Just picked up a 96 PA

[DannMann99]

Hey guys you've always been a big help in the past and I'm hoping you can point me in the right direction now with a few things.

I just came into a fairly well taken care of Park Ave. (55k miles) and I had a few questions. I'm just going to list them for clarity.

1) On the dash there is an oil gauge which seems to sit at about 40 (no units are listed on it... ugh.) When I first picked up the car and was sitting in touch-and-go traffic a light next to the oil flashed red every now and then when i braked hard in the traffic, since then it hasn't been doing that but now when I start the car a light comes on that says 'check oil', but goes away after ~1 full minute of idling... Does anyone know what's going on I mean... the oil isn't in the red so to speak based on the gauge... I plan to change it in about 1 week (free time) but I'm just curious if that light will always come on for a min. or if thats wierd...

2) Seems like the car is pretty dirty on the inside... like... really dirty with dirt (thin caked on layer kind of)... I've always had cloth seats but this car has alot of leather... anyone know a good cleaner I can use on the seats/doors which wont harm the leather (its light tan thats why im worried about discoloring...)

3) One of the seats has a hole about 1" in diameter on it... Anyone know a fix for this? its in a pretty visible/open spot so any help is appreciated.

4) Noticed the car is listed to have an alarm on it... when I use the automatic locks the dash says 'security' light up... I notice afterwards if i try the doors the light inside the car lights up... does it make noise or anything though? I have a keyless entry and it has a red button on it which im assuming is alarm but I haven't tested it yet cause I dont want to set it off and have cops called, i'm waiting on the title in the mail and as such the car isn't registered to me yet... (its a stock alarm though)

5) The car has been sitting for about 6 months... I wanted to give the tires alittle refill as one had leaked alittle bit but I couldn't find the recommended PSI for the car tires... anyone have this number off the top of their head.

6) Side of the car is missing passenger side rearview mirror. Anyone know a place online I can find one matched to the color relatively cheap or do you think I can find it at a junkyard?

Thanks so much guys. Being in medical school I don't have alot of time to surf around the web to find the answers so I Really appreciate any and all the help you offer.

[ZiggyPA]

I think you are mixing up oil level and oil pressure. The oil gauge is the oil pressure. You have to check the oil level.
If I remember correctly the tire pressure was 31 PSI.

[doorunrun]

After I got my '92 PAU I did a little online research about leather care and decided the Lexol brand of leather care products was preferred by the Beemer/Jag/Porsche crowd, and I used it a few times. I'd say it's pretty good. Although, I would think you could remove a lot of dirt without harming the leather using saddle soap and a damp rag. It should be pretty mild. Of course, you should try it on a small inconspicous area first to verify it won't create troubles.

As to the hole in your seat, if you ask around at some local shops you might be able to find someone to help you get it repaired.

[Scrapper]

when oil lights up then go's out after few seconds? well on the passengers side under glove box theres a hole you can see to reset everytime oil is changed and it's not very big hole you can stick something in there to reset with a pencil or? and for the seats i would use orange glow then armurall. there going to be slick.and on your tire pressure it should be on the drivers side door. you want to put the air pressure in what you see on door not on tire or you will loose gas mlg. and wear and tear on tires.you have the 3800 eng. in it right? 55000 mls on that pa is not even broke in yet.and about your alarm it will go off if you even stick your hand threw the window it will go off if you jigle on car. then you have to get it to turn off by sticking key in door 3 or 4 times to get it to shut off......good luck...

[The00Dustin]

For what it's worth, I have a 99 PAU with a DIC (digital dash readout of many things), and a few changes ago, I was getting "Check Engine Oil Level" from it intermittently (this was the first time my oil had been low in 110,000 miles, probably 150,000 for the car). I checked the level and it was about ¾ of a quart low. I had it changed instead of adding a quart since it was time anyway (and it wasn't a quart low yet). The next time the light came on, it stayed on and was already more than a quart low (I had a really fast leak at that point, for one change only). You should check the level, and see what the indicator does over time (after the change you were planning on anyway), there may not be anything wrong at all on that portion of it.

