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Wow, that is amazing @JohnD1956 there wasn’t near that much room on my 1997 Lumina! Luckily they had titanium plugs that supposedly lasted 60k miles. The 3100 had two “dog bones” like the one in the picture next to your distributor block. Both had to be disconnected to roll the engine forward. Super fun for the neighbors to watch me attempt it!

Hi John, those rear 3 spark plugs are a real pain! For the 3.1 in my old Chev Lumina I had to unbolt the top engine mounts, put the car in gear (of course without it running) and let the car roll forward to tilt the engine forward. Still had to lay across and feel for the plugs but had just enough room to get my hands and tools back there. Have fun!

The 258 is the factory setting for the light which should be measured close to the t-stat housing. Would be hotter at the heads. On mine with the temp reading 195-200 with an infrared thermometer at the t-stat housing, the heads are reading 220-225 if memory serves correctly.

I’ve got a 195 degree T-stat as that is what’s recommended by the factory. On the 403, the fan clutch engagement should be at 190

Yes the 258 appears to apply to all series. The discussion in other areas in this section break the issues out according to series but this section does not.

That's good news! Now to track down that temperature issue! With a temp of 265, that bulb should be on all the time!

Ok here’s the page from the chassis service manual (I didn't bother with the other page for the symptom of "Hot" indicator not lit when cranking engine, and suggesting the bulb is burnt out). Not super helpful but seems to indicate you have an open circuit (which you now know, or a defective ignition switch, and confirms the light should come on at 258 degrees. Let me know if you want some pictures of the schematic drawing for the electrical circuits around this bulb. Not likely the only issue but have you checked the fan clutch? Mine gave me a lot of issues before I replaced it. How does the t-stat look? I did install a new radiator shortly after I got my car, but not because it was overheating, it was leaking and the mounting point for the cap broke off.

I find the pledge won't last too long, and tends to wash off with rain or normal cleaning, so I don't think you'll get 3 months out of it without reapplying. That's why I only apply it before a show or other times where I want the car to look particularly good!

I’m with John on this, check the wiring. I’ve noticed cracked and brittle insulation around the sender so I’ve dealt with that, but no issue such as you’re reporting. @avgwarhawk is quite right, I don’t think those lights are designed to come on until extreme temps are reached (I recall reading somewhere it was 270 degrees). I haven’t installed a separate gauge but I do complete spot checks with an infrared thermometer so I know where my car typically runs (195-200 is usual temp at thermostat housing on hot days under load with my thermostat).

Well I’m not going to try that... 🤔

All the best to Rita! you figure out the a/c?

An 8-foot length of 1/2” pex should be less than $4 so it’s a pretty economical and quick fix.

I haven’t noticed any ill affects with the pledge, but I don’t use it often (not more than 1-2 times/year. I’ll try the 303 protectant. On the strikers, the missing bushings are exactly the problem. Purchase some 1/2 in pex water pipe, cut into 3/4 length then slice longitudinal on one side so you can slip over the striker. Lube with some white lithium grease and voila, fixed doors! Once I had the pex, all 4 doors took about 10min.

Hi Lamar, I usually wash and dry it normally, then use good ‘ol lemon pledge. Spray it on and rub it in with shop towel. If you have sections that are really faded out, one of the guys on the station wagon forums suggested a bit of motor oil on a rag and rub it in. I’ve tried it on my tailgate and it works ok but I’m not super confident in that long term. I also use a sharpie to fill in and small divets from chips it’s accumulated over the years (but don’t tell anybody) 😃 How do your doors shut? There’s an easy fix for that too! Safe travels to the Nationals!

A few years ago I purchased a set of Matrix Multi-mile tires with a white wall. The white wall is slightly wider than the Hankook tires. Pete Phillips had put me on to them after he purchased a set. I really like them on the Electra and they are/were cost effective. I’ll have to google to see if they are still available.

A little late to this thread, but I have my wagon a test run, and it will in fact drop down to a passing gear above 35 mph or even above 55 mph. It sure makes a bunch more noise, but I'm not sure if accelerates any faster, and seems to be best for dropping a gear while climbing a long gear. I do have the TH350 and 3.23 rear end (non-posi) and the 350 engine. Seems like an adjustment on yours is in order.

