Buick LeSabre: No Heat & A Vibrating Dash
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Date: 2023-01-02
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Comments and reviews: 14
Delekham
I love your content Eric! :)
The one thing I have not yet seen is an oil cooler replaced on a 3. 2L Jeep. Very prone to leaks!
Food for thought?
To let others know, I had to wait 4 months for the OEM Cooler (Plastic, since it was back ordered for that long.
Now, I know you don't like Doorman (Dorman)
Their cooler is aluminium, it also comes with ALL the gaskets (upper and lower, I can't remember correctly.
Anyone can correct me.
The one thing that impressed me the most was the owner telling me one thing! HEY, the sparkplugs are now available! Should I change them? I had like 80k Km/50k miles left on the plugs. He charged me. 5 hours to change the plugs and saved me another 4-5 hrs of shop time!
IF I were at a Dealership? I am sure they would have said nothing and called me 6 months later and say OH BTW? You need new plugs, you will also need new gaskets (even though they are less than a year old.
To me? That is the difference between an honest mechanic and a Min/Maxing profit Dealership/Company.
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I love your content Eric! :)
The one thing I have not yet seen is an oil cooler replaced on a 3. 2L Jeep. Very prone to leaks!
Food for thought?
To let others know, I had to wait 4 months for the OEM Cooler (Plastic, since it was back ordered for that long.
Now, I know you don't like Doorman (Dorman)
Their cooler is aluminium, it also comes with ALL the gaskets (upper and lower, I can't remember correctly.
Anyone can correct me.
The one thing that impressed me the most was the owner telling me one thing! HEY, the sparkplugs are now available! Should I change them? I had like 80k Km/50k miles left on the plugs. He charged me. 5 hours to change the plugs and saved me another 4-5 hrs of shop time!
IF I were at a Dealership? I am sure they would have said nothing and called me 6 months later and say OH BTW? You need new plugs, you will also need new gaskets (even though they are less than a year old.
To me? That is the difference between an honest mechanic and a Min/Maxing profit Dealership/Company.
reply
Brian
Eric: Many (all ) 3. 8 Gm engines seem to use an offset thermostat with a jiggle pin. Is there a correct way of installing the stat in the housing, .IE: does the offset have to point in a specific direction? Also, is it necessary to open the bleed screw on the thermostat housing to expel air bubbles, or only if there is flow problems? Interestingly enough, my 2003 Buick Park Ave. runs at 183 deg with a 195 thermostat. I bought a second stat ( 28 ea ) here in Canada (Balkamp U. S. A) & installed it & no difference. Heat in vehicle is fine (160 deg from dash outlets). The temp sensor was changed & a GM sensor installed (you don't want to know the price ) & it still reads 183 F. Dunno, I am curious more than concerned. Great video as always Eric. Happy New Year.
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Eric: Many (all ) 3. 8 Gm engines seem to use an offset thermostat with a jiggle pin. Is there a correct way of installing the stat in the housing, .IE: does the offset have to point in a specific direction? Also, is it necessary to open the bleed screw on the thermostat housing to expel air bubbles, or only if there is flow problems? Interestingly enough, my 2003 Buick Park Ave. runs at 183 deg with a 195 thermostat. I bought a second stat ( 28 ea ) here in Canada (Balkamp U. S. A) & installed it & no difference. Heat in vehicle is fine (160 deg from dash outlets). The temp sensor was changed & a GM sensor installed (you don't want to know the price ) & it still reads 183 F. Dunno, I am curious more than concerned. Great video as always Eric. Happy New Year.
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Larry
I own a 2003 S-10. I flushed my heater core the old fashioned way with just a garden hose, it worked for a year. One day while getting on the E-way I kicked it in the cahonies, and BANG my windshield turned into a greasy stinky mess, yep, blew the core. Had to have heater core replaced. It cost me 750. 00 and they didn't get all the old anti-freeze out of the plenum, stank like hell for a little over a year every time I turned the blower on. Did you know that they built the truck around the heater core? I knew I couldn't get under the dash anymore because of bad back and none of my mechanic friends wanted to mess with it. Oh well, I have heat that will blow you out of the cab for the last 5 years now. My truck is a V-6 with. 342 gears.
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I own a 2003 S-10. I flushed my heater core the old fashioned way with just a garden hose, it worked for a year. One day while getting on the E-way I kicked it in the cahonies, and BANG my windshield turned into a greasy stinky mess, yep, blew the core. Had to have heater core replaced. It cost me 750. 00 and they didn't get all the old anti-freeze out of the plenum, stank like hell for a little over a year every time I turned the blower on. Did you know that they built the truck around the heater core? I knew I couldn't get under the dash anymore because of bad back and none of my mechanic friends wanted to mess with it. Oh well, I have heat that will blow you out of the cab for the last 5 years now. My truck is a V-6 with. 342 gears.
