Buddy just bought a mid-'70s Cutlass. Exceptionally nice car. Legit ~40k miles, new paint, super clean interior, 350. "Nicest mid-'70s Cutlass around". Needed a bunch of relatively minor stuff, like water pump, exhaust, so he's got some money into it now. It was running rough and missing severely in a couple situations. I thought it might be the coil. He started it today, oil pressure light came on solid at normal idle. He turned it off immediately. He's so mad at this point, the car's gotta go. It's a GORGEOUS car, should be worth mid-teens, but with potentially a blown motor, what could it possibly bring? He will not put another dollar into it, doesn't even want to look at it. It's a strange scenario. He (and I) are mulling the possibilities. All thoughts and suggestions appreciated.

 

You really need to post some pictures of the car.

 

 

Put it in the garage and forget about it over the winter. Start troubleshooting in the spring when you are no longer upset at it. That is a nice looking car.

Don W

 

That is a very nice-looking Cutlass. It is not as popular as the 68-72 cars, but they are actually better handling cars. Mechanical parts are readily available for it. Even as nice as it is, it is not going to be in the mid-teens. He is going to take a beating on it with a bad motor. These cars just do not bring what the 68-72's bring. One other thing that works against the car is the bench seat. While not a deal killer, most people prefer bucket seats and a floor shift. It really is a beautiful car.

 

It's a nice looking ride. I'd keep it and fix it (or have it fixed if were beyond the capabilities of my monkey brain).

 

As I finished the above post, I realized you made no mention of anybody doing any diagnosis on the car after the light came on. He needs to be sure it is not the sending unit or something in the circuit. It is easy to put a gauge on it and check the oil pressure.

 

You are correct Glenn, my friend is a bit on edge about the whole thing, so I'm thinking about taking over the process for him, and I was thinking sending unit too. That would be a nice turn of events. Problem is, I could do that, but I wouldn't want to do the oil pump etc., and as it's not currently driveable and needs to be towed, I'll probably just dump it at a shop to avoid potentially multiple tows. My main concern with the whole thing is, I don't want him to realize a total loss, and there's no way I'm letting him send it to the junkyard, I'll buy it if that's the case.

 

I would make sure it's not the sending unit or possibly the wire grounding before jumping to conclusions.

 

I'll give ya $500 in cold hard cash. Hell, I'll even come pick it up.

 

Shifty is right, have your friend take a chill and relax.... Oil light fine one day, then on steady the next, probably electrical unless all oil drained out of it!

 

Take some time to sit back and get to it at a later date, this car is just too nice to pass on so quickly. I believe it's a 1975? Can you post a few motor photos?

 

My buddy is 100% done with the car, so I'm picking up the ball from here, as sort of a joint risk/reward project.

The oil pressure light is one symptom, but so is rough idle and increasingly REALLY bad performance, serious missing, bucking, etc. I have not been able to look at the car up to this point, so my operating GUESS as of right now -- if it's not as simple as pressure sender -- is timing gear. E.g. chain is starting to slip or shift, causing the worsening performance, and shredded pieces of nylon gear are ending up in the oil pan, blocking the pickup. This is JUST A THEORY until proper diagnosis can be done.

I've got no time to do this myself, so I'm taking it to a reputable shop today (been using him for decades), the problem will be fixed, I'll do a quick engine compartment detail, and then the car is going up for sale. This ensures my buddy gets a larger portion of his investment back, I make a few bucks for doing something fun, and the car doesn't end up in the junkyard or worse. I'll be heading over there soon and will snap some more pictures...

 

It's this simple.

Find out what's actually wrong with it. It may be simple, may not. But be solid on what it needs.

OR

Knee jerk reaction and sell a car that "may have a blown motor."
But be prepared to give it away.

 

Running poorly, bucking, surging, missing, etc is not indicative to 0 oil pressure. Making lots of noise would be the result of lack of oil.

 

I agree, but it could be a sign of slipped/shifted timing gears due to disintegrated teeth, which could also result in a blocked oil pickup. And the poor idle, followed by worsening surging/missing was happening well before the oil pressure light came on. I concede it's all just hypothetical until it gets diagnosed, which is in process now, it is happening. Should have an answer in a day or two.

 

I will be anxious to know the outcome. Your friend will owe you for sure. He was going to take a bath on it.

 

Who "invests" in a 75 Cutlass? That's a drive it then break even car.

 

Yeah, they are a covered with the mid 70's pathetic power reputation unfortunately. The mid 70's Olds 350 are usually very durable but they are closing in on 50 years old. Put an actual gauge on it to make sure it isn't a messed up idiot light. He needs to figure out what he has in it, ask that and hope for the best.

 

Like all of the cars I have had, I didn't buy my 75 Olds as an investment. I bought it to enjoy. Having owned two 72 Cutlass Supremes, I will tell you the 75 drives and rides better than the 72. Put a decent engine in this car and it will be a very nice car. Most of the people that beat up on the 73-78 cars have not owned one. Granted they had smog motors in them from the factory but one that is taken care of it makes a really nice car.

 

X2.

I had a '73 Supreme and have ridden in dozens of others. I really like the cars. Mine was loaded with options including a trailer towing package, but it also very rusty. I only have one picture of it.

 

Hopefully it's just a bad sending unit. Good luck.

 

I think that 75 Cutlass is super cool!

As far as "investments" go, cars are not the best way to invest your money.
Everything cycles out, 70's & 80's are comin' on stronger and stronger every day.
Look at baseball cards, Lionel trains, balloon tire bikes, no one cares anymore.

Drive em!!!!

 

To play it safe mount a mechanical gauge like other have said and then pull the distributer. You can spin up the pump using a drill. If you see pressure then the pump is working.
Then I'd suggest removing the drivers side valve cover to confirm TDC on cylinder 1. If everything lines up - piston position and rockers - then the chain is maybe ok too.

 

My buddy bought the car with disposable (to him) cash to just drive around in and have fun with. That was his sole purpose for it. There was no "future value" concern, not in the least. After less than a month, he's now DONE with the car. It has proven -- to HIM, in HIS mind -- that it's a money pit, and he doesn't want to spend one single additional dollar on it. He'd rather take a total loss on it and junk it rather than "lose" any more money on it. He considers the money he's spent thus far to be a sunk cost, and he's happy to have it hauled off and to receive the salvage value for it.

I'M the one who pointed out that this is a waste, of both money and an otherwise nice car. HE doesn't care, *I* do. Because we're friends, and because I care about him losing money and junking a nice car, he's humoring me, and allowing me to save the car and maybe recoup a bit more of his money. That's why I initially said, it's is a strange situation. It is VERY strange. When I used the word "investment", I was using it in the sense of "cash outlay"..."money spent", not in the "stable store of wealth with the potential for future appreciation" sense. He bought the car less than a month ago for its then-"current full value". In its now-current state of disrepair, the car is worth FAR less than this. For hopefully a relatively small "investment" in a repair, I believe its value can be greatly increased, allowing it to be sold for hopefully much closer to his total "investment" in it, the amount he's spent, rather than just a small percentage of this. Make sense?

This is all still hypothetical, diagnosis is coming soon. If it's a small repair, it will be fixed, I'll sell it for him, and I'll get a commission for doing this. If it's a major repair that's going to take thousands to repair...then I'm buying the car from him for junk value and putting a 455 in it. It's a win-win as far as we're both concerned, and in either case, the car drives to see another day.

 

I’ll be the bad guy. Let me preface that I like the colonnades, had a 76 and loved it, old roomy had a 73-74 with a stick and buckets and really liked that one. Though not a professional appraiser, I have overnighted a few times at Holiday Inn Express and IMO that’s a $500-1500 car with a bad or even questionable engine. If it wasn’t so generally nice, not even that. No swivels, console, etc, it’s what, maybe $3.5-5k in tip top shape? Nice car though, just doesn’t have much market value.

…

 

This turned out to be a Chinese fire drill with a happy outcome. As I had mentioned previously this is my buddy's car, and he had just bought it a month ago. It had a very rough idle, poor performance, and the oil pressure light came on suddenly and solidly. Following another serious repair, this was the last straw for him. He was convinced the motor was either blown, or had a million pieces of nylon timing gear up and down every oil passage, which would lead to a massive failure sooner rather than later. Instead of letting him junk it, which I kid you not is where he was at, I stepped in to handle it for him. My goals were to recoup him some of the money he paid for it, to keep the car on the road, and in the back of my mind, the hope that it was minor, and if so, maybe he would decide to keep it.

In the end, the oil pressure light was...a bad 8 year old sending unit. I had this done at a shop, because I wasn't prepared to do a timing chain or an oil pump, and I didn't want to risk needing a second tow. This amounted to $100 for the tow and $50 for the fix. I then I drove it home, which was the first chance I really had to look at it myself. The rough idle and poor performance were some combination of bad points and vacuum leaks. Total on this was...technically free, because I had a new set of points laying around. Just took me a few hours to swap them in, find the leaks, tune it, and then drive it around a bunch.

When I was all done, I told my buddy to come over and drive it and tell me if he still wanted me to sell it. He got in, and within a few miles, he had a big smile on his face, and the car ended up going back home with him. Thanks for all your input on this.

 

....and the potential nylon gear problem stays. You just reset the timer on the bomb.

 

Ha ha that's one way to look at it. Another way is, if the oil pressure sender didn't fail in the first place, the timing gears STILL wouldn't have been replaced. And my buddy's happy with it now. So, tick tick I guess.

 

Happy it worked out, if he is that paranoid about it breaking he should sell it now while it’s running good..Old cars cost money, things break, if he doesn’t understand this he is better off without a classic car..beautiful car by the way. Best of luck, I worked at Oldsmobile dealership in mid 70’s for a short time, those 74-76 cutlass were slow but very posh, rode great, drove nice..and had great styling

 

Happy ending to a problem that technically didn't exist. Great news. I am glad for your friend.

 

Yeah good you got it going for him, Sounds like the next time something happens he will throw a hissy fit and threaten to junk it... Well you did him a big favor, now I would do yourself a favor and talk him into selling it.

 

I say throw a cam and timing chain in it and drive the snot out of it!

 

My buddy's big concern was that the motor might have been severely compromised so quickly after purchase. That's why he was ready to throw in the towel. He doesn't want a project, or to do a cam or a build. He has fast cars too, he just wanted this one to drive around in "relatively" worry-free as old cars go. This is definitely possible, I currently own two cars myself that are 40+ years old and fit this description, it exists. Since the motor is fine, he's ok with it. The heater core blew this morning...that will be repaired and hopefully then he can drive it a couple times in a row without it breaking down ha ha.

 

Glad it was a bad sender, like I said. Yeah, unfortunately even with low miles, parts can still fail. The car obviously did more sitting than driving in it's life, which isn't good for many parts.

 

I still offer $500 to remove it from his concerns.