Buick Regal

tls4me · June 2002

I have a 94 GS and wish to install seat covers. Does anyone know how to remove the head restraints?

Thanks in advance

PAman · June 2002

If you don't hear from anyone, find an upholstery shop. They should know all or most of the tricks unique to the Regal for removing the head restraints.

The last thing you want to do is force them, hear a click or a pop, then discover that you broke some clip or other part that you'll need to keep them in place when you re-install them.

Joe

wiggy3 · June 2002

CD will play but can not eject it. After pushing CD eject button, hear whirring sound for a minute or so, and then the CD player quits trying to eject. Anyone else encounter this problem and know a trick to remove CD without replacing car stereo?

rwtnpd · June 2002

I have a new (2002) Regal LS. On the freeway at 70+ mph into a headwind, I get a loud howl coming from around the sideview mirrors. Anyone else with this problem or a suggested solution???

jpstax · June 2002

I can personally testify that this a very good site for Regal GS owners. Link was provided a few posts back. Lots of good information:

http://www.regalgs.org/

jpstax · June 2002

Does anyone know where I can get the classic Goin' Fast With Class bumper stickers? I've occasionally seen them, on Buicks of course.

mikecvengros · June 2002

I've got a '99 Regal GS that I've been real happy with till this morning. Took a short trip with the kids and when I pulled into the driveway I smelled burning oil. Popped the hood and saw all my tranny fluid gushing out the breather valve on top the transmission. I looked down my driveway and into the street and there was a fluid trail as far as I could see. Must have been draining while I was driving and now it was gushing out with the car running but in PARK. Within the time it took me to find the problem my tranny was emptied of all fluid. I have no idea why this happened. I called Aamco and the mechanics had never heard of fluid draining from the breather valve before. The car ran fine with no shifting problems. Once in a great while I had a hard garage shift but nothing that made me think there was a problem. Anybody got any ideas what's going on? By the way, this tranny has only 30,000 miles on it(car has 70,000). The old one was replaced just before I bought the car. I replaced the tranny fluid about 10,000 miles ago. I live in Chicago and do drive the car hard, but only when listening to Van Halen, Rush, or AC/DC. Thanks for your help.

rjs200240 · June 2002

If some place (like a Jiffy Lube or something) topped it off with too much fluid (like if they checked it with the car not running) then when it heats up it might run out of room and flow out the dipstick/fill tube. I assume this is what you meant by breather? That's all I can think of. Especially if the car still shifts properly. If it ran out of fluid, the torque convertor would definitely stop transferring power, and you'd have noticed something was wrong.

yurakm · June 2002

I would suggest cross-posting on the following board:
"Transmission Traumas?"
there are very knowlegable people here.

hupeta · June 2002

I cannot for the life of me figure out how to remove the stock 6*9's. I don't want to pull the grills off, and I don't see any logistics in the trunk as to
removing them, any help is appreciated.

--adm

mikecvengros · June 2002

RJS200240, No the transmission was not over filled. It is not coming out of the filler tube but something I never heard of before called the breather valve. It is a little screw and nut that sits atop the tranny case and is for releaving pressure I assume. The tranny started to leak immediately in the morning so it was not an overheating problem. It shifted fine so I'm unsure whether it is the torque converter. Even today I can still see the trail of fluid leading down to the end of the block. I hate transmission problems!!!

elmoblatch1 · June 2002

Let me ask a silly question here-

Have you considered going back to the mechanic & getting your money back ?

Sounds like the guy sold you a lemon & now is pissing down your back & telling you that it is raining.

The car is clearly unsafe & you should not be driving it.

Perhaps you should consider hiring an attorney.

lioness116 · June 2002

I am thinking of purchasing a '99 Buick Regal LSE. The dealer is asking $14,980 sticker. I haven't done any haggling yet. I am wondering what a good price is for this car. It is loaded with CD/Cassette, heated leather dual power seats, power sunroof, climate control, etc. Also, what problems am I in for with this car? It has 35K on it. Dealer said they just replaced two tires and brakes all around, and the serpentine belt (I have no idea what that is). Any information would be greatly appreciated. (I haven't hear the infamous rattling as of yet.) Thanks!

