2004 Buick Lesabre new owner

[Akv4590]

Hello all!
My name is Al. I recently purchased a 2004 Buick lesabre Limited with 89000 miles. 3800 series II engine.

Any upkeep info and tricks and hack would be appreciated!

But to start:
When car is parked and I rev the engine after it’s warmed up it stutters around 4K rpm.
Also I’ve noticed coolant around the upper intake manifold. I’m assuming that that is where the coolant is leaking from since that seems to be an issue with these engines.

The guy who sold it to me didn’t mention the coolant issue.

Is that a safe assumption to make about the coolant. I’ve noticed it on both sides of the manifold. It has the stock plastic elbows replaced with aluminum from the pulley.

I was hoping to do the replacement myself and I have minimal automotive experience but it seems straightforward enough.
Any info would be greatly appreciated,
Thanks
Al

 

[Bob393]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

I'm pretty sure that the 04 did not have the plastic elbows. I know my gen 1's did, pre 2000 but I think GM actually fixed this known problem.
I would check the thermostat gasket, at least that seems to have been a problem with most of my cars.
As far s the shuttering at 4000 rpm sitting still, why do it. If its fine on the road don't worry about it.
I don't think I have ever revved a parked cat up to 4000 rpm.

I love these cars and the have been good to me. I call them no brainer cars.
That is you just get in and drive. No muss no fuss.

 

[Lubener]

I believe the 2004 had the problematic plastic UIM. Some things to look at are the coolant elbows near the water pump. The orings could be weeping. Faulty/warped UIM and gasket. The EGR passage could have burned through to the one coolant passage to the throttle body.You will see coolant around the throttle body area. If it came down to that, I would replace the elbows, UIM/gasket and the lower intake gasket with a Felpro metal backed gasket. All these items were junk from the start and there are improved aftermarket parts available. As far as the engine goes, check for any current or pending codes. Maintenance items such as fuel filter, plugs and wires would be at the top of my list that could cause your issue. After that, you need to start doing some diagnostic work, don't guess and start throwing parts at it.

 

[Akv4590]

Thanks for the info!
Update: gas cap loose check gas cap keeps popping up on my DIC whenever I turn on accessories or start the car.

Bob I’ll check the thermostat. I run up the rpms after it’s warmed up to check airflow and any shuddering or stuttering. I don’t red line it an make sure it’s warmed up. My logic being I’d rather have a catastrophe parked in my driveway than on the road. And I don’t do it all the time. I really like this car and I’ve always wanted a Buick. I just hope this one lasts me and doesn’t leave me regretful.

Lubener, thanks for the info. I plan on changing out the regular maintenance stuff once I find out what major stuff needs work. I’m not experienced as a diagnostician. Hopefully I’ll be able to pick up some more info on these forums.

Does anyone have a line on the repair manual online for the 2004 Lesabre?
Thanks again for the info!

 

[Ultra Ego]

I had a coolant leak on my ‘03, and was braced for the worst news. Turned out to be a leaking throttle body gasket. Yes, they circulate the coolant through the throttle body housing. A few dollars and one hour later, I was good to go.

 

[Akv4590]

Ultra ego
That’s good to hear. I’m hoping it’s something simple. I haven’t had a chance to really get under the hood just yet, but I hope my coolant issue is an easy one.

Update on my gas cap issue. I read on a different site about the error code checking procedure and the parameters for setting the large leak and small leak tests and I tried them out and it seems I did it right cause th gas cap error message is no longer... for the time being.
Although it makes me wonder if the check engine light is just burned out!😱

 

[Northerner]

i have a 2002 with a little coolant puddling up on top of water pump, the plastic L pipes were leaking and i got them replaced with metal ones and no more leaks!

 

[HotZ28]

When car is parked and I rev the engine after it’s warmed up it stutters around 4K rpm.

That is the preset rev limiter to prevent excessive RPM's in park/neutral. As mentioned, very seldom would anyone every test that function!

 

[Akv4590]

Thanks for the replies,
Northerner my elbows are metal so I wasn’t worried about them but I did check to see if they were leaking from o rings.

Hotz28 I figured it was some kind of limiter. Why would it be bad to rev it up that high? I usually do it on new to me cars to check air flow, shuttering, any issues returning to idle, and to blow the carbon off. ��

 

[Akv4590]

Forgot to mention. Filled the tank up again a bit ago, at half tank the service engine soon light came on, brought to auto zone and they hooked up their reader and the guy told me to check the gas cap. Seems kind of odd. The gas cap ring isn’t dry or cracked and I haven’t smelled gas or hear any airseeping out when car is running. Gonna let it ride and see what breaks down.

Of course any and all info and suggestions are welcome,🙂

 

[Traz]

Ditto everything Lubener said. You will want to address the U/L intake gaskets pronto.