What did you do to your Sky today?

520218 Views 4413 Replies 378 Participants Last post by tchr49, 7 h ago

NormSky

Discussion Starter · Nov 10, 2009

I picked up a 2007 Sky with 14,000 miles. It has a Hahn turbo and K1S single exhaust. I've been sorting it out as most used cars can be neglected. I changed just about all the fluids - transmission, differential, brake/clutch, and power steering fluids. The turbo was leaking oil so it got new bearings and O-rings.

The car came with a chrome stubby antenna that was not the best when out of the metro areas so I got a 31" from Autozone.

The stock tires tread was was twice the height of the wear bars and hard as a hockey puck in the rain. With snow season right around the corner the Pilot Alpin snow tires went on the chrome wheels. Also picked up a set of B&G lowering springs and will have it aligned this week after about 500 miles of settling.

I bought a GM tonneau cover for it and have it stretched out in the spare bedroom. That'll go in the spring.

Currently plumming coolant to the turbo and will relocate the power steering pump away from the turbo heat.

But I have to have it so I can put it all back together for the last couple of top down days!

Norm

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JohnnyG

· #4,401 · 13 d ago

Nice work

Fuel gauge brightness was an issue for me...started off replacing both bulbs - way too bright. Removed one - still too bright. Applied a .9 Neutral Density gel - STILL too bright. Applied a 2nd layer of .9 and finally, it matches. For the gauge dial, IIRC, when you first turn the key to off position from run, all 3 dials go to zero for 20-30 seconds. That's your chance to set the needle. If you have a Tech2, you can do a cluster test which will sweep all needles to confirm.

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TomatoSoup

· #4,402 · 13 d ago

I'll roll this out here again, FYI:

There's a real trick to getting the needles back on and aligned at zero (not as easy as you might think). This is my step-by-step guide. Follow it exactly and you'll be fine. (Whatever you do, don't replace the window/dash etc, until you've driven the car and made sure your needles are aligned correctly!)

1. Start with the clear front screen still off, the wiring connector plugged back into the back of the cluster (if you previously removed it) and ignition off.
2. VERY lightly place at least one needle(s) on shaft(s) at roughly the 0/zero position. DO NOT PRESS DOWN (you will need to adjust placement later). This will allow you to see what's happening in the next step.
3. Turn on ignition and then off again, wait ~20 secs for the needles to settle to their 'negative' position (normally, below the 0's).
4. Turn on ignition and fake start the car by turning key to the start position with foot off the clutch (if you have an autobox, I guess you can start the car and turn it off again). Needles will do the test sweep and return to exact zeros.
5. Turn off ignition. During the 15secs or so while all needle shafts are at their zero positions, gently remove and replace needles to point exactly at each zero and push the needles down on shafts - but no more than halfway. NOTE: be careful, it's easy to knock/turn the stepper motor shafts round while doing this and you'll have to repeat. If you run out of time just do one or two of the needles at once.
6. Repeat steps from #3 above, to verify that needles are set correctly. If not remove/repeat. If they are correct, then push down all the way. Then test again! Go for a short drive then park and lock the car and go away for 10 minutes. Come back and check again!
7. If all's OK, clip clear screen back on and put everything back together.

Note: Doesn't matter how much gas you have, gas gauge will read 0 at step 5.

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NGalaxyTimmyo

· #4,403 · 13 d ago

JohnnyG said:
Nice work Fuel gauge brightness was an issue for me...started off replacing both bulbs - way too bright. Removed one - still too bright. Applied a .9 Neutral Density gel - STILL too bright. Applied a 2nd layer of .9 and finally, it matches. For the gauge dial, IIRC, when you first turn the key to off position from run, all 3 dials go to zero for 20-30 seconds.

Yeah, the gas gauge is much brighter. I used the same method rjgramps said he used for the interior LEDs where he used a Sharpe on the LEDs to help dim them, and it seemed to work pretty well. I'll have to try it again tonight in the dark and see what it looks like.

