Problems with 2000 Buick LeSabre ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING

Tl* the contact owns a 2000 buick lesabre. the contact stated that the vehicle engine caught on fire while the vehicle was turned on. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer to be diagnosed and was not repaired. the failure and the current mileage was 80,940.

My car is buick lesabre 2000 custom with 84k miles. the engine exploded when i jump start it. *tr

On june 25, 2010 approx 8:30 pm our 2000 buick lesabre was sitting by our house, not running, no keys in it. we heard a huge bang/backfire. the car had been parked since 4:00 pm. we saw a huge amount of smoke and fire as high as the porch deck roof. immediately called 911. the hood was blown apart, the windshield blown in, rear view mirror & visors blown off. the car was completely totaled; everything on the engine melted, radiator gone, tires melted & tire rims look like they were blown outward. it was a very huge explosion & we did find the odi report ea 02-030 for recalls #03034 & #03054 for explosions/fires in this buick. the recalls for our vehicle were completed and done in 2005 for the above items of "fuel regulator causing defective/leaking fuel reg asm etc. or coolant causing improperly seal throttle body" this vehicle was always a good running car with few problems and a car should not blow up just sitting still, so obviously the problems were not sufficiently corrected. the only event before this was that when the ignition was turned off at 4:00pm the passenger door lock was clicked at the same time and we heard a big clunk kind of sound. our mechanics who viewed the vehicle and all who saw it never saw something that bad and all said that we would most likely have been killed if we had been in the car when it blew up. the vehicle is presently still sitting in the exact spot where it blew up as requested by gmc, but it will need to be moved before snow plowing as it is 6'6" from our house steps and is a hazard to our residence. we told gmac that we would be removing it before aug. 30th, however, they have not inspected it as of yet. other property damage includes melted vinyl siding on our home, damage to deck paint, much needing power washed & damage to tar driveway, plus soot damage. have many pictures, if you have e-mail address. *tr

2000 buick lesabre has a problem with intake manifold gasket leaking. consumer wants to know if the current problem and recalls from 2003, 2004 are connected. *nj

Tl*the contact owns a 2000 buick lesabre. the vehicle caught fire while parked. the possible cause of the fire was due to the fuel pump. the vehicle has not been inspected by the dealer. both a police and fire report were filed. the current and failure mileages were 92,000. the consumer sent in a copy of a recall. recall # 04v090000 updated

Tl*the contact owns a 2000 buick lesabre. the contact took his vehicle to the dealer for a routine inspection and was informed that there was a leak in the intake manifold gasket. the failure was repaired. one week later, the check engine light illuminated on the instrument control panel. the vehicle was taken back to the dealer and they stated that the engine and bearings were coated with anti-freeze and the engine needed to be replaced. the engine has not been repaired. the contact filed a complaint with the manufacturer. the failure mileage was 85,000 and current mileage was 85,305.

March 30th, 2007 car ran rough and service engine soon light came on. a bad odor also was permeating into the car while going down the road. car went back to the dealer on the 31st and they had the car until the 3rd of april. i drove the car about two miles and the car did exactly what it was doing before when i dropped it off. i dropped the car back off the next day on the 4th they had it until saturday the 7th. they said they changed the spark plugs and that was what was wrong. i drove the car and everything was fine until friday the 13th. i went to start the car in the morning and it wouldn't start right away. when it did it stunk so bad from to much gas from trying to start it. i ran it that day and it ran rough a few times and didn't call the dealer. i loaned my car to my brother friday night and i didn't tell him about the starting problem or the running roughly. he went to start the car after work on saturday morning and it wouldn't start right away for him. he got it going and he told me that it ran rough and bucked and jerked. when he brought the car back to me it sat in my driveway for about four hours. my wife went to start it and put it into the garage for the night and she could not get it to start she had to come and get me to get it going. i called the dealer on monday the 16th and they told me to bring it in the next day. i did so and they sent it to a garage to have it looked at. about 2:00 on wednesday the 18th i stopped to see if it was fixed and they said it was that it was the spark plugs again the garage didn't put premium plugs in. they told me that they washed my car for my inconveniences. also the fuel mileage on the car was 20 mpg which is extremely low it should get 30-32 mpg. i told them this also. so i got the car back and today the 19th ...

