1978 Oldsmobile Toronado XS

I also take my alternators or starters to a local rebuilder. It's usually cheaper then the parts store junk and they seem to last longer.

 

I've never had a problem with the NAPA or Carquest branded alternators, and for this car they're only about $45-50. If date coded parts aren't your bag or you want to keep the car mobile while hunting down a rebuilder, it's a potential solution.

The last car I bought that sat for 20 years had a flashing\moving voltmeter in the dash and a multimeter said it was charging at 14.2V. Turns out the connector on the back of the alternator to the field wire (the 2 prong plug) had corrosion built up on it and the prongs in the alternator themselves. A little cleaning and it worked just fine. Simple and easy to test. Diode trio is definitely a possibility too, but those tend to go south because someone did something dumb like hook up the battery backwards, I don't usually see the diodes go south in this era of alternator. Not to mention replacing it is slightly more involved and it has to come off the car.

 

Here's an update on this car. I haven't gotten close to a chance to troubleshoot the GEN light as the restoration process takes a two-steps-forward, one-step-backward path.

As I think I mentioned, I got the car started, but there was a fuel leak at the rear of the car which turned out to be one of the rubber lines coming off the sending unit. To get at any of these lines requires dropping the tank, so I did that. I took the old tank to a radiator/gas tank shop for an evaluation as I didn't think it looked too bad. He took one look at it and said "get a new one." He said the rust around the edges has thinned the metal there and weakened the tank. So I ordered, received, and installed a new tank and a new sending unit with new rubber lines.


I figured that, since I had the back end of the car raised, anyway, I'd redo the rear brakes. New drums, shoes, wheel cylinders, and hardware. But this is where the latest problem cropped up.

When I removed the brake lines from the wheel cylinders on the two rear wheels, no brake fluid dripped out. The lines were dry, and the wheel cylinders were dry. Gravity alone should cause fluid to drip-drip-drip out of the end of the brake line. Even with the line open, I could not depress the brake pedal at all. With a line open, it should bottom out easily with fluid squirting out the end of the open brake line. Through all of this, both reservoirs on the master cylinder were full and remained so. So there's a problem somewhere.

I used a turkey baster and removed the fluid from the master cylinder. The bottoms of both reservoirs were covered in crud. I don't know what it is, but I assume it's clogging the exit holes in the MC and possibly preventing the cylinder from moving when the pedal is pressed as well. I ordered a new master cylinder, and it has arrived. I figured I'd also replace the vacuum booster, and that is supposed to arrive today. The lines from the master cylinder connect to the proportioning valve, so I figured I ought to replace that, too, and that's on order and should be here Thursday (two days from now). When I removed the lines from the prop valve, fluid did drip out of both the valve and the lines, so I'm hoping/assuming that nothing is clogging the prop valve and that I probably don't need to replace it, but I'll do so, anyway.

Here's the old prop valve (in the Olds Chassis Service Manual, it is referred to as a "combination" valve). Looks pretty good once cleaned up.






Here's what the new one is supposed to look like, from the InlineTube website. Not an exact match, but it should be a drop-in, functional replacement.




So that's where things sit at the moment. I'm hoping that, when new parts are all here and installed, the brake pedal WILL move when pressed and will force fluid through the system like it's supposed to so I can properly bleed the rear brakes. If not, then that suggests a clogged line somewhere and more detective work. Since both of the back wheel lines were dry, if there is a clog, it is likely between the proportioning valve and the tee-fitting at the rear of the car. But I'm going to take the optimistic view that replacing the master cylinder and proportioning valve will get things working again.

If so, then it's on to the front brakes for new rotors and pads, and THEN I might be able to put gas in the new tank, get the car started and running again, and get to the GEN light issue.

 

If it's clogged that bad, replace the rubber hose on the axle housing. That is almost always where they fail. Since you've got it all apart, remove the rubber hose fittings and blow out the rear lines with compressed air to get rid of any crud in them too.

