I hate Buick front covers

J

John N

Member
Joined
Nov 10, 2005
I replaced my cracked high volume cover with a stock replacement cover, stock length oil pump gears, and a thrust plate kit (not sure if that's the name) because the surface on the original pump was worn. Got everything from NAPA and thought it was all installed right.

Today I see one of the back oil pump bolts isn't seated. Turns out that bolt is bottomed out and when I try to take it out I snap the bolt. All these bolts came with the thrust plate kit. Luckily I was able to unthread that broken bolt from the cover.

What is really bothering me is the cam sensor won't seat all the way. It will just start to mesh with the cam gear and stop. No way it will go in farther when the cover is tight. Seems like it stops when it gets to the top ridge on the sensor shaft. Could be a little crooked for some reason. It easily fits when the cover is lose though.

So now I need to take off the pulley, pull the cover, and get more gaskets and bolts. If the motor weren't on a stand right now making this easier, I would have just set the damn thing on fire.
 
chit, set it on fire anyways:biggrin:

You'll be glad when it's over and purr'n like a kitten.
 
Do a search on the POS aftermarket front covers, and you will see there have been MANY problems with them.:mad:
 
I might need to get an actual GM cover which blows after doing all the cleanup and drilling to this one.
 
I had the same issue with an e-bay cover, after spending hours chamfering, porting and painting it. Ended up getting one from Weber Racing, already massaged.
 
Didnt Want To Deal With That On My Build..i Just Located A Factory Cover Last Week....ask Your Dealer To Check The Satellite My Guy Said There Are A Few On The Shelves Throughout The States...also Be Prepared To Pay....hth...vinny
 
All I see on there is gaskets unless somebody can tell me the proper GM part number.
 
I'm guessing it's discontinued for good then. Maybe check your local dealer?

Also www. n o s 4 g n .com (remove the spaces from url) has them under the 'discontinued NOS items' section.
 
They list 25522650 as their part number (which I also can't find on GMPD), but they want $279 + shipping. F$@% THAT! I'll call my friend at the local GM dealer and see what he can find, but which part number should I ask for? What is the difference between the 25522650 and the 25522648?
 
Yeah it's crazy how much prices go up for discontinued items. I'm 99% positive the part number is 25522648 as that's what came up from past searches here. And that's what gmpartsdirect site showed back when I got mine last year.
 
Tell me about it. They're around $100 or so at a parts store (although those are practically unuseable it seems). I saw a post that said they used to be $144 and change at GMPD. Now I'm looking at closer to $300. I think I hate Buick front covers more now than I did yesterday.
 
There is an alternative, find a good, used stock cover. Then have someone experienced install new parts, do the internal mods and then set it up properly.

We have lots of 9 sec. stock blocks using original covers.:) [And none of them are using high volume pumps!]
 
Did you find one yet? I have some GM covers that are used BUT not abused!! Can even port them out & make em nice & flat so they seal perfect.
 
front cover

Don't know why anyone puts on that oil pump plate when you can have old oil pump cover resurfaced for about $30. Then put in new gears and your set.
 
Just a Six?? said:
Did you find one yet? I have some GM covers that are used BUT not abused!! Can even port them out & make em nice & flat so they seal perfect.
Click to expand...

Can I get one of those from you, please? Mine's been leaking for years and it's driving me nutz. PM me with details.

What else do I need to do other than replace the cover? Mine has a plate in it now that I assume I get rid of?

Thanks!

Jim
 
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