Hello finally to all Riviera forum members - some of you and me too lurked in the shadows here until one day we join in, officially - and I wonder why taken so long. I joined as a member here soon after buying my 1996 Riviera SC - teal green, in Nov 2018.
Over 10 years ago at the McDonalds drive through - got behind a light purple car - sooo many curves - not a straight line stuck out. What is it - it just has an R and supercharged whatever it is. As it pulled up and turned left could see Riviera badge at the lower quarter. Cool! An American car with European designing I thought. Then my cousins neighbor got a white Riviera. Cool cars. One night in 2018 remembered that purple Riviera and what if. There were purple Rivieras for sale just none close - but this low mileage teal Riviera was local and for sale.
In 1996 the original owner (in his 70's) bought this new - then passed away later in 1996. His wife was in her 80's - and their next door neighbor - a pastor - would drive her to church on Sundays in it. The car fax shows only 3,000 miles in 2003. When the wife passed in 2012 - the pastor inherited it - drove 18,000 miles until he and his wife could no longer get in it comfortably - so they drove high up SUV's. The low mileage - 21,871 -was intriguing - and its a rare sight to see as well.
After a few weeks - the engine was hard to start when hot - then weeks later it would cut out while driving - and hard to start again. Turned out to be the cam sensor. So installed new cam sensor, new belts - rad hoses - changed supercharger oil all at same time. Later that day - after fixing cam sensor trouble code the crank sensor went bad / generated a new trouble code - and both bad sensors shared identical symptoms - cutting out while driving and cranks but won't start. Changed original coils and ignition module with new AC Delco parts and a j-yard PCM - my baby was driving great again. All thanks to some of you who are my heroes Riv owners here in the forum!
Has ran like new for a year until I pulled out last week and noticed the speedometer quit and trans would not shift out of 1st gear. A new AC Delco trans speed sensor didn't fix/solve it - so I reinstalled the original PCM - and have taken out on one trip for 40 minutes and today for 20 minutes - speedometer works and shifts great again, all is well, so far, so good, so what.
Yes been lurking for years here and also been lurking on the Olds Aurora forum, today is a good day to share - my Riv now has 23,876 miles today and tons of respect to all who contribute - my Riviera would'nt be running like a new car today without all the help I got here reading the awesome threads/info/stories.
I didn't know anything about these Rivs and felt like I had little to contribute and little time to dedicate maybe is all. Sending the good vibes from here in sunny Virginia, wishing everyone the best...bye for now!!
