My '95 Riviera

75 degrees isnt hott lol

Haha maybe not Scott, but I can't wait to see what kind of boost I really make when winter hits and I fix this vacuum leak I know I have.

sum1 correct me...but isnt every 10 degrees cooler u go u gain 1lb of boost? i know u gain in the cold.

Yeah cooler air definitely helps. It's because cold air is more dense than hot air, thereby more air getting to the intake and increasing power. Or something like that.


Well, I don't really want to speak too soon, but I THINK the problem has fixed itself. I think it was just taking a while for the PCM to get used to the new vacuum conditions and whatnot. It's been two days and I haven't had an SES light or vacuum/idle fluctuation. We'll see what the future brings, but does this make any sense to anyone? Anything like this happened before to anyone?

This makes complete sense to me. The engine PCM relies on vacuum for many of it's calculations. Having a small vacuum leak can throw the whole thing way off in many aspects.

I figured that might be the case. Got through today without an issue today too. Seems like the car is evening out now. Such a nice ride. I just have a noise to figure out in the right front wheel. That's the only thing that's bugging me now.

Z-type wrote:

I figured that might be the case. Got through today without an issue today too. Seems like the car is evening out now. Such a nice ride. I just have a noise to figure out in the right front wheel. That's the only thing that's bugging me now.

Right front wheel noise - a bad lug (rare), a bad bearing (often), brakes in need of reset or replacement (somewhat more often)

Albertj

Thanks Albert! But I realized I forgot to describe the symptoms. The noise happens when going slower (under 15mph) over rough patches in the road. It's a thunking/clunking noise that i can feel in the floor. The noise does not come around whenever under accelerating and everytime, the noise stops whenever the brakes are engaged. The entire braking system is brand new. What I'm thinking is what I've heard called 'caliper slap' but it's not loose. I replaced the sway bar links and it got better, but didn't go away. I can't imagine it's the strut mount because the noise goes away under acceleration of braking. It's a very VERY noticeable thunk and like I said occurs over rough patches. It's a 'quick' thunking noise, like it happens with great frequency. Like every little bump it makes this clunking noise.

The only thing I can think of it being, since I can feel it in the floor, is bad sway bar mounts where it mounts to the car. I just can't see it being the strut mount because of when it does and does not occur. I've looked and looked for things loose or broken and I can't find a thing. I'm no pro, however. This is a tough problem and its hard for me to describe, but if there's any suggestions I'll gladly take them.

I just thought of something...maybe it's the ball joint or whatever that is? Anyway, I'll summarize:

-Loud obnoxious clunking noise coming from front passenger area
-Happens over rough patches of road at 15 mph or slower
-Goes away during acceleration or braking
-Can feel it in the floor

Thanks for any advice or leads!

My guess now is broken sway bar end link. It's also very common.

Oh sorry Deek...when I said sway bar bushings I meant the links. Those are both new. The sound got better, as in quieter, but it didn't go away after that. I think it's where the sway bar bolts to the engine cradle or car structure or whatever it is. I haven't had time to check those mounts out yet.

Okay, likely to be the sway bar bushings then. It clunks like you describe. Could be bushings and such too, though. Sway bar bushings should be easy enough to figure out though.

Haven't gotten a chance to check out the clunking noise in detail yet...I still cant think of what it is. BUT, I did notice something after all this time. I can NOT 'feel the noise' in the steering, but I can in the floor. Any ideas now?

In the meantime, i figured I'd show my boost gauge setup that I....set up...like two weeks ago .

I tapped into the fuel pressure regulator vacuum line, like most of us '95's do. The straight part is the FPR line, and the angled line off that 'T' goes to the boost gauge hose, which is the typical white plastic hose.


I ran the boost gauge line through the wiring harness area underneath the brake booster int he firewall - too easy.


...then I ran the line up through the left side of the dash and up on top of the dash by the A-pillar.


I bought a single pod and shaped it to fit the dash - sort of. Then color matched it perfectly so it wouldnt stick out too much. I have the light bulb power coming from the ashtray light, and the ground goes to a bolt near the emergency brake pedal .


Gauge installed. It's a 2 5/8" AutoGage Boost/Vacuum gauge. Black face, white letters, lights up green! It matches the car perfectly, down to the font of the letters and numbers!


Here's a night shot from before I installed the pod. It blends in very well despite it just sitting on top of the dash.


I know most of you wouldn't do a top-of-the-dash mount, but I like how it looks and it's easy to see. Right in my line of sight. As it stands, WOT i get 6 lbs of boost. Good enough for me! I like it a lot, especially the way it matches the interior of the car in every way perfectly.

