Vehicle
Buick Century
The volume front-drive saloon on GM's W-body, sharing its platform and powertrain with the Regal and the Impala of the period — so those pages carry most of what applies. Nearly all are 3.1 V6 cars, and the fault that brings them in is the one that runs through the whole 60-degree family: the upper intake manifold gasket degrades and leaks coolant internally, producing a slowly falling level with nothing on the driveway, then misfires and lean codes. The 4T60E and 4T65E transaxles behind them are the other common source of work, where a pressure-control solenoid is frequently the whole repair.
Generations
-
Fifth generation (A-body) 1982–1996
The A-body car, with the Iron Duke four and the 3.1 and 3.3 V6s; the 60-degree V6's intake gasket story starts here.
- Body styles
- Sedan · Estate · Coupé
- Platform
- GM A-body
- Engines
-
- 2.5 four-cylinder — petrol · 67–82 kW (90–110 hp) · 182–183 Nm (134–135 lb-ft) · Iron Duke
- 3.1 V6 — L82 · petrol · 119 kW (160 hp) · 251 Nm (185 lb-ft)
- 3.3 V6 — LG7 · petrol · 118 kW (158 hp) · 251 Nm (185 lb-ft)
- 2.2 — LN2 · petrol · 81 kW (109 hp) · 176–183 Nm (130–135 lb-ft)
- 2.8 V6 — LE2 · petrol · 84 kW (113 hp) · 183 Nm (135 lb-ft)
- 3.0 V6 — LK9 · petrol · 82 kW (110 hp) · 197 Nm (145 lb-ft)
- 3.8 V6 — LG3 · petrol · 93 kW (125 hp) · 264 Nm (195 lb-ft)
- 4.3 V6 — LT7 · diesel · 63 kW (84 hp) · 224 Nm (165 lb-ft)
- Transmissions
- GM TH-125C 3-speed automatic · GM 440-T4 4-speed automatic · GM 4T60-E 4-speed automatic
- Drivetrain
- Front-wheel drive
-
Sixth generation 1997–2005
W-body with the 3.1 V6; the upper intake manifold gasket leaking coolant internally is the defining fault.
- Body styles
- Sedan · Estate
- Platform
- GM W-body
- Engines
-
- 3.1 V6 — L82 · petrol · 118 kW (158 hp) · 251 Nm (185 lb-ft)
- Transmissions
- 5-speed manual · 4-speed 4T60-E automatic · 4-speed 4T65-E automatic
- Drivetrain
- Front-wheel drive
Information, not instruction
CarGeek is a reference, not a service manual. Its pages are written from public sources and from what other people have found, never from a manufacturer's own service information, so they can be wrong or incomplete for your particular vehicle. Some of what they describe carries real risk: high voltage, fuel under pressure, stored energy, hot and moving parts.
Have anything you intend to act on checked by a trained person against the manufacturer's own procedure for your vehicle. Nothing here replaces that procedure.
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