Owner of a 2004 XLR...

[kathryn1109]

Hey there,

So I bought a 2004 XLR back in November. I was living in Montana so I didn't drive it much, it was stored. Now, I have moved to Texas and it is my daily driver. So, now that I am actually driving it, I have some questions...

Oil filter, what do you recommend?
The caps on my rims are very cloudy, what could I do to make them shine again?
Convertible top has stopped lining up, the dealership said it needed to be aligned and it would be $300, anything I can do myself?
I am using unleaded gas, in your honest opinion does premium make a difference?

Thanks for your help. I bought the car not knowing anything about it. This is my first car where I have received compliments at the drive thru, getting thumbs up from someone at a stop light, or having the mechanic tell me they have seen maybe 2 of these before. This is an awesome car.

 

[XLRATING]

Welcome! Glad you're enjoying your XLR!

If your center caps are cloudy, my off-hand guess is the clear coat is shot. You could try some cleaner wax (like Meguiars) to see if that helps. You can probably find some replacement caps on gmpartsdirect or EBay. I ended up replacing a couple of mine that way.

Adjusting the the top might be a do-it-yourself job, but it's a pretty complex mechanism. Because of that, I hope the mechanic whose only seen two of these before isn't the one offering the fix - you might end up paying for his education with your car as the guinea pig! If you give more details on what's not lining up, someone on here may be able to help out with what to do.

For gas, I go with premium because my XLR is not my daily driver, so I'm ok with spending a little more to be sure the engine stays happy. It can be cheaper in the long run. I also go with top tier gasoline because if you clog up the fuel gauge sending unit it is $$$$ to fix, so try to put in fuel that should be pretty decent (don't worry, my daily driver gets the wholesale club grog gas!).

Post some pics of your ride when you get a chance.

 

[Crimson Pearl]

All XLRs came from the factory with Mobil One oil. You should be using Mobil One 5W-30 and a Mobil One oil filter.

Congratulations on your purchase!

 

[rexster314]

All XLRs came from the factory with Mobil One oil. You should be using Mobil One 5W-30 and a Mobil One oil filter.

Congratulations on your purchase!

I have the Mobil 1 oil and filter waiting for the next change, sometime next month. Amazon is a good place to get it

 

[XLRATING]

All XLRs came from the factory with Mobil One oil. You should be using Mobil One 5W-30 and a Mobil One oil filter.

Congratulations on your purchase!

Just ran across the filters we use - Mobil 1 Extended Performance, M1-206. Says its high capacity & for high performance formulations.

 

[pure zen]

JMO

Q: "Convertible top has stopped lining up, the dealership said it needed to be aligned and it would be $300, anything I can do myself?

I am using unleaded gas, in your honest opinion does premium make a difference?"



Roof: You are going to need an experienced technician to align any roof alignment issues.


Gas: I will just quote a Master ASE tech and owner of a top rated auto repair business,,,,,,,,,then you DECIDE:

From Master Car Repair Technician Mark Salem:
Q: Super or regular unleaded?

A: First, let me make this distinction. Pre 1981 cars do not have the ability to change the timing if the engine is pinging. Cars and trucks made after 1981 have a on board computer that will see the engine pinging and retard the timing to eliminate the ping. Then the computer will try and sneak the timing up, all the time watching to see when the ping comes back. When it does, the timing is moved back a couple of degrees to eliminate the ping.

AAA says only 5 % of the cars on the road today absolutely need super unleaded and I agree. If you in doubt, try this. Have your spouse fill up your car and NOT tell you what fuel they used. Do this 3-4 times. See if you can tell the difference and / or guess which fuel they used. If you can't tell the difference, there is no difference.

I use the cheapest gas I can find in my Corvette. In tests we ran, the zero to 60 time was 1/10 of a second slower with regular when compared to super. Not much reason to pay 35-50 cents more per gallon.

Here's the difference. Regular burns fast, one molecule ignite ten and ten ignite a thousand and they ignite a million. The explosion is similar to a balloon popping. We measure the explosion in milli-seconds. Super burns slower, more like a someone letting a balloon go and fly around the room. One molecule ignites 10, 10 ignite 20, and 20 ignite 30. Now don't start writing me and telling me I'm over simplifying this, I already know it!

So super, because it burns longer, should give you more power, better performance and better mpgs. However, the difference between the two different burn times may only be .8 to 1.2 milliseconds of time and I am quite sure no one I know can feel that. Yes, we can measure that on our dyno in 0-60 mph runs and other tests, but unless you can FEEL the difference, there is no difference.

Are there any other benefits to using super,
like cleaner injectors or a cleaner engine?

No. If you use the cheapest gas you can find, you will save lots of money and when you need to replace, repair, clean your injectors, you'll have plenty of $$ to do that. I can't tell you how many times I bid injector repairs (some as high as $1300 for 6 new injectors on a V-6 Nissan) and the customer says, "But I use super, doesn't that eliminate this repair?" and of course the answer is NO.

The car's computer will adjust the timing to the fuel used ......87 octane or above, the 4.6L base engine should run fine. V- s/c engine may require higher octane for more extreme use.

 

[catcottf]

XLR Cloudy Center Caps

Hi,
Good afternoon. Just another day in Paradise. I had the same issue with mine when I purchased it. I went to Walmart and purchased Clear Coat in a rattle can. I cleaned them with Dawn and let them dry really well. Painted them and let them dry and they look like new... Pretty easy fix.
Take care,
Fred

 

[RVAlan]

XLR Cloudy Center Caps

Hi,
Good afternoon. Just another day in Paradise. I had the same issue with mine when I purchased it. I went to Walmart and purchased Clear Coat in a rattle can. I cleaned them with Dawn and let them dry really well. Painted them and let them dry and they look like new... Pretty easy fix.
Take care,
Fred

Painted them with what? Just the clear coat? Mine need some attention. Tx