1990 CV LX Fleet order

[monterey1962]

Thanks for the info on the electrical plugs.

What’s the plan overall? Daily driver or more of a weekend cruiser?

Not sure, yet. I want to get through the engine before the weather goes to shit, then it will probably just sit until next spring.

After work, I put the front tires on and put the car on the ground (love my QuickJack lift). Car sits just about right with the new rear cargo coils. Tires look a bit big (225/70R15), but I'm used to the shorter 235/60R15's on my '89.

[monterey1962]

Opened up the motor today, and wished I hadn't. Coolant is mucky and brown. Petcock wouldn't even flow (see goop in pic). Seems someone put stop-leak in this car. I flushed a lot of crap out of the radiator. Coolant lines to the EGR spacer were bone dry, too. I ordered a new radiator and a container of Thoroflush. The plan, as of now, is to get the engine work finished, install the old radiator, flush the system, then drain and install the new radiator. I get cars get old and need work, but I get pissed off when I have to deal with some dumb shit that leaves me extra work and cost. Supposedly, a rural mechanic put a new water pump and hoses on this car when the previous owner bought it. Hose clamps were so tight, they were piercing the hoses. Water pump studs were "snug", at best. I hate people.

BTW, this car does have the 4 prong plug in behind the glove box.

[DerekTheGreat]

Well, if it's any consolation, that engine bay looks nice. I don't see any rot on the frame and the engine looks clean too. You'd be hard pressed to find another example like that without paying a stupid amount of dough..

What does the 4 prong plug behind the glovebox indicate? That a Tripminder is plug & play?

[monterey1962]

Not sure what the plug is for, but Kishy mentioned it earlier in this thread that it is on police models.

Valve covers: Out of the 12 valve cover bolts, only three were "snug", the rest being loose. Guess that explains the oil mess on both sides of the engine.

Lower intake: No real coolant "goop" issues that I could see in the intake or the heads. I'm assuming they put stop-leak in for the heater core, which will probably show itself once I thoroughly flush the system.

Front cover/Timing chain: Pretty sure I'm the first to open this engine in 35 years. Oil pan gasket was still intact. Timing chain slack looks about right for the mileage.

Spent the afternoon cleaning off the old gaskets. Intake valley had a little bit of oil sludge. Parts should be in tomorrow. A lot of cleaning to do, yet.

[DerekTheGreat]

Oh, I wonder if that is for the gauges cop cars got?

Good thing is, you shouldn't have to do that ever again.

[monterey1962]

More cleaning today. Changed out the spark plugs. Old ones were gapped at .040. I set the new ones at .050.

[monterey1962]

Old water pump backing plate gasket was messed up, but the pump seemed alright. Did not reuse it.

[Brown_Muscle]

Since it was fleet, does it have larger sway bars, HD frame, or anything that a police car would have come with?

[monterey1962]

Since it was fleet, does it have larger sway bars, HD frame, or anything that a police car would have come with?

I'll make a note to measure the sway bars tomorrow.

I forgot to mention, this car had the original TV bushing. Pretty much shattered when I removed the cable.

Flushed the cooling system with the old radiator on the car. Before using Thoroflush, no goop showed up, just a little "rust" colored water. Even after using Thoroflush, no goop. Flushed it until the water was clean. Drained the system and scooted the car back into the garage. New radiator is installed. I have a theory about the stop leak goop based on old receipts that were in the car, but it's too much to type up.

Removed the windshield, and called it quits because I am 6 days in on this car. I'm tired and sore.

[kishy]

What does the 4 prong plug behind the glovebox indicate?

Not sure what the plug is for, but Kishy mentioned it earlier in this thread that it is on police models.

Oh, I wonder if that is for the gauges cop cars got?

It is a 90-91 thing, probably also up to 94 based on how similar those years are. It's a pre-wired location to get easy access to a harness ground, constant hot, and switched hot for police-related accessories. Probably intended just for the control side of various circuits rather than delivering serious amperage.

I don't recall if I had to populate a relay in the relay socket to be able to make use of the connector. I'm using it for my dashcam which takes both a constant and switched input to know when to use parking mode, but the first time I tapped into the connector was a decade ago and I may or may not have popped a relay in the (then presumably empty) socket to do that. The relay socket is somewhere to the far right behind the glovebox.

[monterey1962]

Front sway bar is 1-1/16" diameter. No rear sway bar.

New windshield is in. Rebuilt 3 window motors. Reinstalled the hood. Somehow, that took all day, and the car is still not ready to go.

[monterey1962]

Front PS window motor started making an awful growling noise and was hot to the touch. I had an extra motor out of an '89. The shape of the motor assembly is different, but it still bolts up and works. The fourth window motor ended up needing a rebuild, too.

Adjusted the TV pressure and put about 12 miles on the car.

Found an issue with the new TV bushing. The new steel bushing doesn't fit snug in the throttle arm, and there is a fair amount of play up and down. I'm wondering if I can't fit a small thin washer between the clip and the arm to help stabilize things.

[DerekTheGreat]

It is a 90-91 thing, probably also up to 94 based on how similar those years are. It's a pre-wired location to get easy access to a harness ground, constant hot, and switched hot for police-related accessories. Probably intended just for the control side of various circuits rather than delivering serious amperage.

I don't recall if I had to populate a relay in the relay socket to be able to make use of the connector. I'm using it for my dashcam which takes both a constant and switched input to know when to use parking mode, but the first time I tapped into the connector was a decade ago and I may or may not have popped a relay in the (then presumably empty) socket to do that. The relay socket is somewhere to the far right behind the glovebox.

Question answered! Thank you for the info, neat.