problem central, and I don't have 4000$

[BadFrog]

alright, to up date I got about a grand saved in labor, I'm hopin to work with my buddies dad in his after hours shop. adn within the week I will be finig out how much I can get the parts for right from GM.
from what the dealership guy, who sounds more down to earth than most( he actually told me to save some moeny and do some of it myself), the danger witht he A/C clutch is that if it goes too far that the pully will come off, therfor no belt and you can figure out what else goes then.

[BadFrog]

2 quick questions, I have the "sport suspension" do I buy the strut mounts for that kind of suspension or does it matter? and the dude said I need strut mounts and bearings, but on GM parts direct there is no strut bearings, and the part number he gave me dosent work, whats the deal wth that?

[BadFrog]

ok for an update, I got the brake caliper done, very cheaply I might add, go aftermarket parts. the suspension is next, since I have most of the parts, I'm waiting on a set of lowering spring, I figure why not change them while I'm at it. as for the big job (LIM, water pump, A/C clutch, and Power steering gear) my mechanic says the LIM isn't bad, unlike what the dealership said, so its not super imediate, but I have a question, does anyone know what I can do to help eleviate the cost of the powersteering gear( part is like 500$ from GM directly)? I have been told that there are aftermarket version which are cheaper but i can't find them anywhere. another question whats the difference between powersteering gear, and PS pump?

[Cliff8928]

The power steering gear is also referred to as the Rack and Pinion. The pump is the part attached to the engine.

[myowneq]

I might be a little bit late on this one, but with your LIM, you can go a long while with it leaking, but when if fails (and it will) it will be quite catastrophic. Make sure you check your water every day for around town and every two hours on long trips. Otherwise, you'll overheat and, if like me, I warped my heads. Good luck.

[CiscoPath]

-edit-

[CiscoPath]

My issue was the other way around. Car ran fine with just fan, but turn on the A/C or defrost and hear a noise like someone sticking a pencil in a fan. Also with the A/C on, my V6 had the power of a 4 cyl Geo Metro

[BadFrog]

Wel in regards to the LIM, I had my mechanic check it out while replacing the break caliper, he said its not bad, but if I am going to fix the A/c clutch, the water pump, and power steering crap may as will replace the LIM while we're in there

[Alero2k4]

I don't have the 3.4 but if you can just undo the belt that drives the A/C. The only reason that the compressor runs while you have defrost on is just a maintenance thing so that it doesn't sit all winter...it doesn't actually do anything and I promise you will have heat....just not cold in the summer. We had to do that in out Eclipse when the compressor clutch went bad. BTW if anyone already said this sorry, I just skimmed.

[Kilroy]

Originally Posted by Alero2k4

I don't have the 3.4 but if you can just undo the belt that drives the A/C. The only reason that the compressor runs while you have defrost on is just a maintenance thing so that it doesn't sit all winter...it doesn't actually do anything and I promise you will have heat....just not cold in the summer.

You're wrong on that. The A/C actually helps dehumidify the air, thus defrosting the window quicker.

[BadFrog]

Well, The A/c clutch is not a huge concern, I'm getting the parts from my girlfriends mom who works fro GM, and I don't have to get a whole compressor, just the clutch, pully and bearing, its less than 100 in parts, not a big deal to me, I'm more worried about the power steering gear, as it is a 500$ part, and it make an equally horrible noise.

Does anyone know where the power steering gear is, or how hard it is to get it out?