My clutch slave and hose are arriving on Monday, so I've decided to get prepared. Turns out, dropping the gearbox on the 9-5 takes 3.5 hours. On jack stands, through the bottom, at a leisurely pace. Remembering some clutch job quotes I've heard in the past, I think we're being overcharged for labor around here...

The coolant bypass valve arrived yesterday (thanks, autopartsway.ca... cheaper than eeuroparts too!). Naturally, the gremlin decided to take it up a notch, and the clutch pedal went limp and mushy. Again. Double-clutching helps with shifts, and so does pumping the pedal, but it's getting worse. Could it be the slave? Can't spot any external fluid leaks...

It just keeps happening.

The accelerator pedal sunk into the floor on the 401 today. Popped the hood - the throttle cable is hanging loose. The C-clip that used to hold it to the throttle body had disappeared. Found a bottle cap on the side of the road and fashioned a new clip out of it. Later stopped at Home Depot, picked up a nice stainless hose clamp and secured the cable to its bracket. Better than new!

Replaced the engine back in April.

The car blew a piston on the 400 back in March. It made four holes in the block, so I needed a new engine. I've remembered that I had a 2.0L block sitting in my garage for almost 5 years. It was the original engine from my 1995 900 convertible project car (which was replaced with an Aero engine), and I never got around to finding a buyer. So instead of looking for a direct replacement, I dropped this 2.0L block in, mated to the 9-5 cylinder head.

Ended up with a European spec 9-5 ;], likely one of a kind on this side of Atlantic. Tuned to stage3 (thanks, ecuproject!). The car drives a lot differently than before. There's noticeably less torque in low RPM, but then it revs up easier and pulls hard to the redline. The old 2.3 would run out of turbo by 5000 RPM. It's also nice to be able to take off without spinning the front tires in the rain.

The repairs took some extra turns though.

Broke the clutch plate while bolting up the gearbox. Had to wait another week until the replacement arrived.

Then, when everything was finally installed, and the engine successfully started, the clutch pedal suddenly went into the floor. Luckily, it was just a master cylinder and Beacon had one in stock. I grabbed it first thing next morning, and the car was finally back on the road by noon. Would've been a pain to pull the gearbox for the third time.

A couple of weeks later, the new clutch master died again. Beacon honored the warranty and replaced it right away. So far so good.

This morning, however, there was a puddle on the floor under the firewall. Right, the coolant bypass valve! Hacked it up by bypassing the valve, routing the hose around it. Glad it's summer time, so we can live for a heater for a week, until the new valve arrives.

My direct ignition module had been acting up lately, the car felt sluggish and finally started throwing a P1312 code once a week or two. Used DIs sell well under $100 on eBay these days, so I picked up another unit and plugged it in. Feels like a whole new car now! It's amazing how important those things are.

A successful blend door repair, both sides. Yay to hot air in the winter instead of summer!

Need new rear brakes ASAP. Just picked up a pair of vented rear rotors from Aktive. Time to pull those Aero calipers from the closet. Only waiting for the stainless braided lines to arrive now.

Replaced the gearbox mount on the 9-5. Easiest engine mount job ever!

My clock spring died shortly after the engine in/out ordeal. The SRS light came on, and the steering wheel controls stopped working. I guess I gave the steering wheel a few free turns while it was disconnected from the rack, and that ruined it.

Well, I took it apart. Turns out it's not really a spring. It's a plastic box with two feet of ribbon cable coiled in. There's only enough room for about 4 extra turns, and then the cable bends backwards and breaks.

The ribbon has four thin copper lines glued between two strips of paper. Looks very fragile. It was a fun job finding the crack and soldering those tiny leads back together. And then finding the exact middle of those 4 extra turns with the box closed shut except for a tiny crack so you could peek at what's inside.

Seems to work now. Steering wheel controls are operational again. Gotta drop by Aktive to reset the SRS light.

Fixed the SID today. Heated up the ribbon cable with a hot iron and poked each lead with a needle. Worked like a charm. From a totally unreadable mess to a 99% working display (one pixel line is still missing) in 20 minutes.