93 Buick Lesabre Engine rattle

[Rasp]

I was driving my 93 Buick Lesabre 220 000 km down the highway when all of a sudden I noticed a rattle to the engine that I have not heard before.

At first I thought that maybe my exhaust was starting to come loose. But I then pulled the car over and opened the hood of the car. I revved the engine and I heard the rattle noise comming from what seems to be the internal workings of the engine.

I'm thinking it is possibly a piston that is damaged. Now I'm not a mechanic so I'm not sure if this is worth even trying to fix. The car will still start and run but it has that rattle sound to the engine.

If I was to get this problem fixed what would I be looking at for cost roughly?

I also have an electrical problem with this same car that cannot be duplicated when I bring it to a garage. It will stall intermittently and not start for 15 or so minutes. My problem is it won't happen when I take it to a garage. The electrical problem only happens about once a month or so.

Anyhow I could fix this one or I could buy a 98 LeSabre with 100 000 km for 4500 dollars. What would you do? What should I do with this current car if I do buy that one?

[HotZ28]

I was driving my 93 Buick Lesabre 220 000 km down the highway when all of a sudden I noticed a rattle to the engine that I have not heard before.

When this happened, did you check the oil level or oil pressure? How does the oil look, any foam or milky looking substance?

At first I thought that maybe my exhaust was starting to come loose. But I then pulled the car over and opened the hood of the car. I revved the engine and I heard the rattle noise comming from what seems to be the internal workings of the engine.

This could be a rod or main bearing gone bad!

I'm thinking it is possibly a piston that is damaged. Now I'm not a mechanic so I'm not sure if this is worth even trying to fix. The car will still start and run but it has that rattle sound to the engine.

Piston damage would be very rare!

If I was to get this problem fixed what would I be looking at for cost roughly?

If it is a rod or main bearing, it could cost $1200.00 to $1500.00 for a crank kit installed.

I also have an electrical problem with this same car that cannot be duplicated when I bring it to a garage. It will stall intermittently and not start for 15 or so minutes. My problem is it won't happen when I take it to a garage. The electrical problem only happens about once a month or so.

If you choose to have the repairs done, be sure they install a new crank sensor while the crankshaft is being replaced, very little additional cost here.

Anyhow I could fix this one or I could buy a 98 LeSabre with 100 000 km for 4500 dollars. What would you do? What should I do with this current car if I do buy that one?

The choice is yours, you can have yours repaired for less than $1500.00, or buy the 98 and you may have some of the same problems. Remember, the 98 is prone to having UIM problems that can cause even more serious engine problems. You never know about a used car until you buy it.
Good Luck!

[Rasp]

Well Here is what I did so far. I looked at the 98 Lesabre and it looked in dirty rough shape so I said no to that.

I then looked at a few other newer ones (Lesabres). I saw a 2001 with 80 000 km and they were asking 8900. I offered 8300 but eventually paid 8400.

With the older car I think I will sell as is for what ever I can get for it.

[Rasp]

I'm torn on what to do with my 93 LeSabre now that it has the engine problems. The body and interior look very good.

I put in new front brakes, two front tires and a battery recently

I'm almost thinking I'd like to try and rebuild the engine myself. Now I'm no mechanic but I do fix my own cars, but that usually entails replacing a broken part with a new one. Unbolt and rebolt type of fixing.

I have a garage and the space to do the work but I'm not sure if it is wise to attempt this or not. I would look at this as a learning experience and if I screw it up then I guess I would be screwed.

But on the other hand I'm not sure it is worth anything anyway in its current state.

Anyhow just thinking about it. If anyone has a good web site or book that is good at explaining what the process of rebuilding an engine, I would appreciate it. BTW I'm not sure if I have to rebuild the whole engine or just the cylinder that is causing me problems.

[spinne1]

Originally Posted by Rasp

I'm torn on what to do with my 93 LeSabre now that it has the engine problems. The body and interior look very good.

I put in new front brakes, two front tires and a battery recently

I'm almost thinking I'd like to try and rebuild the engine myself. Now I'm no mechanic but I do fix my own cars, but that usually entails replacing a broken part with a new one. Unbolt and rebolt type of fixing.

I have a garage and the space to do the work but I'm not sure if it is wise to attempt this or not. I would look at this as a learning experience and if I screw it up then I guess I would be screwed.

But on the other hand I'm not sure it is worth anything anyway in its current state.

Anyhow just thinking about it. If anyone has a good web site or book that is good at explaining what the process of rebuilding an engine, I would appreciate it. BTW I'm not sure if I have to rebuild the whole engine or just the cylinder that is causing me problems.

Well, I just spent about a year of my life rebuilding first my 92 LeSabre's engine, and then my wife's 92 LeSabre's engine and transmission. For the engine all you need is a Haynes manual. No, the pictures won't all be correct because the range of years that the manual covers is more than just the newer LeSabre body styles, which means that many pictures are from 1991 and earlier cars, but the information is all correct from what I could tell. Is it difficult? Yes. It is time consuming, dirty work. You likely would need to upgrade your tool collection. With the miles on it, your engine likely needs a rebuild. However, unless you plan to drive the car for many more years, it simply is not worth it. You'd spend easily $500-$1000 to get the engine right again, along with many weeks worth of work. The biggest time killer is the organizing the parts and documenting your tasks as you go (I use labeled zip locks and a legal pad with handdrawn diagrams, etc), and also cleaning the parts. It took me about six weeks to clean all the parts in my wife's car, but then again I only worked on it about 10-15 hours a week. I'd sell it as is for $1000 and be done with it.