1999 Buick Lesabre engine problems

Filed Dec 10, 2014 · Engine · 80,000 miles · WI

My car is a 1999 buick la sabre with a 3.8l engine. July/20/2012 my car had 80,000 miles on it when my engine started to miss. When I got it looked at by my friend I was told there was coolant in the cylinders. The engine had problems with the intake plenum leaking coolant, because of the egr system. He then fixed the car. On november 20, 2014 my engine had 138,000 miles when it overheated on the highway. I found no coolant in the reservoir with coolant in the oil. When my friend looked at my car he said it was the plenum again, but this time the coolant in the oil may have wiped the main bearings. The overheating may have also warped the cylinder heads. He told me at the least there was damage done to the bearings. Being upset I looked online for information to find that this problem is common with that engine. Also that gm didn't acknowledge the problem. Has gm finally admitted to faulty manufacturing? Even if my car is fixed I no longer feel safe driving it. It may leave me on the road in winter someday with my young son. Or worse, stalling on the highway with loss of power steering. Can someone please help? I am a single mother going to college and money is tight.

Filed Sep 20, 2014 · Electrical, Engine · 190,000 miles · KS

Traveling about 65 - 70 MPH I noticed my speedometer went 'wacky', meaning it went down to 0 - 20 MPH and back up again to the speed I was traveling. Nothing else happened. The next time, maybe a week to a couple weeks later it did I it again, only I heard the doors unlock and it had died. Since then it has been happening more frequently. I have always been able to start it right back up. I can be out on the highway or in town. I usually put it into neutral, start it and keep going. It has happened as many times as 3 times a day, or it won't die for 3-4 days. I did have one especially dangerous situation with a semi-trailer truck behind me on the highway when the vehicle just died.

Filed Aug 3, 2014 · Electrical, Engine · 164,000 miles · PA

In approx 2010 my buick lesabre had issues starting and would occasionally stop operating during travel. All ignition functions would cease to work. Towed to buick dealership to resolve and replaced ignition switch. This year a similar action happened where the car would not start. Again at the dealership the ignition switch was replaced. Is this ignition switch issue included in the gm recall?

Filed Apr 29, 2014 · Engine · 114,000 miles · AZ

Tl* the contact owns a 1999 buick lesabre. The contact stated that upon starting the vehicle, a loud noise was heard and white smoke emitted from the engine compartment. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure and current mileage was 114,000.

Filed Jan 27, 2011 · Engine · 89,400 miles · VT

Antifreeze leaking into engine through intake manifold plenum causing expensive replacement engines and or parts. Dangerous if engine locks up while driving.

Filed Nov 27, 2010 · Engine · 94,735 miles · PA

Car was getting harder to start each time- red light (overheating) came on while on a trip- added 4 + qts of water- drove 15 miles- car would not start--added 3 + qts of water--tried several things to try to start--noticed oil level was up-- assumed coolant went into engine- removed 3 front spark plugs--coolant ran out of spark plug openings- car was towed 60 miles- intake manifold (warped), gaskets, & thermostat were replaced- starter replaced due to broken housing (from attempting to start water logged engine)- total expense approx $ 1,000

Filed Jan 2, 2009 · Engine · 68,628 miles · NY

Engine seized and wouldn't start. Found the intake manifold full of antifreeze. Caused by a faulty intake manifold. Replaced manifold, changed oil and antifreeze and replaced cracked starter.

Filed Oct 21, 2008 · Engine · 80,000 miles · NC

This concerns a defective design of the intake manifold used by gm on 1998, 1999, 2000, and some 2001 buick lesabre's equipped with the 3800 series ii v6 engine. Following the failure and resultant hydraulic engine lock of a neighbor's 1999 buick lesabre with approximately 80,000 miles on the odometer, I visited our local buick dealer (lee chevorlet/buick - washington, nc) to discuss what appears from research done via the internet to be a frequently encountered problem on these vehicles so equipped. It seems that a failure of the intake manifold is a very common problem on vehicles with about 80k miles on them, my wife drives such a vehicle - a buick lesabre limited purchased from lee chevorlet, washington, nc on 2/24/99 it currently has 78,000 miles on the odometer. The dealership owner, and the service manager freely revealed that this is a serious and chronic problem with these vehicles and is the direct result of a poorly designed part used on them. They are prone to failure at about the 80k mile point which results from an internal (not apparent) failure due to materials degradation. The result is very frequently the discharge of engine coolant into the cylinder(s) resulting in a hydraulic lock up with frequently disastrous results involving not only an engine seizure while in operation but also associated significant engine parts damage. Their recommendation for a remedy to handle this dangerous situation is to have the involved parts (top and bottom intake manifolds) replaced with "the gm replacement design resulting from the problem. These vehicles are all +/- 10 years old and have outlived their original 3yr/36,000 mile warranty. They indicated that the only way to perhaps get gm to participate in a remediation of this problem is to speak with the customer assistance group which I did yesterday. They deny existence of the problem and will provide no assistance in the $800-900 repair. Failure of this part in operation could be fatal.

Filed Apr 25, 2008 · Engine · 55,000 miles · GA

Tl*the contact owns a 1999 buick lesabre. The contact stated that her vehicle shuts off and fails to restart. However, while driving at an unknown speed, the vehicle shut off and then restarted immediately. Later that same day, the contact stated that the vehicle would not restart for approximately an hour and a half. While idling at a traffic light, the vehicle shut off and took 15 minutes before it restarted. The failure continued to recur intermittently. The vehicle was taken to an electrical mechanic shop, but they could not identify the cause of the failure. The vehicle was also taken to firestone and repaired; however, the failure recurred. The failure mileage was 55,000 and current mileage was 58,439.

Filed Mar 20, 2008 · Engine · 85,000 miles · WI

Wife's 1999 buick lesabre with 90,000 miles on it was burning antifreeze in engine. I was told by a certified gm mechanic to try tightening throttle body mounting nuts because being too loose was a common problem from the factory. Did that 6 months ago and it seemed to help even though the manifold throttle body mounting surface was warped due to the engine heat. Over the past month the car became increasingly hard to start, burned large amounts of antifreeze, and would stall intermittently. On march 13, 2008 I took the intake manifold off the engine and found antifreeze in the intake duct going to the air filter and antifreeze pooled in the intake manifold. This was caused by two separate defects, the upper intake manifold gasket not sealing properly to the lower intake manifold (was leaking in two different spots) and the leaking throttle body to intake manifold gasket (was leaking coolant into the intake duct to air filter), which was caused by excess heat from the egr pipe warping the upper manifold. Another serious problem with the upper intake manifold was the heat from the egr pipe eroded the manifold to a point that it would cause leaking coolant to enter the intake manifold in the near future. This seems to me to be a safety concern not only from a standpoint of the car stalling and becoming hard to steer but I work in the outdoors in remote locations in sub zero weather in the winter. I am always prepared for the possibility that my car won't start and I will have to walk miles to the nearest phone but somebody else may not be prepared and it looks like this defect might be dangerous if not fixed. I replaced the upper intake manifold and gaskets with an aftermarket one and the car is fine now.