Hi everyone,

My name is Tom and I live in the Chicago area. I just today purchased a 1995 SSEi with 84k miles on it, Champagne in color with tan leather interior. I've always liked the car and the time came for me to get a solid second car, so I was able to find a good one. I paid $4,500 for it, which I *think* is a decent deal.

I do have some questions, so I'll list them here:

1 - What concerns are there on the supercharger if any? Do I need to do anything special to maintain it?

2 - What concerns in general should I be watching for this car?

3 - Two things I can't figure: One is what appears to be a black defrost button on the heading in front..what does this control? Two is a little clear button under the rear view mirror..not sure what that does either.

4 - The gearshift lights do not light up to show what gear I am in.. I'm assuming this is a fuse and is fixable?

Thanks, great resource here.

Tom

1. Change the oil. Don't even question it, just do it. Procedure in Techinfo for you. Also, take the belt off, and turn the pulley back and forth. If you feel slop, or hear a rattle at idle, change the coupler. Other than that, it should outlast the entire drivetrain.

2. Your only MAJOR concern would be the eventual demise of the trans. It'* the weak point, especially for an SSEi. Add a trans cooler (yes, another one) and switch to a 180° thermostat.

3. The little black button on the headliner? Do you have foglights or a sunroof? It'll be one or the other. If the switch rocks forward and backward, it'* the sunroof. If it goes side to side, and lights up in the left position at night, it'* the foglights (driving lights). The switch on your mirror is probably the Electrochromic auto dimming feature. Welcome to Hi-tech.

4. We've run into the PRNDL lights before....can't remember what it was. Is the 'backlighting' for the bezel out, or all of the LED'* at each position? Click on SEARCH in the upper right corner of this screen, and search on "PRNDL".

Welcome to the Club! There'* a local Chicago area chapter also.

Welcome. I hope you enjoy your new car and this forum. If you ever need to know anything about your car definately come here, we can help you with almost anything.

Agreed, lots of great information, lots of laughs and resources a plenty.

Welcome and good luck. Read over Techinfo, lots of great information

Everything Willwren said is correct (as expected ), but my PRNOD21 doesn't light up either, and I know all my lights and everything is good. I have actually taken apart my console to check it out. If your ash tray light works all lights in the area there are fine. In fact, the ash tray light is what seems it may be the source for the PRNOD21 lights, but it is a whacky setup.I really don't see how they can light up, but I can see how GM thought they might try. :?

It would be interesting to compare the factory wiring diagram from a 93 to a 95. Mine are all lit and backlit.....never had a problem with it. Is this something they discontinued for 95 maybe?

The car appears to have been taken care of and the oil always changed. Taking the belt off sounds like a pain.. is it?

Okay, I'm intimidated already. What is a trans cooler, how much is it, how tough to install? I know what a thermo is, assume not expensive..can do myself? Why does this help?

Yeah, turns out its the foglights control..doh. And yes, the dimmer. Oh, THATS what the manual is for!

Read the other posts on this as well. I'll try a search. Its not a huge deal but would like it to work.
Thanks a lot - this was exactly what I was looking for, I can tell this is a great community. I always, always liked this car and am real happy to get it. Drove it downtown today and really enjoyed it. Looking forward to tweaking it a bit to make it really nice.

Thanks!

Will was speaking of the supercharger oil, not engine oil. Here'* the link on where and how:
http://www.bonnevilleclub.com/techinfo/?article=22

It'* another radiator with lines from the tranny to it to cool the tranny fluid. Here is an answer by Will on a similar question as yours:
http://www.bonnevilleclub.com/forum/...=tranny+cooler

Thank you Mr. Wildman. Well spoken!

TD, more specific reasoning:

1. Supercharger oil. Most DEALERS overlook or ignore it. It'* a PITA for them, and they don't deal with enough of them to be on top of it all the time. Other service centers see a Supercharger as a Turbo, and assume that it shares engine oil, which it does not. With the age of yours, and going by our experience, do the flush procedure. Change it twice, even if you do it once this weekend, and once next. It'* worth the insurance. If properly cared for, it will last forever, if not, it can be very expensive. Taking the belt off is a snap. Put a ratchet with the right sized socket on the idler right below the SC pulley, and push. It'* spring loaded and will release belt tension. Push on the ratchet, lift the belt off. Easy as pie, especially on the Series I that you have.

2. Transmission cooler. The cooler it runs, the longer it lasts. Heat is the enemy. Buy a couple extra years for a $50 cooler and a couple hours of work. Well worth it. This will also help keep the engine temps down. Having the transmission flushed at this point for another $80 is also a good idea. See my signature? I'm hammering my transmission daily. Can't help myself. But it'* still going strong. However, I've seen some fail alot earlier.

3. Glad you figgered out the mystery switches Took me awhile with the book, too. Pretty freaking amazing car, ain't it?

4. Post the PRNDL thingy in the 1992-1999 forum, and we'll all work it out together. Seems others are having problems, and there are some apparent differences between years that I'd personally like to figure out for my own knowledge. Looks like you, me and SSEi95 can solve this with a little help from acg_ssei and fuddyduddy121. That'* my bet

The biggest help you can give us right now is to go back into your profile, and fill out your signature with your year and model. As you modify your car, list that too. It helps alot when we're trying to remember what everyone drives. There are alot more differences between models and years than you might expect. I learned a Book-full here.

edit: reread the other posts and found the following article:

http://www.bonnevilleclub.com/techinfo/?article=15

I don't have a jack, so I'd have to buy one. Question: What does the dealer charge to do this, and do the Jiffy Lubes of the world offer this service? I'm concerned about ruining something on a car I just bought that I cannot afford to ruin... The process doesn't look too difficult, do I need any other tools other than the allen wrench and the tubes/syringe? Not much is said about the harness except at the end to put it back on.

The tranny cooler thing is way over my head. Not real comfortable attempting that either. How necessary is this? What would a mechanic charge to do this - and does anyone know anyone in the chicago area who might do this?

Lastly, what is the purpose of changing the thermo to 180 deg?

Appreciate the help already - I'm definitely willing to learn and do stuff myself, I'm just a bit gunshy on doing things until I am sure I know what I am doing!

Tom