[Fully Charged Battery - No Power]

If you show 12v at all those locations, that only means the battery is supplying emf across the system but possibly almost zero amps. This can only be two things: corroded battery post or ground connection that is allowing only a trickle of current, or the battery itself is no longer holding a significant charge. I would try these two simple steps:

1) clean both battery posts and the ground connection, and try the headlights.

2) if still nothing, remove the battery and have it load-tested at a Sears, Auto Zone, battery store, etc. It will most likely show no remaining amp capacity.

Bill Shields

Luray, VA

[1958 Roadmaster Question]

Ben - dropped the oil pan and pulled out the oil pump - original style with vacuum booster. Here's what I found. (1) Screen had some particles on it and the pan itself had bits and pieces of gasket and silicone floating around in the remaining gunk. So cleaning is in order. (2) The oil pump itself seems to be in good condition overall. Can't really tell about the vacuum part though it is not damaged. (3) The spring and ball mechanism also looked good - spring had plenty of tension it in and the ball was free to move.

I plan to rebuild and install a '59 pump. But the puzzling thing is that I don't see anything suggesting a cause for a sudden oil pressure drop. I'd suspect the gauge except the car was idling far more noisily than it had before the oil pressure plummeted. Ideas anyone?

My current plan is to clean the sump, install the '59-style pump, bolt up the pan, install a conversion kit for a spin-on filter, fill with fresh oil, start and test pressure with my new pressure test kit.

Bill

[1958 Roadmaster Question]

Dave - thanks! That's a great piece of information. It sure does look like a "factory" spring that hooks to something. It's still hanging there on the firewall and I'll hook it up as you describe. As I mention above, this Roadmaster has suffered somewhat at the hands of previous owners. But I intend to have it right by the time cold weather arrives again.

Bill

Guys: Don't discard the spring! That is an anti rattle spring shown on page 48 of Buick Product Service Bulletin 2.432. Apparently there was a problem with the throttle equalizer shaft rattling on the lower equalizer shaft bracket. The fix was to install the 1/2" round head #8 screw on the cowl. The spring is a throttle return spring Gr. 3.459 #1178983. One end hooks on the screw on the cowl, the other end hooks under the retaining screw holding the throttle operating lever to the equalizer shaft. Apparently this puts some tension on the equalizer shaft to keep it from rattling. There was no recall on this. It would seem to be a fix only if there was a customer complaint so that's probably why some cars have it and some don't.

[1958 Roadmaster Question]

Ben - I ordered a used Lisle pressure test set from eBay last night! That will be my first step.

[1958 Roadmaster Question]

Mike - thanks very much. I was thinking about the spring and plunger as possible explanations for a sudden drop from normal pressure to almost zero. Another possibility, perhaps less likely, is that the tiny oil line to the gauge is blocked with crud. I'll report back on this forum when I have some answers.

Bill

[1958 Roadmaster Question]

Adam - thanks much. I think I will delete the spring. I agree on the oil pan removal. You'd think a gear-type pump would fail rather slowly - until yesterday I had excellent oil pressure. But it's possible.

I have the same bolt in my Roadmaster, as well as the Limited, but neither car had a spring there. I can't imagine what it would be for. My throttle return spring is attached to the throttle linkage on the carb.

I'll look around a bit and see if I can find an answer.

The oil pressure issue would make me very nervous. Have you ever primed an oil pump through the distributor hole? That is where I would start. If you can do that, and it feels like it is spinning freely (read: without pressure) then you need to pull the oil pan. It wouldn't hurt to pull it anyway...there's no telling how much sludge is sitting in that pan.

[1958 Roadmaster Question]

Adam - A photo of the mystery spring is below. While I have you "on the line," another issue arose today that I'd like your opinion on. I started the car to back it out of the shop for better light, and noticed that my oil gauge was reading zero. Up till now it has shown normal readings for cold, hot, low rpm, high rpm, etc. I let the car idle for some time and thought I heard an unusual sound from the oil pan area. I loosened the oil filter bolt slightly and oil pressed out past the seal. I'm trying to decide if I have a failing pump (these combo pumps for 57-58 were not so great) or if the line to the gauge is clogged with gunk. (I plan to change the oil shortly.) I got many thousands of miles of high-speed driving out of my '58 Century years ago and never had an oil pressure issue.

Do you have a photo of the spring in place?

[1958 Roadmaster Question]

Adam - I will post a photo later today.

Do you have a photo of the spring in place?

[1958 Roadmaster Question]

I recently acquired a '58 Roadmaster. I owned a '58 some years back that was in better mechanical condition than this one. The previous "mechanic" for this car disconnected all sorts of things and left them in place. Now the question. What looks like a factory-installed return spring is anchored to a small screw on the engine side of the firewall just below the windshield wiper motor. It is not connected to anything. It looks like it functioned somewhat vertically but there is nothing obvious in that area to connect it to. Other folks with '58s know what this spring is for?

Bill Shields

Luray, VA