It finally arrived

General topics relative to the Caprice and associated vehicles. For items not fitting into other sub-sections in addition to general chat.
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HCSO249
Posts: 21
Joined: Thu Dec 13, 2018 6:47 am

It finally arrived

Post by HCSO249 »

Transport finally got here today and delivered my '12.

Could have sworn they said it was silver. Naw. its an extremely light gold which is fine. Few note worthy finds so far. Had few more dings then I could see in photos, no biggie. While shop had it on the lift doing inspection to get it registered in MO, I noticed some antifreeze hanging from the bottom of whatever is in the front right corner. Presumably from overflow but will check into it bit more when its daylight. Wasn't running hot. Runs smooth, no lifter noises. Drives very nice! Inside, the only thing so far is the radio volume is very touchy and a pita to adjust volume. I shouldn't expect anything different with an encoder type rotatory control. They are flaky lil buggers. Not like good ol' fashion on/off/volume potentiometers. So that will need gutting and cleaning to see if that resolves it otherwise I will have to find a replacement. So, far other than getting acclimated to all the hvac, cruise & wiper controls pretty nice ride overall.


Soooo, first things to resolve.
1. check for antifreeze leak
2. Change headlights so it doesnt feel like I'm looking thru 2 pee holes in a snow bank. Likely go with good ol' Sylvania Ultras.
3. Fix the stereo volume control.
4. Strip my other car to re-upfit the Caprice. Still debating interior lightbars or full roof lightbar...decisions decisions
5. Decide on ECU reprogram to delete AFM or a plug & play module? Like the idea of still running AFM if I'm making a trip up to MN to see the family to conserve gas. However, figuring out how many MPG difference it will make will help me decide. For every day running around here in the Ozarks Ive already watched it bounce back & forth between 8 & 4. Not cool with that. Four-lane cruising, I'm cool with it. My mechanic said get rid of it to save headaches in the long run. They have a guy that comes to their shop and will flash the computer to delete and make a few other adjustments for a reasonable $80.00. And I can sit and wait while its being done.

Sorry, it was dark by the time I got home so no pics of it in the driveway, yet. I will endeavor to do better tomorrow! :D
cerbomark
Posts: 316
Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2018 5:37 pm
Location: upstate NY

Re: It finally arrived

Post by cerbomark »

Congrats! Like to see a pic. also like to see what bulb upgrades does for you.
I used the ranger plug in AFM delete. Worked flawlessly for 5K miles now.
2016 C1
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No Moa
Posts: 472
Joined: Tue Sep 20, 2016 9:30 pm
Location: Maine

Re: It finally arrived

Post by No Moa »

cerbomark wrote: Thu Dec 20, 2018 6:20 am Congrats! Like to see a pic. also like to see what bulb upgrades does for you.
I used the ranger plug in AFM delete. Worked flawlessly for 5K miles now.

Ranger plug?
2014 Caprice PPV silver
2017 Ram 3500
2002 CETA trans am
1996 Impala ss (soon to be t56)
1995 9c1
1977 Trans am SE 4spd.
1978 trans am 400 4 spd.
cerbomark
Posts: 316
Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2018 5:37 pm
Location: upstate NY

Re: It finally arrived

Post by cerbomark »

https://rangetechnology.com


if you do, order right from company. Other sources may not have the most updated programming.
2016 C1
s/c'd cav
Posts: 1382
Joined: Mon May 30, 2016 3:12 am
Location: PHOENIX AZ

Re: It finally arrived

Post by s/c'd cav »

with the radio off , rotate the knob quickly , sometimes that will help clean the contacts inside , other wise you might need to pull it and clean and lube it

the gold(if factory color) is a rare color , silver is a more common color
HCSO249
Posts: 21
Joined: Thu Dec 13, 2018 6:47 am

