I inheirted an04 Le Sabre...71000 miles
- Thread starter philo426
- Start date
Sorry about your loss. Those are nice GM cars, with proper alignment, good tires and shocks they are very nice driving... ought to give many miles of reliable service. Take care.
Ronald1973
8-trackin', Hank, Sr. man
I have a 93 with close to 270K miles I bought from my father about 2 1/2 years ago. He had the motor replaced probably 100K miles ago, but the transmission is original. I've put an alternator and power steering pump on it since I've had it along with new struts and new tires. It needs a new A/C compressor and a new climate control box, but other than that, it's in really good shape. I drive it every day.
Sorry to hear about your loss!
That car is one of the best GM ever produced. I daily drive a 1996 Buick Park Avenue, my father has an 05 LeSabre, and my smart friends bought LeSabres.
They'll run for eons, great on gas, and are cheap to maintain. Use it in good health.
That car is one of the best GM ever produced. I daily drive a 1996 Buick Park Avenue, my father has an 05 LeSabre, and my smart friends bought LeSabres.
They'll run for eons, great on gas, and are cheap to maintain. Use it in good health.
Sorry about the circumstances.
Comfy car.
Comfy car.
Chip Chester
Super Member
We had my late mother's 98 LeSabre around here for awhile, while researching a charging issue and a few other items before sale. We called it 'the couch' due to its door-to-door bench-like seat, and its decidedly non-euro ride. (Other cars in the stable have much tighter ride characteristics: Volvo, Mini, BMW...)
She had a 97 for awhile, but it gave its life for hers in an accident on the highway. Turns out a LeSabre is a pretty safe car, even at 70 mph upside down being pushed by a truck. She came out pretty well, and the car was driveable (though smushed) afterward. Good enough result for her to get another.
That vintage pre-dated the timing chain issues that may crop up on the OP's vehicle (or may have been settled by then, too...) but the 98 had a headlight high-beam switch that was a real bear. Totally unavailable, even though many parts outlets noted it was "in stock". This car had the compact tilt steering column, with no "box" on the top. Ended up pulling the guts out and gluing a spacer to take up wear in the high-beam switch mechanism.
The other goofy design issue was in the positive battery cable. It is a two-wire affair, each heading to different destinations. The terminal had two stacked ring contacts, both encapsulated in the same rubber insulation. The upshot is, while the rubber keeps it clean for awhile, they eventually corrode, and the rubber keeps you from getting to the space between the stacked ring terminals. So, the battery-to-starter cable works fine, but the battery-to-alternator cable doesn't, and you are left with a dead battery. Or vise-versa. Plus the general badness of side-terminal batteries. Removal of the rubber jacket and thorough cleaning put the matter to rest, with reliable starting as the result.
Quite a bit of work, but worth it when we got asking price for the car. And hers was completely rust-free. Remarkable for an Ohio car with 100k on the clock.
Chip
She had a 97 for awhile, but it gave its life for hers in an accident on the highway. Turns out a LeSabre is a pretty safe car, even at 70 mph upside down being pushed by a truck. She came out pretty well, and the car was driveable (though smushed) afterward. Good enough result for her to get another.
That vintage pre-dated the timing chain issues that may crop up on the OP's vehicle (or may have been settled by then, too...) but the 98 had a headlight high-beam switch that was a real bear. Totally unavailable, even though many parts outlets noted it was "in stock". This car had the compact tilt steering column, with no "box" on the top. Ended up pulling the guts out and gluing a spacer to take up wear in the high-beam switch mechanism.
The other goofy design issue was in the positive battery cable. It is a two-wire affair, each heading to different destinations. The terminal had two stacked ring contacts, both encapsulated in the same rubber insulation. The upshot is, while the rubber keeps it clean for awhile, they eventually corrode, and the rubber keeps you from getting to the space between the stacked ring terminals. So, the battery-to-starter cable works fine, but the battery-to-alternator cable doesn't, and you are left with a dead battery. Or vise-versa. Plus the general badness of side-terminal batteries. Removal of the rubber jacket and thorough cleaning put the matter to rest, with reliable starting as the result.
Quite a bit of work, but worth it when we got asking price for the car. And hers was completely rust-free. Remarkable for an Ohio car with 100k on the clock.
Chip
Fine automobile there...Custom or Limited? My wife's 03 is a Custom w/1SC package...which added alloy wheels, dual power seats, full driver info center & CD/cassette radio. 155K & we plan to add another 100K at least. Regarding rust: Most common spots are down low right in front of the real wheel wells & below the gas door. Open the gas door & make sure the little drain hole isn't plugged. Rear seat battery keeps it cooler & it tends to last longer. So far all we've done to hers is all 4 brakes, rear shocks and a set of tires.
roger2
.
Reading Chip Chester's post above reminded me of a similar problem on a LeSabre my Mom owned a while back, believe it was a '99.
Her LeSabre had a habit of burning up alternators. That car also had the battery mounted under the rear seat. After the 4th alternator was installed (all under warranty), I was looking around and noticed that the ground wire from the battery was bolted to a painted area on the frame. Scraping away that paint down to bare metal solved the problem. It seemed an odd and really bad way for the factory to make that connection, and I always wondered how many other LeSabres out there were going through multiple alternators like hers had done.
Her LeSabre had a habit of burning up alternators. That car also had the battery mounted under the rear seat. After the 4th alternator was installed (all under warranty), I was looking around and noticed that the ground wire from the battery was bolted to a painted area on the frame. Scraping away that paint down to bare metal solved the problem. It seemed an odd and really bad way for the factory to make that connection, and I always wondered how many other LeSabres out there were going through multiple alternators like hers had done.
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