new (to me) 05 XLR- won't start.

[Vasir]

Lex, you're absolutely right- I manually opened the top completely with the help of CC's advice.
As far as the car not shifting out of park- I recalibrated the brake sensor, and it didn't change...
then it dawned on me: I remember the tow truck driver fiddling with the shift selector trying to get it out of park before I gave up, jacked it up and manually shifted it to neutral so we could roll it out of the p/o's garage and load on to the flatbed. I had reconnected the linkage underneath and set the car in park but I was curious if the shifter wasn't set back correctly. I opened the shifter, loosened the screw, reattached it, retightned the screw and voila- it came out of park.
I drove the car around the block a couple times, letting the neighbors hear the stainless cat back exhaust before I parked it back in the garage. I'll be buttoning up what I've opened and tackling the car in reverse order from the crank shaft sensor not being calibrated back to the last thing being the suspension and trunk/top module.


More to follow soon! Thank you again, everyone- I wouldn't have gotten anywhere with this car without the help of this forum!

ill upload some pics soon as well

 

[ccclarke]

Fabulous! Thank you.
It's a clean title car. I bought it from the second owner who used it as a commuter car between Sacramento and San Francisco for the last 5 years- you get a cookie if you can guess the miles on it! He had the car repainted to match his m5. He said he was going to fix the hardtop/suspension issue but then the car totally died in him- I'm going
to make a not so giant leap here and say that's when his mechanic gave him a crazy estimate to fix the car (and I think he had no real clue either- told me the alternator was dead: and it's fine) and there he decided to jump ship and sell.

Let's see. . . A minimum 200-mile commute each day. For 5 years, is between 225k and 250,000 miles (assuming it was a daily driver.)

 

[Vasir]

Let's see. . . A minimum 200-mile commute each day. For 5 years, is between 225k and 250,000 miles (assuming it was a daily driver.)

not too shabby- high on the daily estimate (I'd say more like 150 miles a day round trip), but nonetheless, close. It has 192k miles... Hah. Pretty high for my tastes, but low miles concern me more than high miles, ironically enough. I got that fear from my Mercedes SL days...

 

[lextoy]

i am sure even that short ride around the hood gave you all the motivation you need to keep working on the car.
i bet it sounds great with the aftermarket exhaust and top down!!!

if i read your description right, the shift lever was just jammed up?
seems probable.
brake sensor could be something else besides the sensor on the pedal? or just acting up because the suspension module is out of service.
getting everything reset, to see what actually throws a code again is a good idea.
might be worth starting with the fried modules in the back though, codes could be popping just because of those systems being offline.

 

[David_B]

I would make sure that the Hydraulic bypass valve is in the proper position on the top motor.

The manual warns you can cause damage to it in the wrong position if you operate it electrically.

Read that part of the manual carefully and double check the valve.

If it was/is in the wrong open/closed setting I'm sure that could also cause symptoms during manual operations.

 

[Vasir]

I checked the valve and it was closed. The modules were definitely submerged in water long enough that you can see at what level the water was at for an extended period of time (about halfway up).

One of the connectors to the hardtop module caught fire and melted in the past (under previous owner's reign) damaging some of the wiring as well- Ill have to cut, and connect new wires to a new male connector for the new module- ill tackle this in the next coming weeks. Ill replace the suspension module before going after the hardtop first- my goal is to attack one problem at a time so i don't overwhelm myself.

For right now I have to reset/replace the crankshaft position sensor. I followed the book on resetting it and it just won't take. Ill follow it's suggestions this weekend and re-evaluate before i move forward with replacing the sensor (i doubt it costs more than $50). It also runs lean on bank 1 & 2.

Today the car kept yelling at me saying 'low coolant', even though it wasn't low- ill 'burp' the hoses tomorrow and let it idle with the cap off the overflow reservoir in hopes of maybe releasing a pocket of air that may be causing the fault.

... And now for the photos as promised; they're not spectacular, but at least there are some pics, so you know the car does in fact exist. hah.




crap it won't let me attach. Ill figure this out and post shortly...

 

[Vasir]

here we go:

 

[lextoy]

she's a real head turner!
definitely worth the effort to get her back on the road.

 

[lextoy]

at that mileage, might just go for a flush and fill on the coolant??
most caddy and chevy dealers always running specials on coolant.
my local corvette dealer will do it for under 100.
the coolant on the N* needs to be fresh.
then you know its good fluid , burped properly etc.

 

[Vasir]

That's a good idea... I'll probably just have my mechanic do it- I cant cheat on him after all these years. Haha

 

[graytoad]

here we go:

Next to RED... (all us red owners KNOW that RED is the fastest XLR) ....I think that Alpine White is damn sexy. I commend you for your commitment to get this car back on the road. All the electronics in this car would overwhelm me. I am looking forward to your 'review' of the XLR once you have it on the road. Welcome to our group!

 

[05 GRAND DADDY]

Next to RED... (all us red owners KNOW that RED is the fastest XLR) ....I think that Alpine White is damn sexy. I commend you for your commitment to get this car back on the road. All the electronics in this car would overwhelm me. I am looking forward to your 'review' of the XLR once you have it on the road. Welcome to our group!

I second this statement!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Dan & Wendy
"05 GRAND DADDY"

 

[Phil105]

I like that you de-badged it. Looks nice and clean!