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Paul
My only concern with blasting out a heater core or radiator these days is the way those parts are constructed. The days of radiators with soldered tanks are long gone (heater cores too, I imagine. These days it's common to see a radiator with plastic tanks that are crimped on with a flimsy rubber gasket or O-ring between the tank and the core. It would be my luck that I would attempt to blast one out, and I'd blow it apart instead. I guess that ultimately, it depends on how judicious one is with the power blaster chingadarus on the garden hose. It is good to see that there are mechanics in the world that aren't just out for the big kill on labor hours and are willing to give the customer a break. Good on you for that!
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My only concern with blasting out a heater core or radiator these days is the way those parts are constructed. The days of radiators with soldered tanks are long gone (heater cores too, I imagine. These days it's common to see a radiator with plastic tanks that are crimped on with a flimsy rubber gasket or O-ring between the tank and the core. It would be my luck that I would attempt to blast one out, and I'd blow it apart instead. I guess that ultimately, it depends on how judicious one is with the power blaster chingadarus on the garden hose. It is good to see that there are mechanics in the world that aren't just out for the big kill on labor hours and are willing to give the customer a break. Good on you for that!
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Erik
You always look after your customers the best you can anything else is out of your control (people. I've had with a lot of older vehicles (1980 through to 2005) they tend to get an air lock in the heater core that is very difficult to remove unless you have a pressure exchange unit. It forces water though at a rate the normal pump can't mange (can be used, depending on where you hookup hot or cold. Used to love watching the out tank (clearish) and seeing all the air that comes out it also takes trapped air in the block out. Very easy to hooked on watching the bubbles coming out until they don't.
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You always look after your customers the best you can anything else is out of your control (people. I've had with a lot of older vehicles (1980 through to 2005) they tend to get an air lock in the heater core that is very difficult to remove unless you have a pressure exchange unit. It forces water though at a rate the normal pump can't mange (can be used, depending on where you hookup hot or cold. Used to love watching the out tank (clearish) and seeing all the air that comes out it also takes trapped air in the block out. Very easy to hooked on watching the bubbles coming out until they don't.
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Bowhunters
About every 4 or 5 years I flush the entire cooling system with the heater turned on full hot so the heater core gets flushed and after flushing with clean water from my garden hose I put in new antifreeze mix, never had any problems with heat in the winter by doing that and the engine runs normal temps even in the 100F during summer. 2001 GMC Sierra Z71 with 200k and its still on the same original engine, transmission, water pump, thermostat, heater core, radiator. People just need to keep doing the regular maintenance and oil and filter changes to keep a vehicle running happily.
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About every 4 or 5 years I flush the entire cooling system with the heater turned on full hot so the heater core gets flushed and after flushing with clean water from my garden hose I put in new antifreeze mix, never had any problems with heat in the winter by doing that and the engine runs normal temps even in the 100F during summer. 2001 GMC Sierra Z71 with 200k and its still on the same original engine, transmission, water pump, thermostat, heater core, radiator. People just need to keep doing the regular maintenance and oil and filter changes to keep a vehicle running happily.
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jim
My '80 Olds had a 1 od nipple off the intake manifold 2 the heater core hose, seemed a little excessive. The car had intermittent heat if I hit a bump or turned the enginge on/off. It had me baffled so I removed the 1' od nipple, it was thick wall, 1/4 id hole! There was a huge chunk of silicone, looked like someone had sealed the water pump with it at one time, floating around the intake coolant jacket! It would block the 1/4 id hole intermittently. I saw it floating in the antifreeze when I removed the nipple.
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My '80 Olds had a 1 od nipple off the intake manifold 2 the heater core hose, seemed a little excessive. The car had intermittent heat if I hit a bump or turned the enginge on/off. It had me baffled so I removed the 1' od nipple, it was thick wall, 1/4 id hole! There was a huge chunk of silicone, looked like someone had sealed the water pump with it at one time, floating around the intake coolant jacket! It would block the 1/4 id hole intermittently. I saw it floating in the antifreeze when I removed the nipple.
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Mike
This video gave me flashbacks of the 2004 LeSabre that my brother owned. His idea of vehicle maintenance was, and still is adding a quart of oil when it got to be 2 quarts low! Naturally, since I'm the car enthusiast in the family, I'm expected to fix any of the familys vehicles EVERY time they break down (and pay for his parts myself! Luckily for me, other family aren't so bad about maintenance and paying for parts and, now that my brother owns a Toyota, I can just tell him that I don't work on foreign cars!
