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LeSabre 3800 Questions

Kaiser Pontiac

Kaiser Pontiac

New member
So, my Dad is in need of a new beater work car, and a friend of ours' is selling his '98 Buick LeSabre for $500, it's a late model '97 (8th month to be exact). He's owned it for two years but never drove it, and he bought it from the original owner/buyer who religiously had it shop-serviced every 3k miles. It has 206k miles on it (commuter car), barely any rust, and overall nice condition. I know that buying a S/C '97 3800 and tranny is something to generally avoid, but I'm wondering if there is anything about '97 NAs (engine and tranny) that I should be worried about/look for, maybe avoid '97s?



It's definitely a '97 engine - alternator bracket, engine cover...
 
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Just the normal 3800 common problems. Tranny is probably getting to the end of its life at that mileage.
 
Yeah, I figured it probably has the older tranny - but, if it was well-maintained and never abused it might go for a while. I got a tranny out of a 12/97 GTP with 180k on it, that wouldn't work would it because the GTP trannies are different?
 
Kaiser Pontiac said:
Yeah, I figured it probably has the older tranny - but, if it was well-maintained and never abused it might go for a while. I got a tranny out of a 12/97 GTP with 180k on it, that wouldn't work would it because the GTP trannies are different?
Click to expand...

You can install a GTP tranny in a GT of the same year. I don't know if you can do it with that tranny though.
 


Kaiser Pontiac said:
So, my Dad is in need of a new beater work car, and a friend of ours' is selling his '98 Buick LeSabre for $500, it's a late model '97 (8th month to be exact). He's owned it for two years but never drove it, and he bought it from the original owner/buyer who religiously had it shop-serviced every 3k miles. It has 206k miles on it (commuter car), barely any rust, and overall nice condition. I know that buying a S/C '97 3800 and tranny is something to generally avoid, but I'm wondering if there is anything about '97 NAs (engine and tranny) that I should be worried about/look for, maybe avoid '97s?



It's definitely a '97 engine - alternator bracket, engine cover...
Click to expand...
If it is a 98 it should have a 4T65-E. And just FYI the engines were the same 97-98 they didnt change the alt bracket till 99.
Also a 97 GTP engine and trans are not the things you want to avoid its the 97 car itself and the 97 na cars with the 4t60.
The 97 l67 is 99% identical to the 98-03 with the exception being the vac tree on the blower and some of the sensors, and the tb change in 99. The 97-98 4T65-E HD has cooler lines for the tranny that screw in, the 99+ have quick release fittings.
 
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Now to tell if it does in fact have a 4T65-E in it is very simple, look for 2 things,
  1. Is there a vac line going to the trans?
  2. Does the trans have just a wiring harness plugged into it.
If it has a vac line its a 4T60-E
If it has just a wire harness its a 4T65-E
 


Slick2500 said:
If it is a 98 it should have a 4T65-E. And just FYI the engines were the same 97-98 they didnt change the alt bracket till 99.
Also a 97 GTP engine and trans are not the things you want to avoid its the 97 car itself and the 97 na cars with the 4t60.
The 97 l67 is 99% identical to the 98-03 with the exception being the vac tree on the blower and some of the sensors, and the tb change in 99. The 97-98 4T65-E HD has cooler lines for the tranny that screw in, the 99+ have quick release fittings.
Click to expand...

Slick2500 said:
Now to tell if it does in fact have a 4T65-E in it is very simple, look for 2 things,
  1. Is there a vac line going to the trans?
  2. Does the trans have just a wiring harness plugged into it.
If it has a vac line its a 4T60-E
If it has just a wire harness its a 4T65-E
Click to expand...

Ahhhh, thanks for the good info, guys! I'll have to check it out tomorrow...
 
FWIW..

A 96-99 H body is very different than W body. For example that Alt/bracket will be there until 2000. They were not changed and that's a better alt than any W body ever had.

Trans.. being a 97, it'll have a 4T60. Swapped to a 65 would be as easy as adding 5 wires/pins and changing the transmission connector, blocking off a vacuum line and then updating the pcm from a 60 to a 65 which you need a dhp to do in my experience. I can tell you how to do it if you'd like. If you'd like to swap to a 99 harness, I can provide you with the pinout differences if you'd like.

Just like the steer wheel controls.. you guys are suggesting normal W body stuff for a different vehicle. It's not apples to apples.
 
This is why I love this place, so much information! :th_biggrin1:

Is it worth it, what are the advantages? Also, only a DHP tuner would work? I've been hoping to find a used tuner and learn how to use it, is there any advantage for DHP vs. HPTuners?

Thanks Bill!
 
BillBoost37 said:
FWIW..

A 96-99 H body is very different than W body. For example that Alt/bracket will be there until 2000. They were not changed and that's a better alt than any W body ever had.

Trans.. being a 97, it'll have a 4T60. Swapped to a 65 would be as easy as adding 5 wires/pins and changing the transmission connector, blocking off a vacuum line and then updating the pcm from a 60 to a 65 which you need a dhp to do in my experience. I can tell you how to do it if you'd like. If you'd like to swap to a 99 harness, I can provide you with the pinout differences if you'd like.

Just like the steer wheel controls.. you guys are suggesting normal W body stuff for a different vehicle. It's not apples to apples.
Click to expand...
Yes Bill but its not a 97 its a 98. August of 97 would make it a 98 model year car. And unless Kaiser goes out and actually looks at the trans to see if it is in fact a 60 or 65 then we are all just sitting here wasting our time typing things.
 
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