New Delta 88 Owner

[Monza900]

I'm a Chevy guy, but I bought my first Olds this summer because it was too good to pass up. It's a 1980 Delta 88 coupe with only 45,000 miles on it. It's Dove Gray with a blue interior. It's pretty basic, with AM only radio and roll-up windows. It runs great and is very comfortable. What should I watch out for with this car? Did this year have any strange quirks? The car has a 307 V-8 and a turbo-hydra-matic. Thanks in advance for your knowledge.

[Oldsguy]

Welcome to our site, it sound's like you have found a nice car. Double check all your electrical stuff. Are there any fuses blown? If so, find out why because there is a reason. Lots of GM cars had electrical problems in the 80's and our Oldsmobiles aren't immune.

[J-(Chicago)]

Originally Posted by Monza900

I'm a Chevy guy, but I bought my first Olds this summer because it was too good to pass up. It's a 1980 Delta 88 coupe with only 45,000 miles on it. It's Dove Gray with a blue interior. It's pretty basic, with AM only radio and roll-up windows. It runs great and is very comfortable. What should I watch out for with this car? Did this year have any strange quirks? The car has a 307 V-8 and a turbo-hydra-matic. Thanks in advance for your knowledge.

Man.... I wish I had found one like that around here. Chicago salt is brutal.
I have had my 80 delta for 10 years and I'll name all that has gone wrong with it that I can remember off the top of my head.
50,000Miles --New vacuum hoses, Drum brake pistons and hardware needed. Traveled too far and blew out.
70,000 -- A/C not cold anymore. Front Oil pan seal Bad, leak 1/3 qt a week.
80,000-- Needed carb rebuild, won't go over 50 miles per hour. plastic clips that hold window in the track broken (2 door) Suspension links bad.
90000-- Fuel pump bad, EGR bad. Exhaust manifold gaskets bad. New ring and pinion in rear end (Partially my driving's fault) New radiator. Cig lighter stopped working.
100000-- Waterpump, Door skins separating (2 door) , Passenger side outer tie rod broken. Replaced both. landau top starting to crack. Dome light unit bad.
120000-- New brake lines, Rear metering block bad as well. Door and trunk weatherstripping bad. Headliner flapping around
130000-- Both wheel wells rusted to the back seat interior. Quarter panels almost non existant underneath chrome trim. Any water that gets in your trunk sits inside the rear quarters AND behind the exterior trim. Front oil pan seal Bad AgAiN
140000--Windshield leak, Landau top cracked and peeling off. hairline Taillight cracks (weather and bulb heat i guess) Trunk interior on lid has BIG rust bubbles. Emblems falling off. First dime size rust hole on rear bumper.
150000-- Horn button wire fell off the clip and grounded Itself, horn would not turn off. Aluminum bumper insert turned to dust where it bolts to frame. the steel on aluminum connection has an awful chemical reaction. Frame rails behind rear springs have rust holes. Weight of the bumper, pistons, and rest of rear frame rail causing stress on the rusted portion.
--J

[J-(Chicago)]

Obviously regular maintenance included. I have changed the oil myself every 2500 miles and trans fluid/filter/ belts every 35000. I suck up b12 chemtool through the pcv every 4 or 5 oil changes, and will be on my 4th set of exhaust later on this month. Starts with 2 pumps and a turn of the key and doesn't blow any blue or white smoke. Still the same starter and alternator running since 1979 when they built the damn thing.

[Monza900]

Thanks for the information. I'll double check the fuses, but so far everything appears to work. I'll keep my eye on the items mentioned as I reach the mileage milestones. I've used it as a daily driver for the last two weeks and I really like it. The Delta 88 replaces the 1970 Chevelle I used as a driver for the last year-and-a-half. It's rare for a Chevelle, a 6-cylinder, powerglide, four-door sedan. My wife didn't like it because it had no power brakes, when a friend mentioned the 88 was for sale, I bought it and sold the Chevelle. Now my wife can borrow my car and not complain. I'll probably bring it to Hershey if I don't get a new job before then.

[Olds64]

The other guys might know for sure. I think Olds had a three piece bumper in 80 that was prone to rust. I know they had the three piece bumpers in the late 70s, they might have gotten rid of them by 80.

Welcome to the site. I am sure you will get alot of good info here. Sounds like you got an AWSOME car!

[Monza900]

Thanks. It looks like the rear bumper is one piece. This is a late production car for 1980, it was built in July of that year. I don't know if they made a change during that model year. I can see why the bumpers on these cars would rust, the water really collects in the space between the license plate and the bumper. I'm sure some of the water sloshes under the bumper, despite the two holes drilled in the filler panel.

Are these cars prone to stalling while in reverse? Mine did it yesterday and again today. The car started right back up and drove fine, but when in reverse while manuvering out of a tight space it stalled. I wonder if this has anything to do with the timing they used in those years. I believe the timing for this engine is 20 degrees BTDC. I know by 1980 they severely retarded the timing for emissions and fuel economy reasons. I'm used to Chevy sixes with timing at around 4 degrees BTDC - my Corvairs and recently sold Chevelle. Even when the Delta doesn't stall in reverse, it requires a lot of gas to put it in motion. I've noticed the shift indicator on the instrument panel isn't real precise - the needle is between N and D when I have it in drive - perhaps I think I'm in reverse but I'm not. Any information will be appreciated.

I will say the car is smooth and quiet on the highway. I drove it to the beach today and it was a pleasure. It's very comfortable. I'm very impressed with my first Oldsmobile. I've owned (and still have three) lots of Chevrolets, four Buicks, one Cadillac, and two Pontiacs. I love the Chevrolets, the Cadillac was great, two of the Buicks were great, but two of them stunk, and my Pontiacs developed major problems long before 100,000 miles. So far this Olds compares favorably to the other cars I've owned. The only non-GM cars I had were a Plymouth Duster which I didn't like, and a Subaru which was by far the worst car I've owned in 29 years of drivinb . I found the Duster cheaply constructed and appointed compared to my Novas, which it was an obvious copy of. There's insufficient space to discuss all the things I hated about the Subaru.

[J-(Chicago)]

Haha, I know what you mean about the reverse thing. My idle is so low in reverse gear that it doesn't have power brakes until i shift back into drive. I guess I'm just used to it after all these years. Just don't cut your wheel all the way to the left or right and that should help. If you put some nice exhaust on it, a little less backpressure will help I think. When I had my Flow(rot)masters on, I never had that problem. I reverted back to stock exhaust a couple years ago though since I drive 100 miles a day and leave at 4am. Gotta keep the neighbors happy so my olds projects don't get ticketed

[Monza900]

J-Chicago - thanks - you hit the nail on the head. The two times it stalled in reverse were when I cut the wheel all the way to the left. Since reading your post, I've been careful not to do that, and the car hasn't stalled. It feels like it doesn't lose the power brakes while in reverse, although I might not notice the difference, I have to get used to them again. After driving only powerglide cars for a long time, I'm still getting used to the Delta shifting from second to drive.

[Redog]

With the wiring, check to be sure that no looms are trapped behind the manifold.

When I did my swap, I found that one of my looks was back there and burn almost all the way thru, If I didn't swap the motor, I was going to have some pretty big problems