Heater only blew cold air. upper intake leaking coolant. upper intake replaced could have caused engine to freeze complaint is against gm buick division not dorschel service. *nm

Hard starting, lack of power, hesitation gm dealer diagnosed intake leak by egr valve (air and coolant leaks) dealer replaced intake plenum (non warranty). *nm

Tl* - the contact owns a 2000 buick lesabre. the contact complained that the power windows failed. while driving at 55 mph he heard a snap in the doors and the windows came down, he tried to power them back up but it did not work . the contact stated that this happened to all four windows at different times. *ak the serpentine belt was replaced due it squealing. updated 01/31/07. *jb

Consumer is concerned with the intake manifold gasket has been replaced on two occasions. *ts when doing intake manifold gasket repair for the second time the technician noticed that the right front (and maybe the left) outer tie rod end was loose and needed to be replaced. the tie rod was first replaced when the vehicle only had 18959 miles on it. *nm

Service engine light came on vehicle ran rough replaced valve body, tcc solenoid and pressure solenoid this complaint is against gm buick division not dorschel service. *nm

dt: contact states the service dealer had to replace the shorted crank sensor in his vehicle. while driving the vehicle at speeds 30-40 mph or less, it stalled 4 times. the replacement part has remedied the problem. *ak *tt

The consumer stated coolant was leaking onto the engine compartment. the dealership is aware of the problem. please provide more information. *jb

Check engine light came on, ran rough while starting, hesitates/spatters. worse in damp weather. fuel pressure regulator leaked. replaced fuel pressure regulator. *bf fuel pressure was bleeding off. *tc

While driving dash lights illuminated intermittently. the air bag light illuminated more than any other light. also, the driver's side back of seat laid automatically on its own. this incident happened while the consumer was driving. upon having a full tank of gas, the meter would read empty. the vehicle was taken to the dealer. the consumer was told that there was an electrical problem. *ak there was a noise in the dash, the fuel gauge would jump to empty, the speedometer would go to zero, the headlight would go dim when the weather was rainy, there was a rumble in the left front end, a shimmy when the brakes were applied and when raining, the dash light would go from bright to dim the air bag light was intermittent, the radio would cut out, the driver's seat was inoperative, the transmission would slip into overdrive on slight acceleration, the automatic doors were inoperative, the cruise control was inoperative, there were intermittent loss of heat would start blowing cold air, the oil pressure light would come on while the fuel gauge mileage would not stay on, the electrical remote was inoperative, and there was a leak in the engine. *sc

Problems with 2000 buick lesabre's intake manifold gasket. *mr the consumer was told that he needed a new intake manifold. gm would not do anything about it because the warranty had expired. there were other consumers with the same problem. the dealer suggested that the problem was due to poor design. there was also an oil leak possibly from the oil pan. *sc *jb

Vehicle was having a problem with the catalytic converter. the mfr. was unable to repair the catalytic converter because there were no parts to repair it with. dealership does not know when the parts will be available for repair. *jb the vehicle was taken to the dealer in april but as of may 17 no new catalytic converter was available from gm to replace the defective one. *nm

The consumer notified the manufacturer and requested reimbursement. the vehicle caught fire for no apparent reason. *bf there was a heavy snowfall for three days and the vehicle wasn't started. when the vehicle was started, a loud pop was heard and the engine cut out, then smoke billowed from the engine area. the dealer could not explain the cause of the explosion. *sc

When the consumer started the vehicle it smoked from under the hood. consumer turned the vehicle off, opened the hood, and noticed that intake manifold cracked and leaked fluid onto fuel injection, which caused the engine to catch on fire. *ak

