"...It's possible to make a car that does not break. Period..." Really? Even LEXUS owners have problems with their cars! And my old boss bought a new S class Mercedes. (S500) And it was eventually declared a "LEMON" and was replaced. Automobiles are still assembled by humans. And those huumans can have bad days and miss something on the line. It happens. And yes, not too long ago all American automakers built crap. But the quality has improved a great deal. So a Buick that's over 10 years old is not even in the same league as a Buick that's 2 years old as far as engineering goes. As a matter of fact, in 1999 we rented a brand new Park Avenue while on vacation. My wife called it a piece of garbage compared to our '88 Volvo. The power seat controls came off in her hand! Yeah, garbage! But I'll guarantee that the Lucerne is light years ahead of that Park Ave! In both quality and engineering.

funny, my toyota manual says 'inspect' every 30K. I just had my car in and opted out of the 60K reccomended service...a bunch of checks and an oil change and tire rotataion and filter changes for $379...did not include ANY fluid changes like tranny or coolant......thats extra if needed. I instead opted for the 'free' fluid check with an oil change where they supposedly can check the fluids (from coolant to tranny to brake to power steering) and definitively tell you what needs changing. To my suprise they said the fluids were all fine...even at 60K. So long as it keep my extended warranty in effect....which it does... The dealer does do the tranny flush with the machine but they said it was not warranted at this time. From what I have read about that flush...if you get every 30K it should never be a problem but if you wait till 90K it could do more harm than good...you'd have to google to get the specifics...something about metal shavings being pulled places they should not go....? IMO, with a car out of warranty I would not chance it unless I have had it done every 30K or so....and since the dealer said my fluid was good and have not yet had it done....and my warranty ends at 75K so...I'll likely never have that machine do it...

The cost of replacing the intake manifold gaskets need not cost $750 IF you are willing to do the work yourself. If you are handy with wrenches, you can do it in one Saturday morning. The cost of the parts isn't much, but there is quite a bit of labor and that is where the shop charges are. I've done this repair in two GM 2.8 L V6 (Citation). The 3.1 L engine is similar. The intake is cast aluminum and doubles as a valley cover. These intakes also carry some water passages between the heads. These manifolds tend to loosen with time and thermal cycling. If caught in time, sometimes all that is needed is re-torquing the nuts. However, yours has been leaking for some time and In my opinion, a new set of gaskets and sealant should be installed. The oil leak has minor consequence compared to a coolant or air leak. The usual place of the oil leak is at the corners where the heads meet the block. Chevy had trouble sealing here. The intake manifold is tightened down between the heads that are angled 60 deg with each other. The intake manifold may not sit tight on the engine block (valley). Sealing to the heads is the most critical; sealing to the block depends on soft gaskets and very good sealant. Pay close attention to the corner pieces. What you need: Gasket set RTV or shop manual recommended sealant Torque wrench Repair manual Antifreeze mix for refilling can of water pump lube Engine oil for an oil change Oil Filter Optional: digital camera Camera! Why? Take pictures of the layout of everything before disasembly, so you'll have a reference when it comes time to re-asemble all the tubing and whatnot on top of engine. You'll probably need to photograph the stuff in layers as it comes off. If you are very familar with your car and have a good set of illustrations in a repair manual, you probably don't need photographs. I mention this as an aid. Drain the coolant. Some may spill into the crankcase even though it was drained. Plan on refilling with new coolant mix and a can of water pump lube. Plan on doing an oil and filter change. Taking the manifold off isn't hard. The difficult part is removing all the stuff on top of the manifold, and putting it back at the end. Remove all the nuts holding the manifold in place. if it is stuck in place, some tapping with a rubber mallet should loosen it. I suspect yours is already loose. Since it is cast of aluminum, you should be able to lift it without a hoist. Clean the gasket surfaces - follow the installation instruction in the manual. One recommendation: If the installation calls for RTV type sealant, do not use any old kind of RTV. It should be rated as "not harmful to catalytic converters" and it should be of the highest *hot oil* resistant RTV you can find. Repair manuals usually will recommend a sealenat type. Many corner leaks in these GM V-6s are due to the RTV washing out. When you begin to tighten the manifold, you will discover the problem - creep. I did mine slowly going through the bolt pattern multiple times, and it took about 10 trips through the pattern before the manifold snugged up. I waited for a period that was less than the set time of the RTV and went through the bolt pattern once more - yep, it had loosened. (Once the RTV sets, further disturbance may cause the RTV to loose adhesion.) Change the engine oil and filter before starting the engine. This is done to drain out any foreign fluids that may have dribbled down into the engine when the manifold was removed. Wait the recommended setting time for the sealant before refilling the coolant system and starting the engine. (The sealant around the coolant passageways may be different to that of the valley. Judge accordingly.) After this gasket replacement, I had no more problems in this area. About oil and electrical contacts: An oil film is death on power electrical contacts. If oil got inside the solenoid, that is a problem. How do I know this is bad? I worked in an industry for 38 years that made elecrical contactors, relays, pushbuttons, and circuit breakers. Most power contacts are designed to operate "dry". There does exist a class of devices having contacts submerged in oil, but these are always buried in oil and not exposed to the atmosphere. If you do not wish to tackle this repair yourself, at least you will understand what is generating the shop labor.

