My 3rd Car, a FREE 1990 Olds Cutlass Supreme

[1987 GMC Jimmy]

I put three gallons of gas in it, and installed the fuel pressure relay (took it out to test the electronics out). Heard no pump and got no start. I sprayed a little starting fluid into the throttle body, and it popped off for a sec so it looks like once it gets fuel, it’ll start up. I got just the pump, a strainer sock, and a filter. Part of me wants to just cut a hole under the seat and do it, but if there’s rust, and I have to have the tank rodded out, it’ll have been for nothing. I also made sure the pump fuse and relay were good. Would there be an access panel on this? Probably not...

I checked fuses. What a weird setup but whatever. You have to take this little cubby out of the glove compartment, and there it is. At this point, the instrument cluster, the turn signals, and the horn are the only things that don’t work. Climate control does work, at least partially. Anyway, all the fuses are all good. I have not been able to locate the turn signal flasher yet. Hazards work, and the clicking sounds like it’s coming from somewhere on the passenger side. Horn relay clicks, but there’s no beeping. Maybe the horn just isn’t getting the juice, or the wire got loose. I have no clue what the deal is with the cluster.

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[CorvairGeek]

Is there another fuel pump fuse under the hood, possibly in a holder, all by itself?

 

[roundhouse]

Before you drop the tank
Try jumping the fuel pump wire
And see if the pump will run

And Uber has an age limit on cars

Think it’s eight years ?

 

[1987 GMC Jimmy]

Is there another fuel pump fuse under the hood, possibly in a holder, all by itself?

That’s the fuse I’m talking about. The relay and fuse are right next to each other in the holder.

Before you drop the tank
Try jumping the fuel pump wire
And see if the pump will run

And Uber has an age limit on cars

Think it’s eight years ?

Ahh, that’s lame. Didn’t know that. I’ll see about doing that before replacing.

 

[CorvairGeek]

That’s the fuse I’m talking about. The relay and fuse are right next to each other in the holder.

Good, I'm glad you found that one. Since you had shown us the weird, interior fuse panel, I was concerned you may have not known about the other.
The A-body also has a glove compartment accessed fuse panel. There is also a fuse taped to the harness, behind the fuse panel, that can only be accessed by removing the glove box liner. I guess the run out of room as designs age (especially with the A-body, your '90 W body is a little 'fresher') and just start sticking things in places. Or it could be from smoking crack...

 

[1987 GMC Jimmy]

Do any of you guys who’ve fooled with these know what could be wrong with the cluster? I will say I forgot to probe the fuse panel to see what was going on there. The original owner said it worked when it was parked, as did everything else. I’m worried the whole thing’s actually dead because there is backlighting back there.

I’m also getting horn relay click but no horn. Could both horns be blown out? This seems more like a wiring issue to me.

Finally, if anyone knows the location of the turn signal flasher, that would help me out. I can hear the hazard flasher on the passenger side but couldn’t see it. All the pertinent fuses and relays are confirmed good. I signed up on the W Body forum, but it won’t send me the email to confirm my registration. Tried multiple emails and nothing. @CorvairGeek @RetroC10Sport @Jiggity76

 

[CorvairGeek]

Sadly, I can't provide much help. The one thing I will mention is that components can be arranged differently between different division cars of the same chassis. I'm not surprised if you find different locations listed.

 

[CorvairGeek]

See if the horn gets 12v when you press the button. I'll bet they are internally corroded.

 

[RetroC10Sport]

Do any of you guys who’ve fooled with these know what could be wrong with the cluster? I will say I forgot to probe the fuse panel to see what was going on there. The original owner said it worked when it was parked, as did everything else. I’m worried the whole thing’s actually dead because there is backlighting back there.

I’m also getting horn relay click but no horn. Could both horns be blown out? This seems more like a wiring issue to me.

Finally, if anyone knows the location of the turn signal flasher, that would help me out. I can hear the hazard flasher on the passenger side but couldn’t see it. All the pertinent fuses and relays are confirmed good. I signed up on the W Body forum, but it won’t send me the email to confirm my registration. Tried multiple emails and nothing. @CorvairGeek @RetroC10Sport @Jiggity76

Those clusters are well known for going out. Might upgrade to a ful cluster if you feel up to it.

It's also possible about both horns, I've had horns go bad before.

Turn flasher is up by the steering column under the lower panel, I think to the right of the column.

 

[Jiggity76]

Jiggity76 here, sorry it took me so long to reply, been busy. Anyway, very cool to read all about this project and I love these cars no matter how basic or fully optioned they are!

The turn signal/hazard flasher is mounted on top of the steering column clear down at the base of it next to the firewall. I recently replaced mine on the 91 International and I assume it's the same on the sedans. It's a pain to change out because of where it's at. It's mounted on top of the column in a metal clip that wraps around the body of the flasher, the flasher sort of locks into the metal holder. Make sure to get the correct one too, there are a few options that may not work. I had to take the old one to the parts store and made sure it was the right one, the guy at the counter was a little confused on which one I needed and he was trying to sell me ones that were either plastic (my original was metal) and different diameters.

