Upper Intake Manifold on Series I and other questions

Hello everyone,

I'll begin by saying that for the past month and a half I have been looking around for a newer car. And I've come to the conclusion of a few things.

1st - I hate hitting my head when getting into a Civic, 2nd - minor rust and rotten rocker panels aren't the same, and 3rd - a 2001 LeSabre with 167k isn't worth $8900.

When looking over my 94, I can't just get rid of it now, 204k and it's treated me so well, so I come here today looking for advice as to what preventative and required maintenance can I perform to treat my car well.

So I'll begin, I remember watching a video on YouTube a while back, a guy had a Series I and he was replacing the plastic upper intake with a metal/aluminum/steel/some type of metal one from a Park Avenue.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVdN627dtx0

So does this apply to me? Should this be changed at this mileage or is it nothing to worry about? Also with doing this, should the intake manifold gaskets be changed as well?

I know that the UIM failure is more common to the Series II, but does this concern me?

My next question, can the oil pan of a 94 LeSabre come off without having to move any part of the engine. Can I just hop down there and easily remove it? I haven't been under there in a few months and I know that the oil pan is very very scaly, it's time for a new one.

And lastly, is there anything else that I should stress or check out to keep this engine happy? I'm going to be replacing the valve cover gaskets as they leak alot of oil.

Thank you for all of your help, and I'm very thankful to have a resource such as AF!

First please disregard that video... I am not going to say I know it all, but I do know quite a bit about the series I 3800's and hang with a crowd that loves them..

with the miles you have the upper can erode around the coolant ports for the Throttle Body, But the series I does not have the same type of failure as the Series II...

Being that you are at 200+K, I would say replacement can't hurt..

The aluminum upper that he described in the video, he states its from a 95 Park ave... Here is the deal on that, the L27 with the aluminum upper does not have an EGR, so there is no provision for it.. the 91-92 L27 engines did not have an EGR and used the aluminum upper intake.. and let me make it clear for everyone, the aluminum upper intake was only produced and used for the 91-92 model years....

The 1993-1995 L27 used the plastic upper intake and had an EGR, this intake had provisions for the EGR.. 1993 was a digital EGR and 94-95 was a Linear EGR, both used the same upper intake..

while you are doing this, if you do this I highly recommend that you do the lower intake gaskets at this time... The Fle Pro lower gaskets for your car should be $23-$25...

I will answer any questions I can for you so just ask if needed... I think HotZ28 is very knowledgeable with this as well..


On the oil pan, you will have to remove the starter/flywheel sight shield and if you have it, unplug the oil level sensor... In some cases depending on the oil level sensor you have, you may have to unscrew it to drop the oil pan.. Being that its a 94 the windage tray is built into the oil pan...

The oil pan gasket for your car should be in the $13-$25 range depending on the gasket you buy... Other than that its pretty simple to replace on the 94 Park Ave/LeSabre

Any questions, feel free to ask..

Im with you i have a 92 buick and love the thing i have ownd it since it had 35000 on it it now has 174000 on it .the car owes me nothing i live in the rust belt sure it rust but it trusty i plan on driveing it till it stops it dont burn oil ,purrs like a kitten sure it has it troubles but if i sell it and go out and get another car i will inheret someone elses trouble stick with her and show her the love needad . the upper gasket will cost you 18 to 25 $ i just did one on my moms car it will take you about a hour to do oil pan whats a day for a pcs of mind knowing it wont be a trouble later on .I always say if i pour any big money to my cars it only a car payment only once or twice a year not every month have fun a take care of the car

I agree... I had almost 179,000 on my L 27 in my van when I pulled it.. I was beating that motor up.. Modified it for more around town grunt and power.. It was a fun highway cruiser... But with the miles and abuse, the toll on the bottom end was taken( my own fault )... The oil pressure started to tank and I had a very light rod tap... I went to 20-50 oil( not a good thing to do to any 3800 ) just needed to get a little more out of it as I was getting the new motor ready... I drove about 4000 more miles.. It never burned a drop of oil, and the oil never got dirty... when I pulled the intake off the lifter valley looked like a brand new motor would..

If they aren't severely abused they hold up for a very long time... a good friend has a 91 Park Ave with the L27 motor... 220,000 Miles, original trans too... Thing still fires right up, never burns a drop of oil and is still smooth as silk... He has done almost nothing except for plugs, wires and oil changes.. It just keeps going...

Well I've definitely decided that as of next week, I will begin my "tune-up segment".

As for the UIM, I'm just going to grab a new one from the local auto parts store. I mean if one plastic one lasted this long, then another one is probably going to be fine for a while. I would get one from a junkyard but you never know what you're getting at times.

By the way, here is the list of "items" I plan to replace and change.

-new brake rotors
-ceramic bake pads
-upper intake manifold
-lower intake gasket
-new valve cover gaskets
-new oil pan
-oil pan gasket
-new catalytic converter
-new plugs and wires (Delco's of course, and a good set of Carquest wires)
-complete set of Yokohama Avid Tourning-S Tires

As for the catalytic converter, the only reason I'm replacing it is because it is somewhat rotten, and when I'm stopped at a light, I get a faint aroma of exhaust with the heat on. I'm sick of the CO poisoning. I recently did a complete catback exhaust. It was snowy and there was a ladder in the middle of the road, didn't see it and ran it over and it took the entire catback exhaust. So I was forced to replace it.

As for replacing the valve cover gaskets and oil pan and gasket; where else could oil leak from? After I replace those three pieces, I was thinking of switching to synthetic. What are your opinions on that? I didn't want to previously becuase I know the valve covers lightly leak now.

Also, what do you think of ceramic brake pads.

If they aren't severely abused they hold up for a very long time... a good friend has a 91 Park Ave with the L27 motor... 220,000 Miles, original trans too... Thing still fires right up, never burns a drop of oil and is still smooth as silk... He has done almost nothing except for plugs, wires and oil changes.. It just keeps going...

It's funny you say that; my good friend Jim, his dad has a 1991 Olds 98. I was helping him do brakes the other day, I looked at his odometer, 305,322 miles; original engine and transmission. He drives about 120 miles each day back and forth to work. He also gets about 30 MPG on the highway. Doesn't burn any oil, doesn't leak any coolant. His engine might have a very quiet lifter tap, but it still fries right up and runs very strong.

Being completely serious, could this possibly be the best engine ever made? I think one of the reasons why the 3800 lasts so long is because of the care us enthusiasts and die-hard fans give the engine.

The Vin C( LN3 ) and Vin L( L27 ) 3800's are among some of the best engines ever made.. Starting in 88 with the 3800 Vin C, This engine was considered the lowest friction engine of its time and was very emissions friendly... This continued through the 3800 Tuned Port line and in 93 the piston rings helped reduce friction yet again, the Roller pivot for the rocker arm also reduced valvetrain friction... The engine just got better and better like a fine wine ..

These engines were also severely overbuilt even for what their intended purpose was... A lot of what they learned from the GN 3.8's went into the later 3800 line... So yes for its time it was and still is a great motor..