Greetings from Flint Michigan

[MR Roadster]

 

[Goal10r]

Yup, the Electronic Control Module located in the passenger fender. It was programmed to my VIN.
I could absolutely use a piece of that harness. Ordered 2, 1 in a complete harness and 1 with just the connection, both were wrong.

 

[rzhj8s]

Ok i would need some photos of the headlights to see how bad they are. We have a guy looking to make new outer lens. Some ofvthem if the scratchesvare too deep cannot be made to look much better. I will round up the manuals. Another member borrowed them and i need to get them back.

Hi - do you know if can repair or replace XLR headlight lenses that have developed cracking?

 

[Goal10r]

So the car is running well and we’ve got the top down. . I’ve replaced the ECM, the Top Module, the Top Pump, but still no action on the top. I was able to get it down, it takes some patience but it’s down which isn’t a problem now but I’ve got enough money in it, I’m going to see it through. I’ll start focusing on that as the weather turns. For now I’m driving it!
It loves 50-60 mph but with the ride suspension box fried it does clunk on uneven road surfaces and the rear end wants to bounce, driving it on the Eway gets hairy.
I’m ready for the Bilstein conversion, I found a set of fronts and rears on EBay with the proper part numbers for 521. with tax, I understand I need the simulators as well. Casper’s electronics has them with the proper part number for 184.94. A bit over 700. plus install and hopefully it goes smoothly.
I ordered all of it today, I’ll post on this as soon as the parts are on.

 

[MR Roadster]

The simulators will only work if the suspension module is working. Without a working
suspension module the simulators are useless.
Install a bypass module for $375 and you won't need the simulators or the suspension module.
I can send you a bypass module. Strandcaster@currently.com 843-543-5253 Steve.

 

[Goal10r]

So it’s time to do the shocks, I’ve received so much info, the pros and cons of different methods, sometimes we have to just jump in and go try to figure it all out. I believe they call this the “building the boat as you sail it” method. So the bilsteins showed up then the simulators and I’m ready to jump in. We start with the front shocks of course. I don’t ever really remember changing a shock absorber but these were a royal pain in the butt. Remember guys, this is newbie 101, the shocks are in but took me about 6 hours for the fronts. The issue was the top nut on the old shock. You go to turn the nut and it spins. So closer inspection shows the little hex key head at the top of the piston shaft. The secret seemed to be a crows foot socket setup with a 7mm wrench holding the shaft from spinning. The nut finally came off but I still didn’t have enough clearance to remove the shock so I said screw it and using a carbide bladed power hack saw I cut the shaft of the old ride control shock and removed it. Putting the new one in required it to be compressed so I used a bunch of zip ties and made a harness to hold it at full compression which worked pretty well. I got it in place and cut the zip ties off and it popped into place. But the “ears”at the bottom of the new shocks weren’t angled properly and I fought to get them bolted into place. My 500 dollar set of manuals did nothing to help with this change over. I was finally able to get the base of the shock screwed down and tightened but it fought me the whole way. My biggest issue is the simulators. The instructions tell me the 3 cavity is for the lower sensor and the 2 cavity is for the upper on top of the shock. The upper simulator fits perfectly, the lower does not fit at all. Back to the drawing board with the simulators on Monday.
Tomorrow, onto the rear shocks…

 

[mickeytee]

Your working way too hard on it. The front ones if anyone is doing them, you just jack the car up put stands under the frame . then a jack under the control arm. There is a special socket that fits inside the stock shock with a wrench you unbolt the nut while holding the shaft. Then you remove the four bolts that mount the control arms to the frame. Just check if there are shims behind them. 90% of the time nothing but one washer per bolt lower the jack and the shock comes right out. .on the sims the two wire go to the shock plug the three wire go to the position module that links to the control arm. I go the extra 5 minutes and remove the link and module to cut out noise weight and clean up the look. Ill try and send you some photos to tie the wiring up so its out of the way.

 

[MR Roadster]

Those ride height simulators are sometimes tricky to plug in. You might need to adjust the pins inside the simulator to match up to the plug. Also they only go on one way.

 

[Goal10r]

Your working way too hard on it. The front ones if anyone is doing them, you just jack the car up put stands under the frame . then a jack under the control arm. There is a special socket that fits inside the stock shock with a wrench you unbolt the nut while holding the shaft. Then you remove the four bolts that mount the control arms to the frame. Just check if there are shims behind them. 90% of the time nothing but one washer per bolt lower the jack and the shock comes right out. .on the sims the two wire go to the shock plug the three wire go to the position module that links to the control arm. I go the extra 5 minutes and remove the link and module to cut out noise weight and clean up the look. Ill try and send you some photos to tie the wiring up so its out of the way.

Thank you for the info Michael but I respectfully disagree on the working too hard part. The key here is “the special socket”. If you haven’t changed one of these shocks you are probably going to be working too hard. If you don’t have a special socket you are probably going to be working too hard. The other part is, after doing the first one I was able to cut the time in half on the second one.
I did use the jack stand under the frame and the jack under the arm. But jack it up too high, there isn’t enough room to remove, too low and it hits the A- arm. No special tool? Use a crows foot and a 7mm or a hex key. Not enough room to remove, cut the shock shaft. Nothing to collapse the shock on the re-install, make a harness out of zip ties. The thought process and homemade engineering eats up the clock, big time. But I enjoy working on the car and coming up with solutions, it’s my therapy.
And yes, the two cavity simulator goes up top as the instructions told me. But if the 3 cavity doesn’t fit then it doesn’t fit. It doesn’t fit.
Long story short, the shocks work great despite 2 lights being on which I assume is due to not having the correct simulator. I was warned this shock setup wouldn’t work on my car, too low. But it rides great, looks great as it is lower but doesn’t impede the steering. So my lesson here is Newbies take an awful long time to do stuff but if they are tenacious they can get the job done correctly despite numerous obstacles which are often not documented or confusion over different methods available. Again, the manuals were worthless.
I pulled it back in and had the first rear shock out in 30 mins including the jack up and the tire removal.
More tomorrow on the simulators and the finishing the rears, and of course, the ride.

 

[mickeytee]

I guess after doing 20 or more cars its gets easier with time. The socket is nice but an open end 5/16 wrench will hold the shaft while you lossen the nut. Like i said ,you cannot wiggle them out and compressing them is very hard , cutting the shaft with a grinder works but pulling the 4 bolts off the upper control at the frame lets everything just swing down and out of the way.
Ihate ruining even bad shocks hoping some day with cores someone will stsrt rebuilding them

dont know the problem on the sims. all the plugs are the same and they only use one plug at casper so even if they sent the wrong one it would still plug in. The lights will be on if you dont have the sims connected. You may need to disconnect the battery after you get it figured out to reset the suspension module.

 

[mickeytee]

Ok just got your plug photo to load. The part of the plug you need is stuck inside the black factory plug. The wires are broken. Catch one of those wires with needle nose and pull tbe release on the plug it should allow the male part to come out of the plug. Then you will need a new male plug or rewire the broken part as thats what plugs into the sim