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This video gave me flashbacks of the 2004 LeSabre that my brother owned. His idea of vehicle maintenance was, and still is adding a quart of oil when it got to be 2 quarts low! Naturally, since I'm the car enthusiast in the family, I'm expected to fix any of the familys vehicles EVERY time they break down (and pay for his parts myself! Luckily for me, other family aren't so bad about maintenance and paying for parts and, now that my brother owns a Toyota, I can just tell him that I don't work on foreign cars!
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Surfer
I used to work on the Ask Mr. Goodwrench email team. We were told that GM cooling systems were specifically designed for Dexcool. If in doubt, we were told to refer people back to their vehicle owner's manual. We were specifically cautioned to NEVER mix Dexcool with other coolants. Today, we got to see, first hand, just what happens when you mix Dexcool with the green stuff. Really, don't. It makes sludge that will block up your cooling system and your heater core.
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I used to work on the Ask Mr. Goodwrench email team. We were told that GM cooling systems were specifically designed for Dexcool. If in doubt, we were told to refer people back to their vehicle owner's manual. We were specifically cautioned to NEVER mix Dexcool with other coolants. Today, we got to see, first hand, just what happens when you mix Dexcool with the green stuff. Really, don't. It makes sludge that will block up your cooling system and your heater core.
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JohnBoyWalton
Eric O Another Great video. I have one of those Lisle 24680 Spill-Free Funnel setups. I really like the way it works. Especially if you have a car where the Cap is not the highest point. Just keep coolant in the funnel until the system is full, and then put the stopper in the funnel. Install the cap, Move the funnel over to the overflow tank and pull the plug. I did not hear any news on how Bambi made out this year?
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Eric O Another Great video. I have one of those Lisle 24680 Spill-Free Funnel setups. I really like the way it works. Especially if you have a car where the Cap is not the highest point. Just keep coolant in the funnel until the system is full, and then put the stopper in the funnel. Install the cap, Move the funnel over to the overflow tank and pull the plug. I did not hear any news on how Bambi made out this year?
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Darrin
Have you ever used the Mac Mar100? It's a cooling system retainer that allows you to swap a hose, temp sensor, freeze plugs ect without draining the system. Works amazing! Pinch off certain lines or hoses ect & swap parts. Different than a vacuum refiller, it's designed for higher cfm that keeps the coolant in place. I will attempt to send a video on it. Keep up the good work! Love your electric diagnostics!
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Have you ever used the Mac Mar100? It's a cooling system retainer that allows you to swap a hose, temp sensor, freeze plugs ect without draining the system. Works amazing! Pinch off certain lines or hoses ect & swap parts. Different than a vacuum refiller, it's designed for higher cfm that keeps the coolant in place. I will attempt to send a video on it. Keep up the good work! Love your electric diagnostics!
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Phil
Once again, you show how it is to do a job as well as you can, not just the bare minimum. So many mechanics are about billing hours above the book time by taking shortcuts. If you can bill extra hours by being good at what you do, years of experience and having all the right tools, good for you. But shortcutting the customer by half-assing a 1 hour job in 30 minutes is just plain stealing.
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Once again, you show how it is to do a job as well as you can, not just the bare minimum. So many mechanics are about billing hours above the book time by taking shortcuts. If you can bill extra hours by being good at what you do, years of experience and having all the right tools, good for you. But shortcutting the customer by half-assing a 1 hour job in 30 minutes is just plain stealing.
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Twitch
I have an Arizona 07 Impala that don't have shite for heat until the car is moving then it will burn you out fluid is at good levels all mode doors and actuators are working and blower is fine. Should I try flushing it out and changing thermostat or just get a core put in it. Funny thing is the a/c will freeze you out whether the car is moving or not.
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I have an Arizona 07 Impala that don't have shite for heat until the car is moving then it will burn you out fluid is at good levels all mode doors and actuators are working and blower is fine. Should I try flushing it out and changing thermostat or just get a core put in it. Funny thing is the a/c will freeze you out whether the car is moving or not.
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autos
I used to think dexcool was the worst stuff in the world. It would gum/crust up and get all nasty. Then the newer cars came along that didn't use cheap plastic gaskets that degraded over time. No more problem with dexcool. GM really F'ed up their engines in early 2000's with those plastic/garbage intake gaskets. Made mechanics a bunch of though.
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I used to think dexcool was the worst stuff in the world. It would gum/crust up and get all nasty. Then the newer cars came along that didn't use cheap plastic gaskets that degraded over time. No more problem with dexcool. GM really F'ed up their engines in early 2000's with those plastic/garbage intake gaskets. Made mechanics a bunch of though.
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