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Buick LeSabre Engine help
livingfree
Member Posts: 2
in Buick
I have a 1998 buick lesabre body style k. It has a 3.8v.3800 series 2 engine in it.Wondering if i could put a 3800 series 2 with supercharged in. To replace the old one.If so do i need to change anything like trans or anything eals to fit the 3800 spercharged.Any help would be good.
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LeSabre Custom had 350 standard and 455 optional.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
What's the mileage on the car and whether you've owned it since new. If the DexCool was changed out after two years or 36000 miles all through its life, you're in better shape than if ANY coolant were left in to age.
If the coolant hasn't been changed, drain it now and refill with DexCool or Prestone Mixes with any color type coolant. If you are not losing coolant more than a trivial amount in a couple weeks or month of driving hundreds of miles, there's no problem. The upper intake can be replaced easily by someone with mechanical skills. You have to keep track of bolts and screws. Many shops have done enough that they are rather quick and the price is not near $400 labor. I'd guess at $250 for a 5-hour job to do upper only with $99 for a quality, APN replacement including new gaskets.
I can give you more info if you're interested, but don't let the slight amount of coolant over years scare you without definite indications of internal or external leaks.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I also have another problem going on if you can give me feedback on it also. several months back I replaced my rotors and put on new brakes because when I would brake, the front left tire would shake like it was coming off. After I put on the brakes and rotors it seem to stop alot compared to what it was doing, but then that same crap started again. Now the car shakes and shimmies when I am coming to a stop. I have inspected the front end parts and everything seems to be the way it suppose to be, nothing is loose and looks good so I am stumped. Can calipers if they are bad cause this kind of shaking? I know this is a double question and I respect what info I can get.....thankyou....Joey :confuse:
Calipers give more trouble. They drag. Heat up the rotor then when you step on the brake it's already hot and warping. If you don't mind spending a little, get rebuilt calipers and put them on both sides and be done. Otherwise you have to try to clean up and figure out what's dragging, the piston or the bolt slides. The bolt slides have rubber sleeves that go inside the ears of the calipers. The inside of the caliper ears corrode and shrink which squeezes the rubber which makes them drag. You can replace calipers without new pads and without new rotors. You might find your rotor isn't damaged.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
There are some that are not solid metal like the original but are rubber edges and are put in place and then tightened which swells them out to make a force fit sealing the hole.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Second the 3800 supercharged never came in the LeSabre so I suspect it would be a real problem to put one it.
You'd be better buying a Park Avenue or Bonneville with the supercharged motor in it already.
That's my opinion.
You could look at the motor mounts on a supercharged Park Avenue or Bonneville and see if they appear to be the same as the 98 leSabre. I would assume a change in computer would be required for the PCM and some other controls may need to be added for the supercharger portion.
The transmission is different for the supercharger version. I don't know exactly what those are but I recall one is related to the stovepipe connector engaging 4th gear. I believe they said in 03 all got the sturdier piece.
I assume the transmission includes the final gearing pieces which may be different for the standard leSabre than the supercharger versions (higher ratio for more power rather than cruising and economy).
I apologize that I didn't realize your question hadn't been answered. I recall reading it and thinking I don't have much if any direct knowledge.
If you send an email to my carspace account from your carspace email account (carspace is in the upper left corner where it says "my carspace") and I'll link you to some pages where enthusiasts have done such things and you can ask questions and search for previous posts.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
coolant into your cylinders and will cause hydrostatic lock,ruin of main bearings,total destruction of engine if not fixed.Mechanics charge $800-1400 to fix.You can do it for less than $100.You will find directions on KenCo.com.I bought
replacement plenum from RockAuto.com(best price anywhere).1 footnote when
you get the black plenum off you will be looking at the top of the intake manifold,
you will see a piece of 5/8 pipe sticking out about 2 inches tall.This has to come
out,you will get a new one in the kit,take a large pair of locking pliers,lock on from the top and rock forward and back and it will come out.After that follow directions included in the kit.Took my time(slow)16 hrs.Saved Big Money.Wish you luck,and this is not hard.