Thanks earthworm! I am replacing the entire belt tensioner, but have to remove the PS pump first to get it off. The only thing I am having trouble with now is getting one last bolt off that holds the power steering pump, which you have to remove to remove the tensioner. It is in the back of the pump, on the opposite side where the pulley is. In the meantime, I have removed so much stuff just to be able to get this tensioner off, it is ridiculous: PCV valve hose Canister hose/line Both PS pump hoses (I did not want to have to do that!) Coolant overflow tank Two alternator bolts Belt Idler pulley What should be an easy job has turned out to be a big one! Now back to that final PS pump bolt: the problem is it is almost impossible to access: a) On the side of the pump facing the front of the car is the cylinder head, which prevents a wrench from fitting. b) On the side opposite the PS pump pulley, 1/2" away there is a vertical heater hose attached to the bottom of the head/intake manifold, and there is one of those annoying spring-type clamps holding it on. The problem is access is so tight, it is impossible to maneuver pliers in there from any angle, including those special pliers for removing the spring-type clamps. And the prongs of the clamp are only 1/4" or so from the wall of the PS pump, and deep down from the top. And one of the prongs is under the manifold! (The problem is I cannot get to the PS pump bolt from the top unless I remove the heater hose. But I cannot remove the heater hose unless I remove the PS pump! Catch-22. The manufacturer must have assembled the intake manifold/heater hose together as a unit, without regard to where the spring-clamp faced???) c) And finally, if I try to access the PS pump from under the car, it will be very hard, as it is high up, with almost no room to fit my hand in around the exhaust pipe, oil filter, cross-member, etc. Although I admit I have not tried this yet. d) On the side of the PS pump facing the firewall, there is a bracket attached to the PS pump holder bracket that makes accessing the final PS pump bolt hard. I could disconnect this bracket (I have already disconnected one side at the PS pump holder bracket), but here is the weird part: no wrench will fit over the nut holding the other end of the bracket in place! I have tried 10, 11, 12, and 13 mm. I have also tried 7/16" and 1/2". 11 and 12 mm seem too big. 10 is too small. Same with 7/16" and 1/2". The problem is I really cannot see the nut to see what the problem is, since the nut is over a vertical stud attached to the bottom of the intake manifold, and the nut is facing down, towards the ground. I assume it is a hex nut I think it feels like one, but it is hard to completely feel, since I cannot get my fingers all the way around it. You know what? It looks like one of those nut caps that my car uses to hold the thermostat housing in place: capped hex nut, with a star shaped design protruding out on the cap part. Really weird. But it is supposed to be torqued 48 lb. ft., which seems like a lot for a small nut, although it is ultimately connected to an engine mount. If I only could get that nut and bracket out of the way, then I would be able to turn a wrench to get the final PS pump bolt out. Another problem is, assuming I can find the right size wrench or socket, this nut is torqued to around 48 lb. ft., and there is limited access to get a 3/8" ratchet in there to loosen it. A 1/4" ratchet will not have enough torque. And maybe not even a 10 mm wrench. Perhaps I will have to remove the blower motor too. I just don't know what to do. Julie