My Blazer is running like a Swiss watch and the wife's Jimmy is running beautifully and has a brand-new flexplate which means I can turn some attention to my project car, a 1984 Buick Electra Park Avenue. Go ahead and laugh. I love the large Buicks of the 1980s. I had three LeSabres (82, 83, 84) and I found this Park Ave in June for $500. I love the ride of those big old boats and especially the legroom. They were truly superb vehicles.

The Park Ave hasn't needed much work so far. I flushed the cooling system and replaced the thermostat and heater core. I replaced the center link and front wheel bearings. I fixed a few electrical issues in the lighting system. I installed my nice HD radio deck.

Now I'm getting down to the more serious stuff. The O2 sensor is bad and I'm going to replace that. It's far easier than the one on a Blazer. The TPS in the carburetor is also bad. I don't have much experience with carburetors. This particular carb has the TPS under the accelerator pump rocker arm. To replace it I had to take the top off the carburetor. While I had it apart I replaced the gasket under the top of the carburetor and cleaned everything out with a nice shot of carb cleaner.

Apparently the TPS in this carburetor was used in several vehicles which all needed different settings. I need to calibrate the TPS to what the computer expects to see. The low reading (when the pedal is not depressed at all) should be 0.4V and the high reading should be 4.5V. Depending on the application the TPS can be adjusted to a wide range of values for different systems. The way that's done is with a plugged adjusting screw. You remove the plug and then adjust the screw to set the base voltage of the TPS. My problem is I don't have the tool to turn that tiny screw. It's like a miniature hex stud. It was made that way to avoid amateur mechanics making adjustments.

I can order the tool and have it here in three or four days but I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas for making my own tool to adjust the TPS set screw. I'm hoping I can find a tiny tube and fit over the end of the screw to turn it. Anybody have any ideas?

 

What I do is remove the plugs, remove the primary mixture screws, then take a thin hack saw blade (or the thin Dremel blades - if you have a Dremel) and cut a slot in the end of the screw so you can use a regular flat head screw driver.

But you should be able to get the proper tool at almost any autoparts store. I'm not sure how many of them still have it on the shelf, but I know my local NAPA does. I just find it easier to slot them and use a screw driver, but I'm typically tearing down the carb completely to clean & rebuild it.

For the double-d ends, you can make a tool out of steel brake line. Just squash the end enough to match up the inside width with the width of the double-d flat to flat and away you go.

 

I actually have an old double-D tool I inherited from my grandfather. The particular problem of the TPS adjusting screw is that it's down inside a hole. I have to get it out before I can cut a slot in it. I called a couple local auto parts stores and none of them had the tool; not even NAPA. I'm going to try jamming a caulk tube cut to the appropriate diameter down in the hole to see if I can get the screw to turn.

In related news, I realized today that my friend and I forgot to put the little rod back into the air horn that goes under the accelerator pump lever to actuate the TPS. I'll have to take the air horn back off to put that shaft under the lever so it will actually move the TPS. I already tried to remove the pin that holds the shaft in but the Buick FSM says it's non-removable.

 

Ah ok. I try to stay away from the E4ME carb. As you have found out, it's a royal pain to work with and even when they are 100%, they still don't run properly (IMO).

Have you looked into just dropping on a M4ME carb and saying to heck with the electronic garbage?

 

My first thought was to find an Olds 350, rebuild it, put an M4ME on it and swap in some 3.73 gears out of an Estate Wagon or Custom Cruiser. That would require some time and money, both of which are in pretty short supply at the moment. That would be one seriously powerful Park Ave!

Until that happens I'm going to try and get the 307 back to proper functioning. I primarily use the car to run my grandmother to her doctor's appointments so I don't need a speed demon quite yet. Once I get the carburetor back to decent condition I'm going to do the plugs, wires, cap, rotor and fuel filter. That should be enough basic maintenance to get it back to good function for now.

I think I may have found a solution for the adjuster screw: I bought a cheap-*** ratcheting screwdriver kit that has teeny-tiny bits including a 2.5mm socket. That should be just about the right size to turn that screw. I'll try it in the morning when I go back out to the shop.