Comments: 1-15, 16-30, 31-45, 46-54
I bought 98 Buick Le Sabre with only 38,000 miles on it 9 months ago. Previous owner only drove it to church and back. Long story, short same thing happened to me. Coolant went low, mechanic could find a leak, drove it home, next day drove it to work, sputtered into my parking spot and the car has not run since. Took it to a "mechanic" here in the us-vi St. Croix on 12/14/07 and the car has not run since. I need help. rustyholman@hotmail.com.
Not to rub it in, but I have a 1992 Park Avenue with the older 3.8 that created the reputation for bulletproof reliability, before it was 'improved' (ruined) in 1995.
I'm wondering, knowing that this previous 3.8 usually goes 200-300 thousand miles before trouble, and the newer one is junk, couldn't a metal intake manifold from the old one be fitted on to these newer ones?
Or do I simply not know anything about mechanics?
I have a 97 Buick Le Sabre and it's been wonderful. However, I almost lost the engine one time on the freeway. Water temp started to heat up past 200 degrees. I always keep a close eye on it and it usually remains around 190 - 195, even in the summer with the ac on.
One of the plastic engine coolant pipes had broken. Pipes were $12 each and the Le Sabre has three. I replaced all three and it was only $100, which included the cost of the pipes.
I agree with the post about using the Ken-Co fix on the plastic manifold. This appears to be the logical solution and makes much more sense than replacing the manifold again when it's clearly not designed for longevity. http://ken-co.com/manifold/default.htm BTW, the last time I checked the kit was only $60. I figure that it can be done in two or three hours at the most, which makes it still a pretty cost effective solution.
This will be my next project. Have 55K on it and it runs great. I plan to keep it for a while. I'll post again after I've done the repair. Won't be until summer. Best of luck to all Le Sabre owners.
Own a 2001 Le Sabre with the 3.8L with 68,895 miles. This weekend while other work was being done discovered the same problem. Instead of making it better, the GM kit (around $60) still has a plastic gasket, and a couple of other pieces that redirect the heat flow (???). Anyway, the labor added another $350. I agree too that this is a known defect, poor engineering, and that GM should reimburse. A coworker's wife had her engine destroyed by this same problem. When he contacted GM/Buick about "plastic vs heat" he was told if not a safety related problem they weren't required to do a recall. Personally, I think 65mph down the highway in heavy traffic and your engine freezes should be considered a safety problem. I'm thinking about contacting my state Attorney General's office to see if they can put any pressure on GM. I hope this is good for another 70,000 miles because I am getting ready to put about 5000 miles on the highway through August. Seriously considering buying Toyota or Honda for my next vehicle. Unfortunately, all of the great quality statements in regards to Buick have failed to live up to my expectations. Guess that was from when my father was my age.
I have a '98 Le Sabre with 86,000. I am loosing coolant and adding weekly. My mechanic believes it is from the water pump as evidenced by a slight streak on the inside of my hood. This is not uncommon with the 3800 gm engine. Since I am in the middle of a dirty divorce and may be buying my lawyer a Lexis, mechanic says to drive as is and keep an eye on coolant. He believes puddling under engine will be a sign to bring her in. Wow a mechanic who is honest! I appreciate the post as was struggling with keeping it for my son, however now, if My lawyer is as good as my mechanic maybe a used Lexis is in my future! Gods Blessings to all!!!
I have a 98 Buick Park and was on way from Baltimore to wedding in upstate NY. Engine light came on in middle of nowhere. Got off the freeway. Engine will not turn over. Probably damaged starter or flywheel trying to start car.
Rented car to go to wedding. Told cousin "water in cylinders".
Cousin said, "Buick V6?" That is when I realized I had a problem shared by a lot of other unhappy Buick owners. Now I will call factory and try for help with this, From what I read, it will be denied by General Motors.
How did American manufacturing come to this?
24th Sep 2007, 08:23
I have a 98 Buick Park and was on way from Baltimore to wedding in upstate NY. Engine light came on in middle of nowhere. Got off the freeway. Engine will not turn over. Probably I damaged starter or flywheel trying to start car.
Rented car to go to wedding. Told cousin "water in cylinders".
Cousin said, "Buick V6?" That is when I realized I had a problem shared by a lot of other unhappy Buick owners. Now I will call factory and try for help with this, From what I read, it will be denied by General Motors.
How did American manufacturing come to this?
More: October 17, 2007. I had the car fixed at the AAA garage it was towed to. When I went back to get it I brought a new starer; the old one was destroyed trying to start a car with water in the cylinders. Cost - about $600 plus the $400 car rental.
First stop was the GM dealer that Buick sent me to to verify that the intake manifold was the problem. And I was thinking that now I would get help.
They found the leak inside the manifold, from the air induction to water jacket. The service manager phoned Buick.
