1998 BUICK LESABRE Complaints

WHILE DRIVING ENGINE LIGHT ILLUMINATED. VEHICLE BEGAN RUNNING VERY HARD AND ROUGH. FINALLY, ENGINE SHUT DOWN AND WOULD NOT START AGAIN. CONSUMER STATES DUE RECALL 04V090000 VEHICLE ACTS IN THIS MANNER. *AK

REQUEST FOR REIMBURSEMENT FOR REPLACEMENT OF INTAKE PLENUM. *MR DUE TO A BACKFIRING/MISFIRING PROBLEM. *SC THERE WAS A RECALL REGARDING THE PROBLEM AND THE CONSUMER IS NOW REQUESTING REIMBURSEMENT. RECALL #(04V090000) *JB

WHILE DRIVING VEHICLE STARTED TO LOSE POWER. *MR THE VEHICLE GRADUALLY LOST MORE POWER AND QUIT. THE CONSUMER WAS INFORMED THAT THE UPPER INTAKE MANIFOLD WAS CRACKED IN ONE OF THE PASSAGES, WHICH REQUIRED A TOTAL REPLACEMENT OF THE ENGINE. *SC

RECALL REGARDING THE INTAKE MANIFOLD ON THE 1998 BUICK LESABRE. *MR THE ENGINE OVERHEATED AND WAS RUINED DUE TO THE INTAKE MANIFOLD PROBLEM. *SC THE SECOND TIME THE CONSUMER EXPERIENCED PROBLEMS WITH THE VEHICLE IT RESULTED IN HAVING TO GET A NEW ENGINE WHICH WAS DUE TO THE INTAKE MANIFOLD PROBLEM. *JB

PROBLEMS WITH ANTIFREEZE LEAKING INTO THE VEHICLE'S ENGINE.*MR THE CONSUMER WAS TOLD THAT HE WOULD BE RESPONSIBLE FOR PURCHASE THE SMALL COPPER PIECE THAT WOULD NOT ALLOW THE PLASTIC TO BECOME OVERHEATED. THE CONSUMER WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IF A RECALL HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THIS PROBLEM. (1998 BUICK). *NM

IT WOULD BE HARD TO START THE VEHICLE. ONCE THE VEHICLE WAS STARTED THE ENGINE WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED. THE DEALERSHIP WAS NOTIFIED, BUT DID NOT RESOLVE THE PROBLEM. *AK

MY 1998 BUICK LESABRE HAD A RUPTURED MANIFOLD IN JUNE 2003, CAUSING ENGINE TO CEASE AND SMOKE AND MINOR FIRE. THE SMOKE MADE MYSELF AND MY INFANT SON VERY ILL. THIS WAS REPORTED TO BUICK BUT THEY REFUSED TO REIMBURSE FOR REPAIR SINCE VEHICLE WAS JUST OUT OF WARRANTY. THEY TOLD ME THAT THE FOLLOWING RECALL WAS NOT IN EFFECT: NHTSA RECALL NO. 03V473/GM RECALL NO. 03054 AND THAT MY VEHICLE HAD NO RECALL. A FEW MONTHS LATER THE ENGINE CEASED TO START AGAIN AND IT WAS DETERMINED AT THE BUICK DEALERSHIP THAT IT WAS A FAULTY FUEL PRESSUE REGULATOR WHICH WAS REPLACED. BUICK AGAIN REFUSED REIMBURSEMENT ALTHOUGH I BROUGHT THEIR ATTENTION TO THE CURRENT RECALL ON MY VEHICLE. I CALLED AGAIN TODAY AS THE RECALL FOR 98 BUICK LESABRES WITH V6 ENGINES WAS AGAIN POSTED BUT BUICK TOLD ME THAT THEIR SYSTEM HAS NO SUCH RECALL AND THEY REFUSED TO REIMBURSE ME FOR OVER $1000 OF REPAIRS FOR THE FAULTY FUEL PRESSUE REGULATOR AND MANIFOLD. NHTSA RECALL NO. 04V090/GM RECALL NO. 03054B.*AK *LA

PASSENGER'S SIDE SEAT BELT WILL NOT BUCKLE OR RETRACT ON ITS OWN. CONSUMER CONTACTED THE DEALER, AND DEALER INFORMED CONSUMER THAT THE SEAL BELT WAS NOT A LIFE TIME WARRANTY.*AK

