Vehicle
Buick LeSabre
For a decade the best-selling full-size car in America, and mechanically one of the most predictable vehicles on this catalogue: every one of them is a 3800 V6 driving the front wheels through a 4T60-E or 4T65-E, so a diagnosis narrows very quickly. The two failures that dominate are the Series II plastic upper intake manifold, which cracks at the EGR stove and lets coolant into the engine, and the same engine's lower-intake gaskets. Both present as slow coolant loss with no external leak, which is the symptom to recognise before it becomes a bearing failure.
Generations
-
Seventh generation 1991–1999
H-body. The 3800 changes from Series I to Series II in 1996, which is the dividing line for the intake-manifold question.
- Body styles
- Sedan
- Platform
- GM H-body
- Engines
-
- 3.8 V6 — L27 · petrol · 127 kW (170 hp) · 3800 Series I
- 3.8 V6 — L36 · petrol · 153 kW (205 hp) · 312 Nm (230 lb-ft) · 3800 Series II
- Transmissions
- 4-speed 4T60-E automatic · 4-speed 4T65-E automatic
- Drivetrain
- Front-wheel drive
-
Eighth generation 1999–2005
G-body, and the last LeSabre. Magnetic variable-assist steering and StabiliTrak appear on higher trims.
- Body styles
- Sedan
- Platform
- GM G-body
- Engines
-
- 3.8 V6 — L36 · petrol · 153 kW (205 hp) · 312 Nm (230 lb-ft) · 3800 Series II
- Transmissions
- 4-speed 4T65-E automatic
- Drivetrain
- Front-wheel drive
Information, not instruction
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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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