Yeah, I intend to. I'm not even sure that the warning lights are actually working, but I want to make sure they are. Speaking of that, when I changed the battery cable, I noticed a wired was unplugged from its port which was right in the center of a freeze plug. Is this the for the temperature warning light? Also, I replaced some of the old vacuum hoses, one of which was for the distributor and connected to some little device right in front of the carb. Unfortunately this little device (which has a couple wires plugged to it) was very brittle and the nipple broke. So currently I have the distributor vacuum hose rerouted, but I need to identify the broken part in order to replace it. Thanks
The temp sender is on the front/top of ther intake manifolk. If you have an electrical connection at a freeze plug, it's a dealer installed block heater. Devon
Yes, there is a standard 110v plug in the grill, so that must be the heater. And I think the connection on the intake manifold you're talking about is currently unplugged too, so I'll have to look into that. Any idea what the vacuum hose running from the distributor hooks to?
Attaches to the vacuum port on the front of the carb. With questions like these it sounds like it's time to invest in a Chassis Service Manual! Devon
Not quite. It attaches to a small cylinder that is bolted to the front of the carb. This cylinder has an electrical plug on the left. I can't describe it any better without taking another look. I do need a service manual though. I consider myself mechanically inclined but I'm not very familiar with a lot of the external engine systems. I am familiar with all of the internal workings though. But most of my experiance is with metal fabrication, body, and paint.
Sounds like you have the TCS (transmission controlled spark) feature. If it's not working properly, you may not have functional vacuum advance at all. See if this thread helps: http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?t=143129 Devon
Another thing to check; - if the car slips in reverse,(chatters while backing up) then there's a good chance that your third gear is slipping as well. My 66 would shift into third, and then slip into high pitch passing gear and stay there. When I took it to a tranny shop the guy told me that my reverse was just about gone and my third gear would shortly fully fail as well. I guess they share the same clutch or something. The car performed similarly; - it wouldn't accelerate very well, it would make a lot of noise and then just crawl up to a higher speed.
That cylinder is the idle solenoid, and it usually is improperly set or is quite commonly disconnected on older cars. All it does is kick up the idle a bit when the car is in gear. I don't recall ever seeing a TCS system on a 69 or 70 Buick, was it something they used in California for emmissions?
Idle solenoids didn't get installed until late 71. Before that, there was a dashpot that would soften the deceleration if you pulled your foot off the gas too fast...to prevent stalling. The idle solenoid would have one wire going to it, and no vacuum lines. You can see the TCS solenoid on the front passenger side on this photo.
My 70 LeSabre has the TCS selenoid, but it's a Calif car and I think it was only used on Calif cars in 70.
This is essentially what I was going to add. Are you sure you have 3rd? An Electra of that vintage is in it's element on the interstate at 70+mph. :TU:
