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So, as some of you may know... I bought a 1992 Olds Cutlass Supreme S from my Aunts Estate. I bought it cheap enough, I just want to make back what I put into it. I have no intentions of keeping the car, as my back cant take getting in and out of such a low car (5 blown discs). She has 103,911 actual miles on it presently. This is what it looked like when I picked it up from the driveway, where it hasnt moved in 4-5 years. (Thats my son in that next to last pic) I have since cleaned it up a lot, a full size trash can full of trash and other detritus. I replaced the battery new (35) Replaced the primary cooling fan motor new (30) I ripped out the single din kenwood 4x15w radio. It sounded like ass, and looked worse. I dropped in my radio from storage that I thought someone would have bought, but no one did LOL. So it now has a Pioneer Premier DEH-66DH 1.5 din 4x45w on stock speakers, and sounds so much better. My plan was to put in one of the Pontiac 5 band tape decks I have, but one read LOC on the screen, and I dont have the patience to get it unlocked (suggestions?). And the other worked just fine, but the antenna plug was screwed up, and would not receive any radio stations. (free) It had a 1/4 tank of 4-5 year old ethanol gas in it. I topped it off with straight no-ethanol gas. Engine idle smoothed out a lot, and she runs great. Took the front tires/rims off, and dropped them off at my local tire dealer to get some new tires (81) I sure do miss the sound a of 3.1 like I had in my old TGP and 6000. It still has a R12 AC system that is dead. So I need to get it converted over to R134a, will make a sale a lot easier. ($?) Plans at the moment are to get the tires put back on when they get in. Tire dealer didnt carry any tires of this size, and they are barely made any more. Already has new brake pads, brake calipers, front wheel bearings.I have not taken the back apart to see what it looks like. The parking brake is frozen. Not sure what I am going to be able to do there. So far I am not into it for as much as I was planning. I was planning on a dead car realisticly. Good for only junk. But after a lot of cranking, she fired. Dead and fried battery on jumper cables did not help. And then as soon as I would touch the brake pedal, or headlights, it would just shut off and die. Made it a pain since I had to have the car out by a certain time because of the Denver Curfew since DA rioters and protesters cant do it peacefully. Clear coat on the paint is almost non-existent and splotchy, with some 50 Denver Broncos stickers on it. Interior is near perfect. No tears in the seats, hardly any fading (surprisingly), power seat works great, digital dash works perfectly, ashtray has never been used, dashpad is near perfect (nearly because my cousin used thumbtacks to hold on a dash pad cover), Steering wheel is also near perfect (has had a broncos steering wheel cover on it for 25 years), power windows work perfect, spare tire and jack are present and never used. It had factory wheel locks, but those have all been removed, and replaced with standard wheel lugs. So its sitting in my garage, up on jack stands until the tires get in. I got to find out if any R12 is still in the system, and figure out what to do about that, and get it converted. Once thats done, I think she is going back on the market. With the miles and mechanical condition, I think I should be able to get 12-1500. The Cutlass is certainly taking more work than the Corsica I also bought. It just needs the Heater Core replaced, rear brakes adjusted (done), new battery (done), and a clean out (done) and vacuum. If it wasnt for my back, I would seriously consider keeping this one. The early 3100 Chevy Corsicas apparently were nearly indestructible, with many reports of them going to well over 300k with little to no work. It rides smooth as better, great power, and shifts well. Replacing that heater core is going to be a bitch thou.

Wow. Thats a lucky find

BEST way to clean-out a gas tank is to haul it to a radiator shop, and let them "boil it out" in their radiator-cleaning tank. DO NOT blort a bunch of RTV under the flange of the oil pump drive. RTV that doesn't get squeezed between two clamped parts does nothing for sealing. Get a distributor gasket, cut a split in it, coat the gasket with sealer, (Permatex "hardening" sealer works for me) work the gasket into place. This will likely reduce the leak by 90+ percent, the only leakage would be at the split in the gasket. Even with the split, you might get lucky and have zero leakage. If you take the entire drive plug out, install a new O-ring...and the gasket for added protection. This thing exists because otherwise there'd be nothing to drive the oil pump; or it wouldn't be removable. this is all that remains of the distributor that the engine family was designed to have. Once the engine went to distributorless ignition, only the oil pump drive was needed. The only reason this thing is a pain in the ass is because you have to take the head off to remove it. If you could pull it out easily, a new O-ring every ten years would be no big deal.

