The fleetwood has problems.

when i wash the car,(something i enjoy doing with this car) the door locks unlock!
Not once,. but constantly over the course of maybe half an hour or so,.and only unlock.
The water is affecting something in one of the doors i'd guess,.

When i,m turning left at speed, the steering has a hiccup in it,. turning in more than i am asking for, and making the old girl pretty twitchy,. I,ve never had a problem like this before,..

Going from memory over on the Caddy forum... the steering on the Fleetwood is variable boost, if you unplug the sensor (think it's on the pump), it will default to the same boost all the time. A quick check to see if that's the issue. If that's not it, quick steering might be too much toe (maybe just out of whack on that one side). Couple of tape measures...

Nick,
I had the same thing on the steering with my MAB Roadmaster. There is a sensor ring in on the steering column that tells the system your wheel position. When it starts to fail the amount of boost will change and it can be pretty scary. Like jayoldschool said you can disconnect the connector either at the pump or on the steering column. It's in the engine bay at the base of the column.

When you disconnect it the system will default to full boost. Single finger turning the wheel mode.

With the door locks I would start with the rear door switches. As those switches only lock not unlock (At least on my car). I would disconnect them and see what you get.

-D

Yep, my 94 RMS had the steering column sensors "twitch" in corners and it was a beast to drive and actually scary. I think there is 1 or 2 sensors of some type in the column, I had a shop replace mine and it all went away.

so i investigated,. its on the steering column but at the top next to the firewall engine side,.
how does it come off???? anybody with an fsm,. please?

doug the door locks only unlock,.the back ones only lock,.i was thinking if they got wet and made contact they would lock?

i wish this old caddy had the touch key pad for the doors,. AND steering wheel radio controls,.fan control etc,.

phantom 309 wrote:

so i investigated,. its on the steering column but at the top next to the firewall engine side,.
how does it come off????  anybody with an fsm,. please?

doug the door locks only unlock,.the back ones only lock,.i was thinking if they got wet and made contact they would lock?

i wish this old caddy had the touch key pad for the doors,. AND steering wheel radio controls,.fan control etc,.

Mine had the same issue.  Other than pulling the column, you can't replace the sensor.  There is also some "clocking" instructions that you do have as well. I just pulled the pressure valve connector (it was in the pressure line on mine) and lived with the cloud steering.

As for the locks, check the drivers door lock assembly.  If memory serves, when you unlock (or maybe it was lock???) the drivers door manually it unlocks the others so there has to be a sensor in there that is now getting wet.  Mine had a phantom locking problem on occasion.  Still have the spare key on my key ring for just that eventuality.  Got tired of locking keys in the car.  That problem disappeared when I replaced the column (thanks Jay).

Just for edification, the VRS sensor didn't work on the replacement column either.  Must be a common problem.

Bill

Nick, the FSM is pretty vague on this. Section 3B5 is what you're looking for, although without a Tech 1 I don't see any easy way to run through the diagnostic charts they have. However I have also seen this behavior a couple of times (usually on shallow, sweeping right turns) and according to same manual the remediation is to replace the steering wheel speed sensor. It's also possible the connector for the power steering module is dirty. It's a little box with an 8 pin connector that sits on the VATS bracket.

I haven't found where it describes how to change the sensor, but it looks like you can pull the intermediate shaft and it should just pop on and off.

Nick,
I think I read locking instead of unlocking.

I took a quick look at the FSM
It is  between the Rag Joint and the upper column. Sandwiched between them with a clip.

Section 3F-10 has the removal / install procedure.
essentially you unbolt the rag joint from the upper steering shaft and it is sandwiched between the two.

B bodies have the same setup.

If you have a FSM for a roadmaster / Caprice it should be in there.
-D

YachtDriver wrote:

Nick,
I think I read locking instead of unlocking.

I took a quick look at the FSM
It is  between the Rag Joint and the upper column. Sandwiched between them with a clip.

Section 3F-10 has the removal / install procedure.
essentially you unbolt the rag joint from the upper steering shaft and it is sandwiched between the two.

B bodies have the same setup.

If you have a FSM for a roadmaster / Caprice it should be in there.
-D

Thanks, I see it now as well. Looks easy. Anyone have a part number? I should change mine as well.

https://gmlongroof.4umer.com/t4282-caprice-or-roadmaster-power-steering

https://gmlongroof.4umer.com/t2325-should-i-keep-or-disable-the-variable-assist-power-steering

http://www.impalassforum.com/vBulletin/17-suspension/261893-variable-effort-steering-ves-has-erratic-boost-2.html

- J

Ok quick update,. i er,. fixed it??

i took ahold of the potentiometer sensor thingy,. and rotated it back and forth a little, maybe only a 1/8th inch each time,..
I took the car to town and it seems as if i have cured it?

