scumdog

Hi everybody, I'm in New Zealand and have what is probably one of the less desirable Oldsmobiles - a 1983 Cutlass Ciera Brougham Holiday Coupe.

It's quite tidy for its age, lowered, 16" alloy wheels and runs quite well - just needs the engine management system sorted plus get the A/C and cruise-control going again.

BTW: How do you pronounce 'Ciera?
Is it See-era
Or Kee-era.?

Hopefull I can get some advice from this forum as I have never seen another of those cars in New Zealand.

Jamesbo

Welcome aboard

We got a few Kiwi's and Aussie here.

It's See era

jaunty75

Don't sell yourself short. It's an Olds. It's therefore desirable.

If you want a list of less desirable Oldsmobiles, I would start with Firenza and work down from there, maybe stopping at Achieva along the way. But never one that carries the Cutlass name!

There's some very positive commentary about the Cutlass Ciera at this site:

http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/ciera

OLD SKL 69

Congrats on your purchase and welcome to the forum. Don't see too many of those around here, but I do remember they were nice cars. Friend of mine had one with the 3.8 in it, and it was faster than my other friend's 84 rwd Supreme with the 307 in it.

aliensatemybuick

I like the Ciera coupes. esp. after the rear roofline was redesigned to be more rounded circa 1987. I remember pining for a Ciera GT coupe, and then later (1989/1990) an International Series FE3 Coupe. Those were rare back in the day, and now nearly impossible to find in any condition. Sharp cars, though the early ones were no slouch either.

slantflat

The pronunciation is see-era. Sort of like Sierra.

I'm a big fan of all the cars like the Ciera. My friend is parting out a Celebrity and I'd almost make that front seat my living room furniture!

Would love to visit New Zealand some time. I go to Australia every year, might have to go the extra mile.

Welcome aboard!


Mike

rustyroger

Welcome from the opposite side of the planet!.
Don't worry that your Olds isn't a fins'n'chrome classic, I have a fwd unibody Delta but the friendly guys on this forum don't hold it against me.

The Cutlass Cieras sold so well when they were introduced GM took their eye off quality control and they were dogged with bad assembly problems.
Having said that, any that have made it this far should have had their problems fixed by now.

Is lhd an issue in NZ?, it seems your neighbours across the Tasman Sea have some problems with this.

Roger.

scumdog

No, the lhd thing is not a problem at all - I also have a '66 Thunderbird and it's lhd.

Thanks for the welcome guys - and for the positive comments on the Ciera, my wife loves it (it's her daily-driver)

Oldsguy

Welcome to our site.

spiderjason

Welcome!!!! Always wanted to go to New Zealand!!!

scumdog

Thanks again for the welcome guys, just getting my teeth into some issues the Ciera has nothing too serious but the shifter **** is cracked and ugly, the parking brake release button/handle is missing etc.

Oh, and when I got it the idle-speed was way to high, I replaced the fuse that was missing from the fuse-box and now it idles better (and the orange light on the dash goes out!)

Trouble is, some p.o. has removed the choke flap and mechanism and as it's only 34 degrees here today it takes a while before the motor will idle without dieing out, - I could just take the fuse out again!

Biggest problem with living in NZ is that a lot of the suppliers of parts in the US don't ship to other countries.

rustyroger

Rockauto ship to the UK as do Kanters, I don't see any reason why shipping to NZ would be a problem for them.

The main trouble I have ordering stuff from the USA is not many firms over there accept credit cards with a billing address outside North America.

There are other ways of transferring funds, international money orders for example, but it does complicate matters.

I have had friends in the USA pay for parts and ship them on to me (I give them the money first!), You got any USA friends?.

Hope you find a solution, good luck!.

Roger.

scumdog

Thanks for the info rustyroger, I'll look around at those sites.

I find that from time-to-time it cuts out, normally after slowing down to make a turn in town, it happens maybe once a fortnight or so.

It starts right up again when you turn the key but it's not the most convenient thing to happen

Any ideas?

(it happens when fully warmed up so its not the lack of choke)

rustyroger

I can't diagnose your cutting out issue from this distance, but a full tune up with new plugs, wires, filters etc should bring the problem to light. It might be the idle speed is simplt to low, you said it idled to fast but you fixed that, maybe you went too far the other way.
If you have the LR9 engine (2 litre) the idle should be @850 rpm in neutral for a manual, @750 in drive for automatic btw.
Let us know which engine/transmission you have and we can give you the correct tune up specs.

