1999 Buick Regal GS, Pentospeed VS 0W-30, 2400 mi

[slo town]

Hello Folks:

Flawless 1999 Buick Regal GS, 3.8 liter supercharged V6, 108K miles on unit, 2400 miles on Pentospeed VS 0W-30 (an A3/B4 Euro oil).

I did an early oil change (2,400 miles) because of possible LIM leak that can be a problem for this generation of this vehicle. Aside from this concern, the car runs great and I had no other questions regarding its health. Car is mostly short tripped but has a 350 mile round trip every two weeks or so. On these trips it gets an amazing 28-29 MPG consistently - and at 78 MPH highway speeds (long trip, cruise control).

I regularly use Pentospeed VS in this vehicle, 5000 mile OCIs the norm. Bosch "Filtech" oils filters and Napa Gold air filter were used.

This was my Dad's car until he passed away on August 10, 2012, age 88. He was a major car guy and always took very good care of all his cars. I'm really happy to have it. The car is in absolutely perfect condition. Whenever I drive it it makes me think of him. My plan is to put 200,000 miles on it, then donate to charity. From the looks of the oil analysis, it should still be running well!

Look at that flashpoint and TBN!

Comments welcome.

Scott


Code:
Oil Pentospeed VS 0W-30 Universal Averages

Miles in Use 2,400

Miles 108,000

Sample Taken 18 July 2013



Aluminum 1 3

Chromium 0 1

Iron 6 17

Copper 8 23

Lead 2 9

Tin 0 1

Moly 2 72

Nickel 1 0

Manganese 0 1

Silver 0 0

Titanium 0 0

Potassium 1 7

Boron 20 56

Silicon 8 13

Sodium 34 21

Calcium 1957 2226

Magnesium 518 165

Phosphorus 842 743

Zinc 996 863

Barium 0 0



SUS Visc @ 210*F 63.6 57-67

cST Visc @ 100*C 11.23 9.4-12.4

Flashpoint (*F) 425 >385

Fuel (%)
Antifreeze (%) 0 0

Water (%) 0
Insolubles (%) 0.1
TBN 7.9 >1.0


Blackstone comments, 26 July 2013:

There was no coolant present in this sample, so it looks like your lower intake manifold is in good
shape. Or, it's not letting any coolant into the oil from what we see here. Metals look very good
in this sample, with everything reading well below average after this run. Averages are based on about
5,000 miles, so your shorter run is part of the reason metals are lower, but we can't rule out a nicely wearing
engine either. No fuel, moisture, or excessive silicon (dirt) was found and the TBN was fine at 7.9 since 1.0
or less is low. Nice!

 

[ls1mike]

200,000 will be no problem on a Stock GS. I did 270,000 in a modified 3800. Oil looks great! Did your dad have the intake done at one time? I did mine at around 70,000 in my 98.
If you do decide to do the gaskets get the Felpro problem solvers. Do it once with those and you can forget about it.

Glad to hear your Dad was a car guy. I am sure he appreciated how well the supercharged 3800 does a lot of things.

 

[slo town]

Originally Posted By: ls1mike
200,000 will be no problem on a Stock GS. I did 270,000 in a modified 3800. Oil looks great! Did your dad have the intake done at one time? I did mine at around 70,000 in my 98.
If you do decide to do the gaskets get the Felpro problem solvers. Do it once with those and you can forget about it.

Glad to hear your Dad was a car guy. I am sure he appreciated how well the supercharged 3800 does a lot of things.


Mike:

I'm not sure he had the LIM replaced or not. I kind of doubt it. Apparently this was far more a problem on the 3.1 and 3.4 liter V6s of that era. From what I understand the 3.8 liter motors seldom had LIM problems. I just wanted to check. That car really is perfect and I didn't want to be contaminating the oil with coolant.

Thanks for the Felpro advice. I'd heard they were the best replacement.

Right after my Dad passed away the AC compressor started making some gawd awful noises. I had it replaced at the local Buick dealer. The service writer commented on how nice the car was (it had never been at that dealership). He said there are 3 or 4 Regal GS of the same era that have exceeded 300K miles and still run strong. He said one of them just had a new transaxle put in but the owner happy to do so because he expected to get many more years out of it. It seems that era Regal is a really solid piece. I swear, the only thing "wrong" with Dad's car is a slight rattle on the dash. It's the plastic cover over the headlight switch. All I need to do is press on it to reseat it and it's good for another tankful.

Dad had some nice hardware, his Tri-power Pontiac Grand Prix being his high water mark. At 12 years old I was the envy of the neighborhood. In fact, when Hwy 280 first opened in the San Francisco Bay Area, Dad took me out for a blast on the then deserted highway. I vividly remember seeing the speedometer needle go past the 120 MPH mark by about half an inch or so. God, I felt like the coolest guy around breaking the sound barrier like that!

Scott

 

[ls1mike]

Originally Posted By: SLO_Town
Originally Posted By: ls1mike
200,000 will be no problem on a Stock GS. I did 270,000 in a modified 3800. Oil looks great! Did your dad have the intake done at one time? I did mine at around 70,000 in my 98.
If you do decide to do the gaskets get the Felpro problem solvers. Do it once with those and you can forget about it.

Glad to hear your Dad was a car guy. I am sure he appreciated how well the supercharged 3800 does a lot of things.


Mike:


Dad had some nice hardware, his Tri-power Pontiac Grand Prix being his high water mark. At 12 years old I was the envy of the neighborhood. In fact, when Hwy 280 first opened in the San Francisco Bay Area, Dad took me out for a blast on the then deserted highway. I vividly remember seeing the speedometer needle go past the 120 MPH mark by about half an inch or so. God, I felt like the coolest guy around breaking the sound barrier like that!

Scott

Awesome story! That is a great memory and an awesome car!

My Buick has been solid, it is the daily driver. The truck and Trans Am rarely get out, the wife has a new Equinox. I really have grown to love the Buick, It has some go fast modifications, but still gets decent MPG, and surprises a lot of folks. The only thing broke is the dang center cup holder. It has a strut that makes it open and close. You can't buy it separately, so to replace it is about 150.00 bucks. I just leave it open.

 

[ATS-V]

You can test with a ohm meter if the gaskets have been redone with the correct ones. Since the correct ones are aluminum you'll read zero ohms when you put the lead on the gasket by the fuel injector in between the lower intake and the head.

 

[901Memphis]

I wasn't aware of any 3.8 problems. It is the 3.1/3.4 that has the problem. My 3.1 already had its gaskets replaced due to a leak before and hasn't even hit 100k yet.

 

[RobertISaar]

Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
I wasn't aware of any 3.8 problems. It is the 3.1/3.4 that has the problem. My 3.1 already had its gaskets replaced due to a leak before and hasn't even hit 100k yet.


3800s like to blow out the lower intake manifold gasket, just like the 3100 and 3400s. thank GM's accountants for [censored] gasket material.

the n/a engines like to melt the upper intake as well right at the EGR connection and send coolant into the oil. supposedly, that was fixed mid-year 99, but i've seen it on engines later than that. plastic intake + EGR = can be problematic.