Hey guys! I just wanted to say that while we here at Classic Oldsmobile love to help you out with problems of all kinds, we are only as effective as the information you give us. So I wanted to give you some ideas that may help us help you when you have a mechanical issue you are trying to sort out.

1. SEARCH. If you have a problem, try searching for answers to your question by system, problem, or other keywords. If you do not find anything, then please post your question in the forum most pertinent to the system you are working on.

2. Describe your car, engine, and any other pertinent information (IE, if you have a transmission question give us the model of the transmission or at the very least a year and type, EG: 1970 automatic)

3. Describe in detail the problem you are having, the events leading up to the problem, and what you have done since finding the problem.

4. Pictures, Pictures, Pictures, Pictures...need I say more? If you can, provide as many pictures of what you are talking about to further help us identify potential problems.

5. Describe your background. How much experience do you have working on cars. Is this your first time, or are you an old pro that just needs a specific question answered about Oldsmobiles. For example, I can say your engine needs to be timed...if you don't know what I'm talking about then I need to know that so I don't send you off on a wild goose chase.

6. Any other pertinent information you feel might be helpful to someone diagnosing your problem over the internet.

7. POST YOUR QUESTION IN THE FORUMS. The chatbox rarely gets used and does not save the context in it. You will have better success posting your question in the forums and it will then become searchable for someone else in the future.

8. When you have solved your problem, please post back in the thread to let everyone know what the solution was. While this forum is a place for us to chat, it is also a database of information accessible by anyone. The solution you came up with might just help the next guy out.

Good luck! And I hope we can help with anything you might come across!

Steve

 

AH64pilot - That was really nice of you to post that info... Just another reason I joined this site at the recommendation of Ron Roth... Now there is a first rate guy... Thanks again for thinking of your fellow Olds buds

Nufo (Fred)

 

Thanks, Steve.

There are actually a few questions running right now that I haven't responded to, because I don't want to be the jerk who says "Look in your Chassis Service Manual" yet again.

- Eric

 

well this is the site I learned about the Chassis service manual! did not know they were available! I have a copy of the body manual and the assembly manual I bought 25 years ago. Thanks for posting the link! I appreciate the the help I find here!

 

Good stuff Steve! Thanx for thinking about people who want to learn, but may not be too sure how to go about it, me included!

Ted

 

Just to add to it, O.P. give us the fix to the issue when solved!

Pat

 

This one is very important, as the future people doing the search, can actually have a direction and a solution to the problem.

 

And post pictures whenever possible!
I have spent hours trying to help others over the phone or online. But as soon as I saw a picture of what they were working on, I immediately saw the problem!

 

Can someone help me out with an issue if I post a pic ?.

My motor is suddenly missing ... & I don't know why.

And I'm not sure if it's just a coincidence or not ...

But the transmission seems to be fubar now too.

No forward gears - no reverse ... no nothing.

If that's not enough to worry about .....

Someone told me I'm gonna need a radiator & a battery too !!!!!!!.

Before I start spending all kinds of money ...

Maybe someone can give me a second opinion ?.

Here's a pic :

 

I posted this after helping a guy find out he had a timing issue last night. Turns out he pulled his engine to change an oil pan gasket, but didn't know turning the distributor would affect the way the engine ran. Turns out, when he got it back in it was running like crud. Took me a minute to figure out, but if I had known his experience it might not have taken so long.

No worries, just think this might help out some of the new guys looking for advice. Bump for a sticky to the top of the Newbie forum?

 

None here either ...

Twas' just a yoke.

 

Why didn't the alarm go off??