After a few months of looking, I finally found an excelleng 2003 D2 SE that I'm picking up this Sunday!
Some observations and questions I have about D2 quirks:
1) Iginition Cylinder - On 3 out of 4 D2s I looked at, I could not get the ignition key to turn with reasonable effort (feared snapping off the key). Each time the owner, said "let me try" and they were able to turn it and start it. Even immediately after that, I had difficulties and was afraid of breaking off the key.
On one of the 3, the owner had a second key and that one required less effort and turned more easily -- this leads me to believe that it is more of a worn key issue with starting. It was odd that each time, the owners acted like it was odd that I could not get it to start.
On the 4th one, the one I'm buying, I did not experience this -- the key just turned as expected on repeated attempts.
I'm no stranger to old vehicles and even those with worn keys/worn lock cylinders but found this particularly odd. Is this a common issue? Thinking I'll just get a new door and ignition lock cylinder as a preventitive measure.
2) Stock Key w/ Plastic Base & Transponder - Building on point 1 above, the plastic key base feels incredibly weak and an added risk to snapping the key off. Are there stronger alternatives for retaining keyless entry?
3) Plastic Coolant Hose T and Y Fittings - noticed that Carr 4x4 sells aluminum alternatives and there are many knock offs on eBay. How common of a failure risk are these vs. bling?
4) Front Seat Heat - the D2 I'm buying only has seat heat on the base cushions, not the seat backs... is this the stock setup or is there seat back seat heat that is not working?
5) What is the recommended coolant for the 4.6?
Thanks in advance for the insights!
Some observations and questions I have about D2 quirks:
1) Iginition Cylinder - On 3 out of 4 D2s I looked at, I could not get the ignition key to turn with reasonable effort (feared snapping off the key). Each time the owner, said "let me try" and they were able to turn it and start it. Even immediately after that, I had difficulties and was afraid of breaking off the key.
On one of the 3, the owner had a second key and that one required less effort and turned more easily -- this leads me to believe that it is more of a worn key issue with starting. It was odd that each time, the owners acted like it was odd that I could not get it to start.
On the 4th one, the one I'm buying, I did not experience this -- the key just turned as expected on repeated attempts.
I'm no stranger to old vehicles and even those with worn keys/worn lock cylinders but found this particularly odd. Is this a common issue? Thinking I'll just get a new door and ignition lock cylinder as a preventitive measure.
2) Stock Key w/ Plastic Base & Transponder - Building on point 1 above, the plastic key base feels incredibly weak and an added risk to snapping the key off. Are there stronger alternatives for retaining keyless entry?
3) Plastic Coolant Hose T and Y Fittings - noticed that Carr 4x4 sells aluminum alternatives and there are many knock offs on eBay. How common of a failure risk are these vs. bling?
4) Front Seat Heat - the D2 I'm buying only has seat heat on the base cushions, not the seat backs... is this the stock setup or is there seat back seat heat that is not working?
5) What is the recommended coolant for the 4.6?
Thanks in advance for the insights!