Regal engine rotation & other questions

[reddnekk]

Bought the wife a 93 Regal four door with 3.8 engine, about 105k miles, last March. Whenever I buy a car I change the oil (to synthetic), put in a superfilter, change the plugs to platinums, replace the high tension leads, and do a brake job. Since no distributor on this car, replaced all six coils. Understand, now, this was all preventative as car ran satisfactorily.

But the rear three plugs have not been changed. Even my very dainty-handed wife can't get in to put a wrench on the plugs.

So now problems: In order to replace rear plugs, it is necessary to rotate the engine. I followed instructions in the Haynes (which are cloudy at best and in Arabic at worst). Could not get engine to rotate (pulled front engine mount bolt; put large pry bar behind engine, then tried it in exhaust manifold; finally quit before I busted something). A chap I asked said to put it in reverse while someone stood ready to put the retainer bolt in to hold engine forward. I have been very reluctant to try this. What suggestions are out there?

Problem 2: About once a month the doorlock solenoids start chattering. It was entrancing the first time; annoying thereafter. The chatter rate varies with engine speed, so poured over wiring diagrams trying to find if something was bleeding through from the speedometer cable or tach wires. No solution.

Problem 3: I have to take off the right front wheel AND a piece of the plastic body/fender panel to get to the oil filter. There HAS to be a better way--but I sure can't find it.

Otherwise car is fine--consumer reports says it's the old fart's hot rod (and it IS very peppy) but that it rusts a lot. And it sure does. Everything metal is rusted (I live in a high humidity area in southeastern virgin-ya) where the humidity seems to be caused by the lying, spouting, misrepresenting SOBs in the virgin-less govt. at every level.

Now--back to the Buick.

Problem 4:

Occasionally when accelerating, or pulling up a hill, there will be a bang like an engine miss, with a perceptible momentary hesitation. I am convinced it is whatever shifts the tranny into overdrive as my 270k mile Dodge van with overdrive does something similar, and I have replaced the shifting solenoid twice, which cures it for about a year.

Now, Buick experts--how should I handle these problems? This is my first GM product since back in the mid-eighties and things have changed mightily since then.

(But then so have I)

[email protected]

[dwalmop]

According to MY haynes, the 3.8 isn't made to rotate, just the 3.1. you may just have to start disassembling and moving crap out of the way to get at the plugs (I have never owned a w-body with a 3.8, so I've personally never had to change the plugs in one). The oil filter sucks, but if you get underneith the car and reach up in front of the control arm, you can bypass removing the wheel and plastic. The key is to only tighten it hand-tight so you can remove it by hand, as it doesn't need to be any tighter than that anyway. I don't have any advice about the door locks. The hesitation you are feeling under load could be (and is very commonly) a torque converter problem. You can test this theory by disconnecting the TCC circuit and seeing if it still acts this way.

[reddnekk]

dwalmop:

Thank you very much for your suggestions.

But on engine rotation, I note that (1) this engine has the "slave hole" (kinda porny sounding, no?) in the torque strut for the bolt to hold the rotated engine forward; and (2) my Haynes (Part No. 38010) says "Using a pry bar in the passenger side bracket (2.5L and V6 engines) or exhaust manifod (2.2L four-cylinder) rotate the engine forward and secure it in this position."

This seems to me to include ALL V6 engines.

And with regard to clearing stuff away to reach the rear spark plugs--this would require clearing away the firewall.

I must admit I grew up in a simpler time when spark plugs were all visible when you opened the hood; distributors had changeable and understandable points and condensers; and there weren't no oxygen sensors.

Your thought on the torque converter was most interesting. That possibility had never occurred to me. I will play with it (when the temperature here gets up above freezing again) and see what happens.

[Wylliecoyote]

I may be wrong, but I thought there was a special section in Haynes for the 3800 engine and changing the spark plugs. I will take a look at mine later and confirm.

[reddnekk]

WyllieCoyote--

My Haynes is Part No. 38010. The sections on engine rotation and spark plug changing are found in 1-26, Sec 34 and 35.

If there is something else in this dumb book, please tell me about it. (This book didn't even tell me where the oil filter was; only to change it. It took half an hour to find the damn thing. Thank god for orange Frams as I finally caught a glimpse of orange through the mass of stuff and then found the only way I could get to it was thru the right front wheel well.

