1986 Cutlass Supreme Brougham
#1
04-08-2009, 04:36 PM
1986 Cutlass Supreme Brougham
Last fall my grandparents gave me a 1986 Cutlass Supreme Brougham with the 3.8L 6 cylinder. It was garage kept for its entire life and had a little over 53,000 miles when I received it. It was not being driven very often the last 3-5 years. When I got it, it was averaging something like 15-16 mpg and had various warning lights showing. I checked all the codes, addressed all the problems for the first couple of months, and had the gas mileage over 22, putting 2,000 miles on the car, but then I had to put the project aside. I am now trying to get the car road worthy so I can replace my 2001 Malibu which has almost 240,000 miles on it. I have not been able to get the battery warning light to go off. To address this I have replaced the battery with an Optima (RedTop®; Battery; UNBOXED; Group 75/25; Cold Crank Amps 720; Crank Amps 910; Reserve Capacity 90; Ampere Hour 44; Dual Terminal; L-9 5/16 in.; W-6 13/16 in.; H-7 5/8 in.) and the positive battery connector, which had significant corrosion. My next planned move is to pull the alternator and have it checked. One concern I have is that the Optima battery is not matched well for the electrical system of the car – any opinion on this? Does anyone have advice on how to address the battery warning light beyond checking the alternator? How about increasing the gas mileage? The rated MPG (http://www.fueleconomy.gov/Feg/bymodel/1986_Oldsmobile_Cutlass_Supreme.shtml) is 16/22, but I was thinking this car was supposed to be mid 20s. I drive very conservatively and usually get 20-25% better performance than stated by the manufacturer. I commute approximately 580 miles a week and need a car that gets at least 27-28 mpg. This car may not be able to fill my need, but I would like it to because it was free and is a pretty sweet ride.
Thanks,
Jim
Thanks,
Jim
#2
05-04-2009, 11:41 PM
4 May 09 Update
The car is now running without any warning lights. The problem was the alternator. I checked the voltage across the battery while the car was not running and the measured 12.13V; running, 12.49V. I replaced the alternator and Voila!
Now my To Do list is, in no particular order:
1. Repair/replace the headliner.
2. The car does not start quickly, especially if has set overnight or longer. A guy at work, who knows this engine, says I need to adjust the timing and replace the distributor (not sure about that, my notes are at work). Anyway I want the car to start quickly and need to address this.
3. Improve the gas mileage. Below is a table with the gas mileage since the car came into my possession. (I apologize for the appearance of the table, but I do not how to import a table without the autoformatting making it unreadable.) As you can see I have improved the MPG from when I got the car, but I am nowhere near getting 27-28 MPG, which may be unrealistic and require me to sell. As I said in my original post, I sure do not want to let this sweet ride go if I can help it. Please let me know if you have any suggestions for upping the MPG.
__Date__ Mileage Amount _Grade_ Total Bill _MPG_
05/27/08 __53316 _0.000 Regular __________ 14.75
05/28/08 __53541 15.251 Regular __________ 16.01
06/05/08 __53731 11.865 Regular ____$44.84 15.08
06/10/08 __53931 13.259 Regular ____$50.90 16.75
06/25/08 __54131 11.937 Regular ____$46.18 23.39
07/18/08 __54451 13.679 Regular ____$54.16 20.49
08/01/08 __54685 11.418 Regular ____$41.78 18.92
08/06/08 __54981 15.645 Supreme ____$61.94 22.29
08/25/08 __55260 12.517 Regular ____$42.04 22.02
09/30/08 __55584 14.715 Regular ____$49.43 19.92
03/09/09 __55896 15.659 Regular ____$28.17 22.56
04/12/09 __56190 13.031 Regular ____$24.75 20.17
Thanks,
Jim
Now my To Do list is, in no particular order:
1. Repair/replace the headliner.
2. The car does not start quickly, especially if has set overnight or longer. A guy at work, who knows this engine, says I need to adjust the timing and replace the distributor (not sure about that, my notes are at work). Anyway I want the car to start quickly and need to address this.
3. Improve the gas mileage. Below is a table with the gas mileage since the car came into my possession. (I apologize for the appearance of the table, but I do not how to import a table without the autoformatting making it unreadable.) As you can see I have improved the MPG from when I got the car, but I am nowhere near getting 27-28 MPG, which may be unrealistic and require me to sell. As I said in my original post, I sure do not want to let this sweet ride go if I can help it. Please let me know if you have any suggestions for upping the MPG.
__Date__ Mileage Amount _Grade_ Total Bill _MPG_
05/27/08 __53316 _0.000 Regular __________ 14.75
05/28/08 __53541 15.251 Regular __________ 16.01
06/05/08 __53731 11.865 Regular ____$44.84 15.08
06/10/08 __53931 13.259 Regular ____$50.90 16.75
06/25/08 __54131 11.937 Regular ____$46.18 23.39
07/18/08 __54451 13.679 Regular ____$54.16 20.49
08/01/08 __54685 11.418 Regular ____$41.78 18.92
08/06/08 __54981 15.645 Supreme ____$61.94 22.29
08/25/08 __55260 12.517 Regular ____$42.04 22.02
09/30/08 __55584 14.715 Regular ____$49.43 19.92
03/09/09 __55896 15.659 Regular ____$28.17 22.56
04/12/09 __56190 13.031 Regular ____$24.75 20.17
Thanks,
Jim
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