Re: It finally arrived

Post by HCSO249 »

cerbomark wrote: Thu Dec 20, 2018 12:22 pm https://rangetechnology.com


if you do, order right from company. Other sources may not have the most updated programming.
Ranger is the one I was going to go with, if I dont do other things like a VCM OTR intake and minor mods.

s/c'd cav wrote: Thu Dec 20, 2018 3:32 pm with the radio off , rotate the knob quickly , sometimes that will help clean the contacts inside , other wise you might need to pull it and clean and lube it

the gold(if factory color) is a rare color , silver is a more common color
And it is Gold...as factory as can be. If its not factory, somebody went to an awful lot of effort to do jams etc :D I will be working on it tomorrow (Saturday 22nd), I will get pics to post.
HCSO249
Posts: 21
Joined: Thu Dec 13, 2018 6:47 am

Re: It finally arrived

Post by HCSO249 »

cerbomark wrote: Thu Dec 20, 2018 6:20 am Congrats! Like to see a pic. also like to see what bulb upgrades does for you.
I used the ranger plug in AFM delete. Worked flawlessly for 5K miles now.
As far as bulbs go. I'm pretty anal to wanting brighter headlights. (who wouldnt be) Most every vehicle Ive had over the past 10+ish years have gotten upgraded to Sylvania Ultras. And with great results. They have become my mainstays for headlights. Ive even paid out of pocket to put them in my dept transport vehicles just to help my drivers to be able to see better in the wee hours of the night while hauling prisoners around the state. The added color temp for whiter color and the added peripheral lighting of the road edges is the best advantage for me because of deer. Distance is greatly improved also. That being said... I have a 1994 Bonneville with 9005 & 9006 bulbs. The Ultra bulbs made a vast improvement in it also. Earlier this year I modified the headlights so the lows would stay on with the highs and that in of itself made great improvement. I took it a step further and got HID for both lo & hi and went with 6000K color temp (I find its the best for pure white light / brightness. Too blue / purple seems to dissipate at extreme edge compared to 6000K...meaning a deer at 1/10+ of mile easier to make out vs a higher color temp. They are still bright but the hue kind of gets absorbed) Anyway, all those HIDs on high beam were the cats meow. Down side: Warm up time for high beams takes too long for my liking. Once warmed up and switching from hi to lo back to hi is great if a short duration changes. If its going to be a few minutes going back to hi, then warm up repeats. When I switch to hi, I want them instantly. 2nd downside to HID, especially if you run 2way equipment in your car. The ballast generate an extreme amount of RF interference. I was going to try LEDs in the Caprice but LED electronics also create plenty of extra RF noise. For most of you guys, both would be an outstanding choices, not so much for my application. Since I live in the dark backwoods sticks, I should be able to get some good driver advantage pics of OEM vs Ultra bulbs.
xcidmigs
Posts: 783
Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2015 8:12 pm
Location: SE PA

Re: It finally arrived

Post by xcidmigs »

Have you not tried the halogen bulb upgrade from H11 to H9? Caprice uses H11 stock low beam and I did this as soon as I got my car, after reading about it for our WRX here...
https://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showth ... ?t=2083911

Subaru has since gone to a fancy LED with driver like HID setup and I picked 5500K for similar reasons as you stated. But the $10 H9 bulb upgrade is hard to beat and has been running for 4 years now with no issues.
HCSO249
Posts: 21
Joined: Thu Dec 13, 2018 6:47 am

Re: It finally arrived

Post by HCSO249 »

xcidmigs wrote: Sat Dec 22, 2018 12:18 pm Have you not tried the halogen bulb upgrade from H11 to H9? Caprice uses H11 stock low beam and I did this as soon as I got my car, after reading about it for our WRX here...
https://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showth ... ?t=2083911

Subaru has since gone to a fancy LED with driver like HID setup and I picked 5500K for similar reasons as you stated. But the $10 H9 bulb upgrade is hard to beat and has been running for 4 years now with no issues.
Nope sure haven't tried it but certainly will keep it in mind.
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