Any engine upgrades available for the Buick Enclave?

[John105]

It isn’t the worst job in the world. Time consuming yes, dash can be torn down to accessible components in about an hour.

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not bad, the hvac actuators will be back in service in no time. As mentioned, not being able to defrost the windshield is not a joke--it's needed and a safety issue

 

[John105]

On good day in the best conditions maybe I could get 20 mpg on our Enclave. Average was probably around 16-18 mpg which is about the same as my 5.3 Yukon XL before it. The big difference is my wife hated driving the Yukon so Enclave was a better option. Not everyone likes driving big trucks/SUVs.

This is exactly why we got an Enclave new, in 2011. I actually was "afraid" to go body on frame. Which is what we've done in 2025. When I was given a Tahoe loaner car, right away I said, hmmm....more powerful, a little less cargo, and same or better fuel economy? Then when I got the 2016 Suburban loaner, I said dang, better fuel economy than the Enclave? And it was in auto, not 2WD.

 

[Greyroom]

Well it really depends upon the repair. The pic I posted, that was me having the dash 3/4 of the way out to pull the HVAC box out to replace AC Evaporator core and heater core. This entire job was a good 10-14 hours. But I also gutted the 2G onstar module, fixed a lot of rotten weatherstripping and sealing foam, cleaned out the HVAC box. You know… not a slap together deal.

But just HVAC actuators on a GMT800. Pull the dash bezel, pull out the vents, remove the dash cap and you can get to the actuators. The hardest two hidden ones are the recirc door and the top driver or passenger blend actuator (I can’t remember which is which). The mode select actuator is up on the driver side center and the other blend actuator is on the bottom of the HVAC box. Whole job could be done in 3-4 hours if you went slow and took lunch.

A lot of shop prices are the go away price. I think if I was a tech I’d also wanna choose brakes/suspension/fluids on stuff versus interior work on old 800s where a customer might be crabby when the dash cracks or the mounting tabs rip off the 20 YO dash cap… I had to plastic bond them all back on.

That's what he said in that video. It's all just begging him to break something, and then he's on the hook for that part because he can't really give them back something that he broke. It would probably rattle and drive the customer nuts.

I always thought that if you had to pull a modern dash, you just lived with rattles forever after that. To avoid it you'd have to somehow know exactly where to spray some silicone spray while you had it out.

 

[D1dad]

There's several yt videos about how gm CHEAPED out on transmission build quality.

I would be thinking of transmission fluid and filter changes, maybe even add a cooler with cold bypass.

I would never want to burden a gm transmission with addititional hp & or torque. Dang thing is fragile even when only having to handle stock hp.

There's companies that upgrade gm transmissions, such as next gen transmissions. People who know about gm cutting corners to save cost upgrade their gm transmissions because they want them to be reliable, even if it has a stock motor.

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Over the years I've seen it many times, people modify engines to make more hp, and don't upgrade everything else such as cooling system, transmission, fuel system, transmission, suspension, tires, brakes, and any thing else normally include with vehicles that come factory with more hp.

Adding hp cheaply sabatoges reliabality.

Fun to drive, reliable, low cost, ya gets to pick 2 out of 3.

My daughters 2018 with 84k just lost the transmission this last Wednesday. My son graduated the navy so we were all driving to north Chicago which is only 250 miles. Half way there her check engine light came on and the trans started slipping. I was already at our rental home so my son in law pulled into Napa and had it scanned. All sorts of trans codes popped up. They dropped it at a dealership and they called Friday and said trans was shot and it’s going to be $6800. It’s currently being towed home and will get a 2nd opinion.

 

[Johnny248]

Hi all. I've settled on a Buick Enclave to haul our first kid around in. I remember Buicks being nice, with a soft ride and low road noise, so the Enclave is what I'm going to buy. But it's going to be a lower mileage 2013-2017 model. I like the way those look, and I need to like the way my vehicle looks.

