3800 V6 question

[AD8]

I am considering the purchase of a 2003 LeSabre Custom sedan for my college age daughter. The vehicle has 30,000 miles, and has been garage kept. Overall, the car appears to be well cared for. I question the potential reliability/service issues related to the 3800 engine, or were those bugs worked out by this production year?

Thanks,

Jim

BCA # 43102

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

Jim, I have a 95 with the 3800. Now over 90000 mi. Have done nothing to it and would drive cross country tomorrow. Great fuel milage. Just no complaints.

Ben

[Barney Eaton]

The last thing you need to worry about on that car is the engine.

On the Reatta database we have several Reattas with 200,000 + miles and the engine hard parts have never been touched. The 3800 is one of if not the best engine that GM ever made.

[LINC400]

160,000 miles and 16 years on my 1994 Regal. Driven daily, and wouldn't hesitate to take across the country

[JohnD1956]

Keep in mind that the 2003 3800 is one of those with the flawed intake manifold. I'm not certain of the problem but I understand that the pipe from the EGR valve runs very close to the manifold in an area that is plastic. It has the potential to cause the intake to leak. Best I know there is a fix for it, but I am unsure what it is and how to tell if it has been done.

Baring that the 3800 is a long life engine which will have some issues from time to time, and regular maintenance is key to long life.

[Guest sintid58]

I have a 2003 Le Sabre Limited and love it. Very reliable and nice car to drive, but I did have to put gaskets in the intake manifold at around 75000 miles. It was not a big expense and didn't take a lot of time. If it hadn't needed to have anti freeze added I would probably not have known it needed to be done. Good gas mileage too, round trip to California this summer with a lot of mountain, 2 lane driving over 4500 miles and averaged 26 MPG. Around town combination of city and highway driving I get 24.5.

[tim63riv]

If you are handy, Dorman sells a replacement manifold for less than $100.00. The 3800 is the BEST engine Buick or GM ever built as far as durability goes and they have the warranty data to back that up. A 30,000 mile 2003 LeSabre would be a car you could trust and would easily last another 150K+ with very limited upkeep expense.

Tim

[AD8]

Thanks to all who have replied. It does appear to need an intake manifold gasket as described as in the posts, though I wouldn't have thought it so after only 30M miles.

Based upon the high marks with regard to reliability, I intend to make a fair offer based on the necessary repair and hope the seller is reasonable.

Thanks again for your input and advice.

Jim

BCA #43102

Former:

'65 Wildcat

'69 Wildcat

'70 Riviera

'72 Riviera

Current:

'69 225 convert.

'55 Olds 88

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

Jim, I think you will be pleased. Keep us in the loop. And hope ypu will be as satisfied with it as I am with my 95.

Ben

[Mudbone]

The upper manifold is plastic and has a metal insert where the EGR goes through. The heat warps or melts the plastic causing coolant leaks into the manifold and engine. I had this problem on my 99 Park Ave. I was loosing coolant with no external leaks. The exhaust smelled like burnt antifreeze. I asked my local Buick dealer about the problem. He told me to replace the intake gaskets. I replaced the gaskets and it did not fix the problem. I looked it up on the Internet and found that the upper manifold is the problem and that all the dealers are aware of it. This problem is huge and GM should have recalled all these manifolds. The reason they don’t is because most of them make it past the warranty period. The second owner ends up paying the price. I went back to the dealer and confronted the service manager about it and said that it was not that common. I will no longer use this dealer. I found the improved manifold online for about half the cost of a GM one. It had the same markings on it as the old one. It has been good now for over 25,000 miles. I’m glad it didn’t happen on vacation!

[Don McClair]

The only suggestion I would have is to make sure the coolant is flushed and I prefer the new Prestone that can be used with any color antifreeze. The Dexcool with age can crystallize and also eat gaskets. After changing to the Prestone the engine in my Silverado runs about 5 to 10 degrees cooler. I know a couple of other people that have experienced this as well. A couple of people that I know ran the Dexcool too long and it was very costly.