When Alarm and Central Lock Went South

My central lock did give me some headache for a week or two. Whenever I arm the car using the transmitter, the door will lock and in a split second it will unlock the door back. On top of that, the lock latch on the driver side isn't locking properly which indicate, either the central locking gun has broken or the linkages were screwed. So I took it back to the shop I've bought and installed the alarm. To their finding, actually the wiring was the culprit. I'm quite surprise also since they are known as the one of the best in wiring job (as per claimed in Lyn.net). But then, even the mighty Microsoft did shit (remember Win ME?) They took more that an hour to troubleshoot it. Now everything is working fine.

Broken, Beat and Scarred Brake

I was driving on DUKE highway. As I'm passing 80km/h mark on the speedo, I felt strong vibration on my left-front of the car. A quick inspection told me that there might be a problem with the brake as there was heavy brake dust all over the wheel. Brought the car to my mech and it was discovered that the left front caliper has jammed. Maybe it's about time to get the front caliper serviced as I've done for the rear one 4 years ago. The service kit it self isn't too costly even though I knew my beloved mech already mark up the price for the stuff. Well, as long as the job done is well done, I don't mind paying a bit more.. Seriously, good service + cheap labour is an impossible combination nowadays.

My brake performance wasn't that convincing. I've changed to double layer brake booster/servo off from an Evo but I still feel that there are something lacking. I can almost never able to lock the front tire whenever I floored the brake.. and I don't have ABS on the car. Yes, I know that tire-locking ability isn't a way to determine whether the brake is good/strong enough. Maybe I should check the brake fluid hose. Anyway, I took the liberty of upgrading the front brake pad to Ferodo Zero. This pad is claimed to bite better than OEM brake pad and the brake dust produced is within acceptable range (as oppose to almost dustless on my OEM pad). I just finished bedded in the brake pad now and looking forward to trash it.

When Seal Ain't Sealing

I had this oil burning smell every time I wind down my window. The smell was intense if the engine is hot; such as after some wacking sessions. A quick visit to the workshop reveal that the seal around the oil sump need some attention. Due to my car ride height was very low, I've might went over some 'big fat bump' quite hard and swelled the seal. You can see that the base of the sump is dented, thankfully it ain't that bad. This 'treatment' is advised to do when you're doing an oil change since we have to drain the oil sump to start working.

It was quite amazed looking at the oil pickup screen. The passages (or more common phrase amongst us; holes) were so fine. The purpose of this screen is prevents foreign matter (such as lost washers, nuts and bolts) from entering the oil pump. Because of the screen is so so so fine; that makes me a fan and a firm believer of thinner grade of oil. Screw those 20W-50s. We don't live in the 60's or 70's anymore. Imagine those jelly-like oil forcing itself to squeeze into the screener in the morning; straining your hardworking oil pump.

After the old sealant was been brushes off, it gonna get some sanding using few grades of sanding paper until. After that, a new sealant paste was applied. This sealant looks like the stuff they use on cover rocker, but I was told it's kinda different between them. After the fitment, everything is fine, no more leaky and oily oil sump. Yey..

Hotbits Coilover

I've been saving for quite some time for this stuff. My initial intention was to get my ride height a bit higher than now. Well, I could get a set of non-short stroked absorber for that which is much cheaper, but at the same time, I also hate high ride height, especially on Satrias. The easiest way is to get a set of coil over. At first I was quite tempted to get those cheap coil over set. But considering that I always have this high expectation behaviour in term of durability, comfort and handling (of course), I've decided to go for this Hotbits coil over. Please be warned, whatever the seller convinced or promised you, this type of suspension is ALWAYS going to be stiffer than the average absorber. I found it's a bit funny when people change to coil over or adjustable (much more common word nowadays) and expect it to perform as good as stock suspension in term of ride comfort.

Installation wouldn't take much time but setting the ride height is a really pain-in-the-ass. My mech took around 3 times to set the height at each corner of the car. Even that, I still think that the ride height at the back was a bit higher than what I wanted. So, back at home, I did it myself. Put swearing and sweating aside, I managed it in 1 hour plus. At first, the comfort level was shockingly terrible. It was so freaking hard la wey. Then, after riding around 300km, the comfort level began to improve. Now, after more than 800km of traveling, the comfort is in acceptable level, well, at least in my book.

7th Year Facelift

To be frank, I'm bored with the same look of the car after owning it for merely 7 years. While Mirage Cyborg R bumper may looks decent, the current price of it is really pain in the ass. Plus, I try not to give an opportunity to those boys in blue to get an extra income from me, if you know what I mean. So, the cheaper option is to get Wira/Satria SE front bumper, together with grill and lip. This bumper isn't an OEM from Proton so the build quality is so-so, but definitely far better than fibre-based bumper that you can find at car accessories shop.

I always had this skeptical feeling when buying thing such like emblem from accessories shop. I always thought that they are selling ripoff item at a cost of arms and legs. For an instance, the front non-genuine emblem from one shop at my place cost RM25 and I found the genuine one at MUCH MUCH cheaper price at Proton Parts. Who said genuine part is always expensive? Must be those taukehs.

I've sprayed the centre grill of the bumper to flat black. It's much a trend nowadays. Eventually, this tend to give fresher fierce look, well, at least in my perspective though. It's hard to have a impressive facelift without churning out hefty amount of money. After sticking a few old newspapers and a few of paint layers, everything is done. Yeah, it does look very common but what the hell. Those so-called rare JDM bumpers also can be found almost everywhere on the road.

Broken Clutch Pump

My gear shift quality was degrading as the car gets older. At first I thought the synchro condition is getting worse but to my finding, it was the leaked clutch pump that make my gear crunches all the time especially when cold. There was no oil left in the resevoir. Shit, I've saw some oil stain at the lower part of the pump and some on the firewall but it never crossed to me that the pump has fucked.. i mean, spoilt. Silly me. And belief it or not, I've never change my clutch oil since swapping to this engine. Pity the pump never get the same pampered attention like the engine gets.

But after taking off the pump, it clearly looked like the pump has already past its' peak for quite some time. The rubber bush has went hard and swelled. Even if I took care the clutch oil, this pump eventually will fail one day, but a bit later I guess. Since it is almost impossible to get a brand new Made In Japan part with reasonable price tag for this car nowadays, an OEM clutch pump from 4G92 Wira will do the trick. Beside, the pump looks exactly the same.

The mech had a hard time to fit the new pump. Later it was discovered that the new pump was for Proton Waja. It seems like the spare part guys when asleep while searching for the pump. Soon after the designated pump arrived, the installation was quite fast. Now, the gear shift is much better. The gear grinding is still there and I'm thinking of using a lighter weight of gear oil. Redline 70W-80 again? Maybe...