When ready to leave work the vehicle would not start. Determined the fuel pump was not operating. Replaced the fuel pump and the vehicle still would not start. I found the fuel pump relay was the ultimate cause of failure. After replacing this relay two other times I decided to look further into the cause. I dismantled the fuse box to find it was not complete inside. The fuse box is filled with female to female couplers to connect the bottom wiring harness to the fuses. The fuel pump relay should have four of the couplers installed in the fuse box. There are only three installed. The male pins are long enough to touch and make contact. They will eventually overheat. This is a manufacturing defect and a fire hazard; as many people have had the issue. Buick still has not issued a safety recall and refuses to actually investigate the reason this is happening. The average consumer is being hit wit a $400.00 fuse box and $600.00 fuel pump replacement. I actually have since installed my original fuel pump. The replacement pump did not have a sending unit for the fuel gauge. Why are the dealers replacing probably perfectly fine fuel pumps. This has become a racket.
2008 Buick Lucerne fuel system complaints
Page 3 of 3: complaints 41 to 62 of 62, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Engine stalled after starting and driving about 20 yards in a parking lot. Then would crank but not start and had burning smell inside car. Had towed to dealer and they found a melted fuel pump relay and fuse box located under rear seat. They said there was a potential fire hazard if didn't replace fuse box too. Car had 106,079 miles at time.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 buick lucerne. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to start. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the fuel box failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 135,000.
Car would crank over but would not start. Had fuel pump and burnt relay replaced and and an hour later the car fuel relay failed due to overheating.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 buick lucerne. The contact stated that after shutting the vehicle off, the vehicle would not immediately restart. While inspecting the vehicle it was discovered that the fuse box and fuel pump had melted. The cause of the failure was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 125,000.
Fuel relay burnt so replaced fuel pump and relay and my brand new relay just burnt up while sitting in driveway my wife was driving the car when car stopped as she was leaving the parking lot of a friends home where I changed the fuel pump and found out relay was burnt and now it's melting relays
Fuel pump shorts out and melts the fuse box this was with the car parked in the driveway could be a fire hazard if this happens you lose all control of the car and makes it a death trap
We were out of town when car failed to start, not battery related. Had to be towed to service center where they diagnosed, inspected, and replaced the fuel pump relay. On 10/01/2015, 2000 miles later similar incident except this time my local mechanic. He cleaned all cavities, applied dielectric grease, checked the fuel pump amperage at 7.5, tightened all relay contacts and replaced relay. Bad relay had scorch marks around several pins. On 10/07, 500 miles later, same scenario except this time replaced fuel pump module. On 10/10, again no start, similar, symptoms. Mechanic came to my house on 10/12, could get car to start after several tries, testing and manipulation of components , but immediately shut it down since relay was very hot. Concerned over safety, had to replace the whole module. Replacement module was definitely an upgrade to original and was such because of, I understand, the failures experienced with the originals and concern over starting a fire. I now understand that several fires resulted from this problem. Fortunately, although tremendously inconvenienced both in time and expense, no one in our family was injured nor were we the cause of any accident which on the highway could have been disastrous.
Having a problem with the car not starting. It was stationary in the garage. Had it tow to garage. They diagnosed it was a fuel relay burning up. A new relay did start the car.we took a short trip out of town and the car stopped running...left us stranded on the highway. The relay gave out again. A mechanic will now look into the fuel pump replacement. And electrical box under the seat.
The fuel pump relay overheated and melted in the fuse box. I had to have the relay and fuse box replaced. The mechanic told me that the fuse box could have started a fire. He told me to google the problem with my car because hundreds of other car owners have had the same problem. Sure enough I did just that and I saw hundreds of people with the same complaint about this model car. Gm needs to be held accountable. Are they waiting until somebody dies first before they acknowledge the problem of the fuel pump relay and the fuse box? Btw I had to replace the fuel pump.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 buick lucerne. While driving 25 MPH, the vehicle stalled without warning. The vehicle was towed to the dealer. The technician stated that the ignition coil and module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified. The failure mileage was 24,863. Updated 12/2/14*cn updated 05/7/2015
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 buick lucerne. While driving at an unknown speed, the engine stalled. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic. The technician diagnosed that the fuse block was defective and caused the fuel pump module to fail. The vehicle was repaired and the manufacturer was notified. The approximate failure mileage was 77,602. Updated 09/24/14*lj..updated 09/25/14 *bf the consumer states the vehicle would not start. However while driving on 9/13 at various speeds the engine died. It died once again for the mechanic.the diagnostic showed the vehicle was not receiving fuel. Updated 2/24/2015
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 buick lucerne. The contact started the ignition and a few moments later the engine stalled. The contact was a certified mechanic, who replaced the burned fuel pump relay switch. The failure recurred twice and the vehicle was repaired each time. The manufacturer was not notified of the defect. The approximate failure mileage was 60,000.