Nice install. Looks good.
I've been considering a single gauge pod mounted low on the A pillar and covered with the same same interior fabric for an Aeroforce gauge.
If I don't like the A pillar mount arrangement it can always be changed.

Thinking about it, Buick could have put the idiot lights into an idiot light bar in the neighborhood of the fuel and tem gauges. Then the idiot light cluster places could be used for gauges such as what people are wont to mount in the driver door air vents.

Albertj

That would have been nice. But.............

Thanks guys! I really do like how it looks just sitting up there and it works great, and despite what you see in the picture, the color matches better than it looks.

I do agree that Buick should have put a boost gauge, maybe digital, in place of the little cluster of idiot lights. There could have EASILY been an oval shaped area of lights right under the fuel and temperature gauges. Oh well! Cool idea though. It would also be nice for that digital gauge to have the options that the Regal GS had in its digital boost gauge. It also had mileage average, instant mileage, trip-ometer, and something else. That would be really handy!

Ok....I'm losing it again. Some of you may remmeber a few pages or so back about my car's idling problem and it getting a random SES light. Well, for the past 3 weeks and about 2,000 miles, the car has been super. Just fine - a few idle hiccups here and there but nothing else. Runs great, lots of power. Suddenly, tonight, my SES light came on at idle, like it always used to, and my idle has just been hunting up and down like crazy even when moving (but coasting, not under throttle). The engine code I got before was P0171 (?) for oxygen sensor lean, or something of the like. Immediately after I found a vacuum leak which I fixed, which started my idle problem, then it evened out. Now all the problems are coming back.

Here's what I've come up with. My vacuum leak was tied to a sensor having to do with the fuel system - it's a small electronic device right above the 'rear' valve cover and has a large fuel-line looking vacuum line hooked to it, then a vacuum line going to the block on the intake. It also has a plug (electronic). What I'm thinking is my oxygen sensor is actually bad for real this time and since it is tied to the fuel system in a way, is helping cause my idle issues since my vacuum leak ALSO had to do with these issues. Is this making any sense?

I just don't want to start throwing parts at the car. I have better things to spend money on lol. Again, I'm going to get the car scanned and see if the code is any different. If it's the same Oxygen Sensor Lean code, should I just get a new sensor? ANY suggestions are welcome - I don't know what to do right now.

Thanks everyone!

Andrew, "lean" codes are quite often caused by a vacuum leak. Triple check the nylon vacuum tubing and all it's fittings, then spray around the intake base and TB with little shots of carb cleaner to see if there are any leaks around the key base gaskets. It's a good start...

I can't find any vacuum leaks anywhere....this is driving me crazy. I don't know what to do next! I did run out of throttle body cleaner/spray so ill have to get more and have at it again. I didn't have much to begin with anyway.

There is some semi-good news to tell finally. I found the source of the stupid clunking noise coming from the front right of the car. Turns out it's an almost completely disintegrated forward lower control arm bushing (that's a mouthful to say). And as far as I can see, right now it's not hurting anything, just making a lot of noise. My cousin said you really should replace the bushing, but try to get the whole control arm with the bushing already in it, but i dunno. I don't buy that. Anyone have any experience with these crazy things? They sell the bushings separate so I imagine you CAN replace them to some degree without replace the entire arm...

Oh and as a side note that I forgot to mention, the boost gauge was installed after my idling problem began and hasn't changed. I'm going to double check the connections of course, but I doubt it's a huge factor. Thanks though, Deek.

Back again. Just wanted to point out something I noticed. My vacuum/boost gauge at operating temperature, in drive, and idling, is only 17 HGin (orwhatever that measurement is. Also, I'm only getting 6 lbs of boost which i find to be coming up short compared to most people. Both indications of a vacuum leak. At this point, because of all the testing, poking, and prodding I've done, as well as some professional opinions, I've decided I do have a vacuum leak. Now I just have to find it. Next, when I get a free hour or so, I'm going to replace my injector rings/gaskets, because I didn't do it when I replaced my supercharger coupler . I'm also thinking of trying to retorque my supercharger bolts to make sure that gasket isn't leaking, even though a spray leak test didn't show any. We'll see what happens...more later...

a stock pulley on a L67 only makes about 6 pounds of boost.(maybe 7 on a cold day at the top of 1st gear) i dont think the M62 would be all that different factory.
That said, there are a lot of vac lines and they get brittle with age.

haha I actually accidentally put this in the wrong post. But thank you! I appreciate that.

6 lbs of boost from an M62 doesn't sound alarming to me. What else is done to the motor? Just the intake?

Yeah just the intake. Just took out that litter collector or whatever it is and stuck in a K&N drop in.

I'm taking on the LIM gaskets tomorrow...wish me luck...