's.
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Team: Right Lane Rollers
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09-25-2007, 06:51 AM
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#7
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Right Lane Rollers
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 253
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Yep, get to park my Chevy now. Will probably list it on Craigslist for some insanely high price to see if anyone will bite in the next few months.
Ahh, didn't realize there were 3 trim levels diamondlarry. Thanks. I changed my garage entry to just read SL.
Jim, I guess we will have to share the fame of 40MPG on our team!  I will have to read through your mods and pick your brain about what works and what doesn't.
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09-25-2007, 07:53 AM
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#8
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Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 650
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fourthbean
Yep, get to park my Chevy now. Will probably list it on Craigslist for some insanely high price to see if anyone will bite in the next few months.
Ahh, didn't realize there were 3 trim levels diamondlarry. Thanks. I changed my garage entry to just read SL.
Jim, I guess we will have to share the fame of 40MPG on our team! I will have to read through your mods and pick your brain about what works and what doesn't. |
There's a fourth trim level, SL sport. Muhahaha! I have one. Its rare and collectable, NOT. Its an SL with lots of SL2 niceness. Basically when production ceased the put all the leftovers on these cars. |
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09-25-2007, 08:24 AM
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#9
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Member
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Southeastern CT - USA
Posts: 723
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Nice!
Standard or auto? Put that in the Garage page for us.
You're gonna get great FE in that car!
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Currently getting low 40's mpg in pre-Spring weather. Current EPA is 31/39 so low 40's is not too shabby. WAI mod done.
Now driving '97 Civic HX; tires ~ 50 psi. '89 Volvo 240 = semi-retired.
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09-25-2007, 02:12 PM
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#10
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Right Lane Rollers
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 253
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lovemysan
There's a fourth trim level, SL sport. Muhahaha! I have one. Its rare and collectable, NOT. Its an SL with lots of SL2 niceness. Basically when production ceased the put all the leftovers on these cars.
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A freind of mine was telling me about his 02 and how it had bumpers the same color of the car and yet wasn't an SL2. From what he said having the black bumpers was a sign of having something other than an SL2.
It is a Manual, I will add that to the garage.
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09-25-2007, 03:41 PM
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#11
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Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 650
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The black bumper indicates that its not an sl2. You could get the sl or sl1 with black bumpers. Being an SL usually indicates a basic utilitarian car. An SL1 however, would indicate basic options like air, tape, p/s, better interior trim.
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09-25-2007, 05:33 PM
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#12
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Right Lane Rollers
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 253
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I meant to agree with you lovemysan, though my post didn't read like that. I was saying that I think my friend got a similar deal to what you have.
I'm glad my SL basic option car did come with air No cruise control though (that I can find), which I can deal with. I have gone without up till now.
I have a high idle ('round 1200rpm), after perusing the saturnfans.com forum I am going to try and pick up a coolant sensor from a Saturn dealer on the way home tonight.
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09-25-2007, 07:16 PM
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#13
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Junior Member
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Lake Mills, WI
Posts: 126
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No, I meant: are we breaking the rules by having two on the same team?
Feel free to pick my brain. My engine has been feeling like it's running rough lately (after enhacing my HAI), but it has Bosch Platinum plugs in it (which my wife bought a few hundred miles ago; Saturns ruin them after a few hundred miles) and an aftermarket upper torque axis mount which is several thousand miles old.
Does anyone else notice more vibrations due to the lack of power per revolution caused by the HAI?
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Team: Right Lane Rollers
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09-25-2007, 07:37 PM
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#14
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Junior Member
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 55
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thats a nice lookin bel-air you got there. i saw a super clean impala today (67 or 68 i think) it was baby blue, looked like it just rolled off the showroom floor (and then had radial tires put on).
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09-25-2007, 07:46 PM
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#15
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Right Lane Rollers
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 253
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Jim, I don't see anything in the rules about two cars of the same model. So we should be good to go.
ezeedee, that picture is deceiving. It was taken a couple of years ago right after I got the car running, it looks much worse now with no hubcaps, faded paint, not washed in months, seat in back completely exploded, etc. lol
Thanks for the props on it though, I have enjoyed it as a car.
After talking to the guy at the Saturn dealership I am going to do a tune up before anything else (Now why didn't I think of that?).
I am changing to the midnight shift this week, so I will be staying up all night tonight doing schoolwork and working on my car. Hopefully I can have the tune up done and a new starter in by the morning .
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09-25-2007, 11:14 PM
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#16
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Right Lane Rollers
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 253
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Well, I got the starter changed. Wasn't near as much of a hassle as it was made out to be, or maybe I was reading about older Saturns taking 5 hours to change. I had mine out in about 30 minutes not counting the time it took to find the stupid extensions to reach the top bolt.
I also changed the spark plugs for some NGK's per the Saturn dealership suggestion. Idles smoother though the old ones (can't remember the name but weren't NGK) were a bit burnt (white).
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09-26-2007, 12:35 AM
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#17
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"Right Lane Rollers"
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Ontario
Posts: 367
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The wires been replaced?
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09-26-2007, 02:16 AM
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#18
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Right Lane Rollers
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 253
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Not by me, I was thinking about that after I was installing the plugs. I will be going back for an air filter though, this one looks a tad on the dirty side. Though I have never looked at an air filter like this before. One side is quite a bit "browner" than the other.