Just to close this out.. all 4 corners are now on jack stands. I have the car just high enough the wheels barely touch the ground. This is enough I can get the tires off to work on the brakes, especially the rear ones, which was the goal for now. To do this, I had to move quite a few things around the car. I was able to give myself enough room to crawl my fat self between the car and the workbench behind it up to my shoulders, and from there I could see well enough to get the jack on the jacking point.

Still in work, I had some other stuff come up the distracted me and some money making projects , and now I'm back on , Started tearing the engine down to the short block, inside the supercharger is in good shape, got it cleaned up , rotors looked good and the case didnt look like anyone has been feeding the supercharger any gravel ..lol coupler wasnt busted, but the holes had some slop . I'll post up some pics tomorrow .

Yeah, it’s high time I got a torque wrench. I usually just use the torque-by-feel approach, and if I’m doing something that would be stupid to do without a torque wrench like assembling an engine, I’ll rent one. I’ll check my work with those torque specs, and replacing the other old bolt might not be such a bad idea either.

I know this has been discussed multiple times, but my google search skills are failing, not to mention the posts I do find are quite outdated (pictures missing). I've read there are two common oil leak areas. One being the distributor plug o ring, the other being the rectangle block next to it. I don't know what that thing is called, nor do I know what to get to fix it. Is this accurate? How do I do some preventive maintenance on it to prevent that rectangle block from leaking? Picture for reference.

I like the 50 extra horses. It's worth the effort.

Dorman 13899 are front caliper bracket bolts and are supposed to be torked to 148 foot pounds. The front caliper slide bolts Delco #18K114 are supposed to be torked to 80 foot pounds. I had the driver side bracket bolts come loose the first time I replaced my front pads because I only torked them to 100 foot pounds.

None of what you just said makes any sense. These LQ1's I've been told are complete pieces of junk! No way you car has been that reliable, LOL!

I check my t belt a few times a season, I think it was replaced at some point before I got the car. I’ve had it almost 10 years now and haven’t done it but it still looks great. Replaced the alternator when I got it (partially why I got the car cheap), and once that was done and it was running figured out the LIM gaskets needed doing. That was all in 2011 and other than a few minor things mines been super reliable. Typing this sitting in it before heading in to work.

Agreed 100%. It just goes to show, when you buy one of these cars, really beware if the original intake manifold gaskets have not been replaced. They are going to fail someday and that cost has to be factored into what the given car is worth, 3.1 or 3.4. With the 3.4, the big 3 factors are: Intake Manifold Gaskets, Timing Belt, Alternator. If these have been replaced, proceed. If not, proceed with caution, big repair bills await you. I'm on my 5th Alternator with my 3.4, with both Intake Manifold Gaskets just being freshly replaced. My Timing Belt was replaced in 1996. It's hanging in there (the mechanic advises it's in great shape) but I inspect it 2x a month. I need to get that done someday fairly soon.

Wow. What a job! Thanks for the photos and instructions.

I have had in the past these leaks since day one with my 1994 LQ 1. I lost a quart of oil every 1000 miles. That gets expensive when you are running Mobil one. . Earlier this year when I had both intake manifold gaskets replaced the mechanic replaced every exposed gasket possible while they were at it. They must have done something right, my disappearing oil problem is no more, it hasn't gone down a bit and that was 1500 miles ago.

My bad....I was referring to an air drill, air tools are the *go-to* in my tool box.

