fightingbee

I'd say: A) It was defective B) It hit something soft enough to keep the deceleration just below the deployment threshold. C) (after checking the SIR section in the '96 F-body service manual I have for my Camaro, just for ****s and grins) The impact was beyond 30° from the center line of the front.

I'd probably look at Alpine or Pioneer for a head unit as well. Buying speakers from Crutchfield often includes free wire adaptors that mate with the factory connectors, which is a nice bonus.

I don't know how you will make it work is the only thing. The A/C and the P/S pump are pretty much all that keeps the smooth side of the belt in contact w/ the water pump. Bypassing the A/C looks like it would also route the belt away from the W/P.

GM seemed to go from three front airbag sensors to the single in-the-module sensor in the mid 90's as they went to the "sensing and diagnostic module" (SDM) - the "black box" that GM had some press about its data recording abilities a few years back. The switch to dual airbags usually also included the change that type of system. The old driver-only three sensor setup had an 'arming' sensor near the hood latch and two 'safing' sensors near the dash or console. the arming sensor and at least one safing sensor had to trip for deployment there. The front bag deployment requires a forward deceleration of somewhere around 10g IIRC. it also has to happen within a certain angle to the front in order to trip the frontal sensor(s). The side bags are tripped by sensors in the b-pillar or a rollover sensor. Some vehicles however also deploy the side curtains in a frontal crash to reduce the chance of an occupants head from striking the b-pillar hard as it they are thrown back toward the seat. The Saab 9-3 is one of those types I can think of offhand.

If you're going to have a shop install a bypass pulley or used compressor anyway, see if they would be willing to take the pulley from the used compressor and put it on your current one. Its quite easy to swap the clutches as long as the puller/installer tool is used. Better than discharging an otherwise working system IMO.

Alltel will eventaully become Verizon in all but a few areas. Verizon has to sell those few Alltel service areas though as part of the federal approval for the merger. I believe the situation had somthing to do with Alltel providing service for the GSM carriers in a few markets after some other acquisitions of their own.

Seems to have a heat component also. My laptop trackpad is that way also and even functions as one of those "mood test" things in the settings menu.

Make sure the water heater control is set do deliver at least 120°F water as well. Especally helpful if you use the energy saver settings on the dishwasher. Running the hot water tap at the sink for a minute before starting the machine can help also if the sink and dishwasher are on the same line.

I think the Google/T-Mobile phones so far have actually been made by HTC.

Might want to check out this site, quite interesting and also amusing: Fixitnow.com - Samurai Appliance Repair Man

Verizon does have good service. I have AT&T now only becuase VZW doesn't have great coverage when out in the boonies of the FL panhandle and southern AL. The Alltel purchase may hopefully fix that soon. Their coverage was flawless when I lived in eastern IA, the best by far. I did once use a "GoPhone" prepaid from AT&T back when they were Cingular. It worked great for calls and was cheap if you use few minutes a month. I gave up on the text however, they never seemed to be able to get mine to work outgoing reliably. IIRC are you somewhere in IA? iWireless also used to have a postpaid $20/Mo. 100min. no-contract plan that I used for a few years there. Worked great if not a heavy user and can do without a nationwide plan.

Bingo. They had all the "rethink" and "hybrid" stuff, but I still liked the stuff from the old days that just said Saturn on it.

I'd like to have couple more Saturn t-shirts, but the only ones they have offered in recent years are rather wierd.

Never been the biggest fan of the 2nd gen Neon, but that one is sweet.

If you wanted to stretch the number of variants some more, you could also throw in the 3.0 and 3300.

RIP Saturn, although it really wasn't quite the same to me since the plastic body panels and Spring Hill, TN plant were "rethought". I feel most for my former co-workers at my Saturn retailer which have been just barely hanging on for months now. So, I have a Saturn and an Oldsmobile in the driveway right now. Should I try being a Toyota buyer for a while just in case i'm some kinda car brand jinx?

I've driven '90 and '92 Accords before. That bodystyle is still my favorite Honda and I think would actually still have appeal to me if still available.

I think the FWD Pontiac Phoenix was my personal worst favorite. Having about 12 round A/C vents scattered about a poo brown slab of a dash did not make it look upscale from a Citation, although it did at least have the radio mounted in the proper place.

Like NAPA their parts tend to be a cut above the chain stores most of the time, although sometimes O'Reilly stuff can be as well. KYB usually has good shocks/struts. The struts they OEM'd for the Saturn S-Series always seem to hold up really well.

Some sort of contact cement may be tried, but usually the underlying issue is often that the vinyl is actually shrinking a little and the added tension is pulling it away from the glue/foam underneath.

TSB 76-02-02A from Oct. '98 has a rear diff fluid chart, part of it states: (After listing the F, Y, B/D, and GMT800 platforms) "All other limited slip or locking differentials including C/K (non-GMT 800), S/T, M/L, G trucks: Use Only GM P/N: 1052271. (Do NOT add Limited Slip Additive)" FYI, The GMT800 also does not call for the additive, just lists the P/N 12378261 75w-90 Synthetic Axle Lubricant instead of the P/N 1052271 80w-90.

Really if they reshaped those side creases a bit straighter, changed that odd quarter window, got rid of some of the stubbiness in the rear, and dumped the lower half of that huge grille, the Aveo5 could look halfway decent.

FWIW, a '99-'00-ish Range Rover traded in when I was working at a Saturn retailer a couple years ago was by far the newest car I've seen with so much stuff not working where I thought it was a just a total lost cause.

I agree on the mean looking face. One of my favorite small car front clips still: IMO a lower roofline such as the Saturn example looks more agressive, but all small cars are are so much taller these days. Makes them roomier, but doesn't help when trying to avoid the cutsey look. The Neon, '95-'99 in particular IMO do a good job of balancing cutsey and sporty as well.