95 Riv, needs HELP

hmm i dont no if im in the right place to post or anything like that cuz im new here, but im a 17 yr old female that no's absolutely nothing about cars but i own a purple 1995 buick riviera 3.8 supercharged, i bought it out of a junkyard and it runs and has a nice body and everything but having a few problems, when i first bought the car the brakes were bad so i had them changed, now my brakes are right to the floor when u try to stop, what else could be wrong with them...also a buick garage was telling me that my mass airflow sensor is bad and that with that being bad its causing my check engine light and traction control light to stay on, could there be any other problems or is there any way to check and see if its rele bad....when ur going down the road in my car it will do a rele weird like shake and i dont no what is causing that either...and me being the stupid blonde that i am unlocked my car from the passenger door and set off the alarm well i got the alarm to go off but everytime i start it now u have to start it like 5 times before it will actually run......my oldest brother also has a purple 95 riv and both of our cars when there just idling rev up all on there own, is this normal? any advice or ways to fix my problems would be greatly appreciated....

I'd say the traction control light is related to the brake issue. You need to have that looked at soon. a pedal that goes to the floor could be anything from air in the lines or missing shims to a bad brake booster or leaky lines... w/out more of an explanation, that's the best info I can give for now... take it back to the shop and have them look at it.

the bad mass air flow sensor could trigger a check engine light.. you can get it scanned for free at any autozone or pep boys type parts store and they'll tell you if you have a bad maf or "other" sensor. I think that may also be part of the issue with "having to start it, like, five times before it will run".. stalling has nothing to do with the security system.

good luck with the new car. they're fun. rele.

well ive tried having autozone check my car and i live in like a rele tiny town and they dont have the right hookup for my car.....

call around and see who has an "OBD 2" scanner.

No, her car is a '95. She needs to ask for an "OBD I" scanner. A dealership should have this. But if it's only the traction light, I wouldn't scan it yet. Get the brakes looked at by another shop. See what they think.

OBD1 scanners are had to find, to just use them. but the buy them, auto zone has them for 30 bucks

AA wrote:

No, her car is a '95.

DOH.. I completely overlooked that... I saw "supercharged" and immediately thought '96 or greater...

Kelly, this is exactly why we ask you to put information about your car in your signature.

Please do it.

Thanks

ighty i will put info about my car in my signature soon......thanks for all the advice guys yall are great, anymore info would be greatly appreciated,,,,

xxxneeduwhenicry wrote:

ighty i will put info about my car in my signature soon......thanks for all the advice guys yall are great, anymore info would be greatly appreciated,,,,

whats up??? what state you from?

im from PA lol and almost everyone i no thinks that riviera's belong in junkyards, i guess it takes a special kinda person to like em....

xxxneeduwhenicry wrote:

im from PA lol and almost everyone i no thinks that riviera's belong in junkyards, i guess it takes a special kinda person to like em....

Sounds like you need to start knowing other people! Prove to them that the Riv is a beautiful car.

The mass airflow sensor does like to go on the Riv, and that will cause a lot of problems. Having that fixed will give you better mileage most of all, and correct most other problems. The brakes could be anything from the master brake cylinder to a leak somewhere in the line; have a mechanic look at it because the couple hundred dollars to fix it is well worth your life. The shuddering could be from warped brake rotors, unless you replaced them. If you only replaced the brake pads, then this problem could still exist. Mechanics will either shave the rotors to resurface them evenly, or replace them completely. With a car this old and from the junkyard, I have a '95 too, I recommend replacing them. I'm not sure about the idle, but that may be the mass airflow sensor too.


Good luck, and we should be able to help you with any other problems that come up!



How many miles are on your car, by the way?

my car has 130,000 miles on it.......and thx for the help guys

This further reinforces what I've been seeing - People trash the hell out of '95 Rivs. I don't know what it is but every time I go to the junkyard all they have are '95 Rivs. I've never seen a '96 or newer there, just the '95s! We need to get people to stop destroying all the '95s!

As a sidenote, have we ever had a woman with a Riv on here before? Welcome to the site Kelly!

well thx very much, anyone ever seen a HOT pink riv :-P.....well after i get all my problems diagnosed and fix the car is goin in for a paint job and it will be hot pink with neon pink underlights and one ass kicking stereo system :-D yea im a real girl for yea lol

That would be awesome, I think! A pink Riviera would look good!

Kevin, we have about 4 or 5 ladies as members so far. The reason I think you're seeing so many '95s - they produced a lot more of them. Over 50k cars vs. 18k for '96 and only about 10k per year for '97 & '98 if I remember correct. Only about 2k cars were made for '99.

Wow, a pink Riv? Haven't seen that before...you'd be the first! At 130,000 miles, the MAF (mass airflow sensor) is most likely having problems, and the rotors may be going too.

I wouldn't suspect the MAF sensor if the engine runs okay. Is it running badly? Might have someone check and clean the MAF if there's concern. It's expensive to replace. My original is still good at 160k miles.

my car is running rele shytty, how do i clean the MAF???

You take out the sensor (carefully) and use electronic parts spray cleaner (Autozone/Advance/NAPA) to clean off the wires. I think you can also have it tested while it's out.

Thanks dearly for all the help yall are great :-D

and nah i wouldnt be the first with a pink riv hahaha i saw a rele light pink one in a parking lot about an hr away from my house but it was all wrecked and beat to hell.....and my mom saw a squirrel come out from under my hood yesterday :-/ is there any way to prevent that???

xxxneeduwhenicry wrote:

my mom saw a squirrel come out from under my hood yesterday

See? Everyone appreciates a good Riv.

Hopefully the MAF cleaning will solve some of your problems. I just remembered, if it's a slight shudder while you're driving ask your tire store to check the tire balances. AA just had this problem and fixed it, and the little weights they put on weren't on the right spot or something, causing a shudder at certain speeds. AA, if you'd explain this further please go right ahead, I don't know anything about this and you've experienced it firsthand.

It was a vibration at between 65-75 mph. Others have experienced it too. Doesn't sound like her problem, but here's the link:

https://rivperformance.editboard.com/suspension-handling-f6/vibration-70-t748.htm?highlight=vibration

well when we first brought my car home from the junkyard it wasnt doing anything and was running ok except for the brakes, and i only drove it maybe once a month after i bought it and that was only to the post office next door, then after that i started driving it to my brothers house twice a week and my brother lives like 5 miles from me, and it wasnt until i started driving it further that i noticed the shake....i mean ive had my speedometer buried a few times but the shake can start at 20 mph and go until like 75 mph but after that its fine....and the shake is kinda like a slight shudder i guess u could say but its scarey and i just dont want anything serious to happen when im driving becuz im not a licensed driver yet :-/ and ide rather not get busted....