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Ed wrote:
>
> Thanks to Mr. Monson & Chris. However, you missed a subtle barb hurled
> towards GM,
> the dealer in question. When I said I was being pressured to go to the
> Toyota dealer I
> meant to imply putting the Buick Lucernes in the rearview mirror of a
> new Avalon :-)
>
> But I do agree with the advice of your notes. I have been working this
> problem for months,
> and it has stumped my trusted independent shop as well as the Buick
> dealer. I have taken
> the car back to the independent several times without charge because
> they installed
> a $300 mass air flow sensor on a bad hunch. The Buick dealer replaced
> the coils on
> the second visit, having found nothing wrong with the car on the
> first. And I did hand a
> 1 1/2 page description of the the symptoms and history to the service
> rep. I have reason to
> believe the tech didn't read it, so the next time I dealt with the
> service manager, giving
> him a copy and watching while he read it. Still, I noticed that he
> summarized it in one line
> on the service order and I'll bet that's all the tech paid any
> attention to.
>
> Regarding the plugs and wires, that I did myself. I bought the best
> available at a local
> parts store I've dealt with for years. The wires were Federal Mogul,
> which at least used to be
> a trusted name in auto parts, and the AC plugs the car came with.
>
> One big problem on top of the missing problem is the OBD II system
> shows nothing. That's what the
> techs kept telling me, and I finally bought a pretty good scanner,
> Actron CP9145, on eBay for $160,
> and confirmed that there are no faults or pending faults. I'm thinking
> about driving around with it attached
> for a week or so and see if anything turns up, but the ODB codes are
> supposed to be stored for
> a while, so that shouldn't be necessary.
>
> I will attempt to do more precise measurements on the coils, and
> either way will be going back
> to the Buick dealer for a talk.
>
> Thanks for your interest and help.
>
> Now, about that tip jar.... where is the damn thing? I've gotten a LOT
> of good advice here
> in the last couple years, while building test circuits for my old
> Jaguar V12 which also has
> perplexing problems. So it better be a big jar when I find it!
>
> Ed
Hi, Ed. Didn't miss the barb at all. But since the Toyota is probably
as much domestic content as the Buick, and who knows how much of GM
common and preferred stock is actually owned by our friends overseas
(that's what happens when you have a $2 billion a day balance of trade
deficit -- they have to do something with all that money), I'm not sure
what to say, except to echo the words of Theoden King in The Two Towers
-- "How did it ever come to this?"
The first really reliable car I ever owned was a Toyota Corolla with
almost 100,000 miles on it when I bought it as a workmobile. I more
than doubled that, and shed a silent tear when it finally retired (due
to rust from Chicago winters and street salt). I kept the stereo on my
bench for years to remind me of what a fun little car it was.
Since you already got the plugs and wires, take a look at the
connectors on the oxygen sensors, particularly if you live in an area
where there's salt spray (like by the ocean, or where they salt the
streets in winter storms). I don't have any other additional advice,
except to try posting on alt.autos.gm and see if anyone there has
walked out this tough dog.
Good luck
Chris
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