The Tstat was a difficult find for me. If you go to autozone they will sell you the on for the DX. They dont know the diff. Go to the dealership. You will get the right part. $16 IIRC?

I've noticed the sam ething for the plugs and wires... autozone just sells you the generic ones. Kind of annoying if you ask me.

Good point. But if you ask, many parts stores can usually get a slightly higher or lower temp t-stat for you if you find someone to help you who actually knows what they are doing. And now that you say that, I'm betting the t-stat I installed in my car is lower than it should have, since it was a Advance-auto one, which I didn't look at the temp printed on it...doh

I guess I do understand why the VX feels it has less power. :o

note to self: remove window tint. It's silly and it's next to impossible to see out the rear window at night time.

Good deal, man. Sounds like it just needs a little TLC for the small stuff.

BTW, what year is it?

Pics! (when you get the chance)...

RH77

It sound like you might want to check the position of your timing belt. When I got my VX it was a real dog, no giddy up and unable to go up steep hills in 5th. I had the belt repositioned and it is a zippy little car now. The difference is night and day.

Congratulations, it looks like you found a gem!:thumbup:

Excellent idea! I almost never buy generic parts. There almost always inferior. I was going to suggest going to the dealer rather than dealing with a parts chase at the local "parts house". If its slow to accel I would suggest you check the ignition timing also(if its adjustable). I would think it would be a little dead in 5th but in the other gears it should be a least perky. Are you going to go synthetic fluids?

why don't you guys get aftermarket OEM spec parts? For instance, instead of going to Autozone and getting "Valucraft" and "Duralast" (built to last.....DURALAST!) go to a place that sells Bosch, Borg Warner, Dynaflex, Dayco, Car Done, Fenco, Dorman, Stant (for thermostats since you're talking about), Fel Pro. Stay away from Autozone and Advance and O' Reilley. Most of their parts are garbage from what I've seen. As I'm sure you guys know, Bosch, Stant, Fel Pro and BWD are OEM suppliers to many firms.

Matt, congrats on the VX. Great purchase, and I'm sure you'll love it.

That's great you got the VX. Everyone who buys one seems to have a funny story about picking it up and having various items malfunctioning. For me it was a bad o2sensor and leaky heater core( just a little, heat smelled weird). It also had the wrong plugs and a damaged rotor (distributor rotor). You should find the acceleration fairly good, but you have to get used to the gearing. remember 3rd redlines at 116mph, so you really have to downshift for max power. I seem to remember 2nd going over 65...Usually I just leave it in a high gear and gain speed before the hill. it has a fair bit of torque. If you really want to maintain speed or accelerate, kick it down a gear (4th on the hwy) early and put the pedal down halfway or more. remember, even when you do this you won't be revving much more than other cars in their top gear! And you won't be burning that much gas really (and you won't be accelerating that fast). Does it hesitate under light load? or does it just feel slow at all throttle positions and rpms?
If it only feels sluggish and hesitates under light load it is probably the o2 sensor. If it is sluggish all around check the timing belt, plugs wires cap rotor timing. I also heard the throttle position sensor can go bad on the hi mi vxes, you could check that if all else looks good.
-James

silly question. Do VXs have power steering? I'm not used to not having it and wondering if perhaps it's supposed to be there.

The obvious answer is no, b/c it's a gas mileage monster.