Schaefft's Bargain Barge Extravaganza - W140 S-Class Progress

[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).

[Schaefft]

Some more progress today, started removing the fans to make some space but didn't want to go further before I got a real confirmation that the alternator will arrive in time to be installed. I wouldn't want to keep the car borderline immobilized again should I not be able to throw it back in there as the power steering pump is driven from the same belt. At least there's some space now:

I've also checked whether I could peel the rotten wrap off the hood, turns out that its stripped bare as there's aluminum visible directly underneath. Very odd, I decided that it's better to leave the wrap on for at least some minimal protection...

With so little to show why not do a little tour of what is a pretty interesting car? Despite owning 3 of them I don't think I ever explained why (if I have bare with me).

Oldsmobile has been a cash cow for GM through most of the early 80s, with the Cutlass being the best selling car year over year all the way to 1985. With imports from both Japan and Europe setting the bar higher for what a near-luxury vehicle should be (and most of GMs similarly sized cars being almost direct copies of each other) sales have been declining rapidly after the downsizing and switch to fwd in 1986 though. Tastes simply changed as well, people just expected their cars to have a little more feedback and driver involvement. Interestingly enough Oldsmobile was chosen (and maybe always has been) to be the GM make of technical innovation.

The Oldsmobile Aerotech for example was created as testbed for GM's new high performance Quad-Four engines that would finally give GM a family of competitive, small capacity 4-cylinder engines that could take on the Japanese imports. Together with the Buick Riviera it was the Olds Toronado that introduced the first touchscreen infotainment controls in a mass production car. It was also the Toronado that GM chose to test in-car GPS systems on (the Autopian seems to have a great article on it)

Naturally non of that really helped as sales really plummeted to frightening depths by the early 90s. GM decided that Oldsmobile needed a radical reboot and build a highly competitive import fighter that could take on the Acura Legends, Lexus LS400s and Infiniti Q45s rapidly taking up the luxury car market. The Oldsmobile Aurora was that car.

Considering that the Aurora shared the showroom floor with super conservative models like the Olds 98 and 88 (tbf I'd buy the former in a heartbeat if I could find one) when launched in late 1994 and most people were still driving a box from the mid-80s it really looked like a car from way ahead in the future.

And looking at what you could get for your 31k $ MSRP elsewhere it was a very compelling package:

A modern quad cam 250hp V8 (when it's competitors barely got to 200hp with their V6s)

ABS and traction control, self leveling rear suspension

Leather interior with power seats, power windows, automatic dual zone A/C, Dual airbags etc.

And frameless doors so popular on (fake) hardtop sedans from Japan at the time!

And actual space compared to a similarly priced W202 C-Class or E36 3-Series. And that's the thing, it was a high quality (very stiff body, many components built to Cadillac standards, the Aurora was the only non-Cadillac being allowed to have a Northstar derivative V8), high content car that really was supposed to put Oldsmobile back on the map of large car buyers.

The rebranding didn't seem to quite work though (despite there being no Oldsmobile badging on the Aurora at all aside from the radio). People didn't want to buy a relatively expensive luxury sports sedan from what was still thought to be your soon-to-be-pensioner dad's automobile manufacturer of choice. Any succeeding Olds was following the initial design language of the Aurora (mid-size Intrigue and compact Alero which even made it to Europe) but it wasn't enough to really save the make in the end. There was a second gen of the Aurora (actually a slightly smaller car not initially planned to be it's successor) in 2001 and Oldsmobile shut down in 2004.

As I've mentioned a few times before, I think a flagship model usually is the real showcase of quality and mindset a brand really wants to see itself represented in. It's those cars where an automotive company pulls out all the stops with the least compromise (cost, size/packaging) watering ambitions down. If you are then able to really put a car like the Aurora into it's historical context I think there's a lot to be appreciated here.

You can probably say the latter about most cars but with this one really being the Halo vehicle that was supposed to save Oldsmobile (while also being a really good car) I think they do deserve a little more love. As with most 90s cars they finally do get the attention so hopefully the money and time I'll be pouring into the 3 I own is somewhat justified!

[Schaefft]

Back to the alternator then. I've removed the old one yesterday and my god what a joy that was. The first step of the ordeal was removing the belt by releasing the load from the tensioner. The little square 1/2" hole just in the center of the photo is there to use any 1/2" extension you might have lying around, sounds easy enough.

Until the casting just snapped, leaving me with no way to do this now. A great start right there! Fortunately there was just enough play to wiggle the alternator out anyway, the tensioner seized in exactly the position I needed it to be.

3 hours of faffing around with a handful of bolts followed. As usual you can get a lot of things done without the right tools, it's just taking you 3 times as long. Accessibility was abysmal but I got there in the end.

There's just enough space to wiggle it past the front of the engine and up and out though the drivers side. After wrestling seized bolts that are impossible to access while lying on the ground for hours this sight pretty much made my day:

Oh, since I was wondering where all the power steering fluid went, I filled the reservoir and ran the car before even taking off the belt, it quickly made it's way on the ground, so there's a high pressure hose that's probably impossible to reach added to the to-do list as well now...

