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hi everyone.need help

4K views 15 replies 8 participants last post by  superjeep 
#1 ·
first off I want to say hi as a new member. I just bought a 68 sedan deville online sight unseen. got lots of pictures and the guy seemed like a good dude,i paid for it and got it here. needless to say I got screwed haaaarrdddd! I was told no rust at all few small interior parts missing and everything worked.

well I got the car,has had panel repairs on fenders and quarters,climate control and blower motor don't work,needs a multi function switch,way more interior work than I was told and shown in pics,but worst of all was the frame. the lower portion of the rails pretty much in the middle are rotted away and covered with thin sheet metal glued on so it wouldn't show up at a quick glance. I quickly tried to contact the guy,but to my surprise. fake name,no more account where I bought it,pretty much all fake info.and the name on the title was from the owners before him. so it seems this guy disappeared and the online company wont do anything for me.

so it looks like im going to put on my big kid pants and fix it right.in the process of getting frame sections and steel to fix it right,and body work will be this winter.

on to my question.i have been driving it for a few days,it runs and drives amazing. the gas gauge has been working fine,they put an aftermarket radio in it mounted in the glove box,the wiring was a mess. so I decided to clean it up,all I did was fix the radio wires,now the fuel gauge is stuck on full,i didn't see anything wrong with the stock wires. I cant find a diagram anywhere. if the key is off it goes down slow,as soon as I turn the key on it goes to max full and stays. where should I start here? thank you in advance
 
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#2 ·
superjeep said:
first off I want to say hi as a new member. I just bought a 68 sedan deville online sight unseen. got lots of pictures and the guy seemed like a good dude,i paid for it and got it here. needless to say I got screwed haaaarrdddd! I was told no rust at all few small interior parts missing and everything worked.

well I got the car,has had panel repairs on fenders and quarters,climate control and blower motor don't work,needs a multi function switch,way more interior work than I was told and shown in pics,but worst of all was the frame. the lower portion of the rails pretty much in the middle are rotted away and covered with thin sheet metal glued on so it wouldn't show up at a quick glance. I quickly tried to contact the guy,but to my surprise. fake name,no more account where I bought it,pretty much all fake info.and the name on the title was from the owners before him. so it seems this guy disappeared and the online company wont do anything for me.

so it looks like im going to put on my big kid pants and fix it right.in the process of getting frame sections and steel to fix it right,and body work will be this winter.

on to my question.i have been driving it for a few days,it runs and drives amazing. the gas gauge has been working fine,they put an aftermarket radio in it mounted in the glove box,the wiring was a mess. so I decided to clean it up,all I did was fix the radio wires,now the fuel gauge is stuck on full,i didn't see anything wrong with the stock wires. I cant find a diagram anywhere. if the key is off it goes down slow,as soon as I turn the key on it goes to max full and stays. where should I start here? thank you in advance
Hi super jeep. I wish I had an answer for you quick but I don't. My guess is that a ground got screwed up somewhere? I recently bought a 68 deville convertible so I can try to trace wires for you if you want? Just let me know. Sorry to hear about your deal gone bad.
 
#14 ·
well that cant really be done in mass. even if I disclose frame issues,sell it as parts,ect they can still return it under the lemonaid act if they want to. and knowing my luck id sell it,buy a new one,then they would take it back and id be stuck with 2 hahaha
 
#5 ·
I agree with P.Katson, mainly because from what you said the car seems to be bandaged together just engough to look ok. For the fuel gauge issue it could be the sending unit,ground,they could have used its power for the radio who knows with these old cars. My fuel gauge sometimes reads super low until I start driving for a few then it reads correct (i hope). Body work done right isnt cheap (glad my 69 was so good) and this car went through the 80's so who knows how much bondo is holding that thing together (mine had it under the rear window),If the frame is rusted through what else is rusted/or poorly repaired. Or use it as a parts car and find one that needs an engine/trans and whatever else this one has good and then offload it somewhere. If you do go the parts car route take all the good wiring you can so you dont have to buy it later.
 
#6 ·
As someone who's been in your situation and followed the path you propose, all I can say is DON'T! You will sink far more money into the car than it will ever be worth, and for far less you can get a really nice, solid example.

However, if you're determined, I'd say your float in the fuel tank is catching. You'll have to drop the tank to remove the whole assembley to repair/replace it. I highly recommend getting a factory service manual and the Fisher body manual for the car. If you're going to try to make her right, you'll need them.
 
#7 ·
Welcome and sorry you got screwed. I am happy for the car you are willing to take care of her!
Get yourself a '68 shop manual to start with.
 
#8 ·
When I bought my 70 Eldorado, it was pretty cobbled. Fortunately, I knew that and the sale price reflected it. In my case, working on the car was the point of getting it. I expected to spend a good deal of time working on it and the money for parts as I went. If you enjoy working on the car, and can do a good deal of work yourself, it can be very rewarding. If not...it won't. Lol

However, if working on a car isn't your cup of tea and you were after something ready to drive, you'll probably end up hating the car, and yourself, if you start pouring money into it. Also, if you have a spouse or significant other...they'll hate you too. Lol

Everything is fixable. The question is will you ever get that money out of it and, if not, is that important to you?

The frame is a safety issue. Electrical demons can be frustrating, but a good shop manual will have troubleshooting procedures to follow. You can live without a fuel gage for a long time. If your climate control system is similar to mine, the culprit is likely old vacuum lines and vacuum switches. I had the exact same issues when I got my Eldorado.

Best of luck to you in whatever path you choose. If you keep it, the people here have been very helpful to me.


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#9 ·
Well im no stranger to hard work. I built an 800hp jeep grand cherokee that drives close to stock. The frame will take me a weekend to fix and not more than $100. The car is mostly squared away at this point. Body isnt that bad,the patches were done right,they just did a crap job with filler,its not thick they just didnt prep the surface before it was applied.my brother has a body shop so that isnt a big concern. Only 2 issues i have at this point is the intermitent gas gauge.sometimes it will peg at full,take a left turn it works fine,accelerate hard and it will sometimes stay at full till a sharp left again. And the climate control isnt working. Some wires under the hood have been cut and spliced.going to look at my buddies 68 this week to see where the wires go. Other than that i have been driving it daily and love it.
 
#12 ·
Same for my climate control. I hooked it off. I consider removing it completely as I never needed it. Not even in AZ...
And the heat still works.

Do you have pictures to share superjeep?
 
#15 ·
superjeep said:
Wow....I was expecting a hopped up newer SRT8, not one of the 90s grand cherokees. Very cool! Also, glad to see that poor caddy got into some good hands finally.
 
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