The vehicle would misfire and stall when reaching high temperature. the problem was due to an intake manifold defect. the dealer stated that they could not fix it because of high mileage. *ak there was leakage around the intake manifold, poor gas mileage and acceleration. *sc *jb

While driving engine check light would come on intermittently. *ak

Coolant leakage from coolant resevoir into air intake manifold. it is obvious that engine coolant drawn into cylynder head can have numerous results damaging to the operation and longevity of the engine. further the loss of coolant form the resevoir can result in inadequate engine cooling and high and destructive engine temperatures. while there was no observed evidence of coolant loss before gmc recall to "tighten throttle body bolts", the loss of coolant accelerated after the unsuccessful effort to eliminate coolant loss. that this problem has been present since early in 2000 model of the buick lesabers is evidenced by complaints and service reports. the recall program of summer 2003 was an inadequate solution to the problem. in addition to this history, the existance of long standing problem is confirmed by gmc's recall in the summer of 2003. my complaint is heightened by the fact that both the dearler and gm refused to investigate the coolant loss observed after the recall as a part of the recall and used the expiry of my original warranty after the recall announcement and also after the completion of recall servicing without fully charging me for the investigation and required remedial work to resolve the coolant leakage malfunction. during my research into this situation i encountered a "mr good wrench" who worked in service department of a large buick dealer. while discussing the throttle body leakage, he commented the "buick has an even bigger problem with the "plastic section of the intake manifold which is encountering frequent cracking of this section of the manifold resulting in loss of coolant and major engine operation difficulties. sounds to me this problem which is even more damaging and expensive to consumer than the throttle body leakage merits an investigation.*ak

When the gear was shifted from park to drive the vehicle jerked with out warning. *jb the consumer was initially told the motor mounts were broken/weak, however the problem recurred, and the vehicle was taken back to the dealer, who then informed the consumer the wrong chip was used to control the idle speed. the problem was due to the type of emissions on the vehicle. ph. *jb

Attempted to start vehicle by turning key in ignition. loud sounding "pop" under engine hood was heard. turned key to "off" position, removed key, exited vehicle. second loud "pop" occurred. smoke and flames observed. left garage to call fire department from safe location. *nlm

Upper intake manifold had to be replaced due to a coolant leak. this type repair appears to be very unusual for this age of automobile. complaint submitted by family member. *nlm

The fuel tank sending unit shorted out on both of the consumer 2000 buick lesabre's which resulted in inaccurate fuel reading. the rotors and gaskets also failed. the consumer requested reimbursement for the replacement of the sending units on both vehicles. *mr *scc *nlm

Vehicle has an upper air plenum problem (oil leaking into the radiator). *ts

Service engine light came on. dealer said code was an 0741 and 0743 showing electrical or possible tourque converter. dealer said they were unable to duplicate. however it shuddered upon hard acceleration during merges onto freeway or turnpike ramps. the original estimate was about 3000.00. the garage finally had to take apart the transaxle to for a diagnostic.

Leaking coolant led to replacement of intake maniford on 2000 buick lesabre with 3.8l engine costing $540. newspaper article reporting that nhtsa is investigating this problem on gm 3.8l engines of specific years(1991-2000). conversations with salesman and meachanics at gm dealership leads me to believe that this problem is serious and widespread.

While traveling on the highway without prior warning. flames were shooting out from underneath the vehicle. please provide additional information dealer is aware of the problem. ts

Consumer states while the car was running a fire started under the hood. ts prior to fire vehicle lost electric power and warning lights on dash flashed on. air temp sensor, air intake duct, inner and outer air cleaner assembly replaced. washer reservoir replaced. pcm repgorammed. *tt

Loud noise under hood at start up. start up failed. restart worked but a constant strong burning odor continued followed by fluid leakage. took to local dealer ( worden martin buick in champaign, il. . they determined it was the intake manifold that required a $753.00 repair bill, since it was out of warranty. dt

Two complaints. one-coolant leaking on hot engine parts from defective intake manifold plenum. two- car stalls on occasion while driving resulting in no power steering or brakes.