 

X2 on the line blast, but I use a couple shots of non-chlor brake cleaner to remove any sticking garbage (had it happen on a '68 Cougar with about the same problem as yours--the prop valve was bad, and I could only rebuild it). And yes, that newer-style valve assembly should work, as long as all the compression fittings are the same size as the female orifices on the new valve.

 

I removed the steel lines from the t-fitting at the end of the rear brake hose and then tried to blow compressed air through the rear line starting at the proportioning valve end. No luck. So there was a clog in either the brake hose or the steel line. I removed the brake hose, and, fortunately, it turned out to be the culprit. With it removed, I had no trouble blowing air through the steel line. I could not blow air through the hose, and it is now in the trash can. I'm glad it wasn't the steel line as I wasn't looking forward to to replacing it. I bought a new brake hose, put it in, and reconnected the steel lines from each wheel. I can't bleed the brakes yet because I haven't yet installed the proportioning valve, vacuum booster, or master cylinder. I have the latter two on hand, and the P-valve is supposed to arrive in today's mail.

For all I know, the old prop valve works fine. I'll try to reuse it if the new one doesn't fit for some reason. I should know soon enough.

 

You can remove the brake warning switch and the nut on the one end, and pull the spring and piston out. Of course, make sure your hands are clean and free of oil, or if you have some, don fresh latex or nitrile gloves. Anyway, if the piston does not slide out easily, or at all, then you know it has a problem.

 

The new prop valve arrived, and it's now in the car. It is a drop-in replacement in all respects. The only obvious difference is that it does not have the "reset" button on the front. The old one has a little rubber button on the front end which, I read, is used to reset the front-car portion of the valve if any of the the front-end brakes lines ever failed and the sudden loss in pressure forced the valve to that side. Or something like that. There is no reset on the rear side. But not all P-valves have the reset button, and this new one doesn't. But, otherwise, it fit right in, and I've reconnected the rear and two front lines. I haven't connected the lines from the master cylinder because the master cylinder is not installed yet. That's for tomorrow.

 

Potential parts car for very little dough.

https://detroit.craigslist.org/mcb/cto/6076460416.html

 

Not a bad price at all, but I don't really need much in the way of parts that this car could provide. I do need some of the "XS" badging, but this car is not an XS, so it won't have it. He says it needs the driver's floor and trunk floor patched, and mine is in better shape than that.

It just so happens that today my car officially got "back on the road." After several weeks of redoing the fuel and brake systems (most of that time spent waiting for parts to arrive by mail/UPS/whatever, including returning and reordering one or two that did not fit for one reason or another despite what the website said), I just this morning finished the last of the front brake job (new hoses, calipers, rotors, and pads) to complement the complete redoing of the rear brakes along with replacement of the master cylinder and vacuum booster, I put gas in the tank, started it up, and drove it around the block. I've yet to register and title it, and now that it is driveable, I can do that.

Anyway, the subject car would certainly be a good project for that price.

 

Woo hoo! Back on the road!

 

How's the leather interior on your XS? Original ad said it might be deteriorating. The more durable velour on this other is what came to mind when I saw the ad.

 

Yes, but the velour shows some wear on the driver's seat. Babe's bench has velour, and it's fairly worn on the driver's end. The leather should be rubbed down with a leather conditioner to restore its pliability/moisture content, and be repaired if there are any tears.

 

Here's a list of everything I've done to the car since its arrival on February 25:

1. new battery and battery cables
2. change oil and filter
3. change transmission fluid and filter
4. replace stabilizer bar end links
5. new fuel pump
6. new front shock absorbers
7. totally renewed front brakes (hoses, calipers, pads, rotors)
8. totally renewed rear brakes (hose, drums, shoes, wheel cylinders, spring hardware)
9. new fuel tank, tank sending unit, and rubber fuel lines
10. new master cylinder, vacuum booster, and proportioning valve
11. new spark plugs and plug wires

The rear shocks on this car are air shocks, something I did not know when I bought it. To my amazement, they still hold air, so I don't plan to replace them for now if at all.

 

The leather is generally pretty good. In fact, the interior on this car was one of its strongest selling points. There are some cracks here and there which I plan to have fixed.