85 olds cutlass royal brougham woes

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Emmisons Ruined My Brain - 10 Jan 2004 17:16 GMT

i have an 85 cutlass delta royal brougham 2dr (long a.s name) with the stock
307 5.0 (Y series) and only 87,000 original miles. but the problems just
seem to be mounting up every single day. but i want some advice on a rebuild
since i got nothing better to.
here are the major problems:
1) the a large portion of the exhaust is some where on the garden state
parkway and i have carbon monoxide coming into the car. (another excuse for
a nice straight chrome dual exhaust system?)
2) i have to put over a gallon of water or coolant in the car every other
day, there is no thermostat because with a thermostat the car overheats.
3) there appears to be oil leaking out of the rocker cover (easy enough to
fix)
4) doesn't pass nj inspection
5). $20 worth of $1.30 gas only fills up the tank 1/4 of the way and i don't
go very far. (god bless a 4bbl carb!)
6) the warning bell goes off constant ly (DOES ANYBODY KNOW WHERE IT IS SO I
CAN DESTROY THAT BELL!!!!!!)
7) i dont trust it to go fast or far because of the above reasons
but other than that the car kicks a.s. great body (needs paint) interior is
perfect. new sound system, windows, locks, and everything else works. i know
about jap. cars but this is my first american car. i love that sound and
feel. and i really cant afford much. so please help me.
thanx

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Marky - 11 Jan 2004 20:19 GMT

Welcome to the wonderful world of 80s GM fullsize cars. If you want a
reliable, efficient car that passes smog, you will be spending lots of
money. The ECM QJets (and the related electromechanical and vacuum smog
controls) are failure prone, and medicore in effectiveness. It is
usually easier to tune a 1705 series Quadra (non-ECM emissions
model, 75-80) and a 4-pin HEI to pass a tailpipe emissions test than it
is to get the CCC controls working properly again. If you have a visual
equipment inspection to worry about, however, this is obviously not an
option. If you are serious about keeping the car, I would look into the
legalities involved with swapping a later TBI motor into the car. I will
reap benefits in ease of maintanance, efficiency, and likely make more
power, which is something those big cars can always use. The 307 is
probably worn out anyway, and nothing short of a rebuild is going to clean it
up if the long block is plain worn out. This, of course, won't be cheap.
I don't mean to discourage you from keeping the car, as the love of my
life is my own 81 Impala, but updating one to today's
reliability/efficiency standards is a big undertaking.

Mark

> i have an 85 cutlass delta royal brougham 2dr (long a.s name) with the
> stock 307 5.0 (Y series) and only 87,000 original miles. but the
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
> know about jap. cars but this is my first american car. i love that
> sound and feel. and i really cant afford much. so please help me. thanx

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Rust is good--it eliminates dents.

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JCM900 - 29 Jan 2004 23:00 GMT

Marky's comments are very true, although you could try replacing the O2
sensor ($17) and see what it does for you. I have a 1985 Olds 88 Royale
Brougham with the ECM 307 as well and even though mine is running good, I'm
looking at swapping the motor out. I used to have a 1988 Firebird Formula
350 with a L98 TPI 350 which made monster torque. I'm thinking you could get
your mits on one of those and swap it in for less than the cost of
rebuilding the 307.

-Minsan

> i have an 85 cutlass delta royal brougham 2dr (long a.s name) with the stock
> 307 5.0 (Y series) and only 87,000 original miles. but the problems just
[quoted text clipped - 19 lines]
> feel. and i really cant afford much. so please help me.
> thanx

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