Cadillac questions-88 brougham

[bigl83]

i was referred here by someone on another forum im on and he said there is someone who knows caddys very well.
I just got an 88 fleetwood brougham today for a deal i could not pass up, the car has 97000kms and was never winter driven and the maintenance records I have are very extensive.
There are a couple small thing i need to fix up on it and am not too sure how to go about it.

1- the power closing trunk motor crapped out and will not lower the decklid flush, so i have a 1-2 inch gap around the decklid. Is there a way to manually lower the motor for the time being so the car looks a bit better??
I will be replacing the motor come spring.

2- the taillight housing on one side is further away from the body as the other, how do i go about adjusting them?

thanks in advance for any help i get.

[mdxtasy]

That'd be the big man....barrie1.

[articsteve]

Is there a way to manually lower the motor for the time being so the car looks a bit better??

Take off the cover and loosen up the motor housing and slide it down and re-tighten at the point were it clicks and is flush.  Avoid placing to far down where a fair amount of force is needed.  They are meant to be adjusted.  They all fail sooner or later.  They are hard to find used.

If that fails then you might need to open it up and physically wind it either down or up depending on what direction you need if you follow me.  It's a gear drive.

[barrie1]

I agree with what Steve is saying as I have a 1988 Bougham as well with the 5 ltre engine which is the 307 Oldsmobile engine. These are a extremely well built engine with a roller cam and rocker setup and a Vet style windage tray as well. They are not a powerhouse but are very dependable. Need any parts as I have mine For Sale as I have 3 Caddies at the moment and other makes as well. Too may vehicles for my 120' driveway to hold so I never bring them all home at once. 

[wing]

Barrie do you know this though?
2- the taillight housing on one side is further away from the body as the other, how do i go about adjusting them?

[articsteve]

Barrie do you know this though?
2- the taillight housing on one side is further away from the body as the other, how do i go about adjusting them?

When I read that I thought to myself that should not be.  There is no way that car was made with non symmetrical rear lights.  I am 99.9% sure that this car is a victim of a rear ender with a very poor body job.

I got slammed in the rear in a 89 Town Car about 3 weeks after no fault came in so I wasn't eligible to sue (no leverage).  A week after I get the car back, wife comes in and say auto trunk broken; can't close trunk.  I had a mega fight with the Pilot Insurance company on that one.  Part was $585.00 BACK THEN !!!.  They finally agreed to repair it and then it broke again and then I really inspected the job and found the whole thing out of wack.  The central point being that the trunk lid had too much pressure on it and I was SOL.  I adjusted it down and it became a non power trunk for the rest of it's life. 

I suspect something similar with this car.

[articsteve]

I agree with what Steve is saying as I have a 1988 Bougham as well with the 5 ltre engine which is the 307 Oldsmobile engine. These are a extremely well built engine with a roller cam and rocker setup and a Vet style windage tray as well. They are not a powerhouse but are very dependable. Need any parts as I have mine For Sale as I have 3 Caddies at the moment and other makes as well. Too may vehicles for my 120' driveway to hold so I never bring them all home at once. 

307 Oldsmobile engine. These are a extremely well built engine

Little GM trivia for ya Barrie;

I ordered a new 87 Chev Caprice Classic with this particular performance package that contain better suspension, limited slip, bigger rad, alternator, etc.  When I picked the car up the service manager rushed out excited and told me that the car had a 307 Olds 4 barrel in it.  I was expecting the 305      Manager could not stop telling me how fortunate I was.  Thinks it was because of the performance package.  He was right.  It was a fantastic motor.

[barrie1]

The rear end has obviously been hit as the taillights should be the same distance apart on this car. Probably why the trunk closer won't work correctly as well is true also. Look in the wreckers at some of the larger model Buicks and Oldsmobiles as they also had this option on some of them. The 307 Olds engine was a strong runner for sure as its a very heavy build for the usage of it pulling a 5600lb car. Does this car have the locking gas cover as well which is a lever inside the trunk you flip to seal it off from thieves. Dosen't allow the licence plate to be opened forward from the outside to put gas in unless you open the trunk and throw it into the off position. Gas milage on the hyw should be really decent on this car as you could hit 30 to 35 MPG at around 68-70 MPH on cruise with this engine.  Regular Fuel is all you need with it as well. 

[bigl83]

i fixed the trunk for now until i can go junkyard diving in the spring by taking the whole motor apart and lowering the latch by hand.
also the taillights i will fix when i start the bodywork on the car this spring, it was hit but that seems to be the only ill effect.

also what should i be doing to this particular motor to tey and make it pass etest??

[barrie1]

Make sure the electronic carb on it is working correct as they can be a real bugbear on these engines. Also that the PCV is clean and working correctly as well as any of the other pollution systems parts also. The plugs wires and other parts of the ign are up to date and you should be all set to go. This car is capable of giving you some excellent gas milage at around 68 to 72 MPH on the highway. Mine gives me about 35 MPGal on a roadtrip with regular fuel. 

[articsteve]

also what should i be doing to this particular motor to tey and make it pass etest??

Burn up all your gas and put in some sunoco 94.  Then dump in the proper ratio of methyl alcohol.  Maybe 5% of total volume.  After test fill up with non ethanol gas.

[barrie1]

Personally I wouldn't use the methol Hydrate in this engine as it can damage some of the seals in some engines. Canadian Tire for example sells a product that says gauranteed to pass if used correctly in most engines. I suspect its a form of power booster and is made for engines and their respective seals and gaskets. The 94 fuel is more then this car needs as it only calls for reg fuel on this engine. Just make sure the engine is warmed up to the proper running temps when you take it in for the e-test on it as that alone will make a big difference as well. I would make sure the ign is up to date and fresh and you have good fuel in the tank. This car can be easily checked by the computor on board as it will tell you almost anything you want to know about this engine and other systems on this car as well. 

[articsteve]

Sunoco 94 is 10% ethanol and a 1988 GM 350 or whatever the motor is will run forever on 10% or even 15%.  I am only saying to boost the level of total alcohol to 15% for the day of the test.  Indeed, run the sucker hard for 20 minutes and then insist on an immediate test.  Of course do a tune up first.

[barrie1]

Steve the majority of this model actually came with the 307 as the 350 used a lot more fuel. It will say on the back of the car if its a 5.0litre or a 5.7 as they are marked in a chrome symbol. I agree the Sunnoco 94 is a great fuel as it is for sure,worlds best its been rated by many different articles but these cars don't really need it at all.