Some needed maintenance?

[Corbym]

The 88 I have brought back from the dead (sitting since 2010 covered in a garage) has been having slight issues. My goal is for this to be my daily driver, and I have just recently started to drive it in town only. I'd like to be able to feel confident going anywhere in it. 

Most everything is performing perfectly, but on occasion it will idle very high around 2000 rpm, the speedometer reads 0 at all times (assuming VSS needs replaced), the oil pan gasket has a slight leak, and the AC needs work as its disabled for low coolant. Any tips or information on those things would be great. 

The last thing I need help with is knowing what to go ahead and replace. I have done some replacing already ( I'll put a list down below). I have some ideas on what I think need replaced at some point, let me know if I'm wrong, if it needs replaced immediately, or if there's something you think I have missed.

Things I have replaced

• coolant/did a flush
• oil change (doing another one within 300 miles or so)
• plugs and plug wires
• tank and everything in it
• fuel filter
• blower motor
• all the vacuum lines I could find

Things that I plan on replacing

• trans fluid and filter? 
• oil pan gasket
• serp belt
• speed sensor
• brakes (it brakes just fine, figured it needs to happen however)

 

Let me know what you guys think you would do, or do differently. Thank you for your help.

 

[Ronnie]

Replace O2 sensor

Replace air filter

Flush and bleed brake fluid using how-to guide here on ROJ

Clean idle air controller

Rebuild headlight motors

Clean and tighten ground connections near battery

[Corbym]

58 minutes ago, Ronnie said:

Replace O2 sensor

Replace air filter

Flush and bleed brake fluid using how-to guide here on ROJ

Clean idle air controller

Rebuild headlight motors

Clean and tighten ground connections near battery

My headlight motors work good, what do you mean by rebuild them? Is this a preventative measure?

[Anthony]

In October 1990, there was a service bulletin that described a kit to repair the oil pan leak permanently. The kit included a different pan, gasket, and dipstick. 

 

Of course the kit is discontinued except for the dipstick, which I was surprised to find has just a generic black handle, without the original "Engine Oil" written on it.

 

I was able to find the updated aftermarket pan and gasket for 1991 on Rockauto. I could find no discernable difference between the mating surface of the old and new pans, so I don't recommend changing the pan And dipstick. The gasket however, I highly recommend changing to the new ribbed reusable one. 

 

The cause of my leak was two vertical engine gaskets protruding down past the engine and cutting into the pan gasket. Scraping those off and filling it back in with RTV sealer where any might have fallen out, and smoothing it out with a putty knife, before putting the new gasket back on and torquing the bolts to spec., solved the problem.

 

 

[Anthony]

I also changed the PCV valve as a precaution, to make sure the engine is not building up crankcase pressure from a clogged valve and exacerbating leaks

[Ronnie]

2 hours ago, Corbym said:

My headlight motors work good, what do you mean by rebuild them? Is this a preventative measure?

You can buy a kit to rebuild the headlight motors. The kit includes bushings, that tend to crumble over time, as well as new crankarms. The crankarms are made of a soft material that tends to wear out in the hole that fits on the shaft. The new crankarms are made of steel and will last the life of the car. I was thinking about rebuilding the headlight motors as preventive maintenance. If they have already been rebuilt you can check that off the list

 

Thanks to Barney Eaton for the photos.