new le baron owner
 

my names brad. i wanted to find a fun convertible that wasnt terribly expensive and i just picked up a 95 lebaron gtc. 70k miles in great condition. needs valve covers fixed but no biggie there. oil pressure is low also but drove home just fine. engine is smooth and shifts well.

any advice on what to check for before i really start driving it more would be helpful. ive always been an import guy mostly. thanks

Low oil pressure is a concern. How did you measure it? The gauges in the car are not a great source of information. If the light comes on, that's really bad. Might want to put that at the top of the list of things to deal with.

when its cold, the oil pressure is fine. it settles down to a lower pressure once warm but i was concerned when i was driving it and even while driving it never got above the 1st hash mark , and it idled lower. im thinking the valve covers leaking has something to do with it. if not then it could be an oil pump.

i was using the stock oil gauge. the oil light never came on. i have a similar problem reading oil pressure in my stealth (similar engines if im not mistaken) on the stock gauge but it still rises when you get accelerate and drive it like any other car.

i dont notice any loss of performance, no engine lag, no weird noises. oil level is fine. i think once i change the VC gaskets i can get a better idea

Valve cover gaskets won't make any difference. The oil that flows behind the valve cover gaskets is not under pressure. It's just a collection area and it then flows by gravity back to the sump. Make sure you're using the correct viscosity oil as specified in the owners manual. If you don't have an owners manual, you might find one on eBay. The idiots who don't leave the owners manual in the car sell them there. If you get a shop manual like a Haynes or a Chiltons, it will have the information.

The problem with low oil pressure won't show up as a loss of performance or lag. It'll show up as a ruined bearing, rod knock or seized engine, by which time it's too late.

i actually got it fixed. oil pressure in the system was normal. had a bad oil pressure sending unit and had it replaced.

only other thing that bothers me is i have a little bit of rattling coming from the exhaust when i accelerate. dont hear it much while in the car but from the outside its more noticeable. ill check that soon

and i do have the owners manual so thats always a nice find! thanks for the responses.

I had a rattle like that in my '93 Concorde many years ago. It was the catalytic converter.

so a new issue arose today. this was the first day i really got to go around town and do some errands. it has been pretty warm (85 degrees). drove well and only had alot of low idling problems

the car did shut off today at a stop light. i was in drive while pressing the brake. idle is super rough. it never overheated but temp did rise to the 3/4 hash mark then went down again when fans kicked on. does the same thing while in park and when i got home i switched to park and it cut off during the transition.

also when i started it on one occasion the car immediately died after being started (engine was still hot as i only started it after about 20 mins). used to have an issue like this on a honda and all i would do is tap the accelerator while it started and never would shut off. every other time it started and stayed on but rpms dipped pretty low before it evened out.

the idle was dipping as low as 300 but was constantly correcting itself. the battery voltage was fluctuating a few times while maintaining the idle but nothing more than a little twitch on the needle ( maybe 1 volt drop, definitely no more than 2 volt) but immediately corrected and maintained voltage.

it never shut off while driving , just only when it is in park or if it is in drive with the foot on the brake.