Intermittently when changing lanes and air conditioner is turned on, vehicle will stall. no warning sign illuminates on the dashboard. dealer is inspecting vehicle. *ak *slc

Evaporative control system failure required replacement of evaporator purge valve and canister. *ak

While driving 65 mph engine started to make a loud rapping noise. dealer notifed and informed consumer that engine needed to be replaced. *ak the transmission failed twice and was replaced by the dealer. the engine skips due to defective wires and all wires were replaced. the head gasket and valve cover gasket were defective and were replaced. the engine was defective and was replaced. the consumer was requesting refund. *yh

dealer informed of a head gasket failure while making other repairs. feel free to provide any further information.*ak

When starting vehicle intake manifold exploded due to a remote starting system. dealer contacted. *ak the vehicle rattles in center dash area. the vehicle intermittantly would not crank. service engine soon light came on intermittantly. *yh

As consumer pulled into public garage, vehicle stalled. smoke was coming from under hood. consumer opened hood and saw flames, closed hood and called fire department. by the time fire department put out fire, vehicle was totalled. *ak *slc

When making a right or left turn vehicle makes a loud binding noise. dealer has looked at vehicle and cannot determine cause. *ak water pump failed and was replaced. the a/c fan failed four times. the dealer stated the fan failure was connected to steering. *yh

Intermittently vehicle will stall and die without warning. dealer has replaced fuel pressure regulator due to a leak; however problem has reoccurred. *ak *slc

Engine stopped while driving down a hill, about 55 mph, and entering a left curve. vehicle, w/o brakes or steering, pulled to the right, going onto the berm and then doing a 360 degree turn in the middle or roadway, hitting guardrail and then sliding off roarway, over a slope, into a field. *ak

Vehicle would stall at low speed, even after dealer claimed they fixed some wirings in the back of engine on 8/28/2000. the engine stall has been an intermittent problem for this vehicle since brand new, first it was a defective alternator then the wirings? this is very dangerous on highway because you do not know when the engine is going to stall. this vehicle also has a exhaust fumes getting into ac intake problem, i suspect a defective hood seal.

Transmission had to be replaced on two separate occasions, first at 20,000 miles, and other at 36,000 miles. dealer notified.*ak. the consumer has also experienced the engine skipping due to defective wires, a failure with the head gasket and valve cover. the engine became non-repairable and consumer had to have it replaced. *jg

Intermittently while driving vehicle stalled unexpectedly which may have caused a crash. able to restart vehicle. currently at dealer. *ak able to start the vehicle after 1/2 hour at dealer. the dealer tightend a wire to battery and another wire under the front passenger side seats. the driver is right now bothered by a noise which the dealer thinks is just a wind noise. *yh

On three occasions and within a mile of each other vehicle would completely stall out while driving at 40 mph with a/c on. vehicle taken to dealer, and dealer informed consumer that they could not duplicate the problem. please feel free to provide any further details. *ak

7/17/2000: stalled 2x in traffic w/315 miles on it; replaced wire harness & fuses; 4/9/02:leak-replaced upper manifold @ 23,184 miles 5/3/02: noisy,uneven-defective tires-replaced @ 24,161 miles; 8/20/03: recall - heating & cooling @ 39,226 miles; 10/28/03: rattling-catal.conv.assembly @42,892 miles; 7/8/05: motor not running properly - replaced wires,coils,etc.@ 55,385 miles 10/28/03: rattling-replaced catalytic converter assembly; 10/13/04-ecall. *jb

Vehicle stalled in traffic at 50 mph in a left banked turn entrance to hwy 121/is35n.i pulled over and stopped on shoulder. the car started after about a minute or so. contacted dealer and was told by alan in service department that incident was a "fluke".*ak

Engine stalled twice while driving, consumer had to wait 5 min before the vehicle would restart. nlm