AC retrofit on both the Corsica and Cutlass worked like a charm. Compressor on the Corsica is a bit noisy. May vac it back down, and put in some fresh oil. Think the Corsica may need a new fuel filter. Its very hard to start after sitting overnight. Replaced a vacuum line, so now the transmission drives like it should, cruise control now works, and the vents operate like they should. Quite a peppy little car. New tires installed. Road vibration is gone, but as typical with high dollar Michelins, road noise is very present now. Heater core is installed, and the engineer that designed that needs to be shot! Drives fairly well except the hard starting, and slight chug it has when cold. Not bad for a 27 year old car. 83k miles, thats 3100 miles a year since new. Cutlass now only needs a Windshield to be complete. Rotors, pads, wheel bearings, calipers, struts, all new. That 3.1 NA is very eager to get it down the road, getting up to speed or beyond without even realizing it. She runs great for a 29 year old car. 104k miles, thats 3600 miles a year since new.

I'm surprised that you could actually find any of those in NOS pieces.

I lucked out and ordered new front door switch bezels for the STE. I also found some NOS diffusers for the power mirror switch.

I agree with digitaloutsider. We need to see pictures. If you were in PA asking about rust...I'd likely tell you to scrap the car. My hope (and assumption) is it's only surface rust with minimal penetration into the structure.

Nice little addition, nuisance when one continually sees *hood ajar*, *hood ajar*, *hood ajar*. Personally I can see if the hood isn't latched from the driver's seat.

Hey, bud! Yeah, rad shops will “rod” them out for you, but you can try putting some CLR/Zep in them to get rid of the rust. Mine sat for 15 years so that wasn’t an option for me. I can’t remember if the pump baffling on these is metal, but if it’s plastic, it may succumb to the highly acidic stuff you soak the tank with. If the tank was all metal on the inside, I’d feel perfectly fine trying that. You just have to be patient with it.

Coolant level sensors are usually on the radiator on the side not far from the fill neck. Has a funny sort of clip that attaches to the radiator instead of bolts or screws. Both my Supremes have a similar sensor in your pic around that same location and I was thinking it was for the airbag for some reason. Neither have a DIC, and are both female, so would that sensor still be on a non DIC car? No "Hood Ajar" lights on the instrument cluster either.

The oil pump drive doesn't seem to be leaking. LEAVE IT THE FUCK ALONE until it leaks. Without pulling the head, and removing the pump drive for a new O-ring, you're more likely to make this worse than better. If the oil distribution cover isn't leaking, I'd leave that alone, too. At least that one can be removed, cleaned, and the gasket properly replaced as-is. The oil pump drive can only be half-assed without removing the head.

That looks like the *Hood Ajar* sensor, the STE's have a sensor that displays on the DIC screen when the hood is open. You found that on the forward side of the rad header?

I would imagine there is some delay for the oil level sensor (to accommodate situations where the car might be parked on incline or something). I don't know this for sure, but it makes sense to me. As for the coolant level sensor, it's on the side of the radiator and they are notoriously flaky. I've had them unplugged on every W car.

Mine is fairly rust free but there are a few spots that have shown some issue. To take care of rust what I do is I scrape away as much of it as I can with a wire brush and then seal it over. Pretty standard procedure, I've only used Rustoleum but I imagine there is something that's much more durable to use on the underside of the car. Check under the battery, that was the spot with the most rust on my car but since it was a southern car most of its life its pretty good otherwise.

As a owner of 3 W-bodies, I will at some point have to do this to all of them. Thanks for the video!

Unless you remove the head, the drive plug comes up about a quarter-inch, more-or-less. The existing O-ring is junk. It'll be hard as a rock, brittle, and not sealing any more. But you can't get it out, and you can't put a new one in there. All you have left to do is to cut and wrap a gasket coated in sealer under the flange, Clamp it back down, and hope for the best. AFTER you get the head removed, the drive plug comes all the way out, and at that point you can break the old O-ring, stretch a new one back in, and theoretically that's all you need. The new O-ring is (supposedly) improved. When it was me, I put a new, uncut gasket in there for a "second" seal. https://www.amazon.com/Permatex-80007-Hardening-Gasket-Sealant/dp/B002YLVLY2/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=Permatex+%231&qid=1591581753&sr=8-2

P. sure that switch panel is broken. If I'm remembering right, it's supposed to have a little inset part of the screw hole where the head of the screw fits down into. Over the years people usually just put small washers on there, but it's not perfect if that's what you're going for. Unless I'm completely 100% misremembering it.

