1995 Oldsmobile Cutlass Convertible from North America - Comments

The metal cooling line went because it rusted on the welds. The tranny is a little erratic. It sometimes (rarely these days) works fine. Most of the time it almost skips second and goes right to third. It also holds the gears too long during downshifting, but never stalls. The fluid is good, so I don't know other than it needs to be rebuilt. Convertible top leaks like a sieve, but it is the original. Dashboard doesn't like rain. Speedo and guages go on strike and stop working. Power windows sometimes have a mind all their own.

I really like this car! It is very comfortable and has a good deal of power. I don't really care for FWD, but it does haul out pretty good. I love looking for little "Fast & Furious" type cars and dusting them. Not the ones with the turbos, just the ones with wheels and an exhaust. Love the five seat setup, I have three kids and love open air motoring, what am I to do? This is the only 5 seat convertible I can find that is modern with EFI, besides the Cavalier and Sunfire. It was CHEAP, $2100, and I think I could easily get that today. It also typifies everything that was wrong with Oldsmobile before its demise. Shoddy interior quality and overly complicated systems prone to failure. It is very difficult to work on because they squeezed 10 lbs. of engine in a 5 lb. engine bay. Overall though, I like the car a lot.

I am looking to buy almost exactly the same car. 1995 Olds Cutlass Conv. with 3.4L with a lot of bells and whistles. It has 105,000 miles. It needs front brakes, seems to take a real hard pedal to stop. Is this common? On the lift, I see there is an oil leak. Don't know where the source is. It looks like it would be hard to work on, even to replace the valve cover gaskets, due to tight space under the hood. All acessories work, but being a Detroit product that is ten years old and over 100k miles, my concern is that I will inherit a lot of replacements to do. Can anyone give any thoughts or opinions on this? The car is good looking and fun to drive. What kind of gas mileage does the 3.4L get in this car? Thanks to all who respond.

I too have a 95 Cutlass convertible, with 69K miles. Its top is in need of replacement, but then, its 11 years old. I too have the oil leak, which is apparently common on the 3.4. The local Chevy dealer works on it, and told me it is expensive to fix, because its hard to work on. The oil leak most likely would require the intake manifold to be removed, as I was told.. mine has an intake manifold gasket leak and the oil leak. The Chevy dealer told me the oil leak would be inexpensive to fix, if I do it at the same time as the intake manifold gasket. But, the 3.4 is one of the silkiest engines I've driven, and I love my olds. While I'd agree that some of the interior components are less than quality, its still a fun car to drive, and I get compliments all the time. This car has been mentioned numerous times by folks to become a real collectible. So, I'm hanging on to mine and keeping it in top running condition. New top going on in the spring. Its in the garage for the winter now.. can't wait til spring. So, if the rest of your car is in reasonably good shape, I'd fix the leak. The prices on eBay seem to be holding steady, and I expect next year or so, to start seeing them increase.

Enjoy your car!

3.4L DOHC motor... YOU GOT... an OIL LEAK? The dealer/mechanic says it's an expensive repair (400 - to over 1000)? Saying the head needs to be removed to repair it? That is all true, but there's a SECRET FIX I'll get to later. To clarify your oil leak IS THE SAME as what I'm mentioning: it's an O-ring that almost always fails, it's on the oil pump shaft (1 hint is if leak is worse with engine on, drips from 2 or more spots approx inline with (but way below) the dipstick) follow the drip to source. This oil pump shaft is located where the distributor shaft on most GM V-6's is located. Due to the DOHC this leak is deep in the center of the motor (almost, if not, impossible to see). DEALER-REPAIR-BY-THE-BOOK the intake comes out along with 4 cams, front of motor, timing belt AND 1 head (mechanic then wants to do BOTH heads). HOWEVER the SECRET FIX is you need only remove the intake manifold and fuel injection rail. Remove the retaining clip, the shaft can pull up at least 1/4" JUST ENOUGH to thoroughly clean surfaces in between (originally no gasket there). It's a tight spot and it IS an oil pump so removing all oil/residue takes time and diligence. Now, get a round gasket that will fit covering the flat surface around the shaft. You need to slit the gasket or probably go with 2 halves to allow the gasket to be dry-fit nicely into position. AGAIN it's GOTTA-BE-CLEAN. Remove gasket, apply gasket sealer to engine block where gasket sits, apply sealer to bottom of gasket, set into position, using sliver of plastic, stick or Q-tip apply sealer to top of gasket and the collar piece that sets back down onto gasket, tighten, wipe excess, let sealer set. IF done right: getting it all CLEAN and your gasket is a good fit and went into position nicely this fix should last as long as the motor does. good luck, if you pull it off it saves A lot of time and MONEY! Not naming names, but if you're wondering this fix CAME FROM DEALER MECHANICS if/when their serevice-writer & customer's OK them to go-for-it, try the EZ fix (if mechanic was good IT-WAS-ALL-GOOD!

Has anyone found replacement rear lower window seals? I cannot locate them anywhere. How about after market or any substitutions? I own 2 a 1994 and 95 convertible. Both in need of replacements.

Regarding replacement rear lower window seals - there was a discussion about this on the message board at http://www.w-body.com. One of the people posting had inquired with a weatherstripping manufacturer about reproducing these seals. There was also a thread from a couple of years ago that also covered how to replace these seals.

I have a 1995 Cutlass Convertible, and one of my rear seals is broken. It's a small tear, so 1/2" piece of electrical tape is sufficient to seal the gap, but I too, would like replace the weatherstripping. I had ordered a piece of weatherstripping from an aftermarket company to replace my torn seal. It looked pretty close to the factory seal, I just never made time to try and install it.

For now I keep all the weatherstripping and seals lubed with Sil-Glyde from NAPA auto parts.