Schaefft's Bargain Barge Extravaganza - Oldsmobile Resurrection

[Schaefft]

Some more time spent on the Olds today. I knew the injectors clearly weren't triggering properly, unfortunately one of the first things that cause trouble when standing for such a long time as E10 quickly gums it all up. Fortunately it's fairly straightforward to test them, powering them right at the connector should result in an audible click:

Verdict: 2 injectors working, 2 more after working them (beating the hell out of them while applying voltage). One more sounded like it might free up, the other 3 simply wouldn't budge. I thought some fuel pressure might help, however it seems like running the engine on easy start yesterday has killed the alternator (probably seized up while standing a long time ago), with smoke rising out of its corner in the engine bay whenever I connect the battery. I chose to completely ignore it (while readying myself to disconnect the battery if needed and distinguish any flames!) and turned the key.

Bam! The engine fired up immediately and for the first time in 5 years is running on its own fuel supply again! And not that bad at all, seems like any remaining stuck injectors quickly freed themselves up, it idled fine and sounded like a Nascar, definitely a hole in the exhaust somewhere! Plenty of smoke too, maybe less so from the alternator and more so from years of crud burning off on the headers.

At that point I had one more thing left before we could roll the car and test the transmission. I managed to get the front tire that was off the bead back on by using a sufficient amount of starting fluid and fire! Worked a treat, I was able to inflate it with Amazon's cheapest tire inflator after that. And the transmission worked perfectly! The rotors are rusted over so brakes are poor but we now have a running and driving car again, albeit one that won't charge it's battery. I won't have time tomorrow but I'll at the very least disconnect the alternator cables to avoid any further trouble there over the next few days. When you only know a car broken and halfway disassembled for years even putting back the trunk liner feels like a major accomplishment .

Not much left I can do on the car over the next few days other than cleaning it and possibly cleaning up the rotors which should make a big difference already. I'm finding more and more bee hives in all the nooks and crannies, definitely wouldn't have been fun doing this a few months ago!

I might also remove the ruined wrap. Dark cherry metallic is an amazing color on the Aurora, I just hope there still some of it left underneath!

Oh, and what about any loot left behind inside? Not much unfortunately aside from a strap, butter knife and sanding disc.

Better than nothing?

[Zelandeth]

ALDL for the diagnostic interface?  I know that's what was used on the TBi GM system around that time (as sold to Lada among others from 95-98 used on the 1.7i Niva).  GM Tech 1 scanner should be able to talk to it if so, I think Tech II can as well, but from memory needs a separate plug-in module for it as well.  I realise yours is a multipoint implementation, but time period is right so may well be it uses the same protocols for comms.

Have to admit that the GM system Lada used was bloody good and rarely gave issues save for being ridiculously picky about lambda sensors.

[MorrisItalSLX]

3 hours ago, Schaefft said:

I'm finding more and more bee hives in all the nooks and crannies, definitely wouldn't have been fun doing this a few months ago!

Those bee hives look more like paper wasp nests.

[Schaefft]

2 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

ALDL for the diagnostic interface?  I know that's what was used on the TBi GM system around that time (as sold to Lada among others from 95-98 used on the 1.7i Niva).  GM Tech 1 scanner should be able to talk to it if so, I think Tech II can as well, but from memory needs a separate plug-in module for it as well.  I realise yours is a multipoint implementation, but time period is right so may well be it uses the same protocols for comms.

Have to admit that the GM system Lada used was bloody good and rarely gave issues save for being ridiculously picky about lambda sensors.

ALDL is a 12 pin rectangular connector. It's possible that GM might have changed it to a OBD2 style trapezoid connector on some cars but the pin layout I see on mine still wouldn't match, that's what's making it so confusing.

30 minutes ago, MorrisItalSLX said:

Those bee hives look more like paper wasp nests.

And you are probably right. Taking the half a dozen or so nests I've found all over the car together it'd probably add up to a hive's worth of wasps!

Rockauto claims they can deliver an alternator until the 31st, I'm flying back to Newcastle on the 1st so the challenge is on! With this being a transversely mounted V8 the procedure to remove it without pulling the radiator looks like an absolute pain, I'll see if I can at least pull it before the new one arrives.

[cort1977]

10 hours ago, MorrisItalSLX said:

Those bee hives look more like paper wasp nests.

Was it used in Germany much? When I lived in Houston those things were everywhere so you could have genuine American wasp nests.

[Schaefft]

21 minutes ago, cort1977 said:

Was it used in Germany much? When I lived in Houston those things were everywhere so you could have genuine American wasp nests.

It came over pretty much when it was new so definitely of German origin 😄

It's a little frosty outside this morning, I won't have much time for anything today but had a quick look at the alternator situation. It's gonna be tight but should be possible with the fans out.

UK reg plate to keep the Ordnungsamt away. It's on private grounds but it wouldn't be the first time I'm getting a fine for parking an unregistered car on our own property (which is perfectly legal).