There are several things that can leak coolant. There are angled tubes connecting the LIM to the tensioner pulley bracket that carries coolant to the heater. The water pump can leak without showing a dribble until it gets bad. You can have leaks around the seals between the UIM and LIM which seal the tubes carrying coolant into the UIM and to the throttle body. There also are leaks at the gasket with the throttle body. The radiator hoses can seep. The radiator itself can seep. The tube connecting the reservoir to the radiator can seep. The reservoirs develop cracks and leak.
The loss of coolant requires troubleshooting. One thing to watch is for large amounts of water on the oil cap. Small amounts occur normally. Another is to check the gallery under the oil filler while it's off. Change of color in the oil on the dipstick right after driving to a milky look indicates moisture in coolant.
The treatment of the cooling system early in the car's life is a factor. Not changing DexCool very 2 - 3 years causes more problems, especially if the car were not driven often and heating the coolant above 140 def. F.
One tip is clean off the underside of the radiator cap so the one way check valve works correctly. It often gets gooped up.
The 2000 on motors have a much lower problem rate with intake leaks.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
has burned thru and looking at a good size bill,this was the way to go.That was an
inherent design flaw from GM and they didn't start putting on the redisigned plenum and tube till 2005.Even now there is a class action suit against GM.Still from 2000-2005 they are still burning thru.Even on the plenum you can read when
it was made from day,month,year.Look at the coin size circle on the plenum,the arrow points to 1-31days,95-?year-and 1-12Month it was made.
That is wrong. The LIM and EGR metal tube that came with it were reduced in 1999/2000 from GM. Other suppliers of intake manifold uppers shipped with their replacement uppers a metal tube that replaced the one in the lower intake manifold that had a reduced diameter allowing more air space around it for the incoming air to flow and keep things cooler. There are failures of EGR areas after that but they are fewer. It's sort of like Honda's problems with transmissions and toyota's with engine/transmission shifting problems, they never get completely cured. It is a design weakness.
I think you may be confusing the Series III motor which had a metal UIM which has been used for a few years, perhaps it started in 2005.
People still confuse the issues. There are NO suits re the upper intake manifold deterioration of which I'm aware. If you have a link, please supply it. There WAS a class suit re DexCool which ended in October IIRC. The DexCool allegedly deteriorated gasket materials allowing seeps. This is NOT the EGR area leaking through the crystallized ABS. The DexCool is an improved coolant and provides excellent protection in systems with multiple metals and the electromotive force they may generate leading to corrosion. However some people believed the 5-year and 100,000 mi meant they could add green antifreeze (old formula) and not change out the DexCool. Also the DexCool apparently underwent forumula changes early in it's life. That improved the protection of the gaskets. Earlier DexCool had an antioxidant that deteriorated when the coolant was abused which allowed bacteria or chemistry to deteriorate the nylon-66 gasket material. Hence the apparent success of the DexCool class action lawyers--who will make more on the deal than any GM owners will make.
Plenums from other manufacturers do not use the circle method for dating their manifold. I'm not sure where, if any, date appears on replacement from the various companies.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
because of the millions of cars from GM fron 95-98 didn't have the "Redesigned"
plenum and smaller tube.That took anywhere from 4 to 6 years to show up.What about all the cost to the owners of those cars??If the plenum on your car is the ORGINAL, it has the month,date,and year on it when it was made.The new plenums do no have the date of manufacture on them. So if it was made 95-98 you got a burner.The only thing I was trying to do was to inform the little guy about repairing his car without getting shafted by cost of this repair.So you acknowledge it was a design flaw.Great.Have you changed yours yet??Or do you work for GM??
thanks,
DC
Yours could be connections to the spark system and coils Could be fuel pressure.
