98 Buick LeSabre

I noticed it has dex cool in it.

No, it's not even close to being as good as the older 3800 engine. But that's simply my educated opinion.

Ian

Its in good condition. Cloth seats but had both front power seats. Asking price is $4900.00. I think its a little high with the mileage that's on it.

We have one. Aside from the plastic plenum pendejada, it has been a good car. We changed the plenum after a failure a couple of months ago.

The plenum issue is the major problem with that car.

We are going to buy a new car soon, and if you are near us, you might want to look at our car. It is lower mileage, has had the air conditioning computer replaced, has the plenum changed, new struts, etc.

I live in Texas.

Michigan

What was the cost of replacing the plenum?

If you stumble in off the street, to a dealership, the cost would be $700-800, most likely. Some stealerships could hump you a lot harder.

I had documented my complaints to Buick a year in advance, etc, and put some pressure on the dealership. They replaced the plenum, flushed the old coolant and replaced with new for $350. I could have had it done at a local independent mechanic's shop for about $250, but went this route to document it, in case Buick/GM ever decided to accept its responsibility for shitty engineering.

The upgraded plenum apparently has a very good durability record.

The 1990-1992 3800 engine was a bit different. It had no plenum problems.

As a chemist, I would say that I don't believe that DexCool, in itself, is a problem. It is NOT the be all, end all, for sure. The newer HOAT technology is probably better. I do not believe at all that DexCool caused the gasket problems in some GM series, and certainly didn't cause the plenum problems.

Just take it from a guy who's been working on 3.8 liter engines since they were odd firing.

Ian

Just sold my aunt's 99 LeSabre with 11,000 miles on it, In 7 years nothing but the fuel pressure regulator was replaced under recall.

A friend had a 99 as well and had numerous runnability problems. He had the FP Regulator replaced 3-4 times. Then he traded it for a Hyundia Sante Fe in 2004.

Harryface

Does the 3.8L engine in the '95 Buick Park Ave Ultra have the bad plenum or the good one?

TIA

Ed

It also has the weak one, I believe.

I decided to check rather than 'believe'. The 3800 Generation I was apparently available in some models in 1995. The 3800 Generation II was introduced in

So, I don't really know if there was an overlap or not. Might depend upon your particular car. A VIN number check should tell the tale for sure.

I will research it a bit further and maybe I can find out which engine versions were actually in use at that time.

Okay, Ed.. I'll try to stop the research now. From what I have found, the Gen II was substituted into some cars for the Gen I about mid year.

Read your VIN number. Here are the codes:

L36 vin code K Generation II L67 vin code 1 Generation I

The engine code should be the 8th item in the VIN sequence.

And, the L36 is the one that has the most problems.

You might want to recheck that in those years. A code 1 3800 is the supercharged model. The K is the normally aspirated.

Ian

I only found those two, and the codes seemed to check with the L numbers. I DID find a reference to a midyear change between Gen I and Gen II.

I certainly respect your info. What do you say was the effective date for the incept of Gen II?

I'm not sure exactly when the Gen's changed. But I do know that in 98 a Code 1 engine is a supercharged 3800 GEN II. Unfortunately our online Service Info only goes back to 98 and the old paper service manuals are all up in the parts department. I may browse thru them if I get a chance.

Ian