The cluster - I'm going thru a repair process again on the 91 International but it's the higher end UB3 with HUD so it's pretty rare. A friend at work has a 92 Cutlass sedan with the base cluster like yours. His went dead last year and he sent it off to a place I think in Wisconsin. They repaired it for about $200 bucks, took a week, and it's been working flawlessly since. I will ask him on Monday and get the information of the shop if you like. Unfortunately, they can't repair mine because it's a Denso brand and not a AC/Delco one like yours. At least that's what they're telling me.

Good luck and I will enjoy reading about your progress and help in anyway I can. By the way, the guys on W-Body.com helped me with the turn signal/hazard flasher among numerous other things and they have been great! Very fortunate to have found them and made a lot of good friend there! I hope to do this same with this great forum as well!

 

[1987 GMC Jimmy]

Jiggity76 here, sorry it took me so long to reply, been busy. Anyway, very cool to read all about this project and I love these cars no matter how basic or fully optioned they are!

The turn signal/hazard flasher is mounted on top of the steering column clear down at the base of it next to the firewall. I recently replaced mine on the 91 International and I assume it's the same on the sedans. It's a pain to change out because of where it's at. It's mounted on top of the column in a metal clip that wraps around the body of the flasher, the flasher sort of locks into the metal holder. Make sure to get the correct one too, there are a few options that may not work. I had to take the old one to the parts store and made sure it was the right one, the guy at the counter was a little confused on which one I needed and he was trying to sell me ones that were either plastic (my original was metal) and different diameters.

The cluster - I'm going thru a repair process again on the 91 International but it's the higher end UB3 with HUD so it's pretty rare. A friend at work has a 92 Cutlass sedan with the base cluster like yours. His went dead last year and he sent it off to a place I think in Wisconsin. They repaired it for about $200 bucks, took a week, and it's been working flawlessly since. I will ask him on Monday and get the information of the shop if you like. Unfortunately, they can't repair mine because it's a Denso brand and not a AC/Delco one like yours. At least that's what they're telling me.

Good luck and I will enjoy reading about your progress and help in anyway I can. By the way, the guys on W-Body.com helped me with the turn signal/hazard flasher among numerous other things and they have been great! Very fortunate to have found them and made a lot of good friend there! I hope to do this same with this great forum as well!

Okay, that helps a lot with the flasher. What a weird place to put it. The hazard flasher sounds like it’s coming from the passenger side so I’m assuming it’s near the fuse box. I could be totally off the mark, though. I’m looking at a place called Mr. Whizard in North Dakota. They also charge $200 and can reprogram the odometer to not read “error” after 200,000 miles. They’re closed until February, though, so I am definitely interested in secondary options. My first mission upon getting back to the car in a week is dropping the tank and replacing all that plus the filter. At that time, I’ll see about flushing the lines and all that stuff with the injectors and the fuel rail.

Oh, are you planning on doing something with that dash curling in the middle. If it doesn’t get worse, I can deal with it. It doesn’t look bad. If there was a relatively easy way to deal with it, I would. It’s got that carpeted paneling all around that needed new adhesive, but other than those things, the interior’s mint. I just got my floor mats today, and I’m waiting on more parts!

 

[Jiggity76]

Yes, I think that's correct. There's also a chime that comes from the passenger side kick panel I believe that makes a chime when you leave the keys in the ignition and if your car is so equipped, a turn signal on reminder. The flasher relay that controls the speed of the turn signal and makes the "click" noise when you turn on your turn signal lives on the steering column. I believe the flasher or hazard relay is in the glove box/fuse box area that you've already described. The battery in the International is dead right now otherwise I would verify. I'm doing a brake job on the 96 Cutlass sedan tomorrow and I'll try to remember to verify where all the chimes come from and their location.

I've heard about the mileage thing, I'll ask my friend at work about it next week. Again, I'll get all the info for you on who and where he had his cluster sent off for the repairs.

My dash is curling too, it's a very common thing. I haven't fixed mine yet so haven't ventured down that road yet. I'm wanting to find how to repair these dashes just like you. I think I've heard of people clamping or stapling the edge back down after applying adhesive.

It's hard to tell but it's curling to the right of the HUD unit. The edge above the cluster is also curling a bit. Some other pics of my cluster when it was working and then when it stopped. Only showing warning lights now. Notice that the digital 0 is not present. Clusters/cars that were equipped with HUD will NOT display the digital 0. GM wanted you to use the HUD to see your MPH.

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

Also, I found this car down in the Des Moines Wrench N Go, a 90 sedan with the Quad 4! Same hubcaps and color as yours but with grey interior.

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

I actually found a car on Erepairables.com that was a 90 sedan with the Quad 4/5 speed manual combo last year I think, pretty cool and very rare. I think Manic said it was a 1 of 1 car!

 

[roundhouse]

Lot of people swapped the quad four into the Fiero

Almost doubled the power

 

[1987 GMC Jimmy]

Got the inside more or less cleaned up with the correct floor mats up front. I still need to steam clean the seats and clean the windows, window channels, and door sills, but it came together nicely.

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[Old77]

wow...not bed from where it started.