Hipster84Olds

Hey everyone,

I'm new here and just bought a 1984 Delta 88 with 81,000 original KMs.

There are only a couple small issues that I've found so far. One of the bigger more daunting ones being the red illumintaed BRAKE warning on the dash. I'm a young guy so I have no idea where to begin with these cars. I have a bit of automotive knowledge so fixing the issue shouldn't be a problem.

I was however wondering if someone could point me in the direction of where to start diagnosis. I have gathered that the park break tends to sag on these causing a light so I'll give that a look first. Further than that where should I begin?

Also I have a slight modification I'd like to make to the car and that is to install dual exhaust and possibly louden it up a bit. For those who have done this, what do you recommend as far as mufflers (if any) and exhaust routing?

Thank and hope to enjoy my time on here!

76olds

Welcome to CO,
As far as the brake light goes. Check the master cylinder after you check the brake light switch at the pedal.
If the back of the master is low or empty, look for wet lines going to the rear or leaky wheel cylinders , if the front is low or empty check flex hoses, lines for leak.
How far is the brake pedal travelling past the gas pedal? Approximately. Does it go to the floor? Parallel with the gas pedal? A little lower than the gas pedal?
As for duals, I like flowmaster super 44's but that's just me.

Hope this helps for now.
Eric

Hipster84Olds

Thanks for the reply.

By the brake light switch do you mean the one that is activated by depressing the park brake?

Most of these questions I can't answer because I'm not near the car right now but next time I have the chance I'll update you.

Thanks again,
Justin

76olds

Sorry Justin,

Actually with regards to the brake light staying on, I read the question incorrectly. So.. No the switch at the brake pedal will be fine, I guess I misread and figured your rear brake lights were staying on as well.

Eric

Hipster84Olds

No problem Eric,

I was going to give the master cylinder a look anyway. Any idea where to start looking into the actual BRAKE warning that comes on on the dash?

76olds

The brake light will come on when the pressure drops. That could mean a bad master cylinder, a line leak, wheel cylinder leak or caliper leak.
If the master is still full of fluid and the pedal goes to the floor then, I would suspect a master cylinder would need replaced.
It could also be that your rear brake shoes are way out of adjustment and or (worn down to rivets), broken spring etc, not necessarily the master or lines.

Eric

76olds

Justin,

Others will chime in here shortly and elaborate more, many guys here have loads of experience and are willing to help as well.

Eric

Hipster84Olds

I'll give all those things a look for sure. Would a brake bleed be a good place to start? I want to start as small as possible and work my way up to the big stuff.

Awesome to hear, I'm glad I finally found a good active forum for these vehicles! Thanks for all your help so far Eric.

Vistabrat72

Welcome to CO Justin. A very quick test to do given all the good advice up above is to isolate the source. One quick test is to disconnect the single beige wire that goes to the brake warning switch on the combination valve, which is that block usually located below the master cylinder where the brake lines go from the master cylinder. If the dash light does indeed go off, then the problem is something in your hydraulics as mentioned above, or, a faulty combination valve. At least you now know it is not in the parking brake warning light circuit or the actual wiring under the dash. The parking brake warning switches can be very sensitive as I have learned on my '66. Releasing the park brake will not cancel the warning light. Putting the car in gear then will, it was an ever so slightly sticking parking brake cable, the movement of the brake shoes does the trick. Hopefully it is a minor issue. And solved inexpensively as Ontario certification laws have really gotten strict! Keep us posted!

76olds

Your welcome , happy to try and help.
Put-e-r-ther, You found the best place on the web!!

Unless someone else messed with bleeding the system, then bleeding won't fix the issue in my opinion.

I would start by checking the level at the master, if one or both are low top them off.
If low and topped off, start applying the brake several times and check for visible leaks.
If not low, pull the rear drums and visually check all the springs are in place, how far the shoes are worn.
Set them up if need be.
If you see no visible leaks anywhere, shoes are set-up close to the drum and the pedal is still going to the floor, then the master cylinder will need replacing.

Eric

76olds

^^^^ Hope its just this ^^^^

Put-r-ther , something I never would have thought of.

Justin, this is why CO is the best on the web!!

Eric

Vistabrat72

I agree with Eric's statement of CO being the best. This group has saved many, including myself, major headaches and gives good advice/part sources/part numbers that saves a lot of time when working on an Oldsmobile. Even the rare rockets.

