1993 Pontiac Bonneville

[Ausfahrt]

Originally Posted By: sciphi


For other maintenance, I'd look at doing the coolant, ATF, and plugs/wires. The overflow tank looks gross, and the wires look like they've been leaking a little bit since they're brown. Gosh knows what the ATF is like, so siphoning out the old for new should help for peace of mind.


Great idea! As much as it pains me to say it, my son is more computer geek than car guy. Going through these items will give us a chance to spend some quality time together and he might even learn something. Thanks.

 

[sciphi]

Originally Posted By: bigdreama
Originally Posted By: sciphi


For other maintenance, I'd look at doing the coolant, ATF, and plugs/wires. The overflow tank looks gross, and the wires look like they've been leaking a little bit since they're brown. Gosh knows what the ATF is like, so siphoning out the old for new should help for peace of mind.


Great idea! As much as it pains me to say it, my son is more computer geek than car guy. Going through these items will give us a chance to spend some quality time together and he might even learn something. Thanks.


No problem! We need computer geeks too. I don't have the knowledge/skills to program, so I'm glad that other people do!

That L27 is super-easy to work on. There is a lot of room in the engine bay, and there aren't any impossible to get bolts for routine maintenance. For the rear bank of plugs, get a sheet of cardboard, put it across the engine, and climb right up.

 

[CharBaby]

Nice car indeed! You just don't come across cars like this for $2000 everyday. Man, what a score! You can find HeadLiner attachments in the HELP section of your favorite parts store.

 

[kkreit01]

Very nice find! That thing is cherry.

 

[dwcopple]

Nice Score! Just watch the "burn the snot outta your hand" metal seatbelt buckles...LOL

 

[Ausfahrt]

Originally Posted By: dwcopple
Nice Score! Just watch the "burn the snot outta your hand" metal seatbelt buckles...LOL


I'm more worried about the "17 year old puts pristine Bonneville in a ditch" than the seatbelts but thanks for the heads up.

 

[sciphi]

If it has the 20 year old tires, I really liked the Pirelli P4 Four Seasons in 205/70-15 for their handling prowess and excellent grip in all conditions. They also wore like iron on my old LeSabre, with ~75k miles on the set and safe in the wet tread when I traded the car in.

 

[CROWNVIC4LIFE]

That is a very nice car for your 17 year old son..Nice find.

 

[Ausfahrt]

Originally Posted By: CROWNVIC4LIFE
That is a very nice car for your 17 year old son..Nice find.


Thanks, I hope that he gets more use out of it than the Yamaha TW200 that I bought him a few years ago!

 

[BrianWC]

My mom had an '88 Bonneville that she then traded for a '96. The '96 was a definite step up and I still remember the leather smell of that car, even though I hated it at the time. I'd already become a euro/asian car snob at the time, having just got my first used bimmer a couple of years prior. But unlike the '88, she never had a problem w/ the 96 up until something went out on the a/c after 8 years and well over 100k that was going to require the whole dash be removed.

 

[SLCraig]

They are definitely good cars. Had a few in among my friends and family. I prefer the 1991 and earlier SSE's myself but aside from looks its the same good car in 1993.

 

[Ausfahrt]

It looks like there is indeed some sludge in the engine:

And a pic of Jake doing his very first oil change ever. It almost brings a tear to a BITOG'ers eye.

 

[exranger06]

Get that poor kid a creeper! And some shoes!

 

[sciphi]

That's not sludge. That's some heavy varnish that a 1993 Series I 3800 run on dino oil for most of its life sitting and getting short-tripped will have. That PYB will go a ways to begin cleanup. Might want to get some PU or something else in there.

Regardless, these engines don't really care. They'll just keep on running...

 

[MarkM66]

A true "shade tree" job.

 

[dwcopple]

get some cardboard at least under that kid...

 

[Cutehumor]

free child labor. I'm waiting for my daughter to get big enough to help me rake the leaves. gotta love it.

 

[daves87rs]

Originally Posted By: exranger06
Get that poor kid a creeper! And some shoes!

 

[UncleS2]

In today's Longview paper, there was an ad for a 1995 Oldsmobile Delta 88- "extra clean", 41,000 miles, $3900, think it was at a stealership. I read that and *Immediately* thought of your Pontiac!

 

[[email protected]]

Im so jealous I can barely type right now (but SOO glad you guys found and bought that car!!).

had a 92 Bonneville, bought at 69,000 miles in 1999. Junked it late 2011 with 290,000 miles on.

Get this - the engine and transmission (albeit the trans was rebuilt around 120k miles) worked great! It didnt even burn oil!! The subframe rotted and took part of the unibody with it. There was not any welding in the world to save it. Michigan salty roads rusted the heck out of the underbody. The car still looked great and ran phenominal. You would never ever guess it had 290,000 miles on it by looking at or driving it.

Good luck with that beautiful bonnie! make sure your kid treats her good! lol

Oh and as far as oil goes, seriously - that 3800 will run on anything! We used 5w/30, 10w/30, 15w/40, mobil, pennz, no brand, synthetic, semi syn, conventional. With any oil brand/type/weight it ran the same -great and always returned good UOAs. It was pretty easy on oil, we did 5000+ mile OCI's.