I am thinking of purchasing a 2004 Buick Regal with approx. 50k miles. I am aware that some GM 3800 engines had intake gasket problems. What year models where affected? About what mileage range do problems appear?
2004 Buick Regal (3800 GM question)
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as an engine rebuilder i dont like thos engines at all they last way too long...LOL those are great engineswe see them sometimes with 200,000+ miles
those 3800 engines run forever
My Dad had the 3300 version in a 89 Buick. I wish I had it in my 98 Taurus. Has more power and about the same MPG.
Go to your library and look for the TSBs for your car under All Data. You will even learn about some problems you did not even know about. Trust me I have been doing it for many years. My library will even let you do it at home from their E source. Then save the files on your computer or a USB drive. You will have them for future reference.
Ask your friendly little librarian.......
Go to your library and look for the TSBs for your car under All Data. You will even learn about some problems you did not even know about. Trust me I have been doing it for many years. My library will even let you do it at home from their E source. Then save the files on your computer or a USB drive. You will have them for future reference.
Ask your friendly little librarian.......
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Any 3800 from 1995 through 2005. Mid year 2005 and later the Series III 3800's with aluminum lower intake gaskets and aluminum upper intake manifold came out. That basically eliminated the failing gaskets.
Mileage can be anywhere. On factory Dex-Cool it's a time bomb. When my intake gaskets were replaced when the car was 10 years old and 66k miles on it, those gaskets were ready to fail. Others have gone 90k, 150k, 70k before they were replaced.
I'd be interested to know if the owners ever did anything with the cooling system. If it's on the factory fill of Dex-Cool, I'd knock the price down $600-700, as that's about how much a shop wants to replace the gaskets. It's about $250 in parts alone when done properly.
Not to scare you...
Mileage can be anywhere. On factory Dex-Cool it's a time bomb. When my intake gaskets were replaced when the car was 10 years old and 66k miles on it, those gaskets were ready to fail. Others have gone 90k, 150k, 70k before they were replaced.
I'd be interested to know if the owners ever did anything with the cooling system. If it's on the factory fill of Dex-Cool, I'd knock the price down $600-700, as that's about how much a shop wants to replace the gaskets. It's about $250 in parts alone when done properly.
Not to scare you...
A low miles Buick is one of the few cars id snatch up sight unseen. Even before most Japanese imports. (you gotta check those)
The first time our 2001 impals with 3400 failed was at 32K miles.
Also check that the oil sender is not leaking oil down onto the starter.
Also check that the oil sender is not leaking oil down onto the starter.
Originally Posted By: JimPghPA
The first time our 2001 impals with 3400 failed was at 32K miles.
Also check that the oil sender is not leaking oil down onto the starter.
The 3100 and 3400 were the ones with the failing gaskets. The Buick 3300 was a detuned/downsized 3800. Different block than the 3.1/3.4 V6's. I beleive these two(3.1/3.4) cam from the old 2.8 V6. I sure that someone with greater GM knowlage will chime in and correct me. And yes, the 3.8 had some years with the composit intake manifold that was causing some issues. But, these later year 3.8's were some of the best engines ever made from any car company IMHO!
The first time our 2001 impals with 3400 failed was at 32K miles.
Also check that the oil sender is not leaking oil down onto the starter.
The 3100 and 3400 were the ones with the failing gaskets. The Buick 3300 was a detuned/downsized 3800. Different block than the 3.1/3.4 V6's. I beleive these two(3.1/3.4) cam from the old 2.8 V6. I sure that someone with greater GM knowlage will chime in and correct me. And yes, the 3.8 had some years with the composit intake manifold that was causing some issues. But, these later year 3.8's were some of the best engines ever made from any car company IMHO!
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Working in car sales, I've seen the 3800's with 200K + miles. Plus should get great gas mileage. That's why I am considering the Buick. Also, looking at a 2002 Buick Century with 130K miles. They guy I sold it to decided that he doesn't need it now. He had the windshield and intake gaskets replaced already.
Coming from a Century 3100 owner go for the Regal with the 3.8.
My car is geared real tall, has only adequate pep, downshifts when there's just a teeny tiny hill, and only pulls 28 MPG nursing it on the highway. Plus I have the notorious piston slap that sounds awful when cold.
The rest of the car, and it's the same W-body chassis as the Regal, is utterly boring and quiet. Good thing or bad.
My car is geared real tall, has only adequate pep, downshifts when there's just a teeny tiny hill, and only pulls 28 MPG nursing it on the highway. Plus I have the notorious piston slap that sounds awful when cold.
The rest of the car, and it's the same W-body chassis as the Regal, is utterly boring and quiet. Good thing or bad.
Originally Posted By: eljefino
Coming from a Century 3100 owner go for the Regal with the 3.8.
