Just Bought A 1995 W-Body. Any Tips/Advice?

[kcac]

I just bought a 1995 Cutlass convertible with 63,000 on it. It has the 3.4 litre engine in it.

 

Would you 1995 W-body owners share any general maintenance advice you may have? Also, I'd appreciate it if you could tip me off to stuff that has a tendency to break with these models, problem areas or quirks with these cars that I shoud keep an eye on.

 

Thanks in advance for any help you can send my way.

[Intimidatorz34]

with that amount of mileage i would check the timing belt by removing the plastic belt cover on the front cam sprockets using an 8 mm drive i think. Check for any cracks or shredding.

 

There are other problems later on with oil leakage upwards of 100k miles. If you ever get concerned about that just run a search on here for "o ring leak".

 

BTW, got any pics of the cutty?

[zachismisit]

well, ive also got a 95 cutlass but its the 3.1, I'd say watch out for A/C compressor now and heater core in 20,000 miles lol. Also fluid levels and fluid sensor.

[Dannymik]

I would like to add the famous alternator on the 3.4...they go at all different mileage points, but are very costly$$$ . This is common for all vehicles not just yours.

[Dannymik]

oh yeah welcome and how much did you pay?

[rudefyet]

lol...i like the last pic on the alternator guide...alternators on a 3.1 can even be a pain at times...unless you tilt the engine...not as bad as a 3.4 by far...but yeah the guy that had my car before put it on wrong causing it to screw up the water pump...but anyways i wanna see some pics i love the newer cuttys especially the 2 doors and verts

[rudefyet]

it's not bad...just one of the bolts was stuck...and i didn't quite have a wrench that would fit in the area i needed it to

[Redfox340]

Thanks in advance for any help you can send my way.

 

Welcome aboard! Awesome rag-top you've picked up; enjoy it!

As everyone has commented above, there are the some general things to look for on the 3.4L DOHC.

Secondary Timing Belt / Alternator / Oil pump O-ring Leak / Intake Manifold Gasket Leak

All major details can be found on this forum or W-Body Performance.

Make sure to do a complete tune-up with flushing out all fluids and changing other misc parts.

 

- Erik

[kcac]

Thanks for the responses. I haven't done much with the car except stick it in the garage, been too busy to do much with it. Price was $7500 for those of you keeping score. I don't think it was a steal for me at that price, interesting sites for learning what cars go for pricing-wise http://www.theautochannel.com/F/search/prices.html and for wholesale auction prices http://www.keystone-auction.com/.

 

Bought this one because it was a triple black convertible that I had been looking for, and because was somewhat local to me so I could actually go and see it. It has a less than year-old top, which I figured was worth a few bucks. Would have preferred to purchase from a private owner, but this one was a dealer trade in. It's pretty clean, has a crack in the leather on one of the seats, everything else looks real nice for a 9 year-old car.

 

I figure once I get started actually using it I'll find all the fun stuff that's wrong with it. Never bought a used car that didn't turn out to need some work right out of the gate. Have replaced alternaters on the 3.1 ('90 Chevy Beretta), so I guess I could survive the 3.4

[phantomFE3]

BIiIG difference between the 3.1 and the 3.4, on the 3.4 the alternator is actually under the motor i think....

 

 

triple black? those are schnazzy

 

welcome aboard

[SigEpCutlass]

yea most of us would die for a triple black cvt! I'm trying to buy the one that's on there now if my parents will help me with the cost difference after I sell my cutty. But welcome aboard! There's nothing I can stress more than to make sure the belts on the 3.4 are in perfect order at higher mileage. It's very important or you could end up SOL somewhere.

[jpv123]

Welcome, I replaced my alternator a few months ago an now as we speak I'm having the oil pump drive o-ring leak fixed. In the spring I'm planning on a new roof. I was gonna look for a lower mile car (mine has 97,000 on it) but i think these repairs have to do with the age of the vehicle not so much the miles. So I decided to keep mine another couple of years. These are the only late model 5 passenger convertibles around, so it's fun for the whole family (I have 3 kids). Its all worth for the next warm and sunny day.

[kcac]

Well, if the alternator is under the engine, then yeah, that's quite a bit different than the 3.1. At least GM was consistent. Looks like the battery is buried under some kind of brace and the windshield washer fluid reservoir.

 

By the way - does anyone know if that is a real roll bar on the convertibles, or is it some kind of body design treatment that's just for looks?

