Anyone DD theirs?

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markwemple
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Anyone DD theirs?

Post by markwemple »

Out of curiosity, anyone use their xr4ti as daily transportation?
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Re: Anyone DD theirs?

Post by my8950 »

Yes...although when it starts getting close to snow, I park it.
The car's definitely don't need any help with rust.
The one I drive is pretty clean and I want to keep it that way.
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Re: Anyone DD theirs?

Post by Ed Lijewski »

Everyday. I have three, so I do periodic rotation.

YMMV
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John Brennan
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Re: Anyone DD theirs?

Post by John Brennan »

I daily drove a series of three XRs, beginning in late '88 with a new one, for about a quarter of a million miles, total. Eventually, I got tired of being held hostage to having to immediately resolve any issues with my current car (an '89) in order to get to work in the morning (25 miles away, no public transportation option), got myself a commuter (no boring econobox, but a Fiesta ST), and the XR was relegated to Project status, which is sad, but necessary. I only have room for one at a time, since I'm married with kids and they all have their own cars, too.
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markwemple
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Re: Anyone DD theirs?

Post by markwemple »

What issues or concerns would you have with DDing one now?
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John Brennan
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Re: Anyone DD theirs?

Post by John Brennan »

markwemple wrote: Mon Sep 10, 2018 2:08 pm What issues or concerns would you have with DDing one now?
None, as long as I had a backup car/s I could turn to when necessary. I would not recommend doing that if it's your only car, and no other reasonable/realistic commuting options were available. For the better part of three decades, I did exactly that-- and the plain truth is that these cars are now simply too old to be relied upon in that fashion, unless maybe you have a big, beautiful garage stocked with a lot of tools (many of them specialty tools), a full complement of spare parts, a lift maybe, or immediate access to such.

If I had a Blugg, Mike, Russ, or JV in my town I could turn to for help when needed, I might also consider it... but I don't.
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markwemple
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Re: Anyone DD theirs?

Post by markwemple »

My 996 will be needing a clutch soon and will be "up" for a few weeks to a month as I do all the other items "while I'm in there." I have a big, beasty 4x4 f-250 that I can also turn to buts it's nearly impossible to park where I work and a bit tiring to driving regularly in the Baltimore/DC metro region (It's a 03 7.3 crew cab)
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Re: Anyone DD theirs?

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markwemple wrote: Mon Sep 10, 2018 2:08 pm What issues or concerns would you have with DDing one now?
The whole car falling apart...When I first got the car I'm talking about, I went through ignition, oil change, brakes, crap like that to make sure that it would start and stop, run ok. Then when I had a week off, I started driving it local so in case something happened I wasn't under the gun to get back to work. Since then it's been good...Had a few issues in the past few years, but nothing that stopped me from driving the car, other than a day or two here and there to fix whatever issue showed up.

Some people have a lot of problems and never seem to get the cars fixed. Others want to just buy a car unknown and start modifying it right out of the gate. I think it's best to make it a solid runner first and then work from there if that's what the person has in mind.
markwemple
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Re: Anyone DD theirs?

Post by markwemple »

Getting it solid is definitely my main and first approach. The only mods I'm thinking that may be good to get on right away are an intercooler and Cosworth front grill to keep underhood temps down. They seem to be a big issue with these.


I'm also trying to hunt down fuel and brake hard lines as these have been "repaired" and one of those bursting while driving doesn't sound pleasant (I've had brake line failures before). I haven't had luck so far.

Also, it's been mentioned here about grounds, cleaning and adding a few. Where should they be added??

Thanks all!
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Re: Anyone DD theirs?

Post by John Brennan »

markwemple wrote: Mon Sep 10, 2018 3:43 pm Also, it's been mentioned here about grounds, cleaning and adding a few. Where should they be added??
The only grounds I've added have been taillight matrices-to-body ground-- they pop up as an issue in lots of these cars. I would do it to any XR I own. The rest were matters of repair and maintenance, at least for me.
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Re: Anyone DD theirs?

Post by Chirp »

I have been driving mine on a daily 120 mile round trip commute for the last 6 months, and for 3 years prior to that. Sadly I have noticed a slowly downward spiral of my interior plastics, which I plan to address this weekend. I also noticed that my dash is looking a little more crispy and my driver's seat has begun coming apart on a similarly rapid timeline :(. I have to look for a seating solution, and I hope to try flocking the dash in the near future when funds allow.
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Re: Anyone DD theirs?

Post by LITTELHAWK »

I daily drive mine but I do have a Jeep I can fall back on when something goes wrong.

Gets parked when it is super cold out because the heat output was horrible but I'm hoping I will have that fixed this year before winter really kicks in.
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Re: Anyone DD theirs?

Post by dunhamr1 »

markwemple wrote: Mon Sep 10, 2018 3:29 pm My 996 will be needing a clutch soon and will be "up" for a few weeks to a month as I do all the other items "while I'm in there." I have a big, beasty 4x4 f-250 that I can also turn to buts it's nearly impossible to park where I work and a bit tiring to driving regularly in the Baltimore/DC metro region (It's a 03 7.3 crew cab)
I did a similar thing and daily drove my '89 XR while I was working on my "Normal" daily. Was only supposed to be a week, maybe two. Ended up being 6 weeks. The XR did great, no hiccups thankfully, though I do have a relatively short commute.
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eaton53
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Re: Anyone DD theirs?

Post by eaton53 »

markwemple wrote: Mon Sep 10, 2018 2:08 pmWhat issues or concerns would you have with DDing one now?
That it's gonna quit.
Heck... they did that plenty when they were new!

I had an old '78 Chevy 4x4 pickup truck when I had my '85 XR.
Mark Copeland - I'm 50 miles west of Kewanee, IL

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Re: Anyone DD theirs?

Post by DAReese »

markwemple wrote: Mon Sep 10, 2018 2:08 pm What issues or concerns would you have with DDing one now?
I use mine from spring to fall when it is dry out. The problems you will have is it is a thirty-year-old car, compounded by the heat generated by the turbo. If you don't know how old the battery is, a new one should be on the list. They get baked by the heat after about two years if used much. You should have a TFI tool and spare TFI. Tools for the trunk and ingenuity when they break down. If the hoses are old, look into replacing as many as possible.

But, after going over it, mine has been relatively dependable. I had an issue with the firewall cracking and eating clutch cables until it was figured out, but since then, after replacing the dogbone cable with a nut and bolt and reinforcing the firewall, it has been fine. I also had a spark plug that must have been a little under-sized, because I was blowing a plug out of the socket until it was replaced. Also had a bad connection, chip or ECU. Not sure which. I've replaced the ECU and SuoerChip with new ones which have cleared up the problem so far. Even then, it was a matter of grabbing the wire and ECU and moving it a little to cure it. 272,000 miles on it, so I'm not expecting Honda/Toyota reliability. I also have a Scorpio that should see the road soon. It was a basket-case I got from Blugg. The electrical system was a mess, A/C was bad, ABS wasn't working right, and I'm sure once it gets on the road, I'll find other things, but the few times I did drive it before the wiring decided to melt all the way from the battery to the fuse box, it drove nice. If it ever gets road-worthy, then I'll get to the interior looking like it was parked on the sun.
David Reese

88 XR4Ti - mono white T5, someday to be bi wing
89 Scorpio - waiting on some parts before it hits the road again
88 XR4Ti - mono red C3, parts car
used to own 86 dark blue traded in on a min van, what was I thinking?
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