?? About Buick 3.8 pan gasket and main seals?

[JohnBrowning]

Did GM make these easy to replace or am I going tohave to remove the pan the front timing cover and a rear cover???????? Never done them on a 3.8......I can tell you their lower intake manifold was a dreadful design that required too many things to need to come off to get to bolts and they had many hidden bolts in the oil pools etc....

I am going to wait until summer more then likely and will probably do them all and the oil adapater gasket just to be done wit it. I hate engines that leak oil. Her's has been leaking since we bought it off Grandma at 104,000 miles. I have a lift.....

GM was idiotic with this configuration of the Buick 3.8 the rear drive 3.8 is much easier to work on. The wifes I had to remove a motor mount in order to change her serpentine belt. You need to remove the battery to change the bulbs for the passenger side head lamps etc....A lot of stupid design issues

Anything especialy tricky or any tips that someone that does not workon GM products often shuld know about????

 

[Dieselbob]

You do know there is a spacer you remove to change the serpentine belt....? As for the oil pan, in most of the chassis I've seen, the pan is no problem. The front crank seal is no problem either, but be careful if it has the crank sensor mounted behind the balancer.

 

[postjeeprcr]

I think any front wheel drive car is harder to work on then a rear wheel drive car.

 

[beast3300]

It depends on what the 3800 is installed in. From the description of the serpentine belt you gave I would assume you are working on a Bonneville, Lesabre, Rivera. You do know the lower bolt on that bracket has a inverted torx bolt you take out in order to remove a hollow sleeve allowing you do do serp belts easily??

If you are doing an oil pan gasket on one of these cars then you don't need to touch the front cover. The pan comes out easily.

 

[Chris142]

What year and model is the car? You can go to Ebay and look up your rear main and see if it's a 1 piece or 2.

 

[Chris142]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/95-03-Bui...sQ5fAccessories

 

[ls1mike]

Pan is easy! Not every 3800 has the sleeve and it is easy to remove, beast is dead nuts on. I assume you have a larger car, the pan is bit harder on the Regal/Grand Prix, but not that hard.

I assume you haven't worked on some Honda motors, like the timing belt area? The 3800 is a dream to work on as compared to any of those.

 

[beast3300]

Originally Posted By: ls1mike
Pan is easy! Not every 3800 has the sleeve and it is easy to remove, beast is dead nuts on. I assume you have a larger car, the pan is bit harder on the Regal/Grand Prix, but not that hard.

I assume you haven't worked on some Honda motors, like the timing belt area? The 3800 is a dream to work on as compared to any of those.


I rather work on a 3800 than anything else.

 

[ls1mike]

Me too. Just an easy engine to manuver around.

 

[JohnBrowning]

No I never owned anything made by GM prior to her Buick! I worked on a lot of Chevy Trucks for friends but those are different beasts all together and a lot of COrvettes. So no I had no clue and niether did the guy helping me.....I know Toyota and most European Imports....... I will have to ook for this plate that makes the belt change a snap! I wanted to hang the person that decided to put the motor mount there!Like anything all the skill in the world doesnot make up for lack of product knoldge which is why I asked on this forum. While I know all the dirt on GM from a corperate stand point and quality control and Serivice Parts Operation stand point I am not very knoldgable about the best way to work on many of their products. This type of info only comes from working on a lot of something. While I have changed he transmission,upper and lower intake manifold,starter,all kinds of sensors etc......It has always taken me longer then it does to work on something I know well......IN fact this car is the reason I will never own another GM vechile ever. I would consider a Ford though if I felt the need to buy domestic brand.

 

[JohnBrowning]

No Honda's lol.......I make it a point never to own anything with a timing belt that has always been a deal killer for me on any car or truck.In fact it was all the stupid stuff I started to see being done on fwd car's in the late 1980's that made me rethink working on them for a living......I also made it point for most of life not to own anything fwd until recently......

Even though I have a lift it is not at my house so I like being able to change a transmission with just a $149 tool set from sears and a jack!I was not impressed with GM's use of not only torx bits all over theplace but protected torq bits for stupid tings like sensors.

It is unfortunate that any of us have to put up with FWD vechiles.

Good idea about ebay and checking out the type of gasket and seals used!

The vechile is a 1997 Buick LeSaber.

 

[beast3300]

Sorry for you bad experience on that car. Sometimes a bad car is just a bad car. And vice versa.

If you need any other help, just ask! I know I will respond.

 

[ATS-V]

Off topic: Beast you have any mods on that L67?

 

[artificialist]

Originally Posted By: JohnBrowning

It is unfortunate that any of us have to put up with FWD vechiles.

Some RWD vehicles aren't easy to work on either.
C4 Corvette
Nissan 300ZX Turbo
And a couple others are no easier than FWD cars.

 

[Chris142]

Originally Posted By: JohnBrowning




Good idea about ebay and checking out the type of gasket and seals used!

The vechile is a 1997 Buick LeSaber.
According to the Ebay link the rear main is a 1 piece so you have to split the engine from the trans to replace it.

 

[beast3300]

Originally Posted By: 97 GTP
Off topic: Beast you have any mods on that L67?


Yes. 3.4/3.6, ceramic TOGs, Stg 2 TB, LQ4, Magnaflow cat, 3inch, Dynomax ST, T-stat: 180 drilled, offset dogbone bushings, alt rewire/extra ground, JMB 2.0, HIDs, MC wheels, solid mounts, DHP, EGR delete, Traction control delete, full EP FP rewire, med. shiftkit

 

[ls1mike]

I have the 3.4 pulley, U-bend delete, exhaust, 180 T stat, and shift kit on my Regal.

 

[beast3300]

Sweet! Have you ran it at the track?

 

[ls1mike]

14.20's at 98.02 Bremerton Raceway. I forgot it has a CAI too.
It is my daily driver all winter. I take the WS6 in the summer.
I had an 01 GTP that ran 13.70's. I have the 1.8 Rockers out in the garage. They were on my old GTP. I should put them in and go for 13's this summer.
Do you like all your TB stuff? I was thinking of doing some of that.
What shift kit are you running?

 

[beast3300]

Originally Posted By: ls1mike
14.20's at 98.02 Bremerton Raceway. I forgot it has a CAI too.
It is my daily driver all winter. I take the WS6 in the summer.
I had an 01 GTP that ran 13.70's. I have the 1.8 Rockers out in the garage. They were on my old GTP. I should put them in and go for 13's this summer.
Do you like all your TB stuff? I was thinking of doing some of that.
What shift kit are you running?


I haven't noticed a difference in the stage 2 throttle body. I had to put a LQ4 85mm MAF sensor in because the TB was ported to the point where the stock sensor didn't read properly.

The shiftkit is an old Wbody store one that I got from somebody unused. It unfortunately didn't make a large difference in shifting. I have the transmission settings modified alot via DHP tuner. I suspect this is why the shiftkit wasn't a big deal.