Well, the replacement alternator arrived this morning, wholesale offer on a remanufactured AC Delco made the choice easy and it's indeed looking identical:

It even came with a little test report. No clue if that's just the same leaflet they are sending to anybody but here we are, looking good!

As usual, installation is the reversal of removal so things took much less time this time around. To give you a bit of an idea, the bolt at the back there cannot even be removed without removing the header. Not an issue in this case as it's just short enough for the alternator to clear but when this is by far the easiest of them all...

Well, eventually the engine bay resembled that of an Aurora again. Everything back in place, certainly not for the last time!

If you look closely, you can just about see the new shiny black pulley of the alternator all the way down there, pretty intimidating job at a first glance but we got there in the end.

And yes, I can confirm that the battery is charging with a very healthy 14+ volts again, hallelujah! The car then decided to pop it's fuel line off the pump outlet:

I didn't notice at the time but the little plastic hose retaining rings were still on the old pump, my mistake and certainly a good thing to happen now while I could still fish it out the bin!

A couple of other improvements done over the last two days, the car got new wipers now, the old ones fell apart and were oddly hard to remove:

The lower air dam was put back in place as well, looks much less ghetto already!

I've also had a quick look at the ABS sensor wiring on all corners. The ABS light comes on immediately which usually does not point towards a sensor issue (no wheel signal expected when not moving) but I might as well have a general look at brakes and suspension while at it. And everything looked good, the brakes clearly were done not all that long before getting parked. No wiring issues either, one of the lateral rear suspension links clearly got bent when the car was loaded up on the tow truck though. That's why you never attach a tow rope to suspension components. At over 150k miles it probably needs replacing on both sides anyway. You can also just about see the airbag of the self leveling rear shocks (the steel spring sits further up).

The good news is that all these parts, including the rather convoluted power steering lines, are still available and actually really cheap. Considering the rarity of the car and model-specific part numbers that's somewhat surprising to me. I've also realized that the Olds came with another used ABS pump which was my initial theory for the light if not a fuse/connector or the control module itself.

Lovely interior illumination inside, too! And sun visors designed for those who absolutely cannot stand the sight of the sun!

Unfortunately I only got a few spare hours left tomorrow before I'm leaving on New Years day so any further progress will be very limited. The leaky power steering hose, partially stuck injectors and ruined exhaust mean I wouldn't be able to drive it far anyway. With the car finally running and being mobile again after years of decaying I think I managed to achieve pretty much as much as I could in the few hours I had between Christmas and New Year. If anything I now know that I have a somewhat healthy engine, transmission and generally no major obstacles from getting the Aurora back on the road.

And if I decided to pass it on as a project to somebody else I'd definitely have something worth the money I got into it now. I might drop it off at our go-to Opel garage to have that power steering and exhaust leak sorted, hopefully they won't find too many other nasty surprises while I'm away!

[Schaefft]

And that's a wrap. Last day of the year and the Aurora is at the local Opel garage now. It was just a one mile (uphill) drive but without power steering and an engine only running on half it's cylinders...

I won't be back anytime soon, hopefully they can clean/replace the stuck injectors, find the leaky pressure hose and check whether the exhaust is salvageable or not. It won't pass an inspection anytime soon but these things will at the very least make it more driveable.

In other news, look what just arrived for the Velsatis!

I just can't resist a bit of luxurious timber on my steering wheel! Not sure if I'll take this one on the plane with me, the UK's go-to Velsatis licker appears to be having a big everything must go parts clear-out so I might be scoring one for next to nothing anyway. I might go have a look on Thursday, at the very least he'll be able to give me some hints for how to sort the electric parking brake. He also got a 6k mile Velsatis with the burgundy interior, I'll definitely try and have a closer look at that as well just to see what it looks like in person.

[Schaefft]

Now that I'm back I've had some time to make some progress on the 500SEL. After 8 months we are also finally approaching the date when we can sign the contract for the house so it's about time we get things mobile.

The new brake caliper and hose arrived just in time for me to throw them on the car on Thursday, those were the last original brake components on the front so fingers crossed it's all sorted for the next 15 years or so (ignoring the wheel bearings...).

As usual the old copper line fittings were an absolute pain to unseize but we got there in the end without destroying them. I'm not sure if there's really a better alternative that stands the test of time but if replacing a hose usually means tearing up the line it's attached to then it's hardly an improvement is it.

Mercedes did an incredible job keeping the 3 million pieces of body cladding and wheel arch liners tidily in place. With most of the fasteners rotten I replaced them as well. What started with a worn bushing escalated into a nuts and bolts restoration, literally.

All back in, I might do the other side tomorrow. Unfortunately while underneath there I discovered that the crusty jacking point from a few years ago didn't get any better:

Guess there's another reason to learn how to weld right there...

[cort1977]

Great stuff as ever.

Is it me or is this the same instrument cluster as a mk 2 carlton?