Hello,

Was wondering if someone can help.

On cold days my Buick Regal 2001 3.8 v6 Series2, starts but then vibrates and has a loud tapping noise.

Both problems go away once car is warmend up. Vibration stops as soon as car is put in drive, tapping goes away after about 20 minutes driving.

Have had spark plugs & leads changed, no help.

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Mike
mikesmith20001@hotmail.com

My first thought is that it is missing on one cylinder. Firing oddly or something. The ignition system could be acting up when cold.

You could reset the computer and drive a few times restarting the car from cold to the store or similar.
That would take removing a battery terminal for 20 seconds.
I will take a few trips to re-learn its cold start mix.
After that go get codes read.

How many miles on the car?
How dirty is the oil? (hydralic lifter tapping)

Car has 106,000 km's.

Oil was changed about three months ago, the dash computer shows oil as 54%.

If it makes a difference the 'low coolant' light allways stayes on, but the car never lost coolant, no coolant in oil, never overheats, etc, so i assume dodgy sensor.

do you have a check engine light on?

No, check engine light.

The 'Low coolant' light comes on and off even though there is enough coolant and it does not lose any, assume sensor.

The car has done 106,000 km's (65,685 miles).

Once its warmend up, all is fine, just on really cold days.

Thanks,

mikesmith20001,

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Your thread at Chevy Impala has been moved and merged with your post at Buick Regal. Please refer to AF Community Rules. Your future cooperation is appreciated.


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Ok, thanks for merging for me.

I saw an Impala once that had the same engine, so i cross posted.

Thanks,

Ok, thanks for merging for me.

I saw an Impala once that had the same engine, so i cross posted.

Thanks,

No problem it happens all the time. Alot of GM cars have the SII 3800. What else can you tell us about your problem? Define the noise you are hearing better please.

Im hearing alot of cold weather start cold run problems lately and starting to associate to ethanol gas.. Try burning premium 91 or no ethanol gas if you can.

Ethanol can seperate from gas and absorb water at the bottom of the tank, even the gas station's tank.

Just a thought.

The noise sounds like hitting a piece of tin metal with a small light hammer, with a slight noise of compressed air being released.

Opened the hood but couldn't determine exactly where the noise was coming from, but it was from the engine block, nothing like the tranny.

A couple of friends heard it and said it sounded like tappets to them.

The vibration feels like it’s missing a lot, like every other cylinder or something. However, if it was missing so much I would expect the engine check light to come on, but nothing no error lights at all?

Also, even if its making the noise and vibration, if you put it in drive, the performance is still ok, but if it was missing i would expect slugish performance.

Once car is warmed up, it's back to running great.

Can I just say a big thanks to all on this newsgroup and its creators, since having my Buick I use it quite a bit and it’s been sooooooo useful.

Thanks

Interesting. What part of the engine block? Driver (left) or passenger (right) side? Although it could occur it is very unusual to get either piston slap or lifter noise on a SII 3800, especially with your mileage.

When warmed up and the noise disappears does the car run normal. No other driveability issues?

Just for annecdotal info did GM ever send you a notice in the mail about defective CAT convertors on 2001-2002 Regals and other GM cars?

could be a fuel injector or our HB-harmonic balancer...good luck...

Car runs fine once warmend up, no problems at all.

The only error light is the 'low coolant', which i have double checked is a dodgy sensor, there is enough coolant in the rad and top up bottle. Car never overheats and temp guage allways shows in the middle.

It sounds to me like the noise is comming from the top left (if your facing hood up towards the car, with the driver side on your right) of the engine.

No, GM did not send me any details about a recall, but i will be calling them Monday !! Thanks for the heads up.

Thanks,

yes theres a coolant sensor in the side of ratiator i think it's on the side where the battery is located...good luck..

Noisy water pump... or tensioiner..
Tappets.. are the hydrolic lifters...

Oil changes sometimes helps. .or a oil treatment.

Good Luck

The noise sounds like hitting a piece of tin metal with a small light hammer, with a slight noise of compressed air being released.

A couple of friends heard it and said it sounded like tappets to them.

Once car is warmed up, it's back to running great.Thanks
Please keep in mind, this engine has roller lifters and it is very rare that one would have lifter noise at 65K, unless the engine has been severely neglected or missed regular maintenance schedules. Also, a harmonic balancer will make a hammering sound at idle, (like a hammer hitting cast iron) either cold, or hot, it makes no difference, the sound will continue! (You said the noise disappears once warmed up). I would check for exhaust leaks around the manifolds and the header connections. In addition, check all the spark plugs to be sure they are tight. Both of these will make a noise similar to what you described when cold, then will disappear once the engine is warm. (Metal expands when hot). The compressed air escaping, sounds like a loose plug! :uhoh: