Looking for Shop Manual for 2006 Buick Lucerne

[Daves1940Buick56S]

I just picked up a creampuff 2006 Lucerne. It's a CXS with low miles at a deal I could not pass up. I have been scouting for a shop manual or even an aftermarket service manual but am coming up dry unless I want to fork out $400. Anybody have something they would be willing to sell?

 

Cheers, Dave

[NTX5467]

GM went to online service information long before this car came to market.  Unless there might be a paper version available from the prior service manual vendor, possibly a CD version is around somewhere?  You might look inside of the owner's manual for additional information.  In some respects, the more recent owners' manuals have a good bit of information in them as to what filters and such the car takes.  There should be no real service mysteries on this car, so just change the oil and such and DRIVE IT.  Glad you found a good one!

 

IF you might want to do a banzai investigation of the service documents, you can sign-up for a short-term membership to gain access to them via ACDelco portals.

 

NTX5467

[60FlatTop]

11 hours ago, Daves1940Buick56S said:

but am coming up dry unless I want to fork out $400.

That's a little less than 4 hours of factory service in a shop. Add the avoided service cost to the savings on the great deal you got and you will still be way ahead.

 

I'm pretty sure my wife would tell me that.

 

Actually, when I bought my '05 Silverado new I did order the 5 volume service manual set the stacked up to be almost 3 feet high. I sat in my easy chair and turned every page, looked at all the pictures, and read the paragraphs of interest. I still own and service the truck 15 years later. I sold the manuals around 10 years ago. I have done a lot of work on the truck and racked up 190,000 miles. I can't recall any specific instance when I needed to refer to the manuals.

 

Much of the information is available online. Computerized engine controls are quite standardized with OBD2 so if you can access the operating data those parameters just require the knowledge that you need to operate the scan tool.

 

The things you will be dealing with will mainly be age related.Front or rear wheel bearings, the EVAP system, a misfiring coil, ABS issues. Most is fairly straight forward and in some instances under the radar of the traditional shop manual.

 

I bought a decent scan too (Foxwell NT680 Pro), some Jr. college level, computerized engine control textbooks, and few specialized tools, and I am comfortable approaching problems and avoiding the "professionals without owning manuals.

 

I have been watching Matt, here, on Youtube for almost 4 years and recently subscribed to his pay channel for $3.49 per month. https://schrodingersboxqm.com/

They are well done and help.

 

It is also good to put the scan tool on the cars and watch under normal operation just to get familiar.

 

The only problem I have is my librarian wife telling me I read too much non-fiction and my books sit on the low shelf in the bathroom too long.

 

One more point, with that Northstar pressure check the cooling system every Spring, cold and then warm.

Edited March 28, 2022 by 60FlatTop (see edit history)

[Barney Eaton]

I had a Lucerne and discovered the same issue..... the good news is the Cadillac is basically the same car and between them

there are Utube videos on the things that go wrong. 

[NailheadBob]

A local library (about 1/2 hour from me)  has a basement full of factory service manuals that they had hard covers put on them, I check them out like a regular book, but I have to go to that library to check them out, they do not deliver to my library service manuals like regular books in the "swan" system. also close to me is a library the has all (vintage and modern) electronic (all-data brand) service manuals and I can print pages from if needed.

 

Bob

[60FlatTop]

Do you know where the starter is?

[Daves1940Buick56S]

Nope, not a clue. Just about all of my car repair/maintenance experience has been on pre-1978 cars. On my newer cars I just took it to a dealer or mechanic and embraced the suck. I will likely do that with the Lucerne as long as it seems feasible, but once I get to the $1500 a visit stage (got there with my 2003 Caddy DTS) I will have to make a decision. Hopefully not for a while.

 

On the pressure test, I have a kit that I have adapted to the older cars and it works good. I still have the modern adapters. Are you talking about pressurizing to 15# and watching for leakdown or something else?

 

Cheers, Dave

[NTX5467]

At least, to change the starter on a NS V-8, you do not need a creeper!  But that blower motor is something else, as I recall.

 

There are some things the factory service manual is good for, BUT you can learn a lot more by reading the Tech Serv Bulletins, in many cases.  More entertaining, by observation.

[60FlatTop]

On the pressure test, I would take it up to 15-20# as an annual check, maybe even semiannually if the opportunity arose. I bought an adapter right away when I bought my '03 BMW V12. The engine is very similar to design and construction to the Northstar. 2006 is about the time of the revision of that engine so micromanaging is more of a "belts and suspenders thing". But cooling is critical and your hoses and fittings have been in a hot environment for 15 years now. Some have plastic fittings to be aware of.