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09-26-2007, 07:55 AM
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#19
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"Right Lane Rollers"
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Ontario
Posts: 367
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Our spark leads became noticeable on our Saturn when accelerating in top gear at lower RPMs. It would miss and bog.
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09-26-2007, 10:39 AM
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#20
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Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 650
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About the spark wires. OEM wires should be "packard" they'll say it on the wires. I've seen these wires go 200k and still work fine. A good friend of mine has a 1993 S10 2.8 with 215k on it running original wires. There very good wires IMO.
All you have to do is be gentle with them and do an ohms check. They should come in around 1000ohms per foot of resistance. A dead wire is considered 5000ohms per ft. I recently tested my wires on my saturn they came in at 1700-2800 ohms for all of them. When I tuned up that s10 4 years ago @185k I tested the new wires and the old packard wires(OEM). The packards had less resistance than the new autozone wires so we returned the autozone wires.
With that being said check the stock wires before you replace them, replace the plugs with the OEM NGK's. NGK BKR4E-11 is the part number. Orielly's can order them for you for around $2 a plug.
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09-26-2007, 04:22 PM
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#21
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Right Lane Rollers
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 253
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I specifically asked for NGK plugs when I got new ones yesterday. Thanks for the tip on spark plug wires, I will get my ohm meter and and do a quick test today. They shouldn't be bad as this engine is only at 85K, but I will test the anyhow.
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09-26-2007, 09:23 PM
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#22
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Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 650
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fourthbean
I specifically asked for NGK plugs when I got new ones yesterday. Thanks for the tip on spark plug wires, I will get my ohm meter and and do a quick test today. They shouldn't be bad as this engine is only at 85K, but I will test the anyhow.
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Mine are at 80k also. Let me know what you come up with I'd be interested to know the results |
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09-27-2007, 04:12 AM
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#23
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Junior Member
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Lake Mills, WI
Posts: 126
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I wish my Saturn was only at 85k. Unfortunately, 2 years of 1 - 1.5 hour (one way) commutes have it at 113k. Bleh.
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Team: Right Lane Rollers
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09-27-2007, 04:20 AM
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#24
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Right Lane Rollers
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 253
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Ouch, you will hit 200k in no time at all Jim. I have a good 22 mile one way commute, however I only have to go up there 3-4 times a week. Which saves a lot.
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09-27-2007, 05:13 AM
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#25
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Right Lane Rollers
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 253
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I just tested my wires. Farthest plug was at .6 m ohms (Do you know what the m stands for?). Other three were 4-5 k ohms (Assuming the k is thousand). I did not see a brand name on the plug wires, just said high heat resistant wires. So I guess they aren't OEM.
I was thinking about having Oreilly's get both the in-house brand and the ones that cost twice as much (Borg-Warner) on the counter and I could just run a quick ohm test. Would that be smart or should I just go for the expensive ones?
I could also get them at rockauto.com (bosch brand) for 23 shipped. I don't usually buy auto parts online as I usually need them immediately. However in this case I could wait a week.
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09-27-2007, 05:35 AM
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#26
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Team Leftover Bananas!
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: New Milford, PA
Posts: 244
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Congrats Fourthbean! I'm surprised that you are surprised at the excess power. Mine has been nicknamed the gutless wonder. These Saturns are horribly under-powered, probably why they get good MPG. Of course I am biased, I went from a 260 horsepower Honda Civic Si that would shred it's tires in the first 3 gears and topped out at over 160mph.
Take care of it and change the oil! 
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Captain - Team Leftover Bananas!
The_Last_SL1's conversion to better Fuel Efficiency is here
If you're new, take a peek at New Members Thread by rh77!
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09-27-2007, 06:02 AM
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#27
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Right Lane Rollers
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 253
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I haven't been spoiled by excessively overpowered cars. I am sure I would "realize" how underpowered it is if I ever got in and drove something "real" ha ha.
What would American's do if we suddenly only had 20HP to run around on!
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09-27-2007, 08:55 AM
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#28
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Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 650
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I would order some OEM wires online. I do not buy wires from the parts stores, they don't seem to last as well. It sounds like your getting 6000 ohms from your longest wire. That would be about 2500ohms a foot. I wouldn't change them yet. I would order a new set of "packards" and store them until the current wires were unsatisfactory. I think the next time I'm at the pick and pull I'm going to find a good extra set for a $1.00
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09-27-2007, 08:57 AM
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#29
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Member
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 650
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As for underpowered I don't think so. Theres plenty of underpowered cars that are dogs. 0-60 in 10 seconds is livable. My brothers 3.5 maxima is very quick but I can drive them back to back and still like my car just as well.
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09-27-2007, 10:05 AM
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#30
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Right Lane Rollers
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 253
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I bought the wires before seeing your next post. After doing another test of the wires the .6m (600 thousand ohms) was false. I was getting 7500 or so out of that one. The 1foot long short cable was getting 4500.
I got oreilly auto parts to get both boxes out, the in house brand and the "platinum" brand. The in house measured 4500 or so for the long cable, 800 for the platinum ones. 500 for the short cable of platinums.
I went ahead and replaced them with the platinum (20 instead of 15 dollars or something like that) as I thought that was a pretty big difference.
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