Diffuser, that’s the word I was looking for

I just figured it out! I overlooked it but it's some sort of diffuser. Some guys on FB helped me out. Since it was laying on top of the door switch harness, I wasn't sure where it was suppose to go. The tabs on the pwr mirror switch are broken, that's why it was just flopping around. Thank God it didn't fall down into the door as I would have never known about it. Now I have to find a new switch and possibly a new diffuser. Yay!

Looks like the little light distribution thingy for the keyhole ring.

Its part of the oil pump, Schurkey has a nice pic of the drive shaft completely removed but would yell at me for posting it again. That shaft rotates a hex connection rod that spins the oil pump on the bottom of the engine. I dont know why the engine designers left a weak point for that drive shaft to leak on the top of the engine, it doesnt make sense to me why it would be there.

Honestly surprised you dont know as much as your into these cars. Thats the infamous oil pump drive shaft that in order to change the oring seal on the LQ1 requires the head to be pulled to remove. It loves to leak oil. If its leaking you might be able to lift it slightly and pick the old seal out. Then as you rotate the shaft squeeze some RTV under the lip all the way around. Looks like that was done before at some point. IIRC one member ground the head down to get the shaft out without removing the head.

Well, there is an o-ring that goes from the plenum to intake under the TB. There is also an O ring that goes on the shaft on the distributor plug. I'm not exactly sure which one you are holding in the picture. Replacing the O ring on the distributor plug shaft (where the oil leaks), the proper way, requires head removal. Some people have had luck replacing the O ring by cutting the old one off, and fitting it over the distributor plug, I did not have luck doing that. I left the O ring in place, got a distributor seal (they are all the same size from era of GM vehicles), put RTV on both sides and put it under the distributor plug. That has worked so far, though it has only been a few months. Other people have had luck doing that too. Yes, the big, rectangle, aluminum cover is the oil distribution cover. I purchased a Fel-pro set off of RA (MS95822) and it came with the oil distribution cover gasket (even though it isn't included in the picture). They were under 5 bucks, so I bought two of them.

There are two common oil leaks in that general area, one is the distributor plug seal/gasket (what you are looking at) and the other is the oil distribution cover. The rectangle to the passenger side of the oil distributor plug. It is the rectangle cover that has that "Z" shaped part on the top. You can see the cover in the top picture, lower left. The oil distribution cover gasket can be ordered from one of the GM part places, but it also comes in a set that I got off of RockAuto closeout stuff. Much cheaper the RA way.

I've been talking to NCTyphoonKid and I think I'm just going to flush it with clean fresh gas. The tank is beautiful inside as I don't see any rust thru the pump opening. Hey, since your available here right now, I've been looking thru some threads. Do you know what this is? It has silicone around it and was wondering if I need to do any preventative maintenance on it. I don't want oil leaks. I'm replacing the intake gaskets right now.

I might have to do this to but not on a W body. Would a about a gallon of seafoam sloshed around in there take care of everything? Looks like its been seal from the pump but is there alot of rust in it?

I just wanted to second this. Earlier in this thread I said my keyless entry module was acting erratically in programming mode. I resoldered all the solder joints on both boards in the module and now it works great, both in my vehicle and on my test bench. The only annoying part is the conformal coating. It makes the iron want to slip off the solder joints. But you can still resolder through it without going through the trouble of trying to remove the coating. Just have to be careful as you're holding the iron. If the module is acting up I would definitely recommend trying this. Add a little bit of new fresh solder to each joint as you do it.