Roger.

scumdog

Hi R.R.

I have the three-litre/auto edition, the auto is (I THINK) just the standard 3-speed model.
It was an ex-California car brought here in 1985.

I'm not sure what's going on but the previous owner had pulled a 10amp fuse (reckoned it kept blowing) which had the engine management light going all the time the engine was running and cause a really high idle speed.

I put the fuse back in and the light went out and the idle-speed dropped heaps - and it hasn't blown (hence why I'm not sure what the real reason for him removing it).

The car had a new NZ made exhaust system fitted and I suspect there's a sensor been left out of it - and I bet there's no cat. convertor.

As the air-pump was siezed I have removed it, dunno what issues THAT may be causing.!!!

rustyroger

Hmmm.....

I'm guessing you have a vin code "E" on your car, if so you should have a Buick engine under your hood (bonnet?, what do you call it in NZ?).
The tune up data I have (not much I'm afraid) is;

Plugs, Delco R-44TS8 or equivalent,
Timing, 15btdc, I would guess at idle speed with EST (electronic spark timing) and vacuum disconnected, my Chiltons manual is vague about this. The EST plug is a 4 terminal plug at the distributor, Your car may or may not have this, if it's a California car it probably does.

Beyond that my manual says follow the underhood sticker instructions, I hope you have your sticker intact though I fear it may be long gone.
There are a lot of variables for your car, computer command carburettor, A/C equipped, EST equipped all have their own tune up settings, and to throw another spanner in the works California cars might have different specs as well.

The fuse might be for the idle control solenoid, it should activate when the A/C is on, it seems yours isn't working right now. Try switching it on and see if the fuse blows again.

It could be the O2 sensor was left out when the exhaust was replaced, but it might not have had one in the first place, no cat shouldn't be a problem if you don't require an emissions test.

The air pump forced air into the exhaust manifold to burn any unused petrol (gas), again its an emisions thing and shouldn't affect tuning your car.

There are other issues that will affect how your car runs, if it has (and it probably does) an exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) valve it needs to be working or your carb will need retuning to work without it. I'd recommend having it fitted and working rather than retuning a carburettor designed to work with one in the first place.

The positive crankcase ventilation (PCV) valve also needs to work properly. There was a post about an 'O' ring broken up in a PCV valve and making someones engine run badly recently on this forum. Sorry, but my computer skills aren't good enough to let me put up a link, anyone able to help our Antipodean cousin?.

There is nothing beyond the scope of a competent DIY mechanic if they are fully informed about the tune up specs for your engine, let us know the engine code and which type of carburettor/distributor you have and I'm sure there are guys on this forum who will be able to give you more precise instructions than I can.

I would set the idle at 750-800 rpm in drive unless someone says differently.

Good luck!.

Roger.

scumdog

Thanks again R.R. - getting the paint touched up and then will have another look at it.

geckonz08

welcome.How are you buddy .I know of another 3 kiwis who frequent this site and a few ozzies too.I am absolutely certain that you will enjoy it here.The guys n gals are great. Bloody helpful.The assistance I have had from the site has been invaluable as I head off to the eng. builder.As you will be aware most of em around here are chev,ford, mopar men and when I arrived with the olds engine it had em guessing .All they have done to date are the heads and I gave them daunting but clear instructions as to what to do.
mike

scumdog

Still waiting for the painter dude to finish his work than I'll 'meddle' with it!

scumdog

Well, been away for a while so quick update:

Rebuilt the starter - it was the over-run clutch that was shot causing the pinion to not hook-up.

Got radiator repaired - it was leaking due to some bozo using the x-member under it as a jacking point and it bent upwards, putting pressure on the rad and causing the end tanks to leak

Put new water-pump on - after fixing the leak in the rad I added anti-freeze in for the first time since I would now not be leaking it everywhere - only that caused the water-pump to start leaking!

But that was all at the end of December and all was going good (except for that 'cut-out-when-making-a-low-speed-turn thing).

UNTIL about 7 or so weeks ago when the bottom hose popped off the radiator (bad hoseclip+ flaw at end of hose) while wife was driving.

We think it happened about 7 or 8 miles before the motor cried enough.

SO: We now have a rebuilt motor, it already had .030 over pistons and .010 under crank and the damage was not so severe we couldn't reuse the pistons but timing gear, cam and lifter were shot so it got new ones fitted.

And I bought a fully-rebuilt carb when I was in Dallas so the motor doesn't cut out any more.

All is now good again - except I havenot got the bill for it yet!!