1958 Century Riv - problem

[ckoch]

Hey -

newbie here. I'm buying my uncles' 1958 Buick Century Riv - 4-door. It was in storage for 15 years - I had it towed to a mechanic (the car's in Montana, I'm in MN) to get it up and running. Spent $2k to get it going, new lined gas tank, fuel lines, tires, etc. He got it running, but said it was spraying oil out the exhaust - thought it probably is a stuck piston ring. he wants another $2k - $3k to fix it.

I'm going out to tow it home.

Is this something that a guy can fix himself? I'm pretty mechanical, but is taking the engine apart a DIY job?:confused:

Advice?

Thanks,

Chris

[1958BuickLars]

Hi Chris

I have a 1958 Buick Limited - once I had the probelm that the engine put out tons of oil / smoke in the exhaust. After weeks of working on the problem I found that it was a fault in the wipermotor, :Dou:

The engine was sucking oil trough the vacum line from the warn oilpump
trough a faulty valve in the wipermotor.

Try disconnecting all hoses from the carburator and manifold!

Best regards Lars

[Nailhead58]

If it loads up with smoke at an idle, but clears out after it's driven awhile: wiper motor. You've probably got a problem with the vacuum pump, which is married to the oil pump down in the pan.

[EQ]

On the passenger side of the engine block right above the oil pan.
Notice a line coming out of the block you should be able to follow the line to the wipers...

That is a vacuum assist line from the oil pump.
The engine creates it's own vaccum for the wipers from the manifold, but it's not enough vacuum under a strain.

So the brilliant engineers in 1958 decided to build an assist system internally connected to the same shaft that ran the oil pump.

Unfortunately the diaphrams in this system went bad after years of wear and tear and the SOB is inside the damned oil pan.

When the diaphram goes out on them, it doesn't suck anymore, instead, oil passes though it, and the engine then sucks oil from the vacuum pump into the engine's intake manifold which causes smoke...More so on first starts and YES as stupid as this sounds on hard fast left turns because the oil in the motor is pushed to the right side of the oil pan, where the diaphram is located.....

Plug it and see if your smoke disappears.

DO A COMPRESSION TEST TO SEE IF YOUR RINGS ARE WEAK TOO.
But I have a hunch that it's the pump.

If it is, then I suggest getting an electric wiper system.
Because the vacuum from the intake will not be enough on it's own to run the wipers and the engine properly...
You will lose performance on rainy days...If you drive it in the rain..
You can drop the pan to get to the pump to replace the diaphram.
The oil pump should still be good.
The vaccum assist was built onto the oil pump, but had no effect on the
oil pump failing mechanically...

I bet that your wiper system is prolly filled with oil too..

[EQ]

Wish that I was nearby....I would love to tear another 364 apart again.
Unfortunately, I am not near you..... I am close to Chicago.

I did a total bebuild on mine two years ago....
I did everything myself except the valve job which I farmed out.
You can do a complete engine overhaul for under a grand if you do the labor.

If you need advise hit me up with a few PM's.


More than happy to assist.

[rogbo1]

My old 56 had a similar vacuum assist pump but fortunately it was married to the fuel pump so was easy to bypass it. Didn't know they connected it to the oil pump in later years!:Do No:
But I just connected the wiper motor directly to the manifold vacuum and bypassed it. No big deal, hardly ever drove in the rain. Also eliminated other vacuum leaks.