TomatoSoup said:
I'll roll this out here again, FYI:

Yup, that's the one I was referencing when I was getting the gas gauge set. The first time I removed them I also placed a tape marker where my gas was, this time I didn't and forgot if I filled up before or after work last time. I know I should have the zero mark and be all set, but I just like having two points to confirm.

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Robotech

· #4,404 · 12 d ago

2

JuGo said:
The kit that I got was specifically for daily driving and it came with everything, (Powder Coated Calipers, ceramic pads, rotors, and stainless-steel hardware.)

Brake Upgrade Kits for Sport, Utility & Daily Driving | PowerStop Brakes

PowerStop offers affordable performance brake upgrade kits for extreme trucking and towing, sport driving, and commuting.

www.powerstop.com

JuGo said:
Yep, that’s the one I got! Z23 Evolution sports. From what I understand, they are the same as the stock ones, only powder coated. For me, it was worth replacing all of that since they didn’t look so great already. I have an 2007 and the previous owner was not much into keeping things nice and clean.

Nice choice. Having painted my original calipers knowing what I know now I'd definitely go the powder coat route. Having upgraded pads is a must if you push the car for decent periods of time.

NGalaxyTimmyo said:
I have a Redline, so I was just replacing the turbo with the RPM upgraded turbo. I looked at a couple of the other options, but most said they were not compatible with the Sky. I asked ZZP on their discord about the other turbos, and even with the fitment issues I may end up going that route in the future, but wanted something more bolt on to start.

If you're looking at the ZZP EFR turbos, check out performanceautowerks.com. Their WR-3 and WR-4 turbos are the ZZP EFR turbos for the Kappa platform. PAW sources the shared parts from ZZP then adds their Kappa specific turbine housing. I have a WR-4 on my 2.4 setup. My setup uses the parts from the LNF OEM turbo setup so your's would fit the same way.

Motor vehicle Automotive tire Automotive design Auto part Gas

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Robotech

· #4,405 · 12 d ago

Worked on the Sky for the first time in a long time...she needs some TLC.

Short recap...I've been chasing an oil leak for the last 2 years. I won't go into details but suffice to say it took 2 engine rebuilds and an inspection of the turbo to get to this weekend. Car is back together and started for the first time in about a year. The oil leak looks back on the turbo oil drain line. My son (who is a GM tech now at the local Chevy dealership) and I get the oil drain leak resolved and he takes it for a drive and scans it while he drives.

He gets back and the oil drain line is still leaking. We decide he can inspect it on the rack Monday when he gets off work. For now, I am going to check the fuel trims at idle as one thing we found over the last year was a huge crack in the downpipe weld due to the shop who modified the exhaust (changed 2.5" MagnaFlow attachment section to a 3" section with a V band so the exhaust would be 3" consistent from the turbo to the muffler) didn't add an attachment point for the downpipe bracket. The weight of the exhaust unsupported cracked the weld. Thus when tunning it before, the MAF tables were way rich (LTFTs of -19 to -20 at idle).

While the scan got the fuel trims, the MAF is reading 0...what? I had a check engine light, which i expect with fuel trims that far off, but when I scanned the codes I found not one, but five. First corresponded to the fuel trims but the other four were for the O2 sensor heaters (one code for each sensor), the MAF, and Evap Solenoid. I pop the hood to check the MAF connection and find oil on the valve cover, hood weather stripping, and underside of the hood! Turns out the block was now pressurized, blew the dipstick out, and sprayed oil all over the car. We began to think the PCV was clogged and not functioning.

Going back to the MAF while my son started brainstorming the pressurization issue, I figured it may be a fuse issue...I mean, what are the odds BOTH O2 sensor heaters would go out. Looking at the wiring diagrams, the 2 O2 heaters, MAF, and Evap all share fuse 33 (2007 base model) labeled "Emissions" (so not helpful that label).

I changed the fuse and we restarted the car. It didn't trip again but now the block pressure was fixed!

