Buick recall notice arrived in mail

"SubiSanchez" (sanchez20)
12/16/2015 at 16:14 • Filed to: Buick Recall

I received a recall notice in the mail for my old supercharged 1998 Buick Regal GS that I got rid of a few years ago. Apparently there’s a danger of oil leaking in the engine and starting a fire. I’m not particularly surprised the car is prone to leaking since the one I had was pretty unreliable but sometimes I do miss the power of that supercharged land yacht.

DISCUSSION (13)

Aaron M - MasoFiST > SubiSanchez
12/16/2015 at 16:19

You just got a recall notice? The engine fire recall on the supercharged cars was in 2008...I got a warning when I purchased my SSEi in 2010.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > Aaron M - MasoFiST
12/16/2015 at 16:22

There have been 4 recalls. One was just a few weeks ago. It seems to be the same set of cars every time, too.

mazda616 > SubiSanchez
12/16/2015 at 16:24

Any GM 3800 (L36 = N/A and L67 = Supercharged) is a fire risk, basically. The supercharged ones have an extra amount of fiery fun since the supercharger often doesn't have its oil changed, or so I’ve heard. They've recalled these cars several times but haven't been able to properly fix them.

Aaron M - MasoFiST > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer
12/16/2015 at 16:26

I skimmed some of the news on the topic and it also seems that the number of 3800-equipped cars covered expands each time as well, or at least did when the recall was reissued in 2012. I guess I’m surprised the recall would be resent for the original cars, but if I “recall” GM never actually had a decent fix for the issue...

SubiSanchez > mazda616
12/16/2015 at 16:34

I bet it doesn’t help that I put a smaller pulley to increase the supercharger boost on mine........thankfully I sold mine to a mechanic for parts so I doubt it’s on the road now.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > Aaron M - MasoFiST
12/16/2015 at 16:35

Yeah, it's weird. That 3.8 is legendarily reliable, but they don't seem to be able to produce a fix for this one stubborn set.

Aaron M - MasoFiST > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer
12/16/2015 at 16:46

Well, I think they’re stuck between blaming the valve cover gaskets and being on the hook for replacing what’s essentially a wear item forever, or figuring out the spark plug boot issue without actually re-engineering anything since it’s from the parts bin. It’s cheaper to re-issue the recall every few years and warn people not to park outside.

SubiSanchez > Aaron M - MasoFiST
12/16/2015 at 17:04

Yes the recall I got is dated from this past month so I’m guessing my particular Regal wasn’t included in the previous recalls.

TheJMan92 > SubiSanchez
12/16/2015 at 17:15

I managed to start my last Buick LeSabre on fire! It had a head gasket leak but I think the fire was due to the brake fluid leak spraying right onto the exhaust manifold.

Sold for $600 to a guy who didn’t care at all that is was a heap. Wonder what happened to that car...

SubiSanchez > TheJMan92
12/16/2015 at 17:21

Yup sounds about right. I had some head gasket issues too apart from this recall issue which could result in oil leaking onto the hot exhaust manifold and catching fire

TheJMan92 > SubiSanchez
12/16/2015 at 17:29

I drove three different Series 1 3800 LeSabres’ and never had any major issue until the last one. The second one had 325k when I was done with it, scrapped because of rust and the engine/trans went into another LeSabre. I think we had 5 LeSabres at one point...

Urambo Tauro > SubiSanchez
12/16/2015 at 18:09

My borther had the same car. Same year, same model. It DID catch fire.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > SubiSanchez
12/16/2015 at 18:31

I was going through a box of old papers the other day and found a recall notice for my old Windstar and started to wonder if I ever got the issue fixed. I was a little surprised that Ford didn’t know how my car was equipped - they did have the VIN, after all. It was for the cruise control, something that car did not have. No air conditioning, manual windows, locks and mirrors, one slider, no rear defrost - and you think I had a luxury like cruise control?