We bought a used 1998 Buick LeSabre and for the first year we loved it. However...there is a serious engine design flaw with the upper intake manifold, which is found on Buick 3800 engines from 1995 and later. The upper intake manifold is made of composite plastic, but there's a problem caused by the EGR port that passes through the intake manifold. This passage is partially protected by a metal sleeve, but doesn't keep the heat from the hot exhaust gas from damaging the upper manifold over the long term. When the plastic deteriorates, it exposes the coolant passages located on both sides of the EGR port. Then, when the engine is shut off, the pressurized coolant runs down through the manifold, past any open intake valves into the cylinder, hydrolocking one or more of the cylinders. This happened to our car at LESS than 100,000 miles and cost in excess of $5,000.00 to remove and rebuild the engine. The new upper manifold alone was over $500.00 for the part, and guess what??? It's still a plastic part...
Less than a month after I did the engine, the cruise control stopped working. I've done without cruise for a month now as I am afraid to take it into the shop again after the last repair bill!!!
Recommended:
No
Amount Paid (US$): 8850
Condition: Used Model Year: 1998
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.