With that mystery solved, I tuned the idle so the fuel trims were 0 to -2 on both LTFT and STFT. Took it for a drive and the oil leak seems to be finally fixed. Knock on wood...

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Gadgetjq

· #4,406 · 7 d ago (Edited)

I added a timer to the always on cabin accessory port. No more worries about forgetting the bluetooth module or some other gadget is charging and slowly killing the car battery.

Video link:

Parts used for this project:

Digital Timer: https://amzn.to/439Aixq
Relay: https://amzn.to/3ILr9mq
Switch: https://amzn.to/425Fdy3
Power Port Removal Tool: https://amzn.to/3OHHnkk Connectors: https://amzn.to/3C3mkkR
Low Voltage Connectors: https://amzn.to/3BYADXF

I used a relay to send the timer + signal to the power port because (for some odd reason) the timer toggles ground on/off, not +. Connectors are used instead of hard splices just in case the switch goes bad or someone wants to go back to the oem setup. Unplug from the switch, plug the power port hot wires back together and the switch/timer are out of the circuit.

I replaced the 20 amp power port fuse with 10 amp. The wiring and relay could handle more but the timer maxes out at 15 amps. I won't be plugging anything requiring more than 10 amps into that port anyway.

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LAC Sky

· #4,407 · 6 d ago

What did I do to my Sky today- err yesterday.. I took it for spirited drive that's what.
However being it was Memorial Day weekend Saturday- this was sort of a bad idea on my part.
Not really but man was America's population out and about yesterday- everywhere I went.
Yard sale galore. Gas station feeding frenzy- Jaws theme music blaring over the sound system.

I did see a fellow owner in his Yellow Sky on Route 11 in WVA. Yes- he was smiling.

Today- I must look into my top and its condition. Some cleaning of the fabric.
Some seam stitches need repaired. There was a fabric strap on the inside of the buttress panel
that was hanging loose also. Clean the interior up, maybe if I get adventurous during or after
the adult beverages consumed I might clean the trunk area out too.... maybe.

There is a local car event here in my area- next Sunday morning. One of those Cars & Caffeine things.
I plan to attend this- maybe some You-Tube video for the LAC site channel for June's addition.
I have to make a trip into the DC 495 beltway on Wednesday.
I did thankfully just make my life insurance premium payment recently.

LAC

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agent008

· #4,408 · 5 d ago

LAC Sky said:
There was a fabric strap on the inside of the buttress panel
that was hanging loose also.

Interesting, I think I have one of these loose on my Sosltice too. Wonder if you would mind sharing how you solved it.

NGalaxyTimmyo

· #4,409 · 5 d ago

I've done quite a lot over the last month, I'll have to post an update about that, but yesterday, I did this for the first time with the car, third time ever

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LAC Sky

· #4,410 · 5 d ago

agent008 said:
Interesting, I think I have one of these loose on my Sosltice too. Wonder if you would mind sharing how you solved it.

Will do- if I do find out what that strap IS for, and how to reattach it. I didn't get my top yesterday.

Cleaned the wheels/rims & suspension parts some. Got to pop the hood for a look around the ole
engine bay today. I have a parts drawing of our top- but it doesn't show this fabric strap, what it
holds down within the fabric itself. All the weatherstrips need some refreshing with die-electric grease
or Vaseline for waterproofing, to keep them flexible when under the sun's UV rays of destruction.

LAC

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MarquettSky

· #4,411 · 2 d ago

Waiting for the new intercooler to be installed and get a custom dyno tune.

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MarquettSky

· #4,412 · 2 d ago

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jeffs64

· #4,413 · 18 h ago

Changed oil and filter. Used Mobil one 5/W30 Wix 57082XP changed spark plugs used A/C Delco 41-103 had the original AC Delco’s still in the car with 54440 miles on the car

tchr49

· #4,414 · 7 h ago

Just finished up a top scrubbing. Used the 303 products with good results on my previous Sky with black top.
Now to let it dry and apply the waterproofing and we’ll be good to go.
I do love the tan top…

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