So I bought my '03 STR a couple of months ago down in Houston with 56k miles for $14,900. As soon as I drive it off the lot, I got an MIL, a Restricted Performance light, and an Incorrect Gear Ratio indication. That's the bad news. The worse news is that I had to drive it all the way to Dallas without being able to really get on it.

The dealer put in a new tranny for me, and gave me some s/c gaskets for the p0171 and p0174 faults (the gaskets didn't fix it). In the 2 weeks since I've had the car back from the tranny shop, I've still been getting the RP light, and I also got misfires on 3 and 4. So I decided to replace all the spark plugs with NGK Iridiums, swapped out the original coils with the newer style OEM coils, changed the fuel filter & air filter (installed K&N a/f), and replaced the MAF sensor. That did the trick. I also changed the oil and filter (Fram filter and 6 quarts of Mobil 1 5W-30). Now she's faster than a catholic school girl, and is smoother smoother Barry White at a singles bar. I've had to fill her tank 3 times in 3 days, because I can't stop driving her. I even think my wife is starting to get jealous.

Next steps are the Eurotoys 1.5LB pulley (I'm a bit conservative), low-temp thermo, and either the Mina exhaust or ChrisSTR's Borlaflow exhaust (it might be a bad Christmas for my family).

 

All the best things in life are (never) free

 

Glad to hear you got it sorted and can get out to play now.
Was that a warranty tranny that you got?

 

YIKES! I haven't had half those issues (knock on wood).

 

It was basically a waranty tranny, although there was no warranty on the car. I bought the STR on eBay from an auto broker in Houston. They paid to have it replaced since their shop didn't find it upon inspection. I really lucked out on that deal.

The tranny and the 2 coils were the only real problems. The p0171 and p0174 were just a dirty filter. I tend to go overboard on maintenance and repairs, and I always do a full service on the cars I buy, just in case. Better safe than sorry.

 

My wife was a catholic school girl. Come to think of it, she was pretty fast back then.