Fully restoring an '86 T-Type, Questions...

[Paladin]

I picked up an '86 T-Type that had been parked for 3 years yesterday. I did an oil/filter/plug change, put 2 gallons of premium in the tank, and got to fire up. The engine bay is an absolute mess, there are sensors and wires floating around, the shield on the wiring harness on the passenger side is partially melted off (looks to be from contact with the exhaust header). There are gobs of electrical tape all over every wire I can see, the 'idle air control' is snapped off amongst other things. There is some body damage on the front end (bumper, turn signals need replacing). As for the interior, the headliner is down, I have that funky orange crap snowing down every time I get in the car, the seats and carpet are fine, just need a good cleaning. The locking mechanism fell out of the glovebox, so it is stuck shut and I have NO idea what is in it right now. The horn also appears to be broken. Turbo gauge is expectedly shot, so is the turbo (if I rev the engine up to say 4-5K then let off the gas, I hear a tweety bird type sound, a couple 'turbo' people I know say that sounds like a bearing went in the turbo. I had spooled up boost twice yesterday, worked fine the first time, second time, I lost boost, a black cloud belched out the tailpipe, and the check engine light came on. Didn't come on after restarting it and the car ran fine, despite the turbo failing. I won't know for sure on that one until I take the turbo off and apart, see whats going on. I also think there is a problem with the trans, OD and D slip pretty bad, 1st and 2nd are ok. Funny thing, despite all that is wrong, heat and A/C work perfect. ..as do the powermaster brakes oddly enough, they grab better than the brakes on my Neon.

Anyhow, main questions are reguarding the turbo and trans, I'm going to service the trans either today or tomorrow... Then I attack the wiring under the hood. I'll end up posting pics of various sensors I can't identify. Enough rambling for one day, if anybody can make some sense of what I've said, please respond!

Thanks,
Sam

(Two pics of the car are up on my site at http://www.tothemetal.net/")

 

[John Larkin]

Congrats on your purchase. Probably a good idea to go to www.gnttype.org and print out the ECM wiring schematic. Then unhook the computer and verify continuity from all the pinouts to the appropriate sensors. After you do the full spring cleaning on gnttype also, you may end up with a decent running car. I'd get into the wiring first like you say. That will be an all day project; a buddy would come in handy here. Good luck. Oh, might want to drain the gas tank too. There is a connector under the alternator, a white wire with black end. Connect that to power and it will turn the fuel pump on with the key on, car off. Take the end off the fuel rail and remove the schraeder valve core inside it. Put a hose on the end and you can drain your tank that way. Then you can put real fresh gas in, Sunoco 94 if possible.

 

[Snorman]

This might help you with the sensor locations.

Sounds like you've got your hands full with this project.
I'd do the "spring cleaning" as already suggested. If the car has been sitting, it'll need it.
FYI, you can find low mileage stock turbos just about everywhere. You'll see them for sale on this site and eBay pretty regularly. I think where you'll get into $$$ are the specific parts like bezels, emblems, etc.

Good luck!
S.

 

[Chris Taylor]

Sounds like a good find. Sounds like the wheels on the turbo are draging the housings. You need to get this fixed or replaced first.

 

[Paladin]

Yea, turbo is shot, I took the car out for a drive this morning, drives fine (lot of slippage in OD and D, going to do the tranny service if the weather holds), but if I give it a bit of gas I can hear the turbo complaining. I saw a used turbo from an '87 GN for sale on Gnttype for like $225, so when I managed to rake up some more money I'll invest in one of those. What does a tranny for one of these go for to rebuild? I know a guy who said he could do it for $700, is that reasonable? I don't believe he's a 'Buick' guy, but he's been around for ages and he's done a trans for me before, so I don't think it would be a bad thing..

Sam

 

[Chris Taylor]

Bruce @ PTS and Eric Schertz @ Dyno Tec. These are the only guys I would have build a 200 trans. Look on the trans. page and ask this question.

 

[turboman38]

You have your work cut for you with the wiring but as Bob the Builder says, "Can we fix it, yes we can" There is a good tranny guy in Ohio (around Summit Racing). Does good work for a reasonable price and knows the 200 like the back of his hand.