[phantomFE3]

we were discussing that a few days ago, i think it came to the conclusion that it was an anti roll bar, meant to stiffen the car up but it was not a ROLL bar (to make the car safer in a rollover)

[jpv123]

They needed to do something for the door handles and to stiffen it up. I don't think it will survive a roll over. I hope I never find out.

[kcac]

jpv123

 

I bought the Cutlass because I've got a couple of kids too, and liked the size of the car. Well actually the truth is I bught the Cutlass because I saw a Cutlass convertible with its top down in a parking lot last summer and thought it was absolutely one of the sharpest cars I'd seen. I don't know how I hadn't noticed them before - maybe because I live in the Midwest and most of them are in warmer climates?

 

Anyway, I bought the Cutlass even though I read that the engine could be expensive to maintain. Sounds as though you got hit with the two common problems, alternator and o-ring. That was the reason for my post, just to learn what I had gotten myself into.

[joey b]

if you can work a wrench decently well you should be ok. If you can do tierods and driveaxles and have a basic knowhow about cars then you should be ok.

[Dannymik]

jpv123

 

I bought the Cutlass because I've got a couple of kids too, and liked the size of the car. Well actually the truth is I bught the Cutlass because I saw a Cutlass convertible with its top down in a parking lot last summer and thought it was absolutely one of the sharpest cars I'd seen. I don't know how I hadn't noticed them before - maybe because I live in the Midwest and most of them are in warmer climates?

 

Anyway, I bought the Cutlass even though I read that the engine could be expensive to maintain. Sounds as though you got hit with the two common problems, alternator and o-ring. That was the reason for my post, just to learn what I had gotten myself into.

 

I had my eye on a triple black vert before I bought my 2 door coupe, but turned the other way due to the problems of the 3.4! At that time the only thing I could do mechanically is change oil and swap out tires. I figured that the higher maintenance of the 3.4 would ruin my love for the Cutlass Supreme which was the "only" cars I was looking at when I went car shopping!

[jpv123]

I can do brakes and minor stuff. When the alternator went I was stuck and had to tow it and I needed ASAP so my mehcanic did it. It was around $600 for the new A/C Delco alt and the tow. If you need to do it don't put an aftermarket one in. The o-ring thing annoys me because its not really designed well for access. But now that there done I shound not have to woirry about them for a while.

[kcac]

What does the O-ring job average? I read the directions for the alternator replacement, looks like a pain but I should be able to handle it. My 3.1 chevy needed an alternator or two. A GM weakness maybe?

[topless94style]

The oring job can go up to $1000 to bring it in to be done. Have to take off the rear head to replace a tiny oring. i have called a few different places and they range from 9-11hrs to do the job.

[joey b]

the big problem with the o-ring is that when you remove the head you will have to redo the timing. Just go ghetto fab. Cut the lobe off of the head and pull it up just enought to slip a new O-ring on that puppy.

[digitaloutsider]

Shit.. My GP eats alternators. I'm on my 4th.

[GnatGoSplat]

Since you have a 95, your alternator should last a little longer than that of an 88-93. GM redesigned the alternators in 94 to be more reliable.

 

You can ghetto-fix the O-ring pretty easily and cheaply, but I would wait till you find some other reason to remove the upper intake plenum. I lifted the oil pump drive as high as it would go, took a 1/16" thickness O-ring and slipped it over the head of the oil pump drive. Then I squeezed a little RTV under the head of it for extra sealing and reinstalled the clamp lightly. I let it cure 24hrs then tightened the clamp.

 

1yr later, still not leaking! Great ghetto fix.

 

Anyway, I had to fix the following on my 3.4 94 triple black convertible soon after buying it:

- Oil pump drive O-ring, ghetto fixed.

- Thermostat stuck open, had to replace.

- Intake manifold leak, had to replace gaskets.

- Power Steering pressure line leaked badly, had to replace.

- Auxilliary oil cooler lines leaked badly, had to replace.

 

Also some regular routine stuff:

- All 4 brake pads.

 

Since then, the car has been cherry! It's strange, practically all those problems happened at once (within 1000-miles of buying the car). It was no big deal though, because I'd read about and anticipated most of those problems before buying the car. After fixing everything, the car has been problem-free over a year. Total cost of repairs was less than $100.

[ThunderBat]

It seems to me that with the alt being on the bottom of the engine it would expose it to a lot of weather condtions and general road junk. that cant be good for any piece of electrical equipment. I never looked at one first hand...does it have some kind of splash shield down there to help protect it?