1st oil change on daughter's

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Oct 28, 2014
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Unicorn of a used car. My daughter recently purchased a 2004 Buick Century with 15K miles on it, one owner. When we took it in for (State mandated) safety & emissions inspection, our (Indy neighborhood) mechanic whom we use regularly use put the vehicle on a lift and told us (he did not ask), he said this car has been stored in a HEATED garage. Probably never drove in bad weather. Brake lines have legible decals from assembly line on underside of car which mechanic says looks as good as a new vehicle. Smells new inside. Carfax report has 29 entries, dealer maintained. Oil changed 207 miles before our purchase.
Anyhow, I just changed her oil today. I went bazooka with magnets. I installed a magnetic drain plug (very common), 2 Filtermags http://www.shopfiltermag.com/shop-filtermag-2/ and a magnet you drop inside the filter and throw away with the filter. https://www.ebay.com/itm/254823507087?hash=item3b54aa248f:g:jJ4AAOSwv7xf7-8Y Magnets, coupled with Amsoil SS oil and Amsoil Ea15k29 oil filter, how does it get any better for an oil change?
Anyone care to speculate what I'll find when I cut the filter apart in 9-12K miles? What else would you do to the car?
 
Let hope you don't find ground up magnets in filter. I would not go crazy with that. That old buick will run with no oil related problems on modern oils. Just stick to the regular OCI with any API rated oil (Walmart shelf synthetic, Pennz, QS, ST, Mag, edge, M1 etc) and a decent filter. Anything from a Fram EG/Supertech upward. (the AC delco will like the same as one of these two inside). Boutique oils won't make the car last any longer.

I'm pretty sure the 2004 engine did not call for 10K OCIs, I would run the first few at 4-5K until ~25-30K then start stretching them out once you get a feel for how hard the engine is on oil and if there is any consumption.

No need to make herculean oil efforts to make this engine last. The good thing is being this old, the common problems are all over the internet by now by others that have driven then until the wheels fell off already. You'll find plenty of other stuff to keep you busy on an old Buick.
 
I'd hit the underside with WoolWax, especially the inside the rockers and rear wheel inner fender areas. Those are the prime corrosion areas on this model. Also the brake lines on this era GMs are prone to rusting so make sure they get well covered too. Congrats on a great find.
 
Would not got 9-12k right off the hop. Would do a couple of 3-4K changes to make sure engine is clean, no matter the mileage.
 
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In case you're not aware, the LIM gaskets were fragile, to say the least, on GMs of that era, particularly 3100s/3400s/3800s.
I'd closely monitor the coolant level if you don't end up changing them out of caution, as it'd be a shame to blow out an engine for that reason in such a low-mileage Buick. I believe the failure was at least partially driven by age rather than mileage, so this one at nearly 20 years old likely isn't out of the woods despite being so low-mileage.

Do you have any pics of it? Those are awesome cars; I had a W-body Buick for a few years that I really enjoyed.
 
Thanks everyone for the replies thus far and helpful suggestions. The dealer who made the last entry on Carfax is a fraudulent lying cheating stealing scumbag. I could name them and their location but I'm not sure that's allowed to. My daughter purchased this car on 6.1.21. Thus far I've aired up & rotated the tires, checked pad wear at all 4 corners (8-10mm pads, like new condition), disconnected the PS return hose and done a complete fluid exchange, installed speed bleeders on 4 corners and done a complete pressurized brake fluid exchange with Motive brake bleeder pump, dropped the transmission pan and installed a Transgo shift kit, then installed an aftermarket transmission pan with a drain plug to facilitate future drains; drained at least the radiator & refilled with fresh coolant and distilled water.
Car now has all fresh fluids, Power Steering, brake fluid, trans. fluid, coolant and oil. I have saved all the fluids that have been drained, and there is no way they were changed 207 miles before we obtained the car. Dirty brown PS fluid, greenish brake fluid with clouds at the bottom, brownish red trans fluid and coolant. Translation: A large, well known Buick dealer in our area lied and stole from an old lady, then made fraudulent entries on Carfax. Buyer beware Indeed!
Nevertheless, considering the overall condition of the car, I still feel she got a real creampuff; I'll try to post pictures in AM.
 
1) Front of car.png
2) Rear of Car.png
3) Underside of car.png
5) Headlight clarity.JPG
6) Engine Compartment.JPG
7) Engine Compartment.JPG
8) drivers seat.JPG
9) Driver set perspective.JPG
10) Odometer.JPG
IMG_0099.JPG

Sorry for poor quality pictures; I'm a lousy photographer and morning sun to deal with. BITOG has limit of 10 images.
 
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