As you can tell by my recent posts, I am enjoying learning to play roller hockey. The group meets every Monday and Thursday, so there is ample opportunity to play. Unfortunately, hockey was preempted this most recent Monday due to car problems.

Yup, Bonnie #2 finally had a problem that caused significant drivability issues. It worked great until Sunday. Sunday morning, everything was fine. I got in 9 holes of golf with my dad. Ran fine. Had breakfast. Ran fine. Did some errands. Ran fine. Went to a Bonneville Club meet. Didn’t run fine.

As most of you know, I started a web site in January 2002 called BonnevilleClub.com. It serves primarily as a forum and knowledge base for Pontiac Bonneville owners and aficionados. In the 19 months since inception, the site has grown. Grown enough, in fact, that the Minnesota members have started having meets. Sunday was one such meet, hosted generously at one of the members’ homes. We hung out for awhile, drove to an empty parking lot, took photos of the cars, talked car talk… the usual. It was good fun. I was surprised (in a good way) to see several of the cars with decals promoting Bonnevilleclub.com. One guy even had a t-shirt made! Cool stuff.

After some time, we decided to go cruising in our Bonnies. For me, that’s when the trouble began. Whenever the engine was put under load, it would start to miss and therefore vibrate like mad. Driving any faster than about 40-50 mph put enough load on the engine so as to cause the miss. Driving really slowly isn’t nice when the other people want to go fast, so after a few minutes, I bowed out of the cruise and limped home. I scratched my head for a little bit, figured that it was probably ignition-related, and decided to try new spark plugs. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any new plugs handy, and I began my search right as the auto parts stores were closing. I consulted with my dad, hoping that he would either confirm my guess or produce a simple solution. Fortunately, both occurred.

My dad diagnosed the problem as bad plugs and suggested that, as a temporary fix, the plugs be taken out, cleaned, and regapped. Eventually, the plugs came out of the engine. Once we could see the plugs, there was no doubt as to the source of the problem: those things were shot. I guess replacing the plugs had never before come to mind. The car had been working fine, and although scheduled maintenance is important, for some reason, I had ignored/overlooked the spark plugs. The temporary fix improved the situation enough for me to get to work today, and during my lunch hour I bought new plugs and wires.

I drove home with only minor ill events. Rush hour meant slow speeds, so the engine never experienced much load. Once home, I turned the car off, opened the hood, directed a far towards it, and waited. Waited for two hours. Waited so that I wouldn’t burn my hand while changing plugs.

Unfortunately, the waiting meant that I couldn’t go to hockey. I really wanted to go, seeing as how Grandstaff was in town and was planning on playing. Fate laughed at my plans: the car wasn’t reliable enough to get to the rink, and I couldn’t make the car reliable without missing the game. C’est la vie.

The actual installation of the wires and plugs was rather quick and straightforward. Unlike many other transverse-mounted engines, the 3800 in the Bonneville provides easy access to the rear plugs. Good job, engineers! The new plugs, Bosch Platinum brand, were purchased for their long life and supposed reliable performance. The plug wires, colored red to match the car, were purchased because the old wires appeared to be the originals.

Together, the new plugs and wires completely changed the character of the car. I immediately noticed more power and smoother operation. Also, during the installation I discovered that my strut tower brace was slightly loose. I tightened it up and noted a marked improvement in handling and rigidity.

It’s amazing what an improvement can come from such a small fix.