Got the '95 home today

I got the '95 home today and have had some time to sort out some of the things that need attention.

1) I need a new supercharger belt. Any particular brand you'd recommend or to stay away from? I had to cut the old squealer off when I put some belt dressing on it and it jumped the pulleys.

2) The fuel door button on the door panel doesn't open the door. What does history tell you? A new door panel button or a new solenoid at the fuel door itself?

3) I'm not sure yet whether I'll keep this car as a driver or try to fix it up some and flip it. What's the most reasonable way to address the flaking clear coat. The color is the Platinum Beige Metallic.

4) The mirror on the driver's side looks like it's been tinted but it seems to be discolored. Unique to my car or something that's not uncommon?

Thanks in advance for any advice or hints.

Ed

1: Any belt made for the car would work fine, but I think Gates is the brand of choice

2: Probably an electric issue. Might be a fuse if there is one

3: Repaint

4: Replace the mirror glass, or the whole mirror itself.

Matt >Thanks for the quick reply.  I'll check the fuse box because when you mentioned "fuse" it reminded me that the horn doesn't work either.

There's a '97 Beige Riv in the local pic-n-pull that, if I remember correctly, has a couple of good mirrors on it.  I'm assuming that 95 and 97 mirrors are interchangeable but I learned quickly on my '63's and '64's that interchangeability is nothing to assume.

Thanks again,

Ed

I know anything electronic from 96-99 is the same, but that doesn't help your situation. If anything, why not pull it out of there and just have it sit in your backyard to pull parts off of, and to part out (assuming you have the time and room for it). You could even do the swap from the Series I to the Series II, assuming the engine is still good.

matt270avian wrote:

I If anything, why not pull it out of there and just have it sit in your backyard to pull parts off of...

You'd be talking about it sitting on the patio of the guy's house who lives behind me.

shameless self promotion here -> http://www.ebay.com/itm/321173582800?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649
also have passenger heated glass but havent ebayed it yet.

I believe the auto-dimming mirrors was an option for Rivieras, and most of them get all funky looking after a while. One good option it to grab a mirror from and Olds Aurora. It fits and doesnt look funky.

Good to see you here Ed!

#2 - Do you hear the solenoid click when you press the release? Try the emergency release handle in the trunk. If you are hearing the solenoid click, and the emergency release handle isn't opening the door, it could be that the hinge/spring is broken or bent.

#1 - the '95 is supposed to have a single accessory/supercharger belt I thought. Can you take a picture under the hood? My preference is for Dayco or Gates belts, but pass on the goodyear 'gatorback' gimmick.

#3 - unfortunately the peeling clearcoat leaves pretty much one option... sand it down and repaint.

#4 - many of us with auto-dimming and heated mirrors suffer from this. The mirrors are pretty much made of unobtanium now. Most likely you'll find tinted non-heated mirrors that are still surviving.

Hey Ed, your mirror issue is not uncommon. I just replaced my auto-dimming mirror with one that doesn't tint, but only heats up so you may want to do the same. I found it freaking tough to see out of the thing when it's gold.

Let us know how the fuel door issue goes and if / how you fix it. I'm having the same prob. with my trunk release button but haven't bothered to check anything

I sure hope you guys don't get tired of me before I get this '95 sorted out, but here's another situation I have.  As you're already aware, the SC belt jumped off when I went to pick up the car.  I cut the belt knowing that it would have to be replaced anyway (squealed badly.)  The car would start and run fine with out the SC belt.  I was letting it burn off some of the old fuel the night before last and all of a sudden I noticed the smell of anti-freeze and the temp gauge was way over to the right.  I shut it off thinking that something else had gone wrong.

I had studied the belt routing diagram in the back of the owner's manual and it shows that the main belt drives the water pump.  When I went on line and found an illustration of the belt routing, it shows that the SC belt drives the water pump.  I went out and looked at the engine and I can see that the SC belt does drive the water pump.  I'm guessing that by replacing the SC belt, the overheating problem will go away.  Now my bigger question now is - "Is the diagram in the owner's manual wrong or is there a chance that the engine in my car is not original?" I know where to look for engine ID numbers on the nailheads, but where do I find the same info on these 3800 SC engines?

Once again,  Thanks in advance.

Ed

i thought on the 95s they only had one belt and only the series 2 on 96+ had too belts? i may be wring tho

I talked with one of the ROA's tech advisors today and confirmed that the L67 engine has two belts; belt #1 runs the p/s and alternator, and belt #2 runs the SC, the a/c compressor, and the water pump.  

What I think that I've discovered after comparing the owner's manual he has for his '95 to the one I have for mine is that the diagram for the routing of the SC belt in the 1st edition owner's manual (mine) is wrong - that alone answers most of my questions.  