My car is geared real tall, has only adequate pep, downshifts when there's just a teeny tiny hill, and only pulls 28 MPG nursing it on the highway. Plus I have the notorious piston slap that sounds awful when cold.
The rest of the car, and it's the same W-body chassis as the Regal, is utterly boring and quiet. Good thing or bad.
Sounds exactly like my '01 Lumina... except I managed to avoid the infamous piston slap.
The 3800 is a solid engine, but like many GM's of the vintage... it's [censored] hard to keep antifreeze in the thing. They not only have problems with the composite lower intake failing due to heat from the EGR pipe... their upper intakes also tend to fail by warping so that they won't seal at the throttle body. AND these engines also have the infamous GM intake gasket problem- though probably not as bad as the 3100/3400 engines.
Not saying these are bad engines, but IMO their rock-solid reputation is a remnant of past decades before GM started using plastic intakes and plastic gaskets. They WERE a rock-solid engine back in the 80's. And the gen-II engines CAN often go 200,000+ miles. But keep in mind that lower intake, upper intake, and intake gasket problems ARE common in these engines.
As for gas mileage, my dad has an '04? 3800 Impala... gets 25-26 on the highway. The car is quick and fun to drive, though.
Coming from a Century 3100 owner go for the Regal with the 3.8.
My car is geared real tall, has only adequate pep, downshifts when there's just a teeny tiny hill, and only pulls 28 MPG nursing it on the highway. Plus I have the notorious piston slap that sounds awful when cold.
The rest of the car, and it's the same W-body chassis as the Regal, is utterly boring and quiet. Good thing or bad.
Sounds exactly like my '01 Lumina... except I managed to avoid the infamous piston slap.
The 3800 is a solid engine, but like many GM's of the vintage... it's [censored] hard to keep antifreeze in the thing. They not only have problems with the composite lower intake failing due to heat from the EGR pipe... their upper intakes also tend to fail by warping so that they won't seal at the throttle body. AND these engines also have the infamous GM intake gasket problem- though probably not as bad as the 3100/3400 engines.
Not saying these are bad engines, but IMO their rock-solid reputation is a remnant of past decades before GM started using plastic intakes and plastic gaskets. They WERE a rock-solid engine back in the 80's. And the gen-II engines CAN often go 200,000+ miles. But keep in mind that lower intake, upper intake, and intake gasket problems ARE common in these engines.
As for gas mileage, my dad has an '04? 3800 Impala... gets 25-26 on the highway. The car is quick and fun to drive, though.
Updated parts take care of all the coolant leak points on the Series II 3800. Once they have been fixed with the updates, they will easily go 250k+ miles with no more coolant leak issues.
The rest of the car, maybe not so much. It's something with my rolling couch every month. It is cheap, though.
The rest of the car, maybe not so much. It's something with my rolling couch every month. It is cheap, though.
If you don't mind me asking, what sort of trouble have you had with your rolling couch?
My own rolling couch (the Lumina) has been quite trouble-free. I've had to do the intake gaskets, fix a few minor electrical issues and a blinker switch. Otherwise it's required only maintenance to get to 226,000 miles.
And yes, you'll rarely find a cheaper vehicle than these W-bodies. Not counting some hail-damage 'reimbursement', I have about $3000 invested in the car. We've had it for the past 6 years and 67,000 miles... and it probably still has several good years left in it.
My own rolling couch (the Lumina) has been quite trouble-free. I've had to do the intake gaskets, fix a few minor electrical issues and a blinker switch. Otherwise it's required only maintenance to get to 226,000 miles.
And yes, you'll rarely find a cheaper vehicle than these W-bodies. Not counting some hail-damage 'reimbursement', I have about $3000 invested in the car. We've had it for the past 6 years and 67,000 miles... and it probably still has several good years left in it.
Last year when I was looking at buying the 2004 Monte Carlo SS Dale Jr edition that I did end up buying, I could tell the intake gaskets were leaking because of the coolant on top of the intake. I pointed this out to the seller's husband and since he had just had the intake gaskets replaced on his own car which used this same engine, His wife agreed to discount the price. This car had 87,800 miles on it when I bought it.
The mechanic who fixed it showed me the factory gaskets and you could see that they were just starting to fail. I also flushed out all of the remaining dexcool and put in the green stuff. This car has the factory supercharger so the UIM is already aluminum. I bought the new aluminum gaskets so hopefully I won't have to worry about this repair again.
Wayne
The mechanic who fixed it showed me the factory gaskets and you could see that they were just starting to fail. I also flushed out all of the remaining dexcool and put in the green stuff. This car has the factory supercharger so the UIM is already aluminum. I bought the new aluminum gaskets so hopefully I won't have to worry about this repair again.
Wayne
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