I still think i will split the shaft apart and remove it and see if i can brea,..  um,. fix it better?

and a 2 gal pal of water 1 door at a time,.

Nick, did you have a chance to take it apart? Given how much it moves it seems unlikely that a little attention like that would do much of anything. On the other hand, mine hasn't overboosted during a turn in quite some time, so maybe you fixed mine too.

Next time we get a Roadmaster or Fleetwood in a nearby yard I'll grab a sensor and see what I can make of it, and see if it's possible to clean it without destroying it.

J- thanks for the links, that is really helpful. I will also keep an eye out for other NV7 vehicles and see if those newer sensors will fit and function properly.

It honestly is working just fine,. so yes i 'fixed' it?

Joel wrote in his write up that he split the case open carefully with a buck knife,. and cleaned the discs,.

My other idea was to drill a tiny hole and try and introduce some carb cleaner, and rotate the shaft full lock to full lock a few times,. then park it with the hole on the down side, then just a dab of silicone after,.

but its working fine,. so sleeping dogs etc,..

As for your ves wotking now,.,.. it might well be true about my mystical powers,...

Carb cleaner is probably way too aggressive and might lift the carbon right off the resistor tracks inside. Use something meant for that purpose. Deoxit is great for cleaning contacts and variable resistors.

I think the caddy is done.

i just put new mufflers and a balance pipe on it too,.nice quiet dynomax mufflers,.



i liked driving it ,..

Ugh...........Sorry to see that Nick.  Don't give up on it yet!

Calling Jarrod

That sucks! between ass hats keying the car, and now folks driving by sound you have not had good luck with that vehicle.

I recognize the street in the 1st picture...down town Shelburne. I assume someone rear ended you Nick? I sincerely hope the insurance company fixes it...such a low mileage clean car.

I like the exhaust, does DynoMax offer the correct length muffler or did you have to fiddle with the pipes? I sent you a PM fingers crossed for a good outcome.

silverfox103 wrote:

Ugh...........Sorry to see that Nick.  Don't give up on it yet!

Calling Jarrod

A woman driving a chevy cruze hit it,. I was stopped at a light,. she gave the cop a story about her foot slipping out of her flip flop,.

The kids were with me an we are pretty sure she was texting,. the drivers front connected with the pass rear of the caddy,.she hit at about a 20deg angle,.still under power,.

The caddy 1/4 panel is pushed ahead,wrinkled in 2-3 places, there is a wrinkle in the roof underneath the vinyl , The rear door is now overlapping the 1/4 by 3/4", after we opened the door,. we can only latch on the first catch now,. the bumper trim is gouged,. the reflector in the bumper is broke,.tail light trim is broken,the bumper itself has a large wrinkle in it,.and the tailpipe and resonator are pushed up and in some,
No idea if the frame is tweaked,. but i doubt it,. just the angle that she hit transferred the energy into the pass side half of the bumper which in turn wrinkled the panel,.you can see the wrinkle in the door frame,.

Probably the nicest car i,ve put together so far,.

I guess i'll maybe drag the orange lump out and fix it for wagonfest,.

I hope everyone is OK. Sometimes neck/back injuries don't become obvious until the next day.

Does not sound good for the Caddy. Obviously it could be fixed, but we all know how quickly insurance companies are to write off older cars. There is a guy on the Fleetwood FB page that has a hoard of D body parts. (If you need his contact info PM me).

Sorry Nick,that really sucks...

Find one of the same mileage and quality, and get her insurance company to buy it for you.

Fred Kiehl wrote:

Find one of the same mileage and quality, and get her insurance company to buy it for you.

Up here, we have this marvelous thing called "no fault" insurance. You can be parked in your driveway, watching the tube, with your keys in your pocket and someone could cream you and both of your insurance companies end up fighting over who pays. You still end up paying the deductible and getting screwed.

This happened to my Cadillac and I ended up getting 1/2 of what it was worth. They have turned a relatively straight forward transaction and convoluted it to the extent that no one wins. Should rename it "everyone gets screwed" insurance.

Sorry to see the demise of such a beautiful car Nick. I would take what you can get out of the insurance company, follow Fred's advise and get a good solid southern car and swap out all the good bits from the Burgundy car. For some reason, once you have driven one of these cars, its hard to go back to one of the "B" cars. Still miss mine.

