Cascade Crew

[miamivice]

ok, since my last thread got jacked, ill just make a new one.
took the car to the shop yesterday to get the oil changed. well he said there are some problems. Although he did not give me a print out and full explanation because I did not pay the 50 dollars inspection fee

problem 1:
i guess one he said one of the cylinders is not getting enough spark (no spark maybe? i dont remember) and therefore, it causes gas to mix with engine oil, which will then run down into the catalytic converter and ruin that.
Does this mean the engine is going bad? Or can it be fixed w/o doing a whole engine swap.

Problem 2:
He said the radiator was getting pretty scaly?
Does that mean its starting to rust? I then asked him if I needed to have that replaced but he said with out doing some further testing didn’t know.

Problem 3:
When I drive the car at night, the alternator gauge starts going crazy and the lights start to flicker, headlights and dash lights. The number reads anywhere from 13 to 16.
After driving for a long time the problem starts to go away.

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i am no mechanic do i dont understand any of this stuff, so i just need to figure out what needs to be done to resolve them, with preferably the least amount of work since most likely id have to pay someone to do the work.

on another note, i ordered that Kenny Brown STB.

[Twilightoptics]

#3... sounds like the voltage regulator is going. Check all the connections first, make sure they are clean and tight.

#1... huh? I don't know that someone is going to be able to tell something like that from changing the oil... If you had a dead cyl, you'd notice! If it's not burning completely, you'd be able to tell by what the plugs looked like. Check the plug on that cyl.

I'm sure the mad chevy man will have some chime.

[chevymad]

Problem #1 sounds like he's saying you have a miss. If you really do you'll need to find out why. Bad compression, bad plug, bad wire, cap/rotor, etc.. typical tuneup stuff.

Problem #2.. you should just give the cooling system a good flush. Easy to do yourself.

Problem 3.. make sure all connections are good at the battery and alternator. Have battery/alternator tested. Alot of places do this for free. Typically the alternator/regulator's go bad on these cars. I think the aftermarket finally started to get it right though cause I havent changed on in awhile. But I have gone through 7 or 8 over the years.