New Daily Driver (Caprice)

[1987 GMC Jimmy]

My daily driver since I started driving has been a 2006 VW TDI Jetta that my dad gave me. It's been an expensive mess that has something wrong in every facet, and I'm done with it. I hate the car and don't wish it on my worst enemy. Anyways, my new daily driver is about to be a 1986 Chevy Caprice that a family friend is practically giving me, and I've been made aware of one glaring problems and one considerable plus. The plus is the car has a new motor, and when I was growing up, it was a granny car that I was around quite often. I even rode in it once when I was eight. The minus is the car has a death wobble condition. Have any of you B-Body people experienced this, and where did it stem from if you did? I was told that its stalled going down the interstate once so I'm guessing it's either the filter, the pump, or the carburetor needs to be rebuilt. That's why I looked for a TBI Jimmy, but for free, I can learn to love carburetors. I'm pretty sure that the sedan powertrain options for that year were either a 262 V6 w/ a TH200 or a 305 V8 w/ a 200-4R. I'm pretty sure it's the latter option, and I'm good with the 305, but am I in trouble with the transmission now or down the road? Thanks. @foamypirate

 

[foamypirate]

The 2004-R is pretty decent transmission. As long as it's been somewhat maintained, I wouldn't worry too much about it if it appears to be functioning OK. That said, you never know with something that's 30 years old.

As far as the death wobble goes, the first place I'd start would be getting the tires balanced, just to get a starting point. If it goes away, sweet! If not, then you can start looking at the suspension components like bushings, tie rod ends, and idler/pitman arm.

 

[bucket]

B-bodies are great cars! As for the death wobble, it must be some bad tires. I've driven a lot of them that had a bunch of SHOT front end parts, and they still always drive well.

 

[1987 GMC Jimmy]

The 2004-R is pretty decent transmission. As long as it's been somewhat maintained, I wouldn't worry too much about it if it appears to be functioning OK. That said, you never know with something that's 30 years old.

As far as the death wobble goes, the first place I'd start would be getting the tires balanced, just to get a starting point. If it goes away, sweet! If not, then you can start looking at the suspension components like bushings, tie rod ends, and idler/pitman arm.

Okay, great on the transmission. With the wobble, I would like it to be something super simple like alignment. I know how to check for tie rod ends, but how do I diagnose idler and pitman arm? And by the way, I saw in a recent thread response that you have a Caprice. That's why I tagged you. What year is it?

 

[1987 GMC Jimmy]

B-bodies are great cars! As for the death wobble, it must be some bad tires. I've driven a lot of them that had a bunch of SHOT front end parts, and they still always drive well.

That makes me feel better. And yeah, I love B-Bodies. My dad bought an '89 LS Brougham seventeen years ago, and it's practically in mothballs with 20,000 original miles. I've gotten to drive it some over the years, and it's a lot of fun. It's sorta like floating in mid air, and it's pretty decent on the low end for a stock car. A far cry better from the FWD, unibody dribble that's dominated the passenger car market for years. I'll post pics when I get it home.

 

[yevgenievich]

Check for loose suspension, but likely a failing tire

 

[1987 GMC Jimmy]

I talked to the owner today. I had been talking to my summer employer (her brother-in-law). Anyways, she made mention of the suspension issue. She said she couldn't really explain it so I guess I'm going into this more blind than I was led to believe. She's giving me the car for free, but she sounds kind of sad about it because it was her mom's. She also made mention of the appeal to thieves that these cars hold, which I was aware of. I thought, however, that the appeal was going down due to newer, more state of the art cars, and these grow more dated. I also feel like there's a lot to be done to help thwart those who want to steal it. Kill switch, security system, steering column lock, etc. Thoughts?

 

[foamypirate]

Okay, great on the transmission. With the wobble, I would like it to be something super simple like alignment. I know how to check for tie rod ends, but how do I diagnose idler and pitman arm? And by the way, I saw in a recent thread response that you have a Caprice. That's why I tagged you. What year is it?

I've got a 91' with 68,000 miles on it. It's a cherry. Love that car.

As far as pitman and idler go, you would basically check them like a tie rod, just have someone turn the wheel back and forth and watch for play in the cup.

 

[1987 GMC Jimmy]

Ahh, okay. I'll just grab the wheels and give them a shake. Yes, they're all good cars. The LT1 Caprices kind of turn me off by what I've heard about Optispark, and the digital gauges don't quite feel right, but anything besides that would feel right at home with me.

 

[Old77]

All this talking and no pics of le caprice

 

[1987 GMC Jimmy]

Well, I haven't seen it in a while myself. I'll see it tomorrow or Saturday and post a picture then.

 

[HotRodPC]

Sounds like you're getting a good project car. I sure wouldn't mind having that VW TDI to play with. I know they're expensive and if you don't have the patience to learn to work on them yourself, they'll kill you financially. Even parts are expensive when you know how to work on them yourself. What condition is the VW in otherwise and what kinds of problems are you having with it?

Ohhh and what's this ******** of talking about a new ride and No Pics? Where are pics of both of these? The Caprice and the VW?

 

[foamypirate]

To make up for the lack of Caprice pictures...I shall ***** mine out (complete with random light pole, in homage to the car's PO, @Old77).

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[1987 GMC Jimmy]

Sounds like you're getting a good project car. I sure wouldn't mind having that VW TDI to play with. I know they're expensive and if you don't have the patience to learn to work on them yourself, they'll kill you financially. Even parts are expensive when you know how to work on them yourself. What condition is the VW in otherwise and what kinds of problems are you having with it?

Ohhh and what's this ******** of talking about a new ride and No Pics? Where are pics of both of these? The Caprice and the VW?

The Jetta has worn camshaft and lifters, there's something wrong with the throttle actuation, one of the fuel pumps is bad, the triptronic switch is bad (I don't think it's the trans, but it could be), there's some kind of electrical problem that comes and goes (BCM?) where like if you press the brakes, the window will go down, and the A/C's failed. I don't know if it's the freon because I tried to charge it, and it didn't work. I think it's the compressor. That's all I can think of, but there were a couple other things. Anyways, I got a couple pictures here of the Caprice. It was in much better shape when I was a kid, but I think I can restore it back to glory. The Jetta's nothing special to see, but then again I'm pretty disgusted with it.

 

[1987 GMC Jimmy]

You wanted to see it, too @Old77.