dmfconsult

😂 well I passed that hurdle!

Thanks John, I'll keep an eye on it. I have read that lack of use does precipitate early failures/leaks, so I guess that is just my excuse for driving it more often!

Out of curiosity, how long was it before you noticed your rebuilt compressors were failing?

I'm resolved that if this one goes bad, I will upgrade to the new aluminum version and simply paint it black. The EW may be a "new" car by some standards here, but it is an Archival award winner, so I try and keep it in original condition.

Finally decided to pay the freight and get the AC in this car fixed. Purchased a refurbished A6 compressor from Napa (with standard threads) new condenser, accumulator and other small parts and brought it in. I realize some of these refurbished compressors have a bad rap but wanted to give it a try to retain the original look under the hood. Many $$$ later I’ve got the car back with cold air... my wife actually likes riding in the wagon now. I’ve owned the car 10 years and the compressor was bad when I got it, so no telling how long it’s been non-op. System was pressure checked and it’s holding pressure do previous leaks must have been in either the compressor or the condenser. @MrEarl it’s a good thing you passed on this car for your tow rig... with the AC working there is a noticeable change in power output for the 350. I wouldn’t want to be a towing anything on a hot day! I’ve never had the switches in this configuration!

Thanks Pete; That is too bad as that is a popular event which usually attracts 150 Buicks in nice weather and still around 100 if the weather looks rainy. The Canada/US border is closed to August 21 at least now, so I wouldn't have been able to go even if it was on. Thanks for posting!

Should update this thread on progress. I found the source of the hot light. The ground to the ignition switch was depinned and hanging loose, which now makes sense as I don’t recall the hot light ever being on with the ignition switch to ON. I must have pushed the loose wire into a position where it was grounding against something when I removed/adjusted the duct work out of the way to get at the heater core. The rough idle seems to have been solved. Not sure exactly what the issue was but points were a bit rough so changed them along with condenser, coil and cap. A couple of spark plugs were also fouled so replaced those as well. Been going on short trips to work it out and it seems to run better each time as I go further. The car is also running right at the temp it should be given this hot weather so no issues there. There’s a few more things to do, but I needed to stop working on it and start driving it. I kept hearing @Smartins words.. fix it till you break it! I did mess up when putting the dash pad back on, I put a little too much pressure on it and cracked it 🤬. Luckily I got a lead on someone who could repair it, not cheap but better than trying to find a replacement. Before: After: Hopefully I get some luck for the rest of the driving season and this car goes back to being relatively trouble free! Crossed this lucky number on a recent drive (I was pulled over when I took the pic)

I believe Waze does. I’m sure the others offer that option as well

I don’t think I’ve received my June Bugle let alone July... I think the deadline will be missed. Darn international mailings

If you're using a phone you are using your data continuously, which could be a problem/extra costs depending on your cell phone plan. A stand alone GPS unit uses satellite so there are no data/roaming charges. I have a TomTom that also has a traffic feature that tells me of problems or backups. Certain phone apps do that as well and so does the GPS in my truck, as long as I have a subscription to Sirius/XM radio (which I don't). We tend on using the TomTom when travelling or when I'm driving one of the old cars around.

Doug, Rockauto will ship to Canada no problem (reasonably fast too) and they show most of the parts you are looking for. They also show parts in Canadian $$ so you know what it's costing, although that's just a conversion, they still bill you in US$. Just double check the parts to make sure what they list is correct as I've seen they are not always correct in their listings. Cheers,

Cleaned and reinstalled. I can focus on wiring again for a bit and order the new PCV and grommet to replace later.

I suspect the owner may be looking at the Hagerty price guide as he's priced between Excellent and Concours. This is a nice car in a striking color combo, but I think the market is not that strong currently.

I may try this for now. 2 issues have come up: (1) I've discovered that all the replacement PCV valves I've looked at are slightly larger than the one I pulled out, which given the hardness of the old grommet, is making it impossible to insert; and (2) I've researched grommets and apparently there are a number of problems with the size of replacement grommets as the repo's have them slightly wrong. It's looks like there are 2 good replacements, but one of those suppliers won't ship to Canada and the other wants $27 to ship. The old PCV has loosened up a bit just sitting on the bench so I will spray it out a bit and reinstall as I want to drive this car. I'll order the new grommet and PCV from the same place once I get over the shipping price shock and replace it later.

I think you hit the nail on the head here... the shops are busy and quoting on stuff takes time away from paid work... your right that it's a bit non-sensical and they should have someone available to do quotes. I'm running into similar issues here. I had a shop lined up to repair the A/C in my Estate Wagon once I obtained some of the parts but now that I have those parts, the shop is not returning my calls. This was a trusted shop, but if they don't call back today, they will have lost me as a customer. Hard to believe they want to stay in business!