 

I like the Lucerne and DTS Caddy's. But mechanically I am more comfortable with Chevy trucks. Familiarity has a lot to do with it. That's why I take the time to study newer cars and get a little deeper into my own service. Sunday night we had a family birthday party and my nephews talked cars with my brother in law and I. We didn't talk about anything older than this century other than a couple of references to Sun and Allen oscilloscopes. And that was a comment on knowing the old style as helpful in moving to a laptop scope.

 

The key is to seek out those people and conversations with newer car experience. The more familiar you become the less you will need the reference material. How often do you pull out the '40 Buick shop manual?

 

BTW, after 3 years I sold the BMW 760L, good experience and didn't spend a lot of money, used the cash toward another Chevy truck.

[NTX5467]

The first time I pulled up the parts schematics on a NorthStar V-8, I was amazed at how many parts there were.  Impressed by what might be termed "main cap girdle" and some other design features.  I'd already read about the coolant loss fail-safe mode and how well it seemed to work (via a CAR AND DRIVER experiment in NV).  In reality, the engine is way too complicated for what it is, BUT as Lexus seems to have been "driving" the market as to what they used for engines and such, perfectly appropriate.

 

A few issues, though.  Some from observations at the dealership adn some others from seeing comments in online forums/groups devoted to Cadillacs.

 

That "main cap girdle"?  It seals to the main crankcase with a thin, rubber bead seal.  As it ages and shortens, oil seeps on the side of the block happen.  The fix?  At the time, it was about $1750.00+ to pull the motor (really quite easy), disassemble the engine, replace those seals, reassemble.  Flat rate fix?  Probably clean with spray brake cleaner, then daub the seam with an appropriate high-body high-heat silicone sealer (hopefully black in color).

 

Unlike some other engines, the water pump is an "insert" into a larger casting (similar to a Chrysler B/RB engine.  What's neat about the NS pump is that is basically clocks-in and locks in place.  Sealed by an orange o-ring circumferential seal.  Neat and quick!  There is a special tool to do all of this, too, of course.  But at about 90K+ miles when the pump needs replacing.  No big deal, just get the magic tool and remove it.  Well, not quite.  After being in that one position for all of that time and hot.cold cycles, that orange silicone seal has probalby dried-out a bit, as it also glued itself to the housing.  End result, the special tool will probably break.  Especially if it is NOT a factory-sourced tool!  So, best to take it to the dealer and let them do that deal.  Kind of hard to explain this, considering how easy it is to install, to a customer who perceives all water pumps "change" like a small block Chevy V-8.

 

At about 150K miles, when the heads might need to come off for whatever reason, the assembly lube on the head studs/bolts has dried-out/vanished.  End result is that removing the bolts will also bring some of the threads from the block with them.  YIKES!  But wait!  There is a factory kit to address this issue with "Time Zerts".  Think a "heli-coil" kit that is not a heli-coil as such.  As this is a common situation, most dealers have the kits in stock.  Or at least used to when the engines were in production.  One of those things, part of the breed, which seems to not be as bad as we might suspect to do, by observation.

 

The issue of oil consumption was mentioned in the forums.  One "expert" said the "racing engine design" needed to be gotten out every so often and "run it hard" to keep everything working well.  Not sure that I agree with that, per se, but we all know that easy driving needs some long, higher-speed cruise activities every so often.  Like 300 miles at 75+mph cruise on a warm day.  Might even put some good injector cleaner in it for this, too.  Then bring it back and get a quality oil change, for good measure.

 

I do know that we had sold a new DTS to a customer and we'd done all of the oil changes since new.  It had always had an oil consumption issue.  So, with full documentation of the oil changes, we did an oil consumption check at about 45K miles.  It indicated "too much oil use", so it got a new GM Crate NorthStar at the end of the main factory warranty.

 

One thing is the amount of oil it takes to do an oil change on a NS motor.  Which, in general, makes a Buick 3800's 4.5 to 5 quart change much more economical.

 

That hvac blower motor is situation right in the middle of the cowl.  Doesn't look too bad to change, until you try it.  Back then, it was also $300.00 for the motor.

 

Years ago, I ran across an article about putting the NS V-8 in rwd vehicles.  The article mentioned Chevy S-10s.  Which needed a different water pump mount, plus different motor mounts.  When the Cadillac version of the then-Corvette came out, that took care of the motor mount/water pump mount issue, I suspect.  They also had a 4bbl intake to replace the fuel injection system, too.  Just the intake and 600cfm Holley was good for another 100 horsepower over stock (which was 275 at the least).  So, an instant 375-400 horsepower aluminum DOHC V-8 from the salvage yard.  Seems like the THM200 trans bolted right up, too?  Seems the low hoodline resulted in a flow-compromised intake manifold situation.

 

Such DOHC engines are TALLLL, oil pan to the top of the valve covers.  So that flat hood resulted in lesser power for some buyers, I suspect, but still competitive.

 

Enjoy!

NTX5467