Hipster84Olds

Glad to be here!

I'm very much hoping it's the much more inexpensive option of the brake shoes just needing a bit of adjustment but a combination valve wouldn't be the end of the world either. Would I have to source one out at a junk add or would this be something I could walk into NAPA or Part Source or even a GM dealer and pick up? I'm a lube tech at a GM dealer in Kitchener so I get some good deals on parts.

Hipster84Olds

From what I have seen so far (from last time I was out in the car) the brake pedal still has some pressure to it and doesn't press all the way to the floor. I also didn't see fluid leaking from the master but that doesn't mean I didn't miss it. I'll take a good look tomorrow. I'm going to switch the ownership tomorrow and I'll be the official owner of this beauty

76olds

You should have no problem sourcing parts either through NAPA or the dealer if you get a good discount.
Hopefully its just something minor like the combo valve Howie mentioned.
You will certainly know what it is once you begin checking things over more closely.
All the best with your new Olds, please keep us updated.

Eric

Hipster84Olds

For sure, I'll give it a good look tomorrow when I see the car again.

I'll keep you guys updated for sure! Hope to maybe see you guys around at some point. I'm from Kitchener-Waterloo so idk if you guys get out that way much but it would be good to have some people who know these cars better than I do within reach. It's quite the switch going from fuel injection to the good old carbureted stuff!

MDchanic

The first thing to do is to get in the car, pull the emergency brake release lever, and at the same time push upwards with your toe on the back side of the emergency brake pedal.

If the light goes out, then you've solved your problem.

- Eric

Hipster84Olds

I'll give that a try for sure, hopefully that's all it is. How would i go about correcting that if that's the issue?

MDchanic

Tighten the adjuster in the cable, under the car.

If there isn't any more adjustment left in the adjuster, then replace the cable, or, far less desireable, use a cable tightener, which basically puts a kink in the cable to shorten it.

You should get a service manual for your car. It will make your life much easier.
There are usually a few on eBay.

- Eric

Hipster84Olds

Ok I'll take a look tonight.

Ya I was just thinking that actually, I'll see what they've have on eBay

Hipster84Olds

Good news all! It was just the park brake was just a bit loose I guess. I just puled up on it and the warning light went off.

Thanks for all the help guys!

rustyroger

I don't agree with simply adjusting the park brake cable Eric. Nearly always slack in the cable is due to poorly adjusted rear shoes. Often the self adjusting mechanism doesn't work properly or has frozen.
I would urge Justin to take the drums off and have a good look at the rear brakes in any case. Welcome to CO btw!.

Roger.

Hipster84Olds

I just bought the car so I have yet to formally look it over. I'm going to within the next few weeks give it a good look over. Making sure everything is adjusted properly will definitely be up there in my TO DO list.

Thanks for your input Roger! Love this forum for all the help already. Way better and more civilized than most haha

MDchanic

Well, that's a given. You've got to pull the drums and check the rear brakes any time you get a new car.

- Eric

m371961

On some makes the e-brake light switch is adjustable, or may be loose. Don't know about yours, but this shows to always check the simple easy things first.

76olds

Good to hear it was just a minor fix. We needs pics now you have er' in your possession.
When are you planning on the duals etc. I'll follow along, be sure to take a few pics though. We all like pics here.

Eric

Hipster84Olds

I have a few pics taken already so where do I post those? Duals are a long way off but something I'd love to do for sure. Right now I just want to get it road ready (should need next to nothing) and start driving it.

Hipster84Olds

Just put some pictures in my gallery.

rustyroger

I posted in a bit of a hurry Eric.
I hope you understand I meant no disrespect.

Roger.

MDchanic

Quite alright, Roger.

We all post together, according to our views and experiences, and hope that the sum total of our creativity amounts to some sort of wisdom.

We also rely on each other to catch our mistakes and omissions, such as my omission of my ASSumption that everyone always takes a look at the rear brakes as a matter of course.

- Eric

76olds

Well said, I appreciate everyone that chimes in to help out and correct each others mistakes.
Most of us aren't auto mechanics here, many of us just go on our previous experiences working on our own cars.
We rely on each other to post and correct our mistakes, this is what makes this forum the best on the net !
Put-r-ther!!
Eric