Hey guys,
Well, unfortunately my time with the Buick GN has come towards its end but not without trouble. To sum it all up my experience with the GN hasn't been a very happy one although this was mostly due to my lack of any proper budget to get the car running the way it should have (poor college student during my ownership). Sadly I am preparing to sell this car this summer or shortly thereafter as I will no longer be living in the United States and will not have the capacity to look after the vehicle. Thus, here comes the problem...
The car is running horribly. Ever since I put some oil on my KN filter the car barely even idles and struggles to hold any vacuum at all. I changed the MAF with a new stock one and I am still experiencing the trouble. I also here what sounds like a knock coming from the back of the engine at intermittent intervals ever since hitting 20 degrees of knock in second gear. The car in itself is entirely stock except for 42.5 lb/hr injectors, a hot wired 340 fuel pump, and a turbo tweak chip. Anyway, since I need to sell this car but want to ensure I get the most money possible out of it (car should be worth $15k with a proper running motor since paint, interior and overall keep up is near top notch), I am looking into doing an engine refresh to get her running properly again.
I have conducted a compression test and recorded between 130-150 in all cylinders but have not performed a leak down since I have been over in Europe for the past year. I must state that I am not looking to do any sort of performance rebuild at all. I literally just want the vehicle to be as stock as possible and hold 15-20 inches of vacuum at idle and run like a champ on stock boost (like it used to once upon a time).
While I have been in Europe my father took the vehicle to our mechanic to get it checked out and he said it seemed like the cam was wiped, the seals were bad, and the engine was basically just tired. Now, I plan to get it checked out again when I return to the States in May and have a second opnion (hopefully by Lou Czarnota if I can afford it) and see what my options are to getting the vehicle running correctly.
All in all, I have owned the vehicle for 5 years and have loved it dearly but never had the budget to play with it and get it to the level I wanted it. My new job in London will easily provide me with the income to support the modifications I want(ed) to do to this car but it doesn't make much sense to play with it if I will never be around to drive it. Unless I had the money to ship it over to London
Anyway, back to the point. I would like to know the approximate cost of an entirely stock refresh/rebuild and if anyone knows a quality engine builder in Southern California besides Lou Czarnota? The reason being that Lou already told me he doesn't like to do rebuilds to keep his shop space open for other customers and the only option he had was a $6,000 mild performance build ready to be dropped in. Problem is I don't see the point in spending that much on the car just to sell it in the near term.
Sorry about the long post but I really love this car and want to make sure she's in her best shape when I sell her to another loving Buick guy in the future. I just can't bare to sell a car which looks great but runs like shXX.
Thanks.
Well, unfortunately my time with the Buick GN has come towards its end but not without trouble. To sum it all up my experience with the GN hasn't been a very happy one although this was mostly due to my lack of any proper budget to get the car running the way it should have (poor college student during my ownership). Sadly I am preparing to sell this car this summer or shortly thereafter as I will no longer be living in the United States and will not have the capacity to look after the vehicle. Thus, here comes the problem...
The car is running horribly. Ever since I put some oil on my KN filter the car barely even idles and struggles to hold any vacuum at all. I changed the MAF with a new stock one and I am still experiencing the trouble. I also here what sounds like a knock coming from the back of the engine at intermittent intervals ever since hitting 20 degrees of knock in second gear. The car in itself is entirely stock except for 42.5 lb/hr injectors, a hot wired 340 fuel pump, and a turbo tweak chip. Anyway, since I need to sell this car but want to ensure I get the most money possible out of it (car should be worth $15k with a proper running motor since paint, interior and overall keep up is near top notch), I am looking into doing an engine refresh to get her running properly again.
I have conducted a compression test and recorded between 130-150 in all cylinders but have not performed a leak down since I have been over in Europe for the past year. I must state that I am not looking to do any sort of performance rebuild at all. I literally just want the vehicle to be as stock as possible and hold 15-20 inches of vacuum at idle and run like a champ on stock boost (like it used to once upon a time).
While I have been in Europe my father took the vehicle to our mechanic to get it checked out and he said it seemed like the cam was wiped, the seals were bad, and the engine was basically just tired. Now, I plan to get it checked out again when I return to the States in May and have a second opnion (hopefully by Lou Czarnota if I can afford it) and see what my options are to getting the vehicle running correctly.
All in all, I have owned the vehicle for 5 years and have loved it dearly but never had the budget to play with it and get it to the level I wanted it. My new job in London will easily provide me with the income to support the modifications I want(ed) to do to this car but it doesn't make much sense to play with it if I will never be around to drive it. Unless I had the money to ship it over to London
Anyway, back to the point. I would like to know the approximate cost of an entirely stock refresh/rebuild and if anyone knows a quality engine builder in Southern California besides Lou Czarnota? The reason being that Lou already told me he doesn't like to do rebuilds to keep his shop space open for other customers and the only option he had was a $6,000 mild performance build ready to be dropped in. Problem is I don't see the point in spending that much on the car just to sell it in the near term.
Sorry about the long post but I really love this car and want to make sure she's in her best shape when I sell her to another loving Buick guy in the future. I just can't bare to sell a car which looks great but runs like shXX.
Thanks.