Bugg

Hey everyone, I just picked up this delta, it's in really good shape, kist needs some attention, the question I have is how to remove the gauges, I see one screw but is there anything else? My speedo and fuel gauges don't work and I need at least one to not run out of gas! The fuel needle lmoves a tiny bit when you turn on the car but that's it, and the speedo I guess just needs a new cable. Any help would be appreciated! Also where do I get a shop manual?

76 Regency

Hey Bugg and welcome to CO! You'll find plenty of manuals on ebay...check the link below for example:

http://shop.ebay.com/?_from=R40&_trk...All-Categories

You'll get plenty of help for your new Olds on this forum...it's a great site with lots of great people full of Olds knowledge. Post some pics when you get a chance.

PS..where in NY are you from? I'm in CT

MDchanic

I'd start at the opposite end first --

Check the Left Front wheel bearing dust cap to be sure that the speedo drive female end is intact and in place, and that the cable is properly retained.

Check the wiring, grounds, and, if all else fails, the tank sender.

Also, all the '68 manuals are available fro free on line here. Be sure to register with them, because they have been nice enough to make this stuff available.

- Eric

Bugg

Wow THANKS!!!!

Well here she is, the first day on the road, 2 days after buying it
b9c9b301.jpg

MDchanic

Darn that looks JUST like one I used to have.

Sold it around 1996 for $650.

I liked that car.

- Eric

76 Regency

Nice 88 Bugg..it looks like it's in pretty good original shape which is getting harder and harder to find. Were you able to find the manuals and figure out how to work on your gauges? Also, does your car have the 455?

GrandpasDelmont88

Good morning,
Great looking car, very similar to our 68 Delmont. I'm sure you will get things working, but if the problem is the guage/speedo, I have an extra instrument cluster. I'm down the road in NJ.
Joe

Oldsguy

Bugg,

Eric has the right idea, that cap may be missing or broken or loose on the hub. Welcome to CO.

Bugg

Its hard to believe, but the interior is in even better shape than it looks from outside! It does have the 455 and runs strong!! I just started to redo the awful sealing job that was done to the windshield to take care of a small leak (some people dont think the inside needs to be sealed too!)

I'm not sure whats going on with the fuel gauge, it seemed like the needle moved about 1mm the other day lol, I saw to check the ground but the only ground I saw in the trunk was by the latch, I cleaned it but it didnt seem to help

jaunty75

Your car is beautiful. I have a '67 Delta 88, and I've dealt with fuel gauge issues with it. In your case, the problem is most likely the sending unit in the tank. The ground is not by the trunk latch. It is under the car just forward of the gas tank. You need to get under the car and look up under there with a flashlight. The wire would be black, and it would be attached with a screw to the body. The screw itself or the part of the body where it attaches could be corroded, and this would be relatively easy to check and to clean.

But if cleaning the ground doesn't fix your problem, as I say, you probably have a bad sending unit. The next thing you should try, though, is finding the connector between the other wire coming from the fuel tank sending unit and the wire leading to the gauge up front and pulling that apart. This wire should be orange, and it SHOULD be by the trunk latch.

Separate this connector, and then ground the wire coming from the gauge. The gauge, if it's working properly, should immediately go to "E." Disconnect the wire from ground, and the gauge should immediately go to "F" or even beyond the F as the resistance is infinite when the wire is not grounded. The gauge just measures resistance to ground, and the sending unit varies between zero Ohms (when the tank is empty) to 90 Ohms (when the tank is full). Because the resistance would be much larger than 90 Ohms with the circuit open, the gauge would likely move way past the "F" mark.

If the gauge checks out, then you'll need to drop the tank and take out the sending unit. If it can be done, clean it and reuse it. If not, you'll need to get a new one. I could not find a replacement for my '67, but a unit from a '72 Buick LeSabre worked fine, and it's a drop-in replacement. It was about $70 at Rockauto. The only issue was that the Buick unit had two tubes coming off the top, one of which is a vapor return line, that my '67 didn't use, so I just capped it.

OLD SKL 69

Welcome to the forum. Looks like a nice car, post more pics when you can. BTW, where are you in NY?

Aron Nance

Very nice looking big ol' Delta 88! Welcome to CO. As you can tell from Jaunty's response, a lot of help on www.classicoldsmobile.com!

Bugg

Thanks for the info!

Now I have another problem which I'm diving into, after a high speed run, my oil light would come on at or near idle..after the car sat for about an hour i restarted it and the light didnt come on, but I noticed that the 'valve tap' that I had was accompanied by another lower pitched tap...Im pretty sure it's not a rod bc it's not super loud like that, but I'm about to pull the valve covers and see what kind of shape it is under there... I just changed the oil maybe like 10 miles ago, so I'm going to check it for metal bits, but otherwise, has anyone else had this happen? and was it really a bad thing?

Oh btw I'm in east northport NY, some one asked, saw they're from LI too

Oldsmaniac

Maybe your oil pressure switch is gunked up. You can try cleaning or replacing it but I would get an oil pressure reading first. Low oil pressure if thats what it really is is not good and the car should not be driven until you know for sure.

Bugg

well, the good new is that the second sound seems to be coming from an accessory or maybe a second set of valves.. poking around listening, it seems like it's the drivers side forward lifters that may be making the noise. I've heard form a few sources that these motors tend to not return oil efficiently and it can get trapped in the head if you rev them up enough (one even advised to not take it over 4000rpm for any amount of time without oil restrictors) can anyone confirm this?

MHENDERSON

I bought one off a school teacher in the mid 80 for 75.00 for the motor. We junked it with all the goodies in it.If we only would of kept them all!! Nice car.

Oldsmaniac

Totally false. Even if the returns were completely blocked the oil would eventually return thru the pushrod holes. Olds did not build these engines with flaws. While improvements can be made for a race engine the way Olds built them is fine for most everyone...

Bugg

Ha well that's good to know, in any case I'm trying to clean it all out (as in my other thread in the big block section) and so far the light hasn't come back on and I've had it idling for a bit, which I suppose is good news, hopefully it's just a bad sender, which I was going to fix in an actual gauge anyway...otherwise I just need to be vigilant and see if it happens again, and keep the hooning to a minimum til the motor is well and truly rebuilt!!

JimMorrisonFan67

Looks like the one my momma and daddy had when I was a young kid in the 70's. Can you post more pictures of your car. We had the olive green color too!
My brothers just yesterday were talking about that car and they said it could kick butt. They said my mom would squeal the tires in it all the time..LOL

mpolds

I'm here on Long Island -- the west end (West Hempstead) and have a boat load of parts --- all new ---- for you if you need.
I have the entire brake system -- disc or drum (factory) --- master cylinder, wheel cylinders, brake hoses, wheel bearings & seals (USA), asbestos pads, brake shoes, ROTORS & DRUMS & ! HUB & DRUM !!!!!!

I have front end -- ball joints, bushings, tie rods & sleeves, CENTER LINK & Idler Arm, stabilizer links, etc., coil springs & shocks....

I have ignition & electrical, ++ DELCO ++ Voltage Regulators, Fuel Pumps and Water Pumps (both NEW), and a whole lot more...

Should have been at the Easter Day Parade in Garden City -- Carmine had his 1966 Olds 88 there!!! CAll me whenever you need -- Craig -- 516 - 485 - 1935.............

Bugg

Hey thanks! I still have it, in the middle of rebuilding the motor after it spun the fron rod bearings....been going back n forth to sk speed sorting her all out (guess I parked her up in time, rod jounals ONLY had to be cut .030 under :/ )

most parts have arrived back..from online..etc and getting ready to do some reassembly...after I do a sixth, seventh,eighth final cleaning haha (it's been fun but don't want to tear down the SAME motor again!)

as far as looks the car is probably a good 30-footer...the lil ol lady before me must not have known the dimensions of her garage really well!
But looks are on hold til she's running...shooting for June, started this in feb
Hoping to drive in to at least one car show this year...prob the aug one at Belmont