1971 Oldsmobile Toronado - Answered Questions & Fixed issues

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1966 1970 Oldsmobile Toronado

All you have to do is rotate the belt tensioner to relieve tension on the belt to remove. it. The belt routing diagram should be located on the right (passenger's) side strut housing tower inside the engine compartment. Route the new belt according to the diagram, and rotate the tensioner again to slide the belt onto the last pulley before releasing it. It may be easier to slip the belt over the water pump pulley last, depending on how your engine is configured.

CHAINSAW!! lol Just kidding.

Any distributor from olds,Pontiac, or Buick v8 engines of same year will work. 1974 to 1979 models should work

I REALLY DONT UNDERSTAND ALL YOUR QUESTION BUT I GOT THIS , SEE DOWN LOWD BELOW

On most models and years, code 31 is for a problem with the park switch circuit, and code 41 is for a problem with the cam sensor circuit. The components would need to be tested.

You should have the alternator tested ASAP. It's possible for a bad alternator to damage your battery over time.

Is this problem new or was there before the carb rebuild? Try lowering the idle and setting the air mixture correctly,

This might be kind of late seeing as how you asked this question back in 2011. But you'll have to remove the caliper and disconnect the brake line. Drain all the brake fluid out, remove the brake pads, place a thin piece of wood where the outer pad was, and use an air gun with a large rubber tip to blow compressed air into the hole where the brake line enters the caliper. Make sure the tip seals the hole completely, otherwise it won't work. And watch your fingers - the piston will pop out with great force. Best to place the caliper with the piston and the wood down on your workbench to avoid injury. Replacing a caliper piston seal in no easy task. Probably easier to just get a rebuilt caliper.

Check your rear suspension. Load-leveling air suspension struts could be bad or leaking. Air suspension compressor could be inoperative. Air suspension compressor relay could be bad. Air lines from compressor to struts could be leaking, from cuts, cracks, or having rubbed through against the frame. Transverse leaf spring could be sagging. And it's Toronado, not Tornado. Sacrilege!

You will have to remove the entire dash panel, including the instrument cluster, radio, and heater controls. Also need to drop the steering wheel. Drain the cooling system. Remove trim panels under and to the sides of the dash first. I would recommend using a factory shop manual. It is going to take a while. If your Toronado also has a console, that will have to come out as well. Probably want to take out the passenger's seat to give your self some room.

If I remember right, power steering on the inside from the ceank to power steering. Next out is the alternator, crank over the fan and the alternator. Last out would be A/C, over the crank, the fan and the A/C compressor. When you are done, look at the belts from the passenger side. They should line up straight on themselves. If not then either shims are needed for a slight bend or thet are on the wrong pulleys if there is a severe bend.

Duplicate question

What year? Which engine.

Can you describe the symptoms and what you have checked ?

Hi there,

I'm rather curious how you obtained these 3-digit diagnostic codes from a 1988 Oldsmobile.

Vehicles manufactured prior to 1995/1996, utilised the OBD-I system which comprised of only 2-digit codes.

However, if you are using a modern scan tool, it's possible the scanner may be attempting to interpret your OBD-I codes as OBD-II protocol (hence the "B" prefix you have provided in your question).

Also, is it possible you made an error in your description of Code E021? As far as I'm aware, OBD protocol only provides the following types of codes:

"P" codes = Powertrain: monitors engine emmission, fuel, Air, Igntion, Idle, PCM and transmission diagnostics.
"B" codes = Body: monitors interior/body related electronics (e.g. central lock, anti-theft, Airbag etc)
"C" codes = Chassis: monitors ABS, Traction/Stability, Suspension and Steering electronics etc.
"E" codes = do not exist
"U" codes = Network (not used for general diagnostics)


Based on the codes provided in your question, I will list the possible code combinations for each of the above systems (i.e. OBD-II Protocol).