[The00Dustin]

In my 1999 PAU, I can't hardly make the alarm go off on accident, I think it has gone off once, and that was when I had locked some people in it (on autopilot, with the keyless & all doors shut) and they unlocked the door to get out. I believe turning the key to unlock in the drivers door will turn off the alarm if it goes off, but so will the keyless unlock button. Look up the alarm in your manual if you have one, it's pretty simple. I think there are two ways to arm it (leaving several ways to not if you lock your doors), and I believe there is only one way to set it off (when it is working properly). Here's what I remember for sure:
Locking with keyless with all doors shut arms it.
Locking with keyless while a door is open doesn't arm it.
Unlocking with keyless or the key in te driver's door disarms it.
The other ways to lock your car (one of them arming it, the others not):
Locking with the key (wouldn't that be tedious)
Locking each door manually with the mechanical button (also tedious)
Locking with the electronic button on the driver's door while others are shut
Doing the same on the passenger's door

Obviously the "tedious" methods above would be less so if your car has the option to only unlock the driver's door when put in park. Regarding setting off the alarm, here is the only situation that should do that:
A door is unlocked without the aid of keyless entry or a key (which means either someone used a slim jim or broke a window and unlocked it from the inside). I'm not certain on whether or not using a key on a door other than the driver's would then be the same as "without the aid of a key" (my words, not Buick's). Not that you want to yet, but you can test the alarm by leaving a window open, arming the alarm, and opening the door by unlocking through the window (may be ok to electronically, may require mechanically). I have often had no luck setting it off on purpose in both my 1999 PAU and a previous 1993 PA (which once went off upon starting the car even though it shouldn't have).

[DannMann99]

Wow. Great help guys I appreciate it very much and I have one additional question.

I was driving the car recently and noticed (for the first time, hasn't done this before) that while driving it was fine (foot on the pedal), but when stopped at say a stop sign/red light in drive the car idled pretty roughly and irregularly, then it would hit a particularly irregular spot (can kind of feel/hear it in the engine) and then the battery gauge would go down almost to the red... I didn't give it enough time to stall the car but i'm kind of assuming that If I did it for much more then a minute it would stall out...

Does anyone know what could do this. The car sat for 6 months before I jumped it and started it again... Since running it again that time though the battery has been fine (past 3 days or so) and it has held a charge... I figured maybe it was some residual crap from the gas that sat so after parking it I went and bought some fuel injector cleaner put it in and reved the engine alittle bit. (I was also afraid because it was cold maybe some water got in there somehow and is freezing up the line? either way FI cleaner should help it)... After walking back to my car though with the FI cleaner I tried to start it and it needed significantly more love then usual to get her up...

I wasn't sure if it was a straight alternator problem as the car would kick back when in drive and run fine...

And as for a battery problem well... I first jumped the car on Thursday last wk. left it for the weekend without starting it, then drove it every day this week and only today have had a problem with the battery (gauge has always been at about 3/4 mark). That doesn't scream battery to me. (though today was the first time I've turned on the radio, and I turned it off once the issues started. and they didn't resolve)

Would a blown fusable link cause any of these problems?

[C man]

This car doesn't have a fuseibale link. If there is a charging issue the light will come on.I would still get the battery tested at an auto store just to rule it out. I have seen battieries cause idle issues. also check to see if your connection to the battery are good and tight. I was having no start and hard starting issues and realized that one of my post were install crooked and looked tight but was really loose. Alternator should still be good with your mileage mine didn't start to crap out until around to about 138k or so.
I would suggest you do a tune up or get one done also no telling how the car was taken care of and that might solve your idle issue. But to me in cold weather when you first start the car they idle kinda rough and loud anyway.

[DannMann99]

yea. i'll definately check the leads on the battery today. I don't think I can go for a tune up until I get a registration for the vehicle though right. What a pain, i'm waiting for the title to come in the mail and I can't register it without the title... I had planned on getting a full inspection and tune up once i got it registered.