Pulled the power lock fuse out, and all the interior light went out, put the fuse back in, and the locks started working.. WTF? Went and ground the wire in the trunk, and nothing... Well I guess I wont be fixing that.. But I do have power locks!

The solder points on the box aren't small or intricate or anything, you could definitely do it yourself with a low cost iron. Good learning project.

Tires on, rear brakes are new and operational, including parking brake. Just need to do the windshield and AC now, and she is done! Took the Corsica out to get some gas last night, need to dilute down the 5 year old ethanol gas thats in it, to make it reliably driveable. My grandfather had a locking gas cap on it, no idea why (it was always garage kept), and since it had not been operated in 5 years, it was a bit frozen! Need to order the heater core, and get it to work to recharge the AC. Tires come next week. Found an incredible deal on some Michelin Defender T+H, new, for 35 a piece. Normally they are 116 a piece. Love my Michelins...

OK, if you can get a hold of one what I am going to suggest is nothing more than a poor man's scope. One needs a pair of chocks in front of the drive wheels, the park brake applied & a 2nd party in the car with their foot on the brake. with the timing light connected individually ( 1 at a time) across the high tension wires the individual in the car applies throttle with the trans in gear, (you're essentially doing a converter torque brake), raise the throttle to approx 1800rpm or as high as safely possible & hold it there, now you under the hood carefully watch the timing light flashes. Look for interruptions in one or all cylinders. The light doesn't have to shine down on the crank dampener, aim it anything dark. If any interruptions are related to a particular cylinder now you have a place to begin troubleshooting.

Oh yea, absolutely rust free. Colorado doesnt use salt, they use sand. Bad for paint, good for frames. I know my aunt lived in colorado for the last 5 years she owned it, and my cousin the 15 years before that was also a colorado resident. Its the 8 years before that are unknown. My grandfather bought it for my cousin back in 2000 from a neighbor of his, so I have to assume it was a colorado car for that time as well. On the upside, got the title today, and the Corsica is a 94 and not a 93. Not sure if that helps the value any thou.

looks great. My brother had the whole set with the MC and the 5th wheel. 5th wheel: https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/brickyard-400-official-pace-car-1801470275 Suburban: https://www.ebay.com/itm/1994-CHEVY-SUBURBAN-BRICKYARD-400-DIECAST-PROMO-MODEL-BROOKFIELD-MODELS-/333437515780

Thanks. Found the part number searching the forum, and ordered one online. Hopefully be here next week, and have the rest of the stuff coming, should have it back together next weekend.

Got another piece of Z34 memorabilia. Much more important than fixing the blown head gasket on the actual Z34 so that people won't think the car is on fire.

OK, thanks. I figured that out shortly after I made this post. Nice looking GP! I used to have a Pontiac 6000STE and loved that car. What kind of coolant do you recommend for the LQ1?

Not being able to see what you're referring to .. the only O-ring that would be included in the kit would be the coolant bypass O ring that is between the plenum & the intake... it is to the rear of the coolant thermostat housing, right under the throttle body

Doing a *complete* flush of the entire cooling system shouldn't be necessary to solve your problem there. To properly *bleed* the system........you don't need to park on an incline, fill the system thru the rap cap to approx 2" below the filler neck, with the cap off let the engine run until the engine comes up to near running temp (as the temp comes up the fluid & air will expand), as the thermostat opens there should be a drop in the fluid level at the cap, when you see the fluid level drop refill to the top of the filler neck (the engine is still running). Now close the cap to seal the system, let the pressure build up and then open both of the bleeders just enough to get a forceful shot of air/fluid flowing from them (it will be white/foamy). When the flow begins to subside close the bleeders and let the pressure build up again, repeat the procedure with the bleeders....eventually you will see less foam & more coolant/anitfreeze, repeat this until you see no foam or tiny air bubbles when you open the bleeders. Shut off the engine, carefully open the rad cap (rag over your hand) to check the fluid level & top up again, close the cap, repeat the bleed process, when you get no air from the bleeders fill the overflow tank & you're done. This process can take as long as an hour so be patient.