Bill

Sorry to see that Nick. That may be my favorite color for these big GM cars too.

That sucks big time. Sorry to see this.

Geezus Nick.... Glad all of yours are OK.

You know.... there is a guy next to me with a frame machine..... has experience with a notorious B-Body Pontiac......

Drive that puppy down here and we'll get it fixed.

I don't think so rob,. the car is bent just from the angle of the hit,.check the trunk lid gap,.the trunk lid is over the trunk ,.

A good frame guy can fix that. Check locally. You would be surprised what they can do.

Superior Finish wrote:

A good frame guy can fix that. Check locally. You would be surprised what they can do.

The frame is fine,. its the body itself,..you can pull tin back,.but it will be compromised,.so it involves cutting to relieve stress points lifting the body off the frame,. then fixing stuff etc,. tin will never look the same etc,.

I'm trying here......

Superior Finish wrote:

I'm trying here......

I hear ya buddy,..

Yeah we had a 89'Caprice back in the day that the frame wasn't bad and the body was, so we took it to the frame shop and the frame guy told my dad that he wouldn't guarantee the body to go back where it was. The frame was no problem, but the Body was a maybe. We took it anyways. He did his best and it never was right. My dad sold it out of disgust, not from the guy's work but the fact that it was never right for such a nice car.

Nick just now seeing these pics. I'm really sorry to see this. Scary and sad. Glad you and the kids are ok but I sure know how sick you must be over the car.
I'll be happy to get on the search for a Texas Caddy whenever you say GO!

Fast search for cheapies and parts cars.

http://austin.craigslist.org/cto/5621585463.html - $650 Fleetwood needs front clip. Rust Free Texas!

http://sanantonio.craigslist.org/cto/5670479837.html - $600 Texas Fleetwood. Needs a trans and rear window...and most-likely your interior!

http://dallas.craigslist.org/ftw/cto/5655471859.html - $1800 runner with 114K miles and power moonroof.

Thanks mike thats really nice of you,..

nick

Nick you wanted a set of the cast spoke for it right or the chrome brougham wheels?

stewzer55 wrote:

Nick you wanted a set of the cast spoke for it right or the chrome brougham wheels?

chrome wheels,.

Dang guys, Superior finish is correct.  Down South we have many skilled body repair shops who could easily fix that pretty Caddy. It would border on insanity to me if that car was junked. Letting the insurors total the real cars is one big reason the rates are sky high. STAND YOUR GROUND ! Don't sign anything until you are completely satisfied with the repair and shop around to find a shop who's work is acceptable to your standards. The insurance goons will steer you toward the cheapest place they can so learn to say "NO!"  Look into agreed value policys where you can set the value of your ride realistically, having that coverage dissuades the insurors from screaming total loss for damages like on Nick's Caddy.

If only us northern fools had the skills of them southern boys,. things would all be just fine,..and that old caddy would just az clean and straight as mama's starched sheets hanging on the line,.

Let me put some assumptions to rest,.

I did have the car appraised and i did have an agreed upon value,.

I have been paid for the car, and i,m keeping the carcass with a clean title,.

Some of us far northern boys is just as slick as some of them country folk down south ,.  y'all,.

It doesn't make things better tho,. in this case i would rather have the car,.

i am depressed over the whole affair,. and i have to drink heavily to suppress the urge to go burn down the house of the other driver,...

DRINK the alcohol, don't throw it on the fire.

Yeah, it still hurts to see another nice car bite the dust.  Maybe I should rephrase what I said.  I do know quite a few Northern guys who possess the mad man skills needed to straighten out that car.  What needs said is they aren't as quick to total a real car down here, probably because it won't be considered a hacked up rustpile to start with. Your's isn't rusty that I can see so it merits saving. That said, most totals here are ricers or front drive throwaways.  The bigger cars seem to get repaired more often than junked.   I bet I'm not the only one that shares your urge, and I hate people driving with a cell phone in front of their face. Guess being born in Presto, PA. then living in Tennessee makes me a what ? Wife is from Gross Point, MI. and hates the city life, likes hillbilly life like I do. Doesn't make loosing another nice car hurt any less though.

"i am depressed over the whole affair,. and I have to drink heavily to suppress the urge to go burn down the house of the other driver,..."

Been hanging out with Jim?

Andebe wrote:

"i am depressed over the whole affair,. and I have to drink heavily to suppress the urge to go burn down the house of the other driver,..."

Been hanging out with Jim?

who?