When I get home tonight i'll post back what I find.

[doorunrun]

I suggest that you, at some point, check the vacuum lines, well, check around for a vacuum leak. I may be stuck on this area of investigation, but it should not be overlooked. You can really go chasing your tail on smoothing out idle issues.

There are many cases on this forum of getting the car to run smoothly. Don't get me wrong, it's a great engine!

Back to the vacuum thing.....there are small pieces of vacuum hose used as couplers between sections of hard plastic vac lines. They seem to break down over time so you might as well replace them with fresh sections of hose. If you have an air leak in another area this will cause the rough idle/almost cutout at idle symptom. But there are other causes as well.

If the tune up doesn't help don't start throwing parts at it. Find a shop or borrow a good scanner and have them check it. Live data can really make a difference.

[DannMann99]

Well I didn't get around to checking the terminals, maybe this weekend (so damn cold).

I did notice after putting in the FI cleaner that the car ran better. The problem was still there, but it wasn't as drastic.

[HotZ28]

Just checking & tightening the battery cables may not be enough, especially if you have corrosion between the cables & spacer under the insulator. The side mount terminals are notorious for having this problem! Before disconnecting the battery, follow the procedure below:

NOTE: If you have auto climate control and before disconnecting the negative battery cable, start the engine and turn the A/C controller to OFF! Wait while the system resets to the OFF, (home) position! (You should here the system shut down) Next, turn ignition switch OFF and then you are ready to remove the (-) negative battery cable first, then you can remove the (+) positive cable!

Notice on the positive side, there are two large cables & one small cable (alternator) mounted piggyback with a spacer in between. Remove the rubber insulation to expose the cables and the spacer and check for corrosion between the cables. In addition, look at the cables to see if you have corrosion inside the wire. If you find corrosion, use a 50-50 mix of water and sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) with a brass brush to clean everything and then apply dielectric grease on all sides before reassembly. If the wire (cable) appears corroded, you may need to cut back the cable until you see clean wiring & install new terminals. I prefer to use solder terminals and use gold plated battery post. (See pic below for a much better design).

If all you do at this time is clean & tighten the terminals, take the car to AutoZone or Advanced, and have them do a battery load test and alternator output test, then post back.

Several years ago, I got tired of the lousy design of the OEM side post terminals and replaced all of them on my GM cars with what you see in pic below. I have not had one electrical problem since! BTW, the example shown below is from an 96-PA Ultra.

[DannMann99]

Well I took a look at it today.

Upon initial inspection, I noticed the Negative terminal was fine, but the positive terminal looked alittle corroded, and head of it was mucked up. So i took off the negative terminal, and tried to take off the positive but I couldn't fit my ratchet over it, seems like whoever did that last striped the head alittle... I didn't have pliers on hand so I couldn't get any further but I did brillo down the positive terminal head, and maneuvered the cables running to it alittle and cleaned it all up with a bicarb sol'n. I'm going to hope that will tide me over until I can get the car inspected.

From the outside the terminal didn't look terrible so I think once i can get in there with a good brush and some grease I can make it like new again. We will find out though.

After doing that too I noticed the battery gauge jumped to right below the red line at the max. (as opposed to sitting somewhere in the middle just the day before)...

[DannMann99]

so i have an update guys.

i cleaned off the positive terminal which i found corroded alittle... started and worked better. left it for about 2 days and it needed to be jumped. ran it for alittle bit and i was able to restart it alone. left it for another couple of days and noticed the car died again, but it would turn over... a couple of days after that (no jump yet) and it stopped turning over... does anyone know what this could mean?

[Hapynzap]

Batteries are something I don' mess around with. I cant afford to be stranded in bad weather. Unless you know this battery is pretty new it may come down to getting a new one.

I don't skrimp on batteries. I buy the best one I can afford. I like the OEM replacement no maintenance batteries at Car Quest.