I have a 1985 Buick Le Sabre with the 307 Oldsmobile V8. Last weak I finally broke down and replaced both of the leaking A.I.R. injection tubes. They were getting so bad that it made my car sound like the lifters were shot and it smelled nice and gassy when I rolled up to a stoplight. Last week with the leaking exhaust tubes the car ran as smooth as silk, throughout the RPM range. Now after replacing the tubes it has a very noticeable shake idling when in gear, not so bad in park but worse if you put it in drive and hold the brakes. Does anyone think I need to reset the timing? Or maybe just adjust the fast idle screw? I don't think its the choke, its acting up from a cold start and even after the engine gets hot. And could anyone walk me through how to reset the timing or adjust it if I need to? I realize the instructions are on the fan shroud, but please put them into terms that the not-so -mechanically- inclined can understand? Someone mentioned something to me about unplugging the 4-way plug by the distributor, I found that but now how much more involved do I need to get?
I seriously doubt its the timing, sounds more like the EGR valve is sticking open or partially open at idle.
I'm going to try and check all the vacuum lines also after it gets back from being painted. Will be out of comission until at least Friday.
Watch out on it, my Delta 88 used to do that before I shut it off one last time and it never started again. Found out it was the timing chain jumping before I sold it for another car. It had about 160,000 on it at the time.
I'm pretty sure its a vacuum leak. I forgot to mention that I decided to do both the valve cover gaskets also. A lot of the grease and grime that was probably caked on there for the past 20 years is now cleaned off. I've done some reading up and found out that sometimes the grease and grime itself ends up sealing small air and vacuum leaks, when you clean up the motor it will run terrible. I'm going to check the EGR and vacuum lines when it comes back from getting painted. If it was a weak timing chain, wouldn't it be running goofy throughout some of the RPM range, instead of acting up only @ idle speed? P.S. Even if it is the timing chain, if I end up wrecking the motor it will give me an excuse to dump even more money into the thing and put a real engine under the hood! :TU:
I've got a 87 chev caprice with the 307 olds can anyone tell me if the 350 Buick is a bolt in and will the overdrive tranny hold up Sorry for jumping in on your post but it seemed like a good spot
Not sure about the 350 being bolt in, I wanna say yes, but not sure. As far as the transmission the TH200-R4 transmission was not always built the greatest from the factory. It will probably hold up ok to a stock 350 if the tranny itself is in decent condition. If you want to street race you definitely want to do a professional rebuild. Go to Turbobuick.com, I believe there are several threads talking about people who have built a strong tranny. Some people are even putting them behind big blocks and they are doing ok. The key is professional rebuild. Most of your shade tree transmission shops are going to tell you the transmission is junk and to go with the old 350 or 400 trans. So in short I know it can be done, the key is to have it done right and it may be a bit spendy.
After nearly two months of tinkering and breaking down and taking the thing to a shop, I finally found the source of the problem. Put a new EGR on with no change. Just got mad and fed up today and started chasing vacuum lines, wires and sensors to see where they go and if any were missing/broken/burnt/etc. A Vacuum hose was disconnected from that little round ball thing that sits on the passenger side fender well. This isn't the vapor canister itself, it sits slightly higher and further back than the vapor canister. (On the late 1980's Ford Fuel injected 302 in the Grand Marquis/Crown Vic, I believe this is the same as the black coffee can lookin' thing that sits on the driver's side fender well.) I'm not sure what that little ball does, but hooking that vacuum hose back up sure made a world of difference in how it runs. For the past 2 months it had some hesitation when taking off from a dead stop, shook at idle (especially when in gear holding the brakes) and I couldn't get the car off of fast idle during a cold start to save my life. Once again I am driving the smoothest gutless wonder in town. :TU:
