EVEN MORE PROBLEMS with my FREE BUICK (Did Hoovie give me a lemon?)

Huge thanks to Hoovies Garage for this excellent project, I haven't had this much fun working on something in a while. Also thanks to Zeph for knowing these engines back and forth and swinging by to lend a hand.
Instagram: / 100percentjake
Facebook: / 100percentjake
Website: 100percentjake...
I'm just a guy in Kansas playing around in his garage. Come along in my adventures riding, racing, modifying and repairing my small fleet of unusual misfits.
#HooviesGarage #Supercharged #ParkAvenue

[@ElliottAlvis]

Thank you for using such soothing music during your time-lapses

[@100PercentJake]

It was a soothing experience.

[@mitchellbarnow1709]

You always know what to say to sooth a friend's heart, Elliott!

[@daddynichol52]

I had two cars with the 3800 engine. Both rusted out long before the engines had any significant issues. Changed oil regularly, filters, fresh coolant, etc.

[@derektitov6667]

That valve cover issue was a new one. Haha. Replacing the covers and some new gaskets aren't going to hurt. If you can source the covers from a Camaro or Firebird 3800, they're metal as opposed to plastic.

[@seanriedel8933]

hahaha. not for me. i did the same thing to mine by accident when i replaced the coolant elbows. but i jb welded a nickle to cover the hole.

[@theboomerang131]

"Behold my lazy genius" should be the tagline for this channel. :P

[@100PercentJake]

I love this

[@derektitov6667]

Agreed. Make it happen. Lol.

[@jamesk3565]

Please do this

[@rcrookie4320]

It makes me happy to see a young car guy appreciate some Old Buick greatness I had 2 of these Ultras and run the guts outta them! Most comfortable seats ever!👍

[@jkholley1118]

Cool to see an unloved but badass car is getting some love. They are very underrated.The ride,seats,power and dependable made these cars the perfect transition between the old land bardges and the modern stiff riding cars of today.

[@christopherkraft1327]

Just what the Buick needs, some tender loving care!!! Jake, when you get done you're going to have a comfortable & dependable car. Thanks for sharing this cool video!! 😎

[@billpar]

I appreciate your graciousness accepting this car and bringing it back to a restored life , you make this fun

[@kevinrabe55]

Jake take my advice and use the metal upgraded elbows but do not use the orings that come with them as they are junk. Order the factory delco orings from oreillys- you get I beleive 5 of the smaller orange ones and 2 of the larger purple ones in a bag for like 5 bucks. I did the elbows on my 2000 park avenue ultra a couple of months ago. I used the dorman metal elbows and orings that came with them. 2 weeks later water pump started leaking so out came the new elbows to do the job, and the orings were smeared like they were melted. Did some research and found they are junk and ordered the delco orings .

[@100PercentJake]

yep, I ordered the Dorman elbows and delco o-rings, they just arrived today. I'm going to make sure to call this out in my next repair video because I've seen lots of people complain about the dorman o-rings.

[@kevinrabe55]

@@100PercentJake Glad to hear you did - I never seen orings do what those dorman orings did. I swear they must of been made out of wax the way they looked! Keep up the good work buddy - I live up in Topeka with my old hoopty ultra in my fleet!

[@derektitov6667]

@@100PercentJake Yep, either full A/C Delco Elbows with O-rings (which are getting harder to find), or what you did works too. The Dorman ones just melt or something.

[@mathiatube]

Good call. I installed the Doorman elbows and then about a year later had to do the lower intake manifold gasket. While the elbow o-rings weren’t leaking they had turned to mush and disintegrated when I pulled the elbows out getting the intake manifold off. AC Delco o-rings went back in.

[@elmarko9051]

Great tip...struggled with the Dorman O-rings, and they do turn into an orange smear.

[@frank9963]

great car for a mechanic. Make Hoovie come do some of the work . Great car to learn on.

[@P.Galore]

Jake...Warning....DO NOT LOOK at the back of the steering wheel that you've been touching....just put on a bio hazard suit and get out the cleaners.

[@nathanielcrenshaw187]

Couldn't tell whether it was gunk or where the leather coating had worn off.

[@PaulLemars01]

The alternator bolt punching through the rocker cover was certainly special. All the other issues are just fair wear and tear but that cover was the mark of a true knuckle dragger. Probably the last owner. Oh yeah, and clean the back of the steering wheel, the guy who fitted that bolt's hand gunk is all over it.

[@MassProject]

9:31 OMG the bolt in the valve cover. Whoever installed this should have noticed. Probably made a severe cracking noice when it went through it.

[@elmarko9051]

A shop did it to one of my cars, I noticed going in on another repair a few weeks later. I've seen the bolt-thru-cover in junkyards, too. Impact wrenches must mask a lot of 'whoops'.

[@SIXPACFISH]

That is a classic example of the old "not my car" syndrome.

[@Thomas63r2]

I’m semi-retired now, I helped my dad rebuild my first engine (a Dodge 318) in 1973. I remember all these cars and older when they were new - your Ultra may not be an antique, but they all get old I guess. I bought an Olds Cutlass Ciera new in 1985 specifically because it had the Buick 3800 V6 - I thought it was a strong runner but I was jealous of the Supercharged 3800 when it came out a few years later. This Ultra is lucky to have found you

[@Oldbass40]

I owned a 2000 Park Ave (non super charged) for 9 years and just sold it this year. I had 205k on it. Overall it was a good car. The biggest repair was a transmission replacement when it had around 110k. 2nd biggest repair was new lifters close to 200k when it started ticking and slowly got worse (thankfully even though one of them was stuck it only slightly scarred the camshaft and still ran fine after replacement)... I actually had a big stereo in mine for almost the entire time I owned it. If you're curious about stereo upgrading I've got plenty of videos on my channel. Looking forward to seeing more videos of yours.

[@kd1s]

I see tons of old GM vehicles on the road here in Georgia. And based on a friends experience with a Chevy Sonic with an I4 LUV engine that she rarely changed the oil in yet it still ran. I bought a 2019 Chevy Trax and just guess the engine. Yup, I4 LUV with a turbocharger.

[@johnhansen4550]

Jake, As you know these are WONDERFUL cars to work on and the parts are SUPER cheap. It is not unrealistic to get 500,000 out the engine. You made a great choice and I think you will enjoy the car. They are one of the best car on the road and by doing the work yourself, a very inexpensive, powerful, comfortable choice!

[@greathornedowl3644]

Great project. Ignored by a lot of young people, seen as a grandpa's car. But comfortable and easy to maintain.

[@dave1135]

11:19 the reason for the mishmash of bolts is GM used the original 3.8 block that has been used since the late 70s early 80s when these were carburetored. Back then all fasteners were standard. Later, GM switched to metric and made all acessories metric, but where they attatched to the block, it's standard. Saved GM from having to retool their blocks. Also, the water tubes breaking off had a common problem in the 3800. There's a kit that has new steel tubes to replace the plastic.

[@donaldolson9209]

The rough shifts from 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd can easily be fixed with the 4t65e transgo shift kit. you can also fix the shift from 3rd to 4th but it involves taking apart more of the transmission, and i wasn't willing to try.

[@potholeraa3760]

Great video, thanks.

[@jhartford58]

"I hate working on a dirty car..." Has a bag of chips within arms reach, haha.

[@EFFEZE]

*Crisps 🇬🇧👍

[@johna.4334]

So that would make "chips" freedom fries?

[@Sonny_V]

Love the Old Buicks. Fix some stuff now and drive it trouble-free for years

[@mitchellbarnow1709]

I loved my 1989 Pontiac Bonneville with it's 3800 V6 engine! I was my company car, so I got it when it when brand new, because I factory ordered it and I always keep my engine compartments really clean. The water pump gave out after 50,000 miles and a cross country drive, but that was the only thing that went wrong, except that the lower hard plastic part of the dashboard cracked.

[@Blackinterceptor999]

Hoovie didn't gift you a car, he gave you the gift of more content, lol

[@3800scgp]

It took you pointing at the front motor mount for my brain to saw "no dogbone upper mounts!". I've had 3 w-bodies, the last being an '04 GTP, and they all had those mounts.

[@barriobajaj]

Remember to replace the two coolant elbows. The steam might be coming out of one of those that cracked. Car Wizard mentions it when he discusses these engines. The previous owner of my 2002 LeSabre replaced all of the things that went out on my car (radiator, coolant elbows, intake manifold gasket, motor mount and 3 power window motors, ect. so I'm good for a while. Bought car from an elderly owner with only 83k miles. Garage kept.

[@Engineerd3d]

That 3800 is a stout motor. But also has the complexity of an anvil. As for the trans, look at installing a cooler, do not replace all fluid in there as those trans will start slipping with new fluid.

[@georgemartin1436]

Great motor. Common (and correct) maintenance will make it last forever. I had a similar brake issue with a Lesabre where I thought I needed a hub but the connector turned out to be the issue.

[@CLCIII]

Free cars are never lemons. Only opportunities to make lemonade. The 3800 is one of the best engines of all time. Super charged it is even better!

[@donaldolson9209]

I think I commented in another video that I have an identical 04'. The Park Avenue is very picky when it comes to a good tire balance, I had issues the first two years wondering why nobody could balance those tires. The answer: "The Elite by Road Force" (if it is not the Elite and instead just another Road Force machine, that's not good enough) that machine made my Park Avenue so smooth!!!

[@jonscott7686]

Believe it or not I had a Grand Prix with the same transmission with 230,000 miles on it and I put Lucas heavy duty transmission stabilizer in it and it actually helped it’s hard to believe but yes it works

[@michaeltutty1540]

It is great to see you putting the effort into making this old land yacht reliable. They are great cars until rust eats the front subframe and body cross member that holds the front subframe to the car. I have seen these looking mint, running perfectly, and suddenly a wheel falls off, control arm and part of the frame attached. If you think that is a big car, try an 84 Park Avenue. Better yet, try fitting a 76 Park Avenue in the shop. You would need to move the workbench to fit the full 19½ feet of car on there.

[@AintGotNoSense2]

My wife had one of these. The transmission in the car had problems with soleniods causing delayed shifts or hard shifting.

[@derektitov6667]

Yep. That's a common problem.

[@johnhansen4550]

AND the parts are CHEAP....that is why God created RockAuto

[@dave11686]

Happy Hump Day Jake!

[@allanbrooks3060]

You and jr and your friends are talented. I had 1994 park ave. Great engine Great to see you bring this Buick.back to life.

[@jimmieromero8181]

Always a front speed sensor, common coolant issues is lower intake gaskets, coolant elbows, death cool eats them right away. Newer dexcool is great but I converted all my gm 3.8s supercharged/non supercharged. The front motor mount is common on H bodies. Supercharger snout coupler is a common problem also. Also for a cooler plug get ngk tr6 plugs. 180 thermostat Its super easy stuff man. I use to tune these cars with my buddy in colorado springs, we both owned regals, but I owned a pearl white park ave ultra had it running e85 on 42lb ford lighting injectors, ported heads gasket matched gen v LIM, gen v supercharger, lq4 maf sensor, ls6 valve springs from a vette, north star v8 throttle body, headers and 3 inch cat back. Super easy car to mod man

[@olikat8]

GM recalled the L67 motors for valve cover gaskets...rear one leaks & can catch 🔥. That's a free fix

[@SwanseaTitanFan]

Yet another fascinating video. Keep em coming.

[@JDseller1]

I bought a 1991 Olds 98 with the 3800 motor. It was a good car. My wife and I put over 200K on that car. I only junked it when the frame rusted out. That would have been in 2016. We gave $12K in 1992 for the car and drove it 24 years. Your Ultra will be a great car when repaired. Ours got in the mid 20s for mileage too.

[@PhilG999]

I have a 1999 Grand Prix GTP with essentially the same engine. Also a 2005 Grand Prix GT2 (NA). The GTP has a little over 70,000 miles on it and the GT2 has a little over 27,000. It was my Dad's car that I took over when he passed in 2015 (a week after his 93rd Birthday). If well maintained (and mine are) the 3.8L is a great engine! Most people don't change (or even check) the Supercharger oil so that's why the snout bearings go out... I have the Helm service manual for both cars...

[@JasonExplainsThings]

Looks like we spent the week doing similar things! I replaced a bunch of leaky original gaskets and seals from an 87 Dodge Ram with a 360 V8. Feels awesome when everything is back together.

[@hydewhyte4364]

Did Hoovie give you a lemon? Um .. Hoovie didn't give it to you at all. He gave it to the Ninja.

[@sleepyhollow783]

Good to see Buick's frustrating tradition of mixing metric & standard remains in place since the days of my 1979 Riviera💜. Love seeing a Buick being appreciated in spite of the silly design quirks.

[@3800scgp]

My '04 GTP was the same way. It's nice having vehicles now that are all metric, even though they're both domestic makes. (One of them is from the land of 'roos and vegimite however)

[@robprice6573]

Not bad for a free car. Those engines are one of the best gm ever came out with! I can’t wait to see your progress. How about a bigger supper charger?

[@johnhansen4550]

One the BEST engine ever produce by ANY maker.

[@ajw828]

Definitely see why Wizard loves these engines so much, super easy to get to everything! Looking forward to seeing you get this one put back together.

[@tyler2610]

Yep, it may not be pretty but it is a very simple lay-out for the most part. Unfortunately the 3.1 in my Century is not the case. Even a simple repair like a thermostat is beyond what I want to tackle because it is tucked under the throttle assembly and hard to get to the housing to unbolt it so I will leave it up to the professional instead of thoroughly frustrating myself and my dad!

[@ajw828]

@@tyler2610 sounds like the old “an engineer would crawl over a hundred virgins just to ****** a mechanic” adage. 😂

[@928gto]

To keep them on the road is upkeep, great jod! Never see lotsa' simple value as these. Upkeep. Classic anymore. Relatively inexpensive luxury

[@thomasmclehaney6089]

I'm enjoying the work on your Buick Ultra. I had a 1999 Ultra and never had any problems with it, pretty much a bullet proof engine. I have never had a more comfortable ride in any other car, those seats are awesome. Keep up the good work!

[@NorthernChev]

Other than the hole in the valve cover, all standard 3.8 repairs. Easy peasy.

[@johna.4334]

Lemon squeezey.

[@craig2100]

Can't wait to see the final results

[@greathornedowl3917]

Happy New Year Jake! Have enjoyed your appearances on WatchJRGo. Think the Buick would be GREAT to keep around as a second/backup mode of transportation. Have a nice daily driver (BMW), but keep this one around as a backup.

[@thecman26]

100% Jame, cruising down K15, like a boss 😎!

[@MrSamPhoenix]

The good ole 38-hunid!!!

[@ryingling89]

It’s a good idea to replace the valve cover gaskets and bolt grommets at this time to eliminate the major sources of oil leaks. And if you are this far in, change all the plugs too. Bummer about the rear valve cover.

[@johnmoruzzi7236]

I did laugh when you described all the engine gubbins as “a disgusting mess”, but you are pretty much right !

[@dj_paultuk7052]

RE The gearbox. My old TransPort SE 3800 had the same gearbox. A fluid and filter change might fix the laggy shifts. Worked for me.

[@WrenchesOnJunk]

If you don’t already have one, I definitely recommend the $20 or so wireless OBDII adapters off Amazon or wherever. The one I got, works well; I even used it on the BMW F10 to code various features. 🤷‍♂️

[@deanstanley2277]

Check the trans solenoids, ie. Hard shifting....love the vids....get em out at leastt everyother day.

[@johngoodwyn8246]

Jake like this series on the Buick !

