Hello All! As some of you may know from my previous posts I have been looking for a 90-91 SSE and I am glad to say I found one. Black and gold with leather interior and all options. Very nice, car has 108,000 miles but looks mint. I will be posting some pics as well as a better intro on the car once I get the pics taken. But for now, I had a few questions I was hoping to get answers to.

1991 SSE 108,000 miles

1) The car seems to "hiccup" when cruising down the road around town, not so much on the highway. Overall runs good but it just seems a little funny. Trans? Plugs?

2) When driving if you let off the gas quickly and then hit the gas again there is a rather rough clunk, seems to me it would be motor mounts, any thoughts?

3) The steering is rather stiff, is this normal for the SSE?

4) Button to turn on the stereo "gain control" does not engage, it works, but you have to hold the button down.

Thanks for all the input and thanks to all who assited in my search for the right SSE.

Jason

1. it probably needs a tune up, plugs, wires, air filter, fuel filter, pcv valve, oil change, & if its the magnavox ignition, do the delco swap. (magnavox is the boxy kind and the delco is the 3 round coil kind)

2. mine did that, it was the motor mounts, if the mounts dont fix it, have the tranny fluid changed fast. (if the fluid isnt pink, change it NOW. or youll be looking at a trans rebuild quick.)

3. mine was a little stiff, check the power steering fluid level and top it off, have the tie rods and ball joints lubricated, maybe one is on its way out.

4. my button stopped working, i just stuck it down with a dime right next to it. it seems like they fail after a while.

Agreed on points 1, 2, and I've been a victim of the unsticking Gain button also. Got a junkyard replacement and she'* been good to go ever since. Slightly off topic, but I find the best sound quality is with Gain on, slider set to half. Any more and it becomes overwhelming, muddy bass...

As for the steering, it depends. At low speed it'* nice and relatively light, but once I get past 40-50km/h (25-30mph), it firms up significantly. Now if only I could do something about the on-centre steering feel - or the lack thereof

Thanks for the replies. I will be changing all the fluids very soon just so I have a good place to start from. I hope the tune up clears up the hiccups. Seems like that gain button is a common problem, glad I am not the only one.

Jason

1) I'd check into the ignition also. We had a similar problem. When you're traveling down the road at an even pace & slightly push the accelerator, it hiccups. This happened to our car a couple years ago. We replaced the ignition box & the coils & cured it. I imagine they 'weaken' after so long?
2) Engine Mounts IMO also
3) Hmmm, ... ?
4) Our gain control doesn't work either unless you pull back on the front of the console while pushing down slightly on the button.

Thanks.

How hard is it to change to a Delco coil set-up. I looked and mine has the boxy kind and if I need to change it I would just assume switch to the delco.

Jason

It is easy (do a search or someone will pipe up) lots of info, if you do a swap from 92 - 95 I think it is straight swap onto your bracket, Bill Boost has some for sale or you can get them at yard for pretty cheap
Pm Bill he'll set you up. You wont regret the swap.

The swap is realtively easy.. 3 bolts. and a connector.

The SSE will steer stiff due to a tighter steering ratio.
You can loosen it up by lubing the front end and upper strut mounts as well as changing the PS Fluid.

Thanks for info.

I dont mind the stiff steering, I was just curious if it was normal or if I should expect the rack and pinion to break out from under me. LOL

Thanks Again