architect Posted September 10 Report Share Posted September 10 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 primergray, pwmin, 94 olds vert and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White93z34 Posted September 10 Report Share Posted September 10 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. primergray and architect 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White93z34 Posted September 10 Report Share Posted September 10 Also it will forever be baffling to me as to why some of those Buicks had the support bars omitted like that one has. 94 olds vert 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black92GS Posted September 11 Report Share Posted September 11 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black92GS Posted September 11 Report Share Posted September 11 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. primergray 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
55trucker Posted September 11 Report Share Posted September 11 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). primergray 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pontiac6KSTEAWD Posted September 11 Report Share Posted September 11 (edited) 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 by Pontiac6KSTEAWD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
55trucker Posted September 12 Report Share Posted September 12 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? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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