Apparently these had the 3.6 liter LTT v6 in them. So the timing chain issues were fixed by then. The engine has 288 hp and 270 tq. Some people may deem that to be "good enough". I would like to see it somewhere around 340 hp and 310 tq. But I realize this might not be possible, since my search doesn't show many people doing this to a Buick. Also it might not be possible if I want to keep the engine reliable. (as well as smooth and without excess noise)

I doubt there are performance parts sold for this engine. The Ai says:

"Companies like TRIFECTA Performance sell ECU reprogramming (flash tuning), offering improved throttle response, up to +32 horsepower, and enhanced shift characteristics for the transmission, with the ability to switch between performance and stock modes on the fly".

Would that be a good idea? Or would I just shorten the lifespan of the v6 by 120k miles?

If that won't harm this thing, what else can I do to make it all the way to my power goal of 340 hp? (reasonably safely and reliably, no adding nitrous lol)

Thanks!

50hp is asking a lot from an NA engine like that without some sort of forced induction. Those 3.6l engines seem to run pretty well with more than adequate power imo from driving them. I'd just drive it and be happy

 

[Johnny248]

Buy a Toyota or a Honda. I would even buy a Kia Teluride over your choice.

Sad to say, but GM vehciles don't seem to hold up that well judging by the number of them coming through the shop and the amount of work they need. If it isn't a truck, I would look elsewhere.

 

[JTK]

My daughters 2018 with 84k just lost the transmission this last Wednesday. My son graduated the navy so we were all driving to north Chicago which is only 250 miles. Half way there her check engine light came on and the trans started slipping. I was already at our rental home so my son in law pulled into Napa and had it scanned. All sorts of trans codes popped up. They dropped it at a dealership and they called Friday and said trans was shot and it’s going to be $6800. It’s currently being towed home and will get a 2nd opinion.

Oh no.. Has she owned it since new? Was the transmission fluid ever changed? I know there were lots of reported torque converter shudder issues on the 2018 9T65E, but all out failure reports have been rare so far.

 

[D1dad]

Oh no.. Has she owned it since new? Was the transmission fluid ever changed? I know there were lots of reported torque converter shudder issues on the 2018 9T65E, but all out failure reports have been rare so far.

She bought it with 9k on it, so not since new. Trans has never been serviced and she drives like she’s being paid to see if she can destroy a car.

 

[Slick3914]

She bought it with 9k on it, so not since new. Trans has never been serviced and she drives like she’s being paid to see if she can destroy a car.

Then there’s nothing to complain about, 85,000 is good life under those conditions

 

[D1dad]

Then there’s nothing to complain about, 85,000 is good life under those conditions

Maybe but, this has been dealer maintained. She’s a nurse practitioner and the dealer is essentially right next to the hospital she works at. There was a note on a service visit of “fluid inspection” whatever that means. Not everyone is a BITOG service freak but I told her that whatever the manual recommends on drivetrain fluid, cut in half.

 

[JTK]

Maybe but, this has been dealer maintained. She’s a nurse practitioner and the dealer is essentially right next to the hospital she works at. There was a note on a service visit of “fluid inspection” whatever that means. Not everyone is a BITOG service freak but I told her that whatever the manual recommends on drivetrain fluid, cut in half.

If you poke around the u-toobs, quite a few of these 6ATs have been brought back to life with a new seal kit installed into the valve body. I don't believe it's a GM approved fix, nor does GM sell the seals separate, but aftermarket does. Depending on what the codes are and if there's no metal in the drained ATF, this could be the problem with this one.

 

[GaryMX5]

SIL had a 21 enclave. It was rated at 310HP and Car and Driver did 0-60 in 6.6 seconds which is respectable for a vehicle that size. I took it on a trip from western Kansas to Dallas (+/- 550 miles one way) mostly on 2 lane country roads. Speed limits in Texas are 75mph on most state highways. I could easily pass semi's doing 70 or so without excessive/prolonged exposure in the left lane. She put 75,000 trouble free miles on it. A great road trip vehicle with a lot of space. The third row is actually usable by an average adult. Handled pretty good for being larger than I'm used to as well. Only down side to me was the stupid shift lever pattern.

 

[D1dad]

As a last ditch effort I hooked this thing up to my ancel and it showed a code for a trans solenoid. I did a trans service and cleared the codes. Fluid was about as nasty as gear oil, but no metal that would indicate its self destructing. I’ve driven it hard for 2 days straight and no issues and no codes. I’m going to do another D&F and hope it holds.