y2112yz · June 2002

Accoding to Kelley Blue Book, in the zip code I punched in (60139), they said retail on this car would be $16,335. It might be different in your area. But, it is a general ball park figure. Trade-In value is around $10,335.
The serpentine belt is the belt that runs through the water pump, alternator, harmonic balancer, etc. that turns everything while the engine is running. At 35,000 you might want to find out if the trasmission has been serviced. I don't buy the 100,000 mi claim for Dexron III fluid. But, it should be fairly clean still.
Hope this helps...

lioness116 · June 2002

Thanks for the info y2112yz. According to your post, I take it that the replacement of the serpentine belt seemed a bit premature. If the car was purchased from a dealer auction (by the existing dealer), would they be privy to any information about work previously done on the transmission? I would love to get them down to a $13,000 price on this car. I just don't know if that's unreasonable or not.

jpstax · June 2002

I found my '98 Regal GS using this site:

http://www.autotrader.com

It should give you a pretty good idea of what the going price for a '99 Regal LSE is.

aguyindenver · June 2002

I know that tires have been discussed here previously, however I'm still quite uncertain as to the best choice in replacement rubber for my 98 GS, and could use some advice. What I'm looking for is basically a better all-season tire than the stock Goodyear Eagle LS's. I don't need the ultimate in handling, but I'm looking to at least better the wet and dry handling performance of the originals, while still preserving a modicum of light snow capability. The winter traction is the difficult part. I realize I "can't have it all" and that I will undoubtedly have to sacrifice SOME handling and possibly tread life or quiet ride to get a reasonable level of snow performance. It's an issue of striking the right balance, but at the very least I don't want to end up worse off in wet handling or winter traction than the "badyears".

By the way, I've looked at the Tirerack site and other places, but have had some problems. One thing is that the ratings are subjective (they are customer survey ratings after all), and are also hard to compare between classes of tires. I think you need to consider both the number of reviewers for a given tire, and also the mindset of the reviewers and their expectations. For example, a connoisseur of high performance handling may think, "For an ultra-performance handling tire this one is probably about as good as it gets in the snow, so I'll give it an 8 since it wasn't as bad as I expected." But in reality a tire in the performance touring category with a winter traction ranking of only 5 may actually be better than this one.

Another thing I've noticed is that customer reviews often vary so wildly for a given tire as to be almost useless! One guy is super positive while next one is pulling out his hair over problems like premature wear, lousy handling, squealing around corners, tracking in road grooves, etc. I just don't know what to believe anymore!

I suspect that some of the differences have to do with the kind of car people are trying to fit these tires to. Consequently, I am hoping to get feedback from you folks with Regals (and their corporate cousins) who have direct experience with specific tires. For reference, I've been looking mostly at Michelins. I like the Michelin site because they have a simple easy to use rating system for 6 performance characteristics, including winter traction, that allows easy comparison among their own brand. Some specific models of interest to me are the Pilot XGT H4, Energy MXV4 and Pilot Sport A/S (pricey, but they look really good on paper). Unfortunately, I've also read some very negative customer reviews for some of these, and am not sure what to think anymore.

Any help is appreciated!

Thanks.

yurakm · June 2002

Any single user survey is subjective, but average is statistics.

When I looked for tires, I started from category, for example "standard touring" if you want the tires to be of the same charecter as Eagle LS, only better:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/touring.jsp

Ignored the tires with low reported mileage. Anything less than 250k to 500k miles. The new or unusual tire model may be great, but I did not want to be guinea pig. Otherwise, any of the top 3-5 tires in every category must be good, the bottom ones must be bad.

rjs200240 · June 2002

I believe that there would be no benefit in changing to the new GM coolant. You would still have to adhere to the old coolant-change interval. Also, I think the old coolant would be better suited to your cooling system. The systems that use the new coolant have been designed to work with it, and are not like the old cooling systems. Every article I've read about the new coolant says it's better to stick with what was designed for your car.

The same is mainly true of R-12 vs. R-134a. R-134a is a worse refrigerant than R-12 so the a/c systems that use R-134a usually have larger condensors and such. Using R-12 will probably result in better a/c performance. However, unlike with coolant, cost can be a big factor here. It is really expensive to buy a pound of R-12, whereas R-134a is pretty cheap (like R-12 used to be before dubious "scientists" labeled it bad). Also, the lubricants in R-12 can be incompatible with R-134a so you might need the system professionally flushed. Therefore it might be cheaper to pay someone to top off your system with R-12 than to have someone drain, flush (if needed), and refill your system with R-134a. You should look into price, but R-12 is actually the better product.