OBD-II Protocol (vehicles made after 1995)

B0021 - Left Curtain Deployment Control 1 (Subfault). Does not apply to 1988 GM/Oldsmobile
C0021 - No such code
P0021 - A" Camshaft Position - Timing Over-advance or System Performance (Bank 2)

B0132 - No such code
C0132 - No such code
P0132 - Heated Oxygen Sensor (HO2S) Heater Control Circuit High (Bank 1, Sensor 1)

B0552 - No such code
C0552 - No such code
P0552 - Power Steering Pressure Sensor Circuit Low Input

B0335 - No such code
C0335 - No such code
P0335 - Crankshaft Position Sensor A Circuit Malfunction


If you are attempting to diagnose an Engine related fault only, I would encourage you to use the following "manual" method (as opposed to using a scan tool) of extracting codes on pre-1995 vehicles:

Locate your data connector which looks like this (under passenger seat, or dash, or below glovebox):



How to extract codes:

• Run engine until it reaches operating temperature (otherwise HO2 sensor will trigger a fault)
• Turn engine OFF
• Place a jumper wire into the last 2 pins (top row) of your data connector
• Turn ignition to ON (do not start)
• Engine Check light will flash long and short codes (e.g. Long (pause), Short, Short = code 12; Long, Long, Long, Long (pause) short, short = code 42; etc).
• For code explanations, refer to the OBD-I protocol list below.

OBD-I Protocol (full list - vehicles made before 1995)

Note: code 12 is usually the first code you get and just ignore it. Watch the code after code 12, that's what you need.

12 System normal
13 oxygen sensor circuit open
14 coolant sensor high resistance or shorted
15 coolant sensor circuit low or open
16 direct ignition system (DIS) fault in circuit
17 cam position sensor fault
18 crank or cam sensor error
19 crank sensor circuit fault
21 tps sensor out of range
22 tps sensor signal voltage low
23 intake air temp sensor out of range, low
24 vehicle speed (vss) sensor circuit fault
25 air temp sensor sensor out of range, high
26 quad-driver module (computer) circuit #1 fault
27 quad-driver module (computer) 2nd gear circuit
28 quad-driver module (computer) circuit #2 fault
29 quad driver module (computer) 4th gear circuit
31 cam position sensor fault
32 egr circuit fault
33 map sensor signal out of range, high
34 map sensor signal out of range, low
35 idle air control sensor circuit fault
36 ignition system circuit error
38 brake input circuit fault
39 clutch input circuit fault
41 cam sensor circuit fault, igntion control circuit fault
42 electronic spark timing (EST) circuit grounded
43 knock sensor
or electronic spark control circuit fault
44 oxygen sensor lean exhaust
45 oxygen sensor rich exhaust
46 pass-key II circuit or ps.pressure switch circuit fault
47 pcm-bcm data circuit
48 misfire diagnosis
51 calibration error, mem-cal, ecm or eeprom failure
52 engine oil temperature circuit, low temperature indicated
53 battery voltage error or egr or pass-key II circuit
54 egr system failure or fuel pump circuit low voltage
55 a/d converter error or pcm not grounded or lean fuel or frounded reference voltage
56 quad-driver module #2 circuit
57 boost control problem
58 vehicle anti-theft system fuel enable circuit
61 a/c system performance or degraded oxygen sensor signal
62 engine oil temperature high temperature indicated
63 oxygen sensor right side circuit open or map sensor out of range
64 oxygen sensor right side lean exhaust indicated
65 oxygen sensor right side rich exhaust indicated
66 a/c pressure sensor circuit low pressure
67 a/c pressure sensor circuit or a/c clutch circuit failure
68 a/c compressor relay circuit failure
69 a/c clutch circuit head pressure high
70 a/c refrigerant pressure circuit high
71 a/c evaporator temperature sensor circuit low
72 gear selector switch circuit
73 a/c evaporator temperature circuit high
75 digital egr #1 solenoid error
76 digital egr #2 solenoid error
77 digital egr #3 solenoid error
79 vehicle speed sensor (vss) circuit signal high
80 vehicle speed sensor (vss) circuit signal low
81 brake input circuit fault
82 ignition control (IC) 3X signal error
85 prom error
86 analog/digital ecm error
87 eeprom error
99 power management


Hope this helps...



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Has the transmission flushed and the filter been changed recently? That could be the problem of it not shifting into passing gear.

Sounds like you may have a bad power brake booster which is what you master cylinder connects to. It is done my vacuum and should have a large vacuum line attached to it so check that hose from the booster to where it attaches at the intake manifold to make sure it is well connected and has no leaks. Have you recently heard a "hissing" sound when pressing the brake pedal? This would be a classic sign. I gave you a picture below of what the booster typically looks like but I didn't know the model of your vehicle so it may not be exact but basically the same. It's not a hard repair to do and if you are mechanical you may be able to do yourself. If you are a large person, getting up under the dash to loosen the attaching nuts as well as disconnecting the brake pedal assembly could be difficult as there isn't much room to work up there. Anyway, i hope this helps and good luck.