Need some pro advice and I’m almost embarrassed to ask, but I will anyway... I think I’ve traced my idle issue to a failing PCV valve. I’ve pulled the old one and it’s pretty plugged. The new one won’t slip in the grommet despite the application of a bit of oil to assist and I’m hesitant to hose it down with lubricant as I’ve never had to before. Any tips on getting the new one past the old hard grommet? I stopped myself from breaking out the hammer. Or do I pry out the old one and install a new softer one? Thanks in advance!

Hi Chris; That steering wheel looks identical (except for color) to the one on my 67 Electra, so you could expand your search to 67 Electras & Wildcats. Cheers,

After a few weeks tinkering with the Electra, I wanted to just get in a Buick, turn the key and go. So grabbed the 78 Estate Wagon to run some stuff to the recycling center and do a few errands. The EW works very well and is just a very nice and steady drive. I ended up parking in front of a historic theater here in Vancouver in what is normally a very busy shopping street and got a window for an accidental photo opportunity with no other cars in the frame. My wife loves this street as there are many highly fashionable shops she can visit.

So some “progress”... I had my two sons, who are home from their Computer Engineering studies due to COVID, solder in some new connections for the temp sender and no change, hot light staying on but cold light operating normally. Not a loss though as those wires were barely hanging on anyway and the boys like helping me with the Old tech big car. decided to turn my attention to getting the factory speakers working with the radio. Some previous owner had wired in an after market stereo and speaker and changed all the wiring. While I was tracing the speaker wires I nudged the wrapped bundle of wires for the instrument panel and the hot lights flickered and turned off. I now know where to focus my attention to look for a short as “no light” both running or with key to “on” means open circuit. What’s funny is I’ve owned the Electra for 18 years and I can’t recall if the HOT light was ever on with the ignition switch to the ON position. Oh well. I’ll focus on that wiring next then test drive the car to see if the rough idle resurfaces.

Nothing much to say that would be helpful other than to say you are not alone and this happens to all of us! Hang in there... is there a local club member that could swing by to help or at least offer support?

Thanks John. I’ll double check the wires again but I was fairly careful with the wires when the box and plenum we’re going back in. This issue didn’t appear immediately after as the HOT light developed after some running. It’s possible something for stretched when the plenum and box were coming out. With the state of those wires, they needed to be repaired anyway so not wasting time.

Brief update: After being encouraged by @JohnD1956, I depinned the connector to the temp sensor and sure enough, the wire on the HOT side was barely attached to the connector. It had been bent there when entering the connector and the break was really out of sight as it is right at the crimped connection. The fact that the light remains on would indicate a broken connection, and I have to assume that the wire was barely making contact before, and the rough idle finally finished the wire off. I have ordered in some new connectors and will splice those in after they arrive. I did a look at the ignition switch and all wires are properly connected there. This doesn't solve the rough idle once the car warms up, but I'll get the HOT light resolved (hopefully) first, then I'll feel a bit more comfortable running the car to operating temp to diagnose the other issue. Cheers,

In the 60's, cars with A/C got a full shroud while ones without got just the finger guard. I would presume your 60 Electra doesn't have A/C while the 64 Riv does?

Well, this now seems confirmed as an electrical problem. I switched out the coil last night and the "new" coil reads 5.3 volts at the positive terminal, exactly the same as the old one. The major difference is now both HOT and COLD lights remain on at cold start up. The COLD light turns off once the engine warms up a bit, but the HOT light stays on, even though it's not close to HOT. Once the car comes off choke, the idle is a bit rougher than usual (likely a drop of about 50-100 rpm), but it stays running. Given the COLD light works, I don't think the sensor is bad, so I'm left to checking the wiring to see if it's grounded somewhere or perhaps something is going on with the ignition switch. Or as @KongaMan suggests, is something going on with the voltage regulator? According to the manual, the car has to be at operating temperature and running to check the VR, so I haven't done that yet as I've been worried about overheating, but I do have a spare VR that was working when pulled (I changed to a Delco Remy one), so I could try that before digging any further. The ignition switch I'll check as I could have jostled something when removing the ducts and distributor box when changing out the heater core. Electrical is not my thing, so I'm going to get over my head quickly! Cheers,

I will check the regulator as well, but the HOT light replicated itself in the garage on the weekend and the idle didn't change at all, so not sure what caused the running rough symptom, but it hasn't recurred so far. Could the lowish voltage at the coil be reflective of the VR? If the new coil puts out a similar voltage reading, I'd be looking for other causes. I'm going to proceed with the thermostat now, just because I think a 180 degree one is he way to go and repair the wiring on the temp sensor. I've also looked into the oil pressure sender and the insulation on that wire is pretty crispy too, so looks like I have a bit more wiring repair to work through. Any more problems and I'll have to move this topic to the Me and My Buick section! I appreciate all the help guys, I really do! I work long hours in the week and weekends are usually busy with work around the house and family obligations, which doesn't leave me a lot of time to play with the cars, so bear with me as I try and get through this ever lengthening list. Cheers,