Look forward to hearing from you.

[dwalmop]

I have the same Haynes. on page 1-24, section 33, on the very bottom left of the page, it says "With the exception of the 3.4L and 3800 V6 engines, the engine must be rotated forward to gain access to rear spark plugs" Unfortunately, it doesn't go any further to say how to actually replace the rear spark plugs, and in Chapter 2F, it says simply to see chapter 1 for spark plug replacement. They're a big help. Without seeing one in front of my face, I'm at a loss. Are there any plastic covers, etc. that you can remove to get better access?

[reddnekk]

Dwalmop--

The plot thickens. You have caused me to read that whole section carefully. I found your quote, and then the following quote in Sec. 35: "Note 2: On many V6 engines (except 3.4L), it will be necessary to rotate the engine for access to the rear spark plugs or wires, as outlined in Section 34."

Ah, hain't Haynes wunnerful?

And at Section 34, it says: "Note: this procedure provides easier access to the spark plugs, particularly the rear bank on V6 models."

Now all this semantic investigation is interesting, pointing up the general lackadaisical attitude of Haynes, but it ain't getting the damn plugs outta the back of that engine! (Altho, truth to tell, ain't NUTHIN gonna get 'em out while the tempertures here hover around 25 degrees (my workshop is under the spreading holly tree).

I do appreciate your research, tho, and note that there is either a lack of interest or a lack of knowledge on this subject as no one has come forward with a definitive suggestiion, such as "Carefully pack plastic explosive between firewall and engine and detonate from a safe distance. CAUTION: Too much explosive may cause paint and other failure in engine compartment."

[dwalmop]

Well, if anything, you made me laugh tonight, and that's good -- It's been one of those days. I think my next manual that I buy will be a chilton's. Too bad nobody else on the forum had anything to say, if feel kinda bad. Good luck.

[cobra987]

On the 3800 engines you need a special tool to remove the spark plug heat shields to remove the rear spark plugs.

[cobra987]

In regaurd to the hesitation when accelerating. I had the same problem in my 88 Regal. One thing that might help is a motorvac if you can find an auto repair shop that offers this service(it cost me $75). This cleans your fuel injectors, fuel rails to remove any carbon build up. The discription of your problem could be many different things. Also check your cv boots for cracks. check transmission fuid color. A good way to check the transmission is to put it in the over drive gear accelerate very slowly and steady (1 mile an hour ever couple seconds) you should feel and/or hear the shifting(regular and overdrive). Listen for hesitation in shifting. If it shifts smooth and quick your transmission is probably ok and proforming properly.

[raybuick]

I just changed them on a 94 3.8. It was a little tight but do-able. I tried rotating the engine forward a few years ago, too but finally realized that the damn engine wasn't going nowhere unless you disconnect the exhaust.

[roysleight]

I too have a '93 3.8 and am able to get my fat hands in there to change the plugs. It's tight, but do-able.
Dewalmop is correct that you get to the oil filter from under the car, passenger side and reach up just behind the steering arm.

[xoros]

Put the car in park and use the weight of the car to rock the engine.

[bolthead]

Okay, you've discovered why I'm beginning to hate GM with their so-called "engineering" on the newer cars. I have the same engine in a 96 Custom, and I'm guessing the plug configuration isn't much different from yours. I also have a 94 Park Avenue, and since it has a longer engine compartment, the rear plugs are easier to change in it.

To change the rear plugs, jack the front of the car up, put it on jackstands. You can get number 2 and 4 plugs, the two toward the right side of the car, from underneath the car with socket and/or end wrenches; it's tight but doable. Ah, but then comes the number 6 plug. Fearing that it would be too easy to access this plug, the whiz kids at GM put the oxygen sensor DIRECTLY in front of this plug. You will have to remove this sensor to pull the spark plug. Do yourself a big favor and save a lot of time; march to the nearest auto parts store and get an oxygen sensor tool (about 10 bucks) and pull the sensor from the top of the engine. You can then pull the spark plug, also from the top of the engine. It's difficult, but not impossible. A BIG WARNING HERE: Don't put your weight on the top of the intake manifold while working on the plugs. On the 3.8 engine, this manifold is plastic and will break!!! If you crack it working on the plugs, you've got BIG problems then!!!

Hope this helps. Problems like this is why I'm buying Hondas from now on.