Just got back from my vacation in Florida with the wife. Drove the SDL 3,400 miles round trip and no real problems whatsoever. Cruised at 75-80 mph all the way (except when the Radar Detector advised otherwise
) and had great weather for the trip there and back except for a few snow whiteouts between Erie PA & Buffalo NY coming back.
Coolant Temperature never got above 85-90deg. even pulling hard up the long hills in West Virginia or with the A/C on in 80+ deg. in Florida. Engine is also running quieter on its first full fill of Mobil-1 synthetic - the lifters are definitely much happier
Talking of Oil, I tried about six different Wally-Marts in Florida and on the way home to get the Truck-SUV Synthetic oil (aka Mobil Delvac-1) as we cannot get it at all in Canada. I had no luck whatsoever. A supervisor in a PA Wal-Mart told me that it had been discontinued
Bye-Bye to cheaper Diesel Synthetic Oil I guess.
One issue was a noise that developed once we got to Florida from the RH Front suspension when manouvering at low speed. There was no noise on the highway or any vibration through the steering wheel. I couldn't exactly pinpoint it but it would groan/graunch when I kneeled on the front bumper and compressed the spring on that side. I tried spraying WD-40 around some of the suspension joints and bushings (including the sway bar bushings) and it has disappeared for now. Is the start of the mysterious front-end noise syndrome ??
The other item was the Starter motor which on the trip home began to sound like it was continuing to run after starting the car. Any ideas
A great trip and another reinforcement of how good these cars are for long distance cruising.