Whitewalls or blackwalls?

Was able to get the wagon out again for an early Mother’s Day trip. Drove up what we call the “Sea to Sky” highway to the community of Squamish which is at the end of Howe Sound (ocean inlet) and surrounded by mountains. There is a nice brew pub there that my mother likes and she very much enjoyed the drive. Only about a 100 mile round trip but my total this year is now around 350 miles. Baby bites...

I have to pass on my thanks to @JohnD1956 and indirectly to @Pete Phillips for the events of this past weekend. Apparently, Collectible Automobile magazine is doing a feature on 77-79 Full size Buick’s, and they were needing shots of an Estate Wagon. The magazine called Pete, Pete messaged John and as John no longer has his EW, John messaged me. Needless to say I was thrilled and the editor was in contact with me on Thursday. He arranged for a local photographer to shoot the car, and that happened on Sunday. It was quite the turnaround and led to me spending 6 hours detailing the car for the photo shoot over Saturday and Sunday morning. I never thought anything like this would happen to this car (which I still use for camping and lumber runs) but thanks to the friendships within this club, it has! Looking forward to seeing the article in the Dec 2019 issue! I had to apologize to the photographer and mention this is an “archive” car so I can’t paint under the hood, but at least could get most things shiny. Here are a couple of shots I took as the photographer did his thing yesterday.

4BR35 is the Estate Wagon model number. There was no separate LeSabre or Electra Estate Wagon, just Estate Wagon and Estate Wagon Limited. "X" Engine was the Buick 350, I believe you should have the "K" code Oldsmobile 403 in your EW.

Yes it’s something I knew was coming as the last tranny service I did showed clutch material in the pan and there has been a hard 1-2 shift for several years. I tried to baby it but I think it’s finally time to bite the bullet and get it redone. The bright side is it will feel like a new car when it’s done, the down side is I just picked up a new car for my wife, so car money is a bit light right now. The wagon will just have to pick up the slack.

Rather than try and get to a mileage this year, I’m simply going to try and drive the cars as much as possible. Today I decided to take the Electra to run errands rather than the daily driver. Ending up taking some family around to visit a relative in the cemetery and got a little rained on, but it made for a good pic opportunity. Trans slipped a little going up a hill at low speed, so this car may be sidelined a bit.

Thankfully both Buick’s have/had full tanks when I put them away so by the time I use that up hopefully prices will have come back down to earth. It won’t keep me from driving as it’s really a small additional cost given how much I actually drive them, but still shocking when you pull up to the pump. @JohnD1956 that’s an interesting calculation, but it doesn’t account for the times your father locks the keys in the car with it running and it takes you half an hour to get the spare key to him! LOL.

Well, the weather has been nice enough but no chances to get the cars out yet... life has been very busy so far this year! I’ve been able to put only about 60miles on the wagon so far but record setting gas prices here are not helping the urge to drive! I put non ethanol 94 in both cars... (And that’s per liter)

Well, I'm about where I was a few months ago! I have found a local shop that I know, and they will do the work, but due to my mother-in-law passing unexpectedly recently and being very busy at work, I haven't had the time to get the car down to him. The plan is to bring the car over, decide what parts are required, and then I'll obtain the parts from south of the border. In Canada, the parts are either unavailable or double the price, so even with the crappy exchange rate right now, I'll be saving some $$. The Ferndale, WA NAPA is only about a 40min drive from my place. The "Polar Vortex" that blanketed the mid west and east coast a few weeks ago has moved west and forced me to dust off the snow shovel I was hoping not to see this winter. So far have move a foot of snow, and there is more in the forecast this week. While I do have chains for the Estate Wagon, I think it will just have to stay where it is for a few more weeks! Thanks for the heads up on this. All the bolts around the compressor fit a SAE socket, but I do not recall if they had the lines or not. I also seem to have a vague recollection of some of the bolts being colored, but I could be remembering bolts from other parts of the car. I'll double check all before ordering anything. Good advise on the new compressor, and I was already leaning that way. I'll just paint it black so it has a more correct look. I'll also try and recover the old sticker from the A-6, but I don't recall a flat area to place it on the aluminum ones. Thank you Gentlemen!