2016 Regal Turbo

Update your progress on your various car projects.

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GMJohnny
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Location: Auburn Twp, Oh

Re: 2016 Regal Turbo

Post by GMJohnny »

I thought the brakes were going bad on the Regal. There was no grinding noises, but a real heavy,
deep sound when the car stopped. It sounded like the brake shoes were shot. I decided to tear the
wheels off and check some stuff out. Upon inspection, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the OEM
shoes and rotors wer in excellent shape. The pads were almost frozen in the slides, however. I put
a bit over two hours labor into tearing the pads off, wire wheeling & greasing the stainless slides
and filing the outer ring off of the rotors. Everything came apart pretty well. There is now a small,
torx headed screw that holds the rotor on. I'm glad I opted to do this work, as I was able to anti-seize
all of the bolts, including this very small torx bolt. I guarantee that there will be many mechanics
drilling out that small bolt on these GM cars, as the bolt is deeper than the hub, and rust will form
on the extra theads that protrude through the hub. After a short test drive, I'm satisifed with the
work, and back to service it will go. ( 46,811 miles )

GM
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GMJohnny
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Location: Auburn Twp, Oh

Re: 2016 Regal Turbo

Post by GMJohnny »

Snow tires on and ready for winter, tpms reprogrammed -- 50,155 miles. The factory
tires are about 1/4" from the wear bars. I have to decide if I want to ride them through
next summer or buy new ones over the winter.

GM
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GMJohnny
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Location: Auburn Twp, Oh

Re: 2016 Regal Turbo

Post by GMJohnny »

I decided to run the Michelin's until they are bald. I switched out the snow tires to the
streets today. They TPMS tool I bought and used twice failed me. I have my local mechanic
getting his reset tool tomorrow and a new one is en route to me this week. I'm starting the
search for new tires, hoping the ones on the car will make it til fall. 57,250 miles. Snow tires
still look sweet after their 2nd season, plenty of life left in those Antares Grip 20's!

GM
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GMJohnny
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Location: Auburn Twp, Oh

Re: 2016 Regal Turbo

Post by GMJohnny »

65,710 today. I changed the oil and cabin air filter ( for the first time ). I looked at a service maintenance
chart and I'm late for a transmission fluid and filter change. I'll try to get that done in the next week or two.
New spark plugs and windshield wipers are on their way. No major issues to talk about. I did find two bolts
loose on the block. These bolts hold the exhaust pipe where it bolts to the manifold on the front of the motor.
Also noted was a bit of dampness on the perimeter of the oil pan. I tightened all of the bolts 1/8 turn. The
oem tires will make it to fall, as none of them have shallow enough tread to be down to the wear bars. When
snow threatens for the first time, these Michelin's will see their last day on the road.


GM
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GMJohnny
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Re: 2016 Regal Turbo

Post by GMJohnny »

66,160 -- Trans fluid was changed. Turns out there's no filter in there. The fluid was a bit brown, but not
terrible. I changed spark plugs. The old plugs looked pretty good, but for $22, you just change them. Once
I figured learned two things today. 1) You move the little red lock tab back and push down on the center of
the black tab to get the coil wire off of the coil. 2) Heat the motor before changing the plugs. The motor just
needs to be warm, not up to operating temp. Doing this heats up the carbon on the end of the plug, softening
it up and making it easier to remove the plugs. I did one before running the motor, and it squeaked and was
tough to get out. After getting the warm up tip from our mechanic buddy, the other three came out much easier.
I also removed all of the brakes and rotors, cleaned them all up, greased the slides, and re-installed them. The
front pads will need changed in the spring, and I might just do them before winter so I'm not having to wrestle
them in the cold of March. The rear pads appear new still. New winter Delco wipers were installed as well.

GM
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Maverick
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Location: Raleigh, NC

Re: 2016 Regal Turbo

Post by Maverick »

Heating the engine before removing plugs seems like a really good tip. The plugs in the 4.6 Ford have a reputation for stripping out the aluminum heads. The plugs in my 2002 Explorer are original and I hope to never change them but, if I do, I'll try warming the engine first.

I think that trick should work even better on the aluminum heads since the thermal expansion of aluminum is more than the steel plugs.
Maverick
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GMJohnny
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Re: 2016 Regal Turbo

Post by GMJohnny »

Maverick,

Mechanic Paul made a point of saying that heating the motor was a Ford recommended procedure.
I'd definitely recommend it.

GM
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GMJohnny
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Re: 2016 Regal Turbo

Post by GMJohnny »

66,513.. changed the front brake pads. Since I had done all of the grunt work last week, the
job was simple. It took 25 mins to switch both sides. I did the job without taking the shoe holding
brackets off. The brake pedal is now back up to almost the top.

GM
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GMJohnny
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Re: 2016 Regal Turbo

Post by GMJohnny »

69,003 … Removed the Michelin's opting for the snow tires. Amazingly, the Michelin's are
not at the wear bars, but they are close. They are not good in the snow, as I found out on
Friday! With the threat of more lake effect snow in the forecast, I decided not to try that
ride again and did the swap yesterday. After airing the snows up and resetting the tpms sensors,
the Regal is back on the road and ready for snow.

GM
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GMJohnny
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Re: 2016 Regal Turbo

Post by GMJohnny »

72,210... I took advantage of a 50 degree, January day and did my oil change yesterday.
All looks good under the car, and it, per usual, didn't use a drop of oil since the last oil
change. I stopped at the local tire store and ordered new summer tires as well. I'll drop
the wheels to them today and pick them up next week.

GM
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GMJohnny
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Re: 2016 Regal Turbo

Post by GMJohnny »

72,980 -- Passed E-Check on Saturday 1/25/20. I was certain it would as no check engine
light was on. Because a two year old car is exempt from E-Check, this was the first time
through.

GM
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Fred32v
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Re: 2016 Regal Turbo

Post by Fred32v »

Hmm, isn't that over 20K per year or somethin'.
You'll have to drive the 442 way more this summer to save the Buick.
Fred32v
GMC Canyon Crew Cab Short Box 4x4 V6!
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GMJohnny
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Re: 2016 Regal Turbo

Post by GMJohnny »

I was just looking at other "Summer Car" options that I could drive to work.
Finding something that gets 30 MPG is tough with the cars that I like!

GM
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Fred32v
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Re: 2016 Regal Turbo

Post by Fred32v »

I know where there is a sweet Saturn, you could do worse. Grins!
Fred32v
GMC Canyon Crew Cab Short Box 4x4 V6!
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GMJohnny
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Re: 2016 Regal Turbo

Post by GMJohnny »

75088 …. With the threat of snow pretty low for the next two weeks, I gambled and took off the snow tires.
I put on the new Uniroyal Tiger Paw A/S tires. After doing some research, they were a relatively budget and
pretty well rated 65,000 mile tire. I purchased them from a local shop who mounted and balanced them. I
paid them what about what Tire Rack was charging and they mounted & balanced them. With my snow tires
( that are still in excellent shape and looking like they can take another three seasons) taking up some of the
work load, I figure I should be able to get about 4 years out of these tires. At that point I will be evaluating
whether or not I even want to keep the car anymore. Four years from now it should have about 150,000 - 160,000
miles on it and be 8 years old. These may be the last tires I buy for the car. We'll see.

GM
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