Busta, try a bottle of this in the transmission. See if it improves the engagement time when putting it in d or r.
Berryman Products 0712 Transmission and Power Steering Sealer with Easy Pour-in Long-Neck Bottle, 11 Ounce, (Single Unit) https://a.co/d/iJpUos2
Hi. Thanks.
On whether or not this old Buick is worth the time and effort, I hear you for sure.
I’m of two minds on it myself, but in terms of a very basic car to just get around in now and to be a back up while I try to get my '85 Toyota 4WD pick up back on the road, it generally serves me well, albeit not without issues.
I do appreciate your perspective!
Thank you “oldmoparguy” on the transmission seal additive. I will try it!
Follow the label instructions carefully and i think you’ll have a good result. And forget the idea of radiator stop leak unless you want no heat to go along with your no a/c.
Thanks “mustangman” on the advice against the radiator stop leak. I’ve heard this advice against and have seen it here too. I share the concern for sure.
I think at this point I’m just going to concentrate on finishing the false pulley install and then go from there. Probably will opt for a new radiator over any stop leak.
Any other suggestions yea or nay on the radiator stop leak would still be welcome.
As for a shorter belt…that was my first choice.
Unfortunately, it’s not an option on this motor because of the way the other pulleys are configured.
Personally I wouldn’t bother with the stop leak myself for a 26 year old aluminum radiator. Assuming it works, it won’t work indefinitely. And you know how this sort of thing usually goes, when it starts leaking, its going to be on a cold, wet, night.
Sorry you are having problems with the A/C compressor, but it sounds like you have a work-a-rouind. Neither of my two cars have A/C, and I’m somehow able to survive … lol …
About the transmission symptoms. The fact that it shifts ok through all the gears once you get it into Drive could mean the problem is the gear selection mechanism, most of which is outside the transmission. So it might be a relatively inexpensive fix.
I was thinking the same thing 
Glad to see you still have a chance to post at Car Talk from time to time db4690 
There seem to be close to an infinite number of car problems so we need all the help we can get.
Thank you again, Sir.
Today I finally managed to get the doggone compressor (and the two lines to it) out of the motor well.
Got the false pulley installed–easy!
BUT…I failed in getting a new serpentine belt put on. With my son holding the tensioner pulley ratcheted as far as it would go, I could not quite get the new belt over the alternator pulley.
Try again tomorrow.
Any advice or tricks for getting that done would be greatly appreciated!
I can’t even think more about the radiator and/or tranny issue yet.
I can sure see now why this job would quickly rack up a big labor bill.
Thanks again!
Always put a Serp belt over a smooth pulley last, if you are trying to put it over a grooved pulley you are fighting the groves and the outer edge of the pulley…
These can help with holding the belt on the crank and other pulleys, or something similar…
OK. Copy that. Thank you!
I did not re-read the whole post but there are 2 things you might try. try loosening the alternator bolts. It might give you a little more play to get it on.
2.) If you can get the belt partially on but is too tight to get it all the way on. you can tap your ignition key a bit and the belt might spin on the rest of the way.
OP was trying to put the belt over the alt last, very hard to put a serp belt over a grooved pulley last… Put the belt over a smooth pulley last…
The vdo below suggests the alternator should be the final pulley. The VDO suggests there shouldn’t be much trouble getting belt over last pulley in any event, if tensioner is properly released and using proper belt. Perhaps OP is attempting to install an incorrectly sized belt?
OP, you’re removing everything including the mount fastener as shown the vdo, right?
Interesting note: VDO suggests water pump is driven in CCW direction using back side of belt. Didn’t somebody here say only VW uses the back side of belt to drive accessory pulleys?
The back side of a standard serpentine belt is used to drive smooth pulleys. You were suggesting to someone that they may have routed the belt to the wrong side of a pulley causing reversed rotation. Smooth side of a belt against a V-grove pulley would be an obvious mistake.
Once the belt is installed, could be difficult to see that the smooth side of belt was against a grooved pulley. Not suggesting a pro-mechanic would commonly make that mistake, but it seems like a diy’er might.
Actually I do the alternator last because it is the more accessible pulley. Just have to push a little harder on the wrench or use an extension. I agree it’s not as easy as a smooth pulley though, but if you are trying to keep the belts on the other pulleys . . .having help would help.
That would be my motivation too. It’s right there at the top, less chance of mangled fingers making a stand there. If belt was stubborn and just wouldn’t move onto alternator pulley, seems like the bolts holding the alternator in place could be loosened enough to allow alternator pulley to tip down a little, enough to get belt on. Someone above mentioned this idea already I think.
Hi. And thanks again to all! I’ve got the serp belt on and the car runs smooth and much more quietly with the false pulley installed. Belt fit and alignment is good all around!
Thanks again to all of you!
Most likely the only reason that they are saying that is because the alt is the easiest to get to and all the videos are mostly for DIYers and or beginners… Sure if you have everything lined up perfectly and the tensioner has enough movement in it then that will work…
But for the seasoned technicians that aren’t YouTube certified mechanics but professionals we know that that is not always the case, and I had a 3.8L in a park ave years ago and R&R’d the serp belt many times over it’s 260K+ miles owned and I would slid the belt over the WP last, but I also knew what I was doing…
Lets think about this a different way, take a garden rack and pull it across a carpet prongs down, then turn it upside down (prongs up) and pull it across a smooth floor… Now which one was harder to do??? same with the grooved side of the belt versus the smooth side of the belt… When you try to move to grooved objects over each other it is much harder then to smooth objects…
Sooo as I have said before, I don’t care what the internet says versus something I have done thousands of times that I know works and have seen done thousands of times…
Picture of garden rack for reference incase someone didn’t know what one was…
I am around 260 pounds and I could stand on the spring and it barley moved, the spring it pictured beside a normal quart of trans fluid and the splined thing (OD Hub) behind it is what it goes in and you have to collapse it almost completely, meaning almost flat when assembling it… Crazy dangerous…
