September 28, 2010 – 8:33 pm
I finally was left stranded by the Buick. About 30 minutes from home, I stopped at a gas station to use their ATM. When I came back out, it wouldn’t start. It wouldn’t even try. Just a single click, and that’s it. Having no idea what happened I called Marty for advice. He had me try some tricks like whacking the solenoid with a crow bar I had in the trunk, but it made no difference. The headlights did not dim when I would engage the starter, so I guess this means it isn’t stuck and drawing a lot of juice. After about 3 hours, my dad was able to get away from work to come give me a tow-start. Fortunately I had read in the service manual that you could start a Dynaflow equipped Buick by putting it into low gear and towing or pushing it. We had to get it up to about 35-40 mph before it would start. I drove it back home and took the starter out to find that the gear had been completely reamed off, and the brushes in the motor were broken and ground into small bits, which also destroyed the armature while it was at it. DOH! Apparently the starter had engaged while I was driving it… which, obviously it isn’t supposed to do… but, considering that the starter button is part of the throttle linkage, apparently whatever mechanism bypasses this while the motor is running must have failed. I have yet to figure out what the problem was. I have a new starter installed now and it seems to work just fine. Oh well, I’m putting the car into storage for the winter and will figure it out in the spring when I get the car back out. I could install a starter button under the dash and just disable the original switch, but I think its pretty cool how it works and would like to keep it that way if possible.
Blown-up Starter
August 23, 2010 – 10:17 am
Before re-assembling everything, I decided to take this opportunity to clean up the rear axle assembly. I scraped all the crud off, de-greased it, painted it, and even duplicated the original factory paint markings just for fun! Putting it all back together was fairly straight forward… just follow the instructions in the service manual, don’t skip a step! I made the mistake of not turning the u-joint on the transmission so that the indexing slot was pointing straight up. This made it more difficult to re-insert the drive shaft. I had my dad at the rear of the car with the rear axle up on a jack while I held the drive shaft up to where it could slide in. It took a pretty good and quick shove for him to get it to go all the way in. So now it’s back together, and the good news it that the torque ball doesn’t leak! However, there are still plenty of other drips coming off the transmission, engine, etc…. I guess that’s just what ya get with an old Buick that hasn’t have the motor or trans fully serviced in at least 30 years. The solution to these leaks is simple… it’s called a drip pan!
Rear Axle Housing and Differential Markings
Torque Tube Marking
August 13, 2010 – 5:24 pm
After trying un-successfully to find a good replacement torque ball, I took my original to my friend Gary who has a bunch of machine shop equipment set up in his shop. He was able to fix it for me with ease. He said he ground out the wear spot to a V, to ensure that he was down to clean metal, and to give the new metal some place to grab. Then he brazed it back in and chucked the piece up on a lathe, and turned it down nice and smooth all the way around. Came out awesome! Thanks Gary!
Worn Torque Ball After Repair
August 11, 2010 – 3:56 pm
After reading some forum posts at AACA.org and the Service Manual, I thought doing the install of the replacement Torque ball seal would not be too terribly difficult. I removed the nuts that hold the Torque Ball to the Torque Tube, disconnected the brake hose, disconnected the panhard bar and the shocks, then using a come-along and a ratchet strap was able to pull the rear axle back as far as it would go (as advised). But after much frustration, came to the conclusion that I was not going to be able to get the Torque Ball Retainer or Torque Ball to come out of the car, there just wasn’t enough clearance… period! Others have said they have done it, but it sure wasn’t working for me. So, considering that I was literally two bolts away from removing the entire rear axle, just just went ahead and pulled it. This finally gave me the room I needed to pull the Torque Ball Retainer and Torque ball out through the hole in the frame cross member. Sadly, it looks like the Torque Ball will need to be replaced. It has a very bad wear spot that will certainly keep it from making a seal. So the search is on for a replacement!
Torque Ball Clearance Problems