WHILE DRIVING ON MY WAY TO WORK THE VEHICLE STARTED TO SLOW AND THE ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. I PULLED OVER AND ATTEMPTED TO START THE CAR AND THE ENGINE WOULD NOT TURN OVER. I CALLED MY AUTO CLUB FOR A TOW AND THE CAR WAS TOWED TO A CONNOCO STATION IN PARK RAPIDS. THEY IMMEDIATLY KNEW WHAT THE PROBLEM WAS, STATING THEY SEE A LOT OF THE 3800 ENGINES DO THIS. THE INTAKE PLENUM ROTTED AWAY ALLOWING COOLANT TO FILL A CYLINDER AND STALL THE ENGINE. GM HAS ISSUED A SERVICE BULLITIN FOR THE PROBLEM, BUT NO RECALL. THIS COULD BE A MAJOR SAFETY CONCERN WITH LOSS OF POWER TO THE ENGINE THE STEERING AND BRAKES WILL NOT FUNCTION AS THEY SHOULD. *AK

OUR 1998 BUICK LESABRE LIMITED, APRIL 2004 OUR UPPER & LOWER INTAKE MANIFOLD'S & GASKET WERE REPLACED DUE TO A LEAK AND THE CAR ONLY HAD 62,000 MILES ON IT. THIS COST US OVER 2000.00 THE WEB HAS HUNDREDS OF SIMILAR COMPLAINTS FROM OTHER GM OWNERS. *AK UPPER INTAKE MANIFOLD LEAKED, CAUSING LOSS OF COOLANT. VEHICLE TAKEN TO INDEPENDENT REPAIR SHOP. OIL AND OIL FILTER HAD TO BE CHANGED, SPARK PLUGS WERE REPLACED AND CYLINDER'S [ENGINE FLUSHED] HAD TO BE CLEANED OUT. ALSO BROKEN STARTER REPLACED. MY CAR HAD TO BE TOWED OVER 110 MILES BACK HOME AT A COST OF $ 236.50 [MY WIFE WAS VISITING HER MOM AND HAD 2 GRANDCHILDREN WITH HER WHEN CAR BROKE DOWN IN A REMOTE AREA ,LUCKY FOR US SHE HAD HER CELL PHONE WITH HER AND SOME NICE FOLKS AT A NEAR BY RANCH TOOK CARE OF THEM] MY MECHANIC ADVISED INTAKE MANIFOLD LEAKED, AND STARTER WAS BAD [HOUSING BROKE] STARTER HOUSING BROKE DUE TO TRYING TO START HYDRO-LOCKED ENGINE. QUESTION: WHY IS BUICK ALLOWED TO USE A PLASTIC INTAKE MANIFOLD? AS THIS IS AN AREA THAT GETS VERY HOT. IT'S OBVIOUS, BUICK MADE A BIG MISTAKE BY PRODUCING ENGINES WITH PLASTIC MAN- IFOLDS. THE INTAKE MANIFOLD ON THE ENGINE IS MADE OUT OF PLASTIC AND HAS THE EGR TUBE RUNNING THROUGH IT, CAUSING THE PLASTIC TO HEAT UP AND ALLOW ANTIFREEZE TO RUN INTO THE ENGINE. WHEN MY MECHANIC CALLED THE LOCAL DEALERSHIP TO ORDER PARTS, THE SALES CLERK TOLD HIM, "YES WE HAVE THOSE PARTS ON HAND IT HAPPENS A LOT" ALSO THAT THE UPPER & LOWER INTAKES HAD BEEN RE-DESIGNED AND THAT BOTH MANIFOLDS NEED TO BE REPLACED AS A UNIT. .(CONTRIBUTED BY MIKE & DELLA RICO) PS. ALSO, TRANSMISSION IS NOW ACTING UP [SHUDDERS ON TAKE-OFF AT TIMES] I UNDERSTAND THAT THESE PROBLEMS [MANIFOLD & TRANSMISSION] ARE MAINLY GOING ON WITH CARS HAVING K IN THE VIN. DO YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION ON THIS? THANK YOU