I love the self service junkyard. Pick N Pull is my local favorite and I took a trip out there today to pick up a few items. These yards are great sources for hard to get OEM parts. There are also great deals on normal wear items if you are willing to put a little sweat into the deal.
I must make a disclaimer here because I love my cars. I name them and I have even kissed a couple of cars on occasion–but I have to say this. It is important to establish that a car is junk when you buy it, junk while you drive it, and junk when it reaches the junkyard. You may buy a Lexus in a fancy dealership where they do your nails while you are waiting or a Hyundai in a dealership that is run out of a trailer. Eventually both of those cars end up in a place like the Pick N Pull. Nobody cares how nice the car once was or how much it cost new because when they get here, they all stink and they are all gutted by vultures like me. They rest in this state for a few weeks and are eventually sent through the shredder and recycled. The metal in a Kia that will be built next year may have come from a Jaguar sitting at the Pick N Pull right now. Enough about the life cycle of a car.
My main purpose today was to get a Throttle Position Sensor and Idle Air Control valve for my Cutlass. The great thing about the late ’80s and early 90’s Cutlass is that they were one of the most generic GM cars built. You can find parts for these cars on many others in the GM lineup. My parts car today was a ‘93 Pontiac Grand Prix.
This old girl had 189,000 miles on the odometer and the engine was largely unmolested. It appeared that the car had been well cared for. I usually look at the condition of belts and hoses on a donor car as well as the oil filter. This GP had belts and hoses in good condition and a Purolator Pure One oil filter. It also had a K&N panel filter in the airbox. Usually someone who doesn’t care about their car won’t go to the trouble to buy a premium oil filter. I like to see upper and lower radiator hoses that appear to be of the same age. This means that someone probably was doing preventative maintenance when they replaced them.
I pulled my parts and grabbed a few bolts off the car too. You really can’t beat the quality of OEM hardware (nuts and bolts.) When you are in the yard, it is always a good idea to pull some off of a car. Many of these bolts and threads are common sizes to a number of vehicles and are better than what you can get at Ace Hardware or the like. At checkout, the counter guy will usually not charge you for them either. Stock up!
I also sourced a couple of relays from the fuse box in the car. Every GM car that I have owned has used these same standard relays. I like to carry spares in my cars just in case. It is also good to have a spare to swap out when you are checking relays on an electrical problem. Again, the quality of these relays are probably better than what you can get at a parts store and the counter guy will often cut you a good deal on them.