I got another 15 miles and the car engine started sounding like an old tractor. And it quit.
Back to the AAA shop, rented the same little Korean car again, drove home.
Engine is totalled.
Buick is willing to give me a one year guarantee on the new manifold.
I tell them that this is the last Buick I will buy (we got it new) and probably the last car from General Motors. They seemed unimpressed at the Buick customer assistance office.
Guess they have heard it before.
Is anyone suing Buick for manufacturing this defective design?
Harry Leffmann
Baltimore
hlpoet@aol.com.
October 18, 2007.
Our 97 Lasabre started overheating. Water pump was replaced then 1,000 miles away from home, engine overheated and died.
The upper manifold gasket was the problem. Now 18 months later we are told the lower intake gasket needs replaced. I always dreamed of owning a Lasabre, but now I regret it as it seems to always be something wrong with this vehicle.
I have a 2001 SL2 Saturn with only 37,000 mileage on it and I am having the same problem as the people here. The coolant leaked into the intake gasket, according to the mechanic at the Saturn service center. They tell me it is going to cost $700 dollars to fix it. However after doing some research I found out that most people, even after paying around 600-1200 to fix the leak into the manifold, had the same problem (sometimes a couple more) happen again a few months later. I know this is a problem that happened during casting, also know that the usage of the Dex-cool probably made it worse.
My question is, what do I do? Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
My 1998 Buick Le Sabre has the same problem. The engine hydro-locked on me 2 weeks ago. Apparently this car has an upper and lower INTAKE MANIFOLD. The upper one is also called a Plenum... and it is plastic. There is a EGR tube that comes up through these manifolds. It gets too hot and melts the plastic. This degrades the material and ends up causing the coolant to run into the engine. GM knows they screwed up. It is a design flaw. That's why they UPDATED the parts. The upper is still plastic, but the lower has a smaller bore EGR tube that comes up through the manifold - so there is some sort of airspace that keeps that upper plastic plenum from getting hot and melting. They also updated the gaskets. I want to tell everyone that has had this problem to call GM and complain. I tried to get them to pay for the repair as it is definitely a design flaw. I was VERY PERSISTENT. I did not cuss or get mad (though I felt like it). I finally got them to give me a $200 coupon. You can spend it only at a DEALER and it's only for maintenance type things - like oil changes and things like that. I still think there should be some sort of CLASS ACTION SUIT because of the number of people who have experienced this expensive problem - and it's all due to GM's design flaw. Even the dealers will tell you it's a design flaw. So the more people that complain to them, the better. But be forewarned, you'll get a Customer Service Rep in the Philippines or India. Keep your cool... and keep asking for the next higher up person. You will end up with someone in the USA eventually. GM must hear from us in huge numbers. They used the consumer as a guinea pig to test this part. It isn't good, so they updated it... at the expense of all of us!! Here are the 2 numbers I have for GM. 1-800-521-7300 or 1-866-790-5600. Have your VIN number ready as they will ask! (vehicle Identification number)
Best of luck! Rhonda.
November 30th, 2007.
We also have a 1998 Buick LeSabre with the same problem as all of the above owners, and it cost us $1,300 to get it fixed. Until we found this site, people told us we were crazy to believe that antifreeze could get into the engine and the oil
Now we see it is a GM defect that they should correct. How can a car freezing up on the beltway not be considered a safety hazard?
A Texan looking on inter net about heater problem found out
about the 98 Buick manifold problem. Went to a shop was told
i had a time bomb ready to go off. Was told to replace manifold
(UPPER ONE) would fix problem. New manifold plus labor cost me
$422.00. Was told the problem was fixed. Guess I was lucky to
have mine fixed in time. Mine had 92000 miles.
GM has replaced my plenum once under extended warranty. I did not take the car in for that reason. The service manager called me when the car was being service and told me it had a leak and must be replaced, however they also said they were not suppose to let me know since I didn't bring it in for that reason. I am changing it out for the second time myself (3rd time total). The first time I changed it I thought the engine was ruined because it locked up, but the cylinders were fill with antifreeze. Had to remove the spark plugs to blow out all the water, then had to remove the oil pan and clean out all of the gunk in it from the oil and antifreeze mixture. I also had to replaced the starter which has a ring gear which also is made of plastic which melted. I am now in the process of replacing it for the second time, but this time I caught it in time before the water started mixing with the oil. The lower manifold was filled with antifreeze, but did not get into the oil pan (Lucky there). I also believe GM has a design flaw and should recall the vehicles. I believe that every Plastic plenum will need to be replaced. In my case, I have changed plenums more often than tires.
Does anyone know what all years have the plastic problem on the Buick's?
Any car with the series II 3800 from 1995 to 2002 but the later years have a better version of the manifold. Look at the review trends and you can tell.