PontiacBonnevilleClub.com

Wow, what a crazy three days! I picked up the LSS in Philly on Wednesday afternoon, got home with it on Thursday, and sold the Bonneville on Friday.

The car ran beautifully on the drive back to North Carolina, although it didn't get quite as good gas mileage as the Bonneville. That could be because all the gas I found in Pennsylvania and Virginia was gasohol, which I tend to avoid because it costs me 2-3 mpg.

There are a couple of issues with the car that I need to address. The biggest being the "Check Engine" light is on. I had Auto Zone scan it yesterday and the code they pulled was 0140, which indicates a bad oxygen sensor. How much of a pain is that to fix? The other problem is the high beam switch doesn't click to keep the high beams turned on. Is that an easy fix or am I looking at replacing the steering column? If I have to replace it, I want to get one from a Bonneville that has the turn signal lever up at the 10 o'clock position instead of an OldsmoBuick one that has it positioned just below 9 o'clock.

One other oddity on the car is the leather appears to have been spray painted to make it look newer and fresher, although that makes it feel dry and rough.

Other than that, the car is great.

An upstream O2 sensor is not difficult to replace, and the worn old sensor is likely the reason for your reduced MPG's, as it's probably misleading your car's computer into thinking the engine is running 'lean', and causing it to use excess fuel.

Pre-soak its threads with a few squirts of 'PB Blaster' or 'Kroil' the day before you remove it, invest in a 7/8" O2 sensor socket and a looong extension bar to help access it (as it's located at the center rear of your engine, in the exhaust pipe), and replace it with either an AC Delco or Denso brand sensor, NEVER Bosch. Take care to make sure the O2 sensor's cable is not in contact with a spark plug wire after re-installing it.

Are you sure you don't flick the stalk forward (towards dash) to engage the high-beams? That's how 00+ and pretty much all new cars are...

00Beast wrote:Are you sure you don't flick the stalk forward (towards dash) to engage the high-beams? That's how 00+ and pretty much all new cars are...

It's a pull-back switch for the high beams on my '97.

I am beyond jealous, wow...just wow.

So I've had the car for almost three weeks now and it has its share of minor quirks, as any 15-year-old car will, but I'm overall quite impressed with it. Having owned two LSS's prior to this one, I pretty much knew what I was getting into, so there were no great surprises there. The big surprise was that the LSS has much tighter handling than my Bonneville. Of course, that could have something to do with the fact that the Bonneville needed a set of shocks.

Still, there are three things I definitely prefer about the Bonneville:

• The larger rear view mirrors. Yeah, they're not as sleek looking as the OldsmoBuick mirrors, but the definitely reduce the blind spots.
• The position of the turn signal lever: The Bonneville's lever is positioned just above 10 o'clock, which allows for easy access by simply extending the fingers without taking them off the wheel. There is really no excuse for the Olds lever being positioned just below 9 o'clock.
• The red instrument panel lights: They just look cool, but y'all already knew that.

It was kind of sad seeing the Bonneville pull away with someone else behind the wheel. I'd only had the car a year and a half, but I'd put a lot of work into fixing it up. The LSS needs much, much less work but I'm sure I'll leave my mark on it as well. Actually, I've already done so. The little flip-down sunglass holder was broken and I broke it worse while trying to fix it. It's a pretty rare part on the Olds, maybe even an LSS exclusive, but the almost identical part is much more plentiful on Bonnevilles, albeit only in black. I was able to pick one up at the junk yard for $3 and I'm back in business. It doesn't look bad, but in the unlikely event I ever find an LSS with a tan interior on the junk yard, I'll get the one with the proper color.

Nice Oldsmobile! I remember seeing this car on ebay and drooling over it myself!

That's a sweet Olds! I was looking for a LSS myself but imposable to find, so ended up getting the one I got. It's not even a LS model but at least it has some options. Got you beat in the mileage thought, only have 22k on mine on a 99

Yes, the LSS is a fairly rare car. Olds didn't do enough to market it or differentiate it from the standard Eighty-Eight. I think they were more interested in redirecting potential LSS buyers into the more expensive Aurora.

That is impressively low mileage on yours. My parents have '97 Eighty-Eight LS with about 35,000 miles on it.

monte0 wrote:That's a sweet Olds! I was looking for a LSS myself but imposable to find, so ended up getting the one I got. It's not even a LS model but at least it has some options. Got you beat in the mileage thought, only have 22k on mine on a 99

Madcarpenter wrote:An upstream O2 sensor is not difficult to replace, and the worn old sensor is likely the reason for your reduced MPG's, as it's probably misleading your car's computer into thinking the engine is running 'lean', and causing it to use excess fuel.

Pre-soak its threads with a few squirts of 'PB Blaster' or 'Kroil' the day before you remove it, invest in a 7/8" O2 sensor socket and a looong extension bar to help access it (as it's located at the center rear of your engine, in the exhaust pipe), and replace it with either an AC Delco or Denso brand sensor, NEVER Bosch. Take care to make sure the O2 sensor's cable is not in contact with a spark plug wire after re-installing it.

Why not Bosch ? Great car human !! You were lucky buying from an ebay seller with such a low feedback score !

Bosch sensors don't work well