[@Buc_Stops_Here]

You might have been the luckiest of the five - definitely more lucky than the person stuck with the BMW. At least this car seems to be well maintained, which means once you make the repairs despite the complexity of the supercharged 3800 (that is unfortunate) it should be fairly reliable for another few years.

[@kevinm5177]

This is great. Looking forward to the next episode.

[@mph5896]

If you are using the Dorman metal elbows, do not use the supplied o rings. They turn to mush and leak 1 year after replacement

[@Jazzcyber]

Not sure about any warping, but I had the bad luck of getting a Series 2 Supercharged 3800 with a bad head gasket... Unfortunately due to neglect by a previous owner. There's definitely some great things about this engine but I don't believe the incredible durability claims anymore.

[@GlibHarbringer]

Oh god, with all of those finger tight bolts, it kind of makes you wonder what else is that loose on the car. I’m sure it’s fine.

[@blautens]

I love the Buick. I have nice cars, hoopties, and fast cars. But I want that Buick!

[@coozmokramer]

Love the car and the content 👍

[@sreppok]

It is amazing that the car ran at all with that iffy repair job from a previous owner.

[@NELLY-jg2rx]

Good stuff man

[@MikeG_9]

Jake don’t forget to check the rear passenger side regulator it’s sounds like it’s going bad. ☹️👍

[@paullevy561]

A nice, old, but not slow boat deserving being brought back.

[@boilerhousegarage]

Tyler didn't give you a lemon, as the Focus was fine! :D

[@tyler2610]

This car is not a lemon. It has well over 200K and most of these issues are just normal wear and tear for a 3800 Series II. He is just doing preventative maintenance to make sure it runs for another 100K. The Focus is half the car this is!

[@C.JG.]

Not change but flush the transmission oil to get it smooth again, will probably help

[@BobPegram]

At least the parts are cheap and after some disassembly happened, new problems ceased. I wonder if anyone made an intercooler kit for this beast? Doesn't look like there's space for an intercooler in the engine bay but perhaps it could fit in front of the radiator and A/C condenser. Now you know why Hoovie is out of the used car business! 8-))

[@confestpete]

Easier IMHO to fix mechanical stuff than interior upholstery. Keep going and you'll get another 10 years.

[@WhittyPics]

Tyler only deals in LEMONS. When you get a Hooptie you can expect problems

[@johnhansen4550]

Did you hear how easy it is to work on and how cheap the parts are? The Bentley is junk...this is a gem.

[@chadmarkle3278]

Reminds me of dealer repairs

[@admranger]

Previous owner/mechanic: "This alternator bolt is kinda hard to tighten, I'll just crank on it more and that'll fix it." 100%Jake: makes kinder remarks than I would have about previous owner/mechanic. Another Kansas mechanic "fixed" my aunt's brakes on her car. Put in new pads on one side. Tossed other side new set in trunk. "Fixed!" Must be something in the water...

[@laceylouloulou]

100% Jake is mellow man. It’s kind of a refreshing change.

[@kevinjessel8809]

Yeah time lapse videos!!!!!!!!! BTW anyone else think Jake needs a hat with his logo on it?

[@michaelhuey4187]

Hopefully, soon, you’ll have plenty of room to work on vehicles in JR’s Smoke Shop! 😳

[@tomorrowsendpodcast7228]

get a smaller pulley for the SC and enjoy moar boost!

[@leolo2222]

Haha, those chips were extra greasy

[@suddendilemma5137]

More boost.

[@creeperssuckballs]

Never late in a 3.8 Gotta love the GM ecotec motors Have them in commodores here in AUS love to bash limiter and pop sets all day

[@batmanlives6456]

Gotta hate the 3.8 mate! GM screwed you over remember!

[@johna.4334]

@Scott Dean Huh?

[@alexpetree2038]

Only the grand prix gtp comp had the 260 hp variant of the 3800 sc

[@trendel13]

Ahhh .. Buick content... My day is better

[@stevenplaskett7728]

I swear those are dex cool cars as well and the mixture of green coolant will be a bad reaction and eating more gaskets

[@tyler2610]

They had Dex Cool from the factory. As long as you change the