TSG's Unified Fleet Thread

[thesameguy]

I'll just add that to the list of things I don't possibly have the bandwidth to tackle.

It has been almost 20 years since a car has beaten me. I don't want to let a 47 year old dinosaur add to that list. It shouldn't be this hard, but I just don't know what else to do. I feels line a timing issue (plug firing while the valve is open) but I don't know how better to check the timing. Somewhere there is a grizzled old mechanic who could fix this in his sleep - I just really doubt he happens to live in California.

[speedpimp]

Sounds about as bad as the shop that my dad took his '03 Taurus to to have the sway bar end links replaced and to have an under hood squeal(either tensioner or belt, probably both) looked at. The "mechanic" popped the hood, totally ignored the belt/tensioner and said the motor needed to be rebuilt and that he'd do it for $1500. My dad said he turned around and ran away as fast as he could.

[CudaMan]

Justin, is there an internet forum for mechanics where they can help each other diagnose impossible problems? There's gotta be.

[thesameguy]

There might be, but the only ones I am aware of are "sponsored" by companies like Mitchell and are in one way or another pay-for. There are also sites where consumers can pay mechanics for advice, but I don't have a great deal of faith in what I might get from that.

Tomorrow I am going to go downtown to Paul Ellis & Co., which is where a friend of mine takes his '72 (IIRC) Grand Prix. Paul Ellis has been in business forever, so if there's a chance of anyone in town knowing old cars, it's them. I'll see if they want to take it on. I am seriously ready to start writing checks to make this go away. I believe either a) it's something stupid I have continually overlooked, r b) something in a total state of failure that has escape my diagnosis. I don't want to throw in the towel, but I am tired of beating my head against this.

[CudaMan]

http://autoforums.carjunky.com/ ?

[Kchrpm]

That 572 crate motor just seems like silly, complex overkill.

On the other hand, a Connect & Cruise E-Rod small block would be PERFECT

http://www.chevrolet.com/performance...ruise-lc9.html

Has everything you need, and will pass California emissions testing.

[thesameguy]

$12k! I'd go buy a GTO or early CTS-V and just move everything over for that money. $12k is. Unfortunately, way more than the Fleetwood is worth to me.

The biggest issue for an engine swap is my work area. Small motors and cars are no problem, but big V8s and 5500 lb Cadillacs are simply too big & heavy for me to feel comfortable working with... At least together.

I think I am going to have it towed downtown in the next month or so. I will be sad when I get a thousand dollar labor bill, but it's better than crying myself to sleep every night over this ongoing fail festival.

[thesameguy]

Posted this on the Cadillac forum... thought I'd share it here:

Well, this is new...

http://youtu.be/Ra5TssGpLfc

Last night I stopped playing with the distributor when the battery ran down. I charged it over night. Today, it started right up - in fact, a little too eagerly. I let it run thinking it would die, but it didn't. Then I tried to shut it off and it wouldn't. I ran to the engine bay to pull the ignition fuse thinking maybe I had somehow messed up that wiring. Well, I didn't mess up that wiring. With the key off, there is no power to the relay, fuse, coil, or Pertronix. I don't understand how pulling the fuse is different from turning the key off. WTF?

That aside, it is VERY loud in the garage, in no small part due to a 3" exhaust that dumps right before the rear axle. There is a LOT of echo as it bounces off the pavement and the garage walls. But it sounds very "blatty," like it's missing. I thought perhaps the run-on scenario is the engine literally dieseling on, but if that were true pulling the ignition fuse wouldn't do anything either. Chalk that whole thing up to more mystery.

After running for that time, all eight exhaust ports on the manifold are warm/hot, so I think it is firing on all cylinders.

Finally, I believe (but am not sure) the puffs of smoke seen in the video are the result of greasy fingerprints and such from me removing the intake manifold, valve covers, etc. It could be an exhaust leak - the #1 runner has a small crack, and I can't tell if it's all the way through or not. I had *planned* on the car firing right up and going out to buy some Sandersen headers, but it appears that dream is squashed for the moment.

Edit: Watching that video again, it's probably an exhaust leak.

I need to wait for my hearing to return. Maybe next weekend I'll mess with the carb, try to bring the idle down, and check/set the ignition timing. *Maybe*, Dog willing, I will be able to take it to the shop for tuning instead of wholesale bailing me out.

[JoshInKC]

Yeah, sounds a bit exhaust leak-y, but it's super hard to tell what sounds normal when you've got a v8 in a small garage with the hood open. Even fairly low performance small blocks can sound like the end of the world in the right circumstances like that. The exhaust noise on the video didn't sound terribly like dieseling, usually that ends up sounding kind of uneven (varying slightly in speed, etc.)
Okay, you've got some weird symptoms, time for a weird guess... Maybe there's something loose, old, or dirty in the ignition switch mechanism? I just don't know.

Edited to add: What's your timing like? Chevy small blocks will run (though a bit weirdly) with the distributor 180* out of time. I've no idea if a cadillac will do the same thing, but it might be worth looking at.

[thesameguy]

I'm told the engine will not run 180 degrees out. I was concerned about it, though, so I hooked up the leak down tester. As-is, #1 holds pressure. Out 180 degrees, there's a breeze in the exhaust.

The ignition timing could be quite a bit off - not sure how much "quite a bit" really is, but 10 degrees for certain and maybe more. The distributor is placed at best guess. As for the run-on, I have no explanation. It really does not "feel" like dieseling - the engine shows no sign of slowing down. I triple-checked the wiring - which is exactly the same as the Falcon was wired - and there is 0v at the Pertronix, coil, and the relay powering them both with the ignition switch off. My *only* thought is that it's somehow related to the noise suppressor on the coil - maybe there is a trickle of voltage backfeeding through it, enough to keep the coil & Pertronix alive. I disconnected it - don't need it anyway.

It'll have to wait til next weekend, but my plan is to enlist a helper to man the ignition switch while I quickly read a tach and back off the idle screw a little, then get a timing reading. Idle speed on the motor is ~550rpm (480 in D) - and I don't think I'm anywhere near it.

If I can get it there - fingers crossed - I am going to order some pretty Sandersen headers to replace the manifolds and take the whole thing to the shop for fine tuning and exhaust modification. I am really not interested in doing exhaust work under this car. At least I "know" the engine isn't totally frelled. I can sleep ok knowing I paid someone for improvements rather than knowing I paid someone to tell me everything is borked.