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Cherie's '84 Coupe DeVille Project

47K views 369 replies 37 participants last post by  talismandave 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi there! :) My name is Cherie. You may have noticed me around the forums this week. I signed up a year ago but haven't really gotten involved on this site until now. I've been working on an '84 Coupe DeVille project since early 2012. It was my first car, and for all intents and purposes it's pretty much like a child to me -- me and my Caddy are inseparable. I've dragged it from Arizona to Utah and now to California. I couldn't work on it while I was in AZ and UT because I was in college (for engineering if that explains my lack of spare time). Now that I'm out of college, I'm finally working on it! I am more proud of this project than you will ever know.

I recently replaced the timing components and water pump among a semi-long list of other things. I HAVE to have this car running by the end of July, after which is must depart my friend's driveway, and since I don't yet have a driveway of my own, I have to have it running and registered so that I can park it at my apartment complex (registration is another hurdle I'm going to face.. more details on that dilemma later). I need all the positive energy and ambition as possible TO. GET. THIS. DONE!! :D

In order to get it running, I have to finish putting the rest of the components back onto the front of the engine (pulleys, compressor, radiator, etc), and then I have to reconnect the distributor and spark plug wires (both new), re-time everything, put new gasoline, change the oil, change the transmission fluid, and probably a handful of other things I'm forgetting right now. Since I'm waiting for my parts to come in from McMaster (I'm devising my own harmonic balancer installer), I thought that today I can go over and wash my Caddy, clean up some of the rust (Scotts Valley, CA is humid!!) and possibly sand and prime the areas that the naval jelly can't really get.

I've been occasionally updating a project website: http://1984coupedeville.wordpress.com/

But soon the project website will be moved to my own domain and server by August 2013 (so don't pay attention to this site 'til then): http://nebulosity.cc/

I'll try to post more updates on this thread as my project progresses. :)

I hope to get to know you guys, and all of your projects and posts and replies seriously keep me moving forward with energy on my own project!

Wish me luck!!! Time to work a miracle!
 

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#83 ·
Today:

1. Checked the vacuum lines and electrical connectors to make sure everything is hooked up.

2. Changed the oil

3. Tried to siphon old fuel (there was none left), and added 2 gallons of new fuel.
Soil Tree Vehicle Plant


4. Checked for leaks. (There was one at the thermostat, but my husband tightened down the hose for me and it stopped leaking).

If you wanna hear me be ridiculous and yack about the leak...



5. Topped off the engine coolant.

6. Hooked up distributor and plug wires. The "me" of 6 months ago was smart enough to put numbers on the wires near the boots on the distributor end -- WIN! :dance:

Yellow Scrap Wire Auto part Metal


Engine Auto part Vehicle Fuel line Scrap


7. Hooked up the battery.

8. Tried to start the engine. No fuel coming out of fuel injectors. Will try a few things tomorrow and go through the usual "does it have fuel?" "does it have spark?" etc debug path and see if we can sort out any issues.



I'm sore and tired. Whine, whine, whine. lol. That's all I have energy to write tonight.
 
#87 ·
Part of me is terrified I won't be able to get my Caddy running. :( I mean, this isn't rocket science, but sometimes I start to get paranoid and feel like it is. Every once in a while I have moments like this.

I go to work on the caddy after I get off work in a few hours. Let's see what I can do.
 
#89 ·
I just replaced the fuel filter, and I sprayed some carburator cleaner in the throttle body yesterday to give it a boost, but it didn't seem to help. Today I'm going to make sure that the throttle body is getting fuel, probably by doing something silly and primitive like loosening the fuel lines while my husband cranks the engine over. After I had replaced the fuel pump a year ago, I forgot to tighten them down, and fuel came out generously, so I know that the fuel pump *should* work, and that if it's working, there will be fuel in the lines to the throttle body. The car is also on a *slight* incline, so we'll probably hook it up to the Xterra and pull it onto more level pavement in case the 2 gallons of fuel I added yesterday is sitting at the back of the fuel tank or something (but it shouldn't because the incline is honestly negligible).

If I verify that there is fuel at the throttle body and not coming out the injectors, I'll go through a debug process and see if I can figure out why no fuel is coming out the injectors. Like I said somewhere above, I recently rebuilt the throttle body and replaced the fuel pump and visually verified that the injectors and pump work. Actually, I have a video.. you can see it too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzebUC49DIk#t=1m57s

After I make sure that I'm getting fuel properly and the injectors are spraying, I also need to make sure i'm getting spark. This is the time I really wish I had spark plug wires that would light up when electricity is passing through them... Now I'm trying to conjure up all sorts of crazy ideas about how to hook up an LED to the plug wires.... LOL I just hate hooking and unhooking the plug wires to check for spark on this particular engine. :/

Anyways, I'm going through and writing up a plan for today. i'll post an update later. :)
 
#90 ·
All you gotta do is listen for the pump when someone turns the key on, not cranking, just turning the key to the on position. The fuel pump should make some noise for a couple of seconds, you can cycle the key off and on to test.
Also you can rent some "Noid lights" to test if there is power at the injectors. This is such a simple set up, no way you won't figure it out.
Also no big deal testing for spark, just pull one plug wire and have someone crank it over, you don't have to check them all.

Keep up the good work!
 