You need to have a test spark plug and when it kicks out put a spark plug on one wire and lay it on the metal part of the motor. Have someone crank the motor and see if it has spark at the beginning before it fires.
If you can put a fuel pressure gauge on the car and drive it and watch to see if the fuel pressure drops when it stalls would be a big help. Duct tape the gauge to the windshield. The replacement fuel pump may be giving problems. The Delco replacements are best. My garage would only use a Delco because they had many return problems with other brands.
Crankshaft position sensors are a popular replacement item--not that we like doing things just because they're popular, but it's something to watch. The fact the car starts right back up after stalling makes it a problem to troubleshoot. The backfire doesn't help me much.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Just I would ask for your opinion.
What should I expect?
Thanks
The valve covers are problematic as far as resealing. You might tighten lightly, but it's not going to cure it most likely. Removing, cleaning, new gaskets, probably are required.
You didn't happen to run synthetic oil in it? That often supposedly opens seeps and causes leaking.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I run it with mineral oil, no synthetic.
Where are the trans lines leaking? Through the rubber? AT the ends with the metal parts? Where they screw onto the radiator? Is it transmission fluid on them for sure and not oil from the upper part of the motor?
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
~Greg
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
donicar
I would really value some expert perspective and any experiences other owners might share.
My sincere thanks in advance!
Bob
Thanks for your thoughts and IE6 struggles! So got the idea that rerouting the belt makes the engine timing unhappy. So first see if I can unplug the AC Compressor to disengage the clutch with the AC compressor becoming a stand-in pulley. I am concerned about the possibility of seizing. Something in the clutch assembly is creating metal shavings and dropping on the frame below.
Have you ever installed a bypass AC pulley like this as option B?...
AC Bypass Pulley
Thanks so much!
I believe yours is a Series II which requires opening the stud spacer on the motor mount... lots of folks in Bonnevilles have done lots of things with their cars.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I have a 1997 Buick LeSabre (3.8L) with 187K miles. I've changed the oil & oil filter religiously every 4-5K miles. I recently had an oil leak fixed. The oil sending unit was the culprit and was replaced. So no more oil leak. However, now I see a symptom I've never seem before. The oil pressure will fall nearly into the red at idle after car has been driven for awhile and is nice and warm. Was wondering if this condition points to the recently replaced oil sending unit or could it be the oil pump on its way out? I am going to change the oil and oil filter again (I did it just before I had the leak fixed). I thought maybe something clogged up the oil filter. Any other ideas and/or suggestions. Thanks.
The water was drained from the engine and new plugs were put in as well as wires. It was hard to start the car and it tried to shut off on me as it sputters and shutters.
New the problems. I though was cared for after the vac line was changed, plugs and wires rechecked and a gas line cleaning as well as a TPS censor.
Now the car does not want to take hills, it surges when I put on breaks, the car pulls funny at 50 to 53 miles an hour and it shutters a nod sputters still as if it wants to cut off on me and finally the engine made a strange revving up noise when I went to shut it off after driving 20 miles to work
Are you saying the upper intake manifold gasket leaked? You need to tell us what year car and how many miles are on it and what has been done in the way of repairs in the past.
If water got into the cylinders, then it will do that again. The coolant will hurt the bearings in the motor so driving it without fixing it is asking for an early trip the junkyard with a blown or ruined motor.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I hade thing ran for codes and I got a po102 MAf or VAf check low air intake. PO121 Throttle Pedal
and a PO122
Shop one:Replaced Intake, gasket, filter, and thermostat
The car still ran bad it acted like it wanted to stall. It sputtered and spat and shuttered
So I went to a second shop.
Shop 2 replaced: TPS, plugs and wires, cleaned fuel injection system, RR Vac line and oil change.
The Check engine light came on about 30min after I left the shop. The car does not like to take hills and it pulls when I get up too about 51 to 53 miles an hour.
Is there a dummy check I can do, to catch something that might be simple?