Jack44 · June 2002

Have 93 Regal GS..On third set of tires...Just put on New Dunlop SP Sport A2 tires...Best tires I've ever had...Gone thru the Goodyears and Michelins...No comparison...Quieter and better handling...Also, for the price, no comparison...

rjs200240 · June 2002

What Michelins did you have before (and what size)? Thanks!

tsu670 · June 2002

There have been a few posts here regarding hard shifting, including one from this owner. Intermittent problem. A noticeable whining sound would then kick in. Some believed it to be computer command module (CCM) where turning engine off and letting computer recycle would take care of it. It worked for me until the past month when the "intermittent" problem became chronic. Of course, the three year warranty had already expired. Dealer was able to duplicate problem and diagnosed a faulty pressure control solinoid causing line pressure to rise. Replaced part, then test drove '99 LSE, but mechanic still noticed some hard 1-2 shifts. Replaced valve body assembly plus a few other parts, then test drove for 25 miles. No problems.
The bad news is the repair cost $1580. The good news is it was all covered by the extended warranty previously recommended on this board sold by Warranty Direct over the internet. Purchased the so-called "Diamond" version of the plan with no deductible. This one repair more than offset the cost of the warranty.

Bushwack · July 2002

Mention of the GSX is in the middle of the article.

<http://www.thecarconnection.com/index.asp?article=5042&sid=184&n=157>

If you want the extra power and you have a GS, this article tells you it is easily doable. And the fact that the transmission remains the same makes it more enticing for you power-hungry weekend nomads

Side note: Didn't GM show a similar prototype a couple years ago??

barneyea · July 2002

Recently traded my '98 GS for a '99, installed Yokahama "H" rated tires and just completed 3400 miles from Texas to California and back. At first I was concerned that the '99 was not getting as good mileage as the '98. However, the leg from Flagstaff to Albuquerque averaged 31.1 at 75+, guess that is acceptable.

Regal GS, Buick's best kept secret!

bporter1 · July 2002

I just wanted to update evryone on the progress of my transmission replacement. After 2 weeks and two loaner cars I finally got my car back from the dealer with a new transmission installed. It drives and feels like the day I bought it. No more whine and no more hot rodding for me.

Bushwack · July 2002

Define hot rodding? Do you mean pedal to the metal from a standing start and going to redline or cruising at 30MPH and then putting your foot down so the transmission downshifts.

obyone · July 2002

redlining it and dropping it from neutral to drive.

Jack44 · July 2002

I think the Michelins were the MXV's...Dunlops far better...225/60 16's...Get the SP Sports...I don't think you'll be unhappy...Also have a few more dollars in you pocket too...

MightyMike242 · July 2002

I have a 98 GS with 123,000 miles on it. And yes I have replaced the tires once. I had Michelin X-Ones installed and they have been great. They have over 60,000 on them and still have over 1/2 of the tread. Two items to note. I rotate them every other oil change and use an all season tire because of where I live.
Mike

bporter1 · July 2002

I guess the word hotrodding was a bad choice. What I meant to say was that I would be taking it easy with the car.
No jack rabbit starts that trigger the traction control to kick in while the engine spins close to the redline.
Sorry if I confused anyone.

rickinri · July 2002

(1 yr old yesterday) 2001 LS with 20k miles,
same day a rock chipped my windshield, i thought i heard the brakes sound kinda funny. i'm gonna get it checked out before i need rotors obviously, but what kind of experience have you guys had with the brakes on these?

mrrogers · July 2002

My 98LS has 80K miles. I had the front brake rotors turned at 30k under warrantee due to vibration when applying the brake pedal. I replaced the front rotors and pads at my own expense at 75k when the vibration returned again. The front pads still had 1/3 of the pad material left, but I figured as long as the rotors were being replaced, I would do the pads also.
My 2001 LS has 45k miles. I have not touched the brakes , and have experienced no vibration when applying the brakes. I wonder if the rotors were improved between 1998 to 2001?

rickinri · July 2002

Thanks, for the info. I know i'm rough on brakes, so i'm gonna try to get it in. (I'm done doing brakes myself)

also, i wanted to ask, it's only happened once, but have you guys had your passenger's side floor flooded for no particular reason?

bporter1 · July 2002

The brakes on my car are still the original ones from the factory. My 99 GSE has 56,800 miles on it. I had them checked twice in the past three months and both times I was told they are OK.

aguyindenver · July 2002

Thanks for the tire recommendation. Actually, I did decide on the Dunlop SP Sport A2's! I have high hopes that I've made a good choice for my application, based on reviews from other Regal owners (as well as Grand Prix's, Intrigues, etc.) in Tirerack and elsewhere. Actually they're not installed yet - Discount Tire had the best local price/package but unfortunately didn't have any in stock. Should be happening later this week.