#91 ·
Thanks for the suggestions! When I installed the fuel pump initially, I went back there to listen for it when my husband cranked the engine, and I couldn't hear it. I have problems hearing in general, so it could be just my hearing. Maybe I'll have a friend listen for the fuel pump.

Noid lights? I'll have to read up on those -- I haven't heard of them before. :)

Thanks again!
 
#94 ·
We are getting spark...



But still no fuel to the throttle body. Caddy has a new fuel filter, there is 6 gal of premium fuel in the tank, fuel pump relay is working, but fuel pump doesn't seem to be turning on (I've never been able to hear it, even when it's working, so maybe it's working and I just can't hear it). The fuel pump worked WELL when I last cranked the engine in August 2012, possibly as late as October 2012, but it has sat unused since. The fuel pump may have something wrong with it. We're going to check the fuel lines for fuel between the tank and fuel filter, and we may drop the tank. I already called two of my favorite auto stores to make sure they'll have a fuel pump in stock in case we decide to replace it.



To me atleast, I think I hear a couple fires like it's trying to start up. Let me know what you guys think.

The reason why it's probably not starting with the starter fluid is I'm not confident about the initial timing setup. When we reinstalled the harmonic balancer, the crankshaft was rotated slightly away from cylinder #1 TDC, perhaps as much as 1/8 of a turn. I looks like I'll have to pull the distributor, rotate the engine exactly to cyl1 TDC and put the distributor back in.

Somehow I feel satisfied even though I didn't get it started today. I'm going first think in the morning (ditching work a bit, lol) to try to get this work done on the Caddy.
 
#96 ·
I'm glad you heard it too!! For a moment while I was cranking it, I kept thinking in disbelief, "wait, is it gonna start??!?!" So I need to sort out the timing issue and the fuel delivery issue. It sounds like if I resolve those that IT CAN START! :D

I'm so excited. I'll keep you guys updated.

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Oh, btw, we tested the stereo in the Caddy. :) Definitely need to do more testing, lol. Gonna bring another CD tomorrow.

 
#99 ·
Good news ppl! I have fuel to the throttle body again, yay!! Long story short I replaced the fuel pump. Dropped the tank by myself with 6 gal of gas still in it, tossed on the new pump, put it back in jacked it up and put the straps back on, all in about an hour and a half. :D 70% of that time was spent unscrewig the bolts on the stupid straps and making sure the tank didnt shift on the jack while I took them off. >_< Anyways, more info later.
 
#100 ·
The spray from the fuel injectors is weak, so I doubt you'll be able to see it in the video, but here is the video I took anyway. :p It was great to have fuel in the throttle body again. My only guess is that in cranking it last fall to check the valve train movement, I ran the pump dry, but at the same time I remember taking out the fuel pump relay ( so that I could watch the valve train without spraying fuel everywhere. LOL It's either that I ran it dry and burnt it out or sitting for 8months unused killed it (...really though?), OR perhaps it had a manufacturer defect, and lastly, I'm hoping electrical problems are not to blame for it burning out. When we pulled out the fuel pump, I checked my soldering job from the last time I adapted the wiring harness to the new wires, and everything was beautifully perfect and intact. Yay! So hopefully no worries about my workmanship.

No firing sounds in this particular video. We'll fix the timing for sure tomorrow.


Oh, and have a picture of my Caddy from today. :) My husband was trying to help me unscrew the fuel filter, and then for some reason beyond me, he decided to keep trying until he stripped the shit out of the fuel filter nut. Brilliant. Note to self.. just do your own Caddy work.

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Full-size car Classic car
 
#103 ·
Great project--have enjoyed keeping up with this thread! I wonder if the fuel pump going out could be attributed to the ethanol most areas now have in gas. I keep hearing all sorts of horror stories about how it effects things when it sits. Just a thought.

Keep up the good work and thanks for the thread! I love the older RWD Cadillacs--yours looks good!

Mitch
 
#108 ·
Oh noooooooo... I'm catching a cold!!!! :( :( I can't go over and reset the timing the caddy tonight. I don't feel well at all. ;______; I'm going to try to talk my sales manager into letting me trade working tonight for leaving early tomorrow so I can go work on the Caddy.

I think in trying to get the caddy up and running in such a short amount of time, I've overworked myself. @__@

Anybody got any miracle cures?! I need to get this Caddy running!
 
#111 ·
Last night we corrected the timing...

1. Set the #1 cylinder to TDC first trying the finger method (but that was difficult), and then we used a screwdriver, and that finally worked well.

2. Took off the distributor cap and saw that the rotor was two positions off, so we pulled the distributor base out, put the rotor where it's supposed to be (#1), and put it back in.

The temperature dropped really quickly last night and fog rolled in, so we just put everything back together, and we're going to go back today to try to fire it up.

I've been living off dayquil (and nyquil at night) trying to survive these last few days working on my Caddy with this cold. :(
 
#116 ·
Can't run it around the neighborhood just yet... it needs a temporary pass because it's plates are out of state and expired in '06. :x

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Awesme way cool....cant wait to get mine started next. Congrats, enjoy cruisin that beauty
Thanks! Wishing you lots of luck on yours! :)

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Haven't yet timed it with the timing light, but it's running pretty well so far!

 
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