Car would not start, and the fuel relay fuse had blown, damaging the fuse box. Fuse was replaced and on dec 4, 2013 the car would not start again. New fuse block had to be installed. Mechanic's diagnoses said the fuel pump was not receiving good voltage at time, further inspection and testing showed under the rear seal left side fuse block is receiving good voltage but sending a low voltage signal to the fuel pump. Further investigation shows a burnt and melted high resistance connection at the fuel pump relay. Normally, I understand the fuse next to the relay should have blown. Problem seems to stem with the fuse box and there was only one available in the united states on 12/4/2013 which I got. My mechanic was told they are on national backorder and it could take up to 6 months to receive one. So there is an obvious problem with these fuse boxes.
My car drove perfectly fine in the morning. Early afternoon I went to drive the car and although it cranked, it did not and would not start. I took it the dealer who informed me that the fuel pump pulled too much amperage, causing the relay and the fuse box to burn. He stated I was lucky the car did not catch on fire. He further advised me that I had to change all three parts at a cost of over $1600!! I did further research and discovered that this is a known and common problem with the 2008 buick lucerne. I am amazed that I was not advised of this potential life threatening problem and that even with the knowledge, gm did not issue a recall. I have asked gm to pay for the fixing of this problem, but thus far there has not been any decision as to what they will do. I need gm to first pay to fix the problem, and second to issue a recall before someone gets killed.
When my wife was parking the car in a shopping center parking lot, the engine roared (even though she had her foot on the brake) and the vehicle jumped over the curb and struck small bushes and trees in the median between the stein mart and home dept parking lots causing damage to the front grill and driver side front fender. My wife was not injured luckily. Had this event occurred under normal driving conditions somebody could have been seriously injured and or killed depending upon the circumstances. I had a similiar instance about a year ago when the car surged forward while I was stopped at a intersection. My foot was on the brake and I got the car stopped. I continued to drive the car and did not experience any further problems. I thought it might have been a stuck accelerator linkage that cleared. I've since learned the newer vehicles are drive by wire controlled. Their is no direct throttle linkage from the gas pedal. The vehicle is currently at a buick dealers body shop being repaired.. Their service manager stated they would read the computer codes and use a scan tool to determine what caused the accident. An accident report was recorded by the local police department.
Fuel gauge is inaccurate. Reads up to 1/4 to 1/2 tank too full or too empty. Took it to gm repair facility (dealer) 5 times where numerous and different repairs were done over the course of about 7 months, but still not fixed. Have to keep filling the tank since fuel level is unknown. Collision hazard if run out of fuel while driving.
Purchased vehicle 4/2/12. 6/30/12 car would not start. Full power and crank but would not engage. Car towed and diagnosed as fuel pump/relay. The relay was melted. Repaired without incident. July 23,2012 car repeated. No start. Car towed again and relay is melted again. Researching it seems to be a common event occurring in 2008 v8. Mechanic has determined it to be an electrical problem stemming from fuse and amps being delivered to relay. *tr the consumer stated the manufacturer exceeded and a reasonable amount of time addressing the failure.
Tl* the contact owns a 2008 buick lucerne. The contact stated when refueling the vehicle, gasoline would spew back out from the filler tube and onto the contact. The dealer advised that the vehicle was repaired but the failure persisted. In addition, the front driver window was abnormally slow in opening and would squeak. The driver seat has no padding and when exiting the vehicle, she would have to tilt the steering wheel upward in order to exit. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and current mileage was 19,950. Updated 12/7/10 *cn the consumer also stated the traction light illuminated and the door locks had to repaired. Updated evoq 03/01/11
After fuel gauge gets down to full ,shut engine off,restart engine fuel gauge will drop one eighth,shut engine off, restart engine gauge will read up one eighth or back to where it was. It reads up1/8 then down 1/8 then back up 1/8.
Tl*the contact owns a 2008 buick lucerne. While driving 20 MPH his vehicle shut off and would not restart. The vehicle was towed to the dealer. The vehicle was repaired at no cost to the owner. The failure mileage 13,600. Updated 1/28/10 *cn the consumer stated upon entering a highway from an entrance ramp, as he tried to merge with traffic, he discovered he was unable to accelerate and completely lost power without any warning or lights on the dash. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where the fuel pump module was replaced. The consumer stated the vehicle was repaired in a timely fashion. Updated 02/03/10.
I purchased an 08 buick lucerne in sept. Of 08. My concern deals with the accelerator. This model I am told has an all electronically controlled accelerator. I find it almost impossible to hold an even speed on the highway as it is constantly either speeding up or slowing down, and I have no perception of ever moving the pedal. At stop signs/lights it will sometimes leap out with a "jack rabbit" start which was totally unplanned for. This I feel is a major safety issue plus I also think it has a lot to do with the poor mileage I am experiencing. I am only getting 15-23 mpg which is far from the 23-29 I got on my 05 lasabre with the same engine. I have had it to two dealerships and they basically tell me this is all electronic and there is nothing they can do. I find this answer unacceptable and hope that you can possibly help. Thank you
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