Sitting 1995 Regal GS

[architect]

I posted this on Reddit and was told to come over here

Someone is giving me their 1995 Regal GS that's been sitting for a few years after her husband passed. She's older so hard to know if her memory of timing is right. The battery is dead and the tires look deflated. It's only got ~100,000 miles on it.

I'm planning on getting it towed straight to the mechanic, but also wondering if I can just replace the battery, put some air in the tire, and drive it home first or would that just cause more problems?

I don't have indoor marking so the car will have to stay outside and endure the winter

Edited May 21 by architect

[White93z34]

Welcome to the site! 

Depending on how long its been sitting you could air up the tires, put a new battery in it and see what happens when you hit the key.

I'd check to make sure the fluids are at least present before you do that though. Once its up and running fresh fluids all around and a through inspection would be a good idea. You could check the date codes on the tires to try and get an idea of when it was last on the road.

Guessing you're in Ontario by the tag and Drive Clean sticker. So If you're going to winter drive it get it oil spray undercoated every year to keep it from dissolving. If you're not familiar that really helps a car last in the salt and rust belt.

Oh one other thing, don't have too much faith in the doors in the winter. YMMMV but I found myself just not locking the doors often as I valued getting back in the dang car.

If its been sitting for an extended time I'd probably get the fuel drained if the tank has to come down a new fuel pump would probably be a smart idea as well. 

[White93z34]

Also it will forever be baffling to me as to why some of those Buicks had the support bars omitted like that one has.

[Black92GS]

The lack of cross braces is a series 1 3800 thing. I have yet to see a 1st gen Regal with a series 1 3800 have them. Regals with the 3.1 and 3100s had them, as did the 96s with the series 2 3800. No clue as to why it’s that way though. 

[Black92GS]

Also, just a bit of a warning.  If a trans fluid/filter change is in the books, it might be a good idea to insist that they use dexron /mercon fluid, instead of DexVI or something like Valvoline MaxLife. You can't get licensed Dexron III these days, so the Dex/Merc fluids that state they are for older GM and Ford vehicles are going to be the closest you can get.   

I have a 1992 Regal that is fairly low milage (currently under 72k KMs) that still had its original trans fluid in it.  It was due for a change, but otherwise everything was functioning as it should.  I did a pan drop, changed the filter, and re-filled with Valvoline MaxLife.  Got the levels set, and everything seemed great.  In short order though, I was dealing with a downshift issue into 1st.  Essentially, when the vehicle went into lockup before the trans was fully warmed up, slowing down to the point where 1st would engage resulted in the trans acing as if it were in neutral.  Even the increased line pressure in manual 1st. wasn't enough to engage it. You could shift to Neutral and back into Drive though, and it would act exactly as expected, so I simply worked around it and shifted into Neutral while slowing down, then back into Drive just before coming to a stop.  The more I dug into the issue, the more I realized that the MaxLife was likely the cause, as older transmissions don't necessarily play nice with the much lower viscosity of MaxLife. I just recently pumped out 4.5 quarts of trans fluid and replaced it with Dex/Merc, and on the first test drive the issue was nearly eliminated. My plan now is to drive it a little bit more, then pump it out and refill again to get as much out as possible.  I will be sticking with Dex/Merc from now on for this one. 

 

[55trucker]

Personally I'd rather look for as many needed bottles of AC DELCO ATF Type III (H) which one can still purchase today, it IS GM's designated fluid for all older transmissions that used Dexron II or Dexron III (H).

 

[Pontiac6KSTEAWD]

If you dont want it... Let me know! Depending on where you live anyways...  That would make a perfect car for a family I am trying to help out.

 

Edit: Nevermind... Ontario would be entirely to far, and the import fees would kill me! That undercarriage is CLEAN for a Canadian car!

 

Still a sweet looking GS

Edited September 11, 2024 by Pontiac6KSTEAWD

[55trucker]

On 9/10/2024 at 8:45 AM, architect said:

I posted this on Reddit and was told to come over here

Someone is giving me their 1995 Regal GS that's been sitting for a few years after her husband passed. She's older so hard to know if her memory of timing is right. The battery is dead and the tires look deflated. It's only got ~100,000 miles on it.

I'm planning on getting it towed straight to the mechanic, but also wondering if I can just replace the battery, put some air in the tire, and drive it home first or would that just cause more problems?

I don't have indoor marking so the car will have to stay outside and endure the winter

 

 

Just out of curiosity, are you related to the current owner in any way possible?

[architect]

The car runs great so far. I've driven it back to the previous family to show off that it's still running, which they hare happy to see.

One issue is that the tail brake lights do not work, but the third small light on the windshield does. I read some other similar issues, and it sounds like the "multi function switch". I think other places have called it a "combo switch". If I pull the signal switch back slightly, but not all the way to engage highbeam, then the brake lights will work.

Does anyone have the particular part model or "proper" name for this part? I'm also seeing that it's call "turn signal" switch. I'm not very car-inclined. I'm assuming is discontinued and hoping there's an aftermarket solution. 

 

Edited 7 hours ago by architect

[architect]

Oh, when the car first starts up I can't click on the shifter to get it out of park into gear. I have to wait a few seconds first, which is not a big deal, but hopefully that's not a sign of a serious problem.

[Black92GS]

1 hour ago, architect said:

The car runs great so far. I've driven it back to the previous family to show off that it's still running, which they hare happy to see.

One issue is that the tail brake lights do not work, but the third small light on the windshield does. I read some other similar issues, and it sounds like the "multi function switch". I think other places have called it a "combo switch". If I pull the signal switch back slightly, but not all the way to engage highbeam, then the brake lights will work.

Does anyone have the particular part model or "proper" name for this part? I'm assuming is discontinued and hoping there's an aftermarket solution.

 

That would be the turn signal switch.  Not terribly hard to replace, but you do need to pull the airbag, the steering wheel, the clock spring and the lock plate to get to it. 

1 hour ago, architect said:

Oh, when the car first starts up I can't click on the shifter to get it out of park into gear. I have to wait a few seconds first, which is not a big deal, but hopefully that's not a sign of a serious problem.

Sounds like the Brake shift interlock is acting up.  What I can't recall is whether the turn signal switch issue that causes the left/right brake lights to not illuminate correctly also causes issues with the shift interlock not releasing like it should. I'll let someone else chime in regarding that. 

 

Edited 6 hours ago by Black92GS

[architect]

48 minutes ago, Black92GS said:

That would be the turn signal switch.  Not terribly hard to replace, but you do need to pull the airbag, the steering wheel, the clock spring and the lock plate to get to it. 

 

Thanks that's helpful as I was wondering why I couldn't find many hits for "multi function" switch.

The key fob also doesn't work despite fresh coin batteries. What could I be looking at?

Took my elderly father for a ride and he is happy to see a car like this still going!

[Black92GS]

Just now, architect said:

Thanks that's helpful as I was wondering why I couldn't find many hits for "multi function" switch.

The key fob also doesn't work despite fresh coin batteries. What could I be looking at?

Took my elderly father for a ride and he is happy to see a car like this still going!

No problem.  Pay attention when ordering a replacement though, as there seems to be different part numbers based on whether the car has column or console shift, and whether it has steering wheel controls.    

The key fob not working is highly likely to be bad solder joints in the keyless entry module.  There is a write up on here about repairing them.  Extremely common issue!