Buick Engines with 100,000 mile tune up intervals..
I just returned from a trip to Maryland last Sunday. My vehicle of choice on a 2000 mile round trip, (I live in Florida) is my 1995 Buick Grand Roadmaster Touring Station Wagon. It is low mileage car for being 14 years old, with only 70,000 miles on it has had and meticulous care, it is a true gem.
For those of you not familiar with the car, it was the last of a generation of giant station wagons, by any auto manufacturer. Call it what you want, but it has a Buick 350 Engine or 5.7L engine in it. It can be referred to as a Buick 350 cubic inch also. Technically it is called a GM Corporate Engine. That way it can be installed in any GM product and people can’t say “hey you put a Chevy engine in my Buick”.
We are an engine site, however I want to mention the car has a 4L60E automatic overdrive transmission in it. I personally rebuilt the transmission about 6 years ago with all of the best upgrades. For those of you who don’t know me, I am the former owner of a transmission repair shop. I owned and operated it from 1981 until I sold it in February 2006. I’m fortunate to have this job blogging for you. My boss, The Chief, Brian Hanson, the owner of GotEngines.com is a good person and runs a top grade operation, or I would not work for him. Ethics are more important than money.
Without blowing my horn too hard, being mechanical is a natural thing for me, I was tearing up lawnmowers at 3 years old and never stopped loving and working on mechanical equipment. I even have a small guitar repair shop, mostly because I’m a guitar player and love to fix guitars. Actually people ask me to fix the strangest things. Old sewing machines!!! Enough about me.
The car ran flawless the whole way up and back. It met it’s EPA estimated mileage. Getting 21 MPG at 75 mph with the cruise control on and A/C on. When I did not need the A/C it got 22.5 MPG, so it would not have qualified as a clunker. It also is surprisingly fast, the car has a ‘cop car’ engine in it.
This particular car boasts a 100,000 mile tune schedule. It has never been tuned up, and always runs perfectly. Until yesterday. When I started it cold, I noticed a small ‘misfire’ at an idle. As it warmed up, the small miss went away.
My next step is to diagnose the problem. I’m at a disadvantage here since the Check Engine Light did not come on or flash. Which means the problem is not serious or the computer is not picking it up. This is considered an old computerized system 14 years after the cars birth.
Read more about my diagnosis plan in my next post, it is important to continue this story since it may save you from buying a replacement engine. Gotengines.com @ 1-941-269-8284.