Jack44 · July 2002

Had the same thing happen to my old 65 Corvette..The heater core went out causing coolent to flood the passenger side...Was it coolent?...It's a mess...

mwdream · July 2002

Has anyone done this modification? I have been debating doing it, but am wondering if there really is a noticeable power gain...

Please email me at ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks!

lotech1 · July 2002

I would also be suspicious of the a/c evaporator drain. I had this happen to me in the summer with an Oldsmobile.

elmoblatch1 · July 2002

I have a 2002 Regal LS with 3,500 miles on it....wondering when the first oil change is due.

The owner's manual says that a dashboard light comes on when the oil needs to be changed, based on how the car is driven, etc......this is a new one on me.

I have always subsribed to the every 3,000 mile schedule...the dealer says every 3,750 miles...

How often do others here change their oil ?

Thanks in advance-

yurakm · July 2002

I am changing oil either at 3,000 miles with natural oil, or according to the oil monitor with synthetic. Usually the second variant. The monitor requires oil change at about 6,000 with my driving pattern. I am using premium oil filter (Pure One) with synthetic.

Exception: the first change at 2000 mile (break-in). And once mechanic flushed fresh oil by mistake when I brought the car for other service.

lotech1 · July 2002

I change my oil every 3,000 miles or 3 months. I don't subscribe to letting oil stay in the pan longer than 3 months. I also don't trust "idiot lights" to tell me when the oil should be changed... even if it is hooked up to a computer. My dealer says 3,000 miles or 3 months and that's what I follow. They also don't subscribe to the idiot light philosophy. Given their excellent reputation locally, I'll follow their guidance. I have over 150,000 miles on my second car (84 Olds) following this procedure without any mechanical troubles.

Jack44 · July 2002

Changing oil and filter is the cheapest form of insurance...For less than $10 too...

pacinpelo · July 2002

Next service call have your dealer pull the TSB on Water Leaking into the Passenger compartment. That is your culprit, the more you use your AC the worse it will get. I found mine 10 months after I bought the car and had to replace the carpet as the water was flooded all the way back to the rear. they simply need to extend the escape hose.
BTW I had to tell the dealer about the TSB as they were dumbfounded how water gets in the car and were making all kinds of excuses.

timdart · July 2002

Awhile back a user mentioned the above problem.
My factory CD player in a '95 Regal does the same thing. I've learned to live with it, I just wait till the next morning and it pops right out. This happens every-so-often. Sometimes the car is cold (Ie..just started the engine) when it eats it and sometimes it happens after listening to several other CDs. Go figure?

armtdm · July 2002

Well, I am chaning my oil at 12,000 miles with a filter at 6000. Analysis looks fine, oil still amber at 12,000. Synthetic of course.

Times have changed, If you wish to continue to make the dealer's boat payments; well that's okay too.

rickinri · July 2002

OK here's one for you guys... I brought my 01 LS (20k) to a dealer to take a look at the brakes...
I picked it up and they told me they "resurfaced all 4 rotors, then roadtested it"

Here's my question, have you ever heard of turning the rotors and NOT changing the PADS????

my logic...if my rotors were off, they would have worn my pads unevenly, therefore, they should both be replaced ...what do you guys think?

mrrogers · July 2002

98 LS without changing the pads. I had no problems with pulling or lack of braking performance. I suggest you find an isolated stretch of highway, and really hit your brakes hard. If the performance is good, I think you are okay.

jpstax · July 2002

You will void your 36 month warranty and/or any extended warranty if you replace the stock SC pulley with another one. The Thrasher pulley is gold colored, so the dealer will know for sure that you've made the change. I would wait until all your warranties have expired. You will need to do other things besides changing the pulley to increase the ponies and torque.

rickinri · July 2002

they didn't whack my for a hundred bucks worth of pads...

Thanks for the info

armtdm · July 2002

They just replaced all four rotors on my 00 under warranty, no pads and all is fine

Buick Regal

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