With that in mind, everything else seems to fall into place.  As long as I have to take belt #1 off to replace belt #2, I'll just replace both of them.  I can get both of them by Gates at the local O'Reilly's or both by Dayco at Advance or Autozone.  Should be an easy enough fix.

i like the dayco ones from autozone. i just did mine on my 97 about 2 months ago

Just another thought for you - typically if a belt jumps, one of your idler pullies could have a bad bearing, allowing the pulley to angle... so check all your idlers (including the one on the tensioner) before you put the new belt on.

deekster_caddy wrote:

Just another thought for you - typically if a belt jumps, one of your idler pullies could have a bad bearing, allowing the pulley to angle...  so check all your idlers (including the one on the tensioner) before you put the new belt on.

Good idea. The car had been started and driven quite a bit with the squealing belt, I think I just put too much anti-squeal on it. Or at least that's what I hope.

Anyone know of a source for fender lip molding clips for a '95? I got some moldings off a '96 today but those clips are different.

Ed

Rivnut wrote:

Anyone know of a source for fender lip molding clips for a '95?  I got some moldings off a '96 today but those clips are different.

Are you talking about the chrome trim piece? Ive been told a dealer is the only place to get them.

part number and i think link to order is here
https://rivperformance.editboard.com/t5858-faq-fender-chrome-trim-clips

Has anyone had any experience using this or a similar product to replace the funky auto-dimming mirror?

http://www.glassrack.net/buri19drsimi10.html

What's the process of getting to the mirror glass on one of these units?

Thanks,

Ed

That seems like a pretty good price. To get mine out, i tilted the mirror all the way down, and put a flathead screwdriver behind it and popped it out. Make sure to wrap the screwdriver in a rag or something to prevent scratching the paint.

When you reinstall the new mirror, be sure to use some sort of grease, otherwise it will seize up and pop out when you try to adjust it. The best way i found to reattach was to use a long, thin pair of pliers or tweezers. It will take a bit of patience.

Ed,

As far as "fender lip molding clips," follow the link Josh put up. There are two different types of clips as you can see, both of which are a total PITA to deal with. I took off and re-installed my front bumper recently and broke one of each type. I got a couple of part #25639946 for $6 apiece @ dealership. If I remember right, the parts department guy at the dealership said they are 6 or 7 bucks apiece and he could only find them via computer at one place in Michigan except for two spare ones that were at a dealer close by. They seem to be really hard to come by now so get 'em while you can!

For mirror glass, everybody has their own methods. To remove mine, I moved the glass all the way to the side so I had a gap to stick a hand/screwdriver in. Put cloths around the glass so you don't scratch any paint when removing. Then just pull the glass toward you or toward the car with your hand. Screwdriver works too. It will take some force. There will be connectors on the back for the heating and the tinting features. I opted to unattach the connectors versus cutting wires. Just fyi, unattaching the tinting connector (the plastic socket connector you will see, versus the other two crimp-on wire connectors you will see) is a bitch. You may need a few small screwdrivers to prop all sides of the connector open then pull one part of the socket out. To unattach crimp-on connectors, I used precision tweezers to undo the metal, slid them off, then reattached to new glass with the same tweezers. You may want to put on new crimp connectors if you want to do it right lol (and if your new mirror is heated... otherwise, no issue).

To reattach glass, you can finagle it with your hands until it pops into place. I tried to get the two telescoping arms on the back of the mirror on first, then the other things. Take Tyler's advice and put some lubricating grease on all pop-in pieces, especially the ends of the telescoping arms and the pop-in ball in the very middle of the mirror. It will take a while and you'll need some patience. Maybe a beer  

I bought my new mirror glass from Josh on here. Haven't dealt with that site you posted a link to but that sounds like a pretty nice price/deal but it may not be heated!

ed which side you need? i more than likely got it
edit. just looked i have one gold lense left on a drivers side its one of the tinted and gold means shot,
i also have a heated passenger side mirror glass. message if your interested

the only thing i dont like about that is you have to take the glass out of the backing. meaning break the glass out to replace. on the tinted i dont think that'd be a good idea or on the heated either. sounds more like a slap over glass to me

ZEP wrote:

Ed,

As far as "fender lip molding clips," follow the link Josh put up. There are two different types of clips as you can see, both of which are a total PITA to deal with. I took off and re-installed my front bumper recently and broke one of each type. I got a couple of part #25639946 for $6 apiece @ dealership. If I remember right, the parts department guy at the dealership said they are 6 or 7 bucks apiece and he could only find them via computer at one place in Michigan except for two spare ones that were at a dealer close by. They seem to be really hard to come by now so get 'em while you can!

I just returned from Hendrick's Chevrolet here in the KC area where Jay Zimmer, a parts guy from way back, ordered some for me.  They were $2.62 each but I had to order a bag of ten.  He gave me a 10% "car club" discount, so with tax et al it came to less than $26 for ten of them.  I used the part number posted in various threads and it was good in his computer.  He never looked it up.  Hopefully the part number is correct.    When I pulled the moldings at the pick-n-pull, I got three good clips of the kind that require only two per side.  Now I have to find out which Aveeco push pin retainer will work to hold the other clips in place.  I got a couple of boxes of them in the tool box, I'll let everyone know if any of them work in lieu of the factory ones.

Ed very cool... hope those work ok. Guess what dealership I'm not going back to? lol