Live in upper NY State. Just acquired a two-owner 1984 Eldorado Bir. with the 4.1 engine at 52,000 miles. Car originally purchased on Long Island NY and remained there until 2 years ago. Appears in excellent condition inside and outside indicating it was kept in a garage. Previous owner had a battery minder installed indicating it spent winters in storage.

Car seems in excellent condition mechanically. Engine and tranny run smooth, steering and ride firm/good. No deterioration of exterior metal, vinyl top or paint finish but vinyl trim piece around rear license plate has small cracks due to age. Interior vinyl or leather like-new.

Question for those familiar with this year/model .... are there particular items/devices/systems I should keep an eye on or have checked at this point ? I am almost age 80 and have limited ability to do major repairs etc.

As far as engine oil goes, have a stock 1947 Ford with flathead V8 in which I use Penn high detergent 10w-30 oil with zinc additive. Seems okay as the rebuilt engine has 35,000 on it, has very good oil pressure, it doesn't burn oil and stays clean-ish at 1,000 mile changes. I only use synthetic oil as instructed for the family's newer cars. SO, I suspect a name brand high detergent oil would be suitable for this vintage engine ( ? )

Thanks for any info/advice. Dan

 

You need a factory service manual - ebay . The car shares little with her sisters. Most of the high failure stuff was updated since it was near the end of the run. CV boots. the rear disc park brake actuators, idler arm, AIR pump belt adjustment. A lot of the longitudinal engine parts can be hard to find. They are different than the transverse engine.

 

slowroll .... Thanks for your comments. Google showed a company offering a manual but will check eBay too. You said "A lot of the longitudinal engine parts can be hard to find. They are different than the transverse engine." I assume you are referring to the older RWD caddy's. (this is FWD)

I get the impression the car was serviced properly .... i.e. the AC refrigerant was updated.

Day "2", noticed after parking car, then starting and driving again, the speedo does not "wake up" until the car got up to abt 35 or 40 mph. Did same sequence so doubt its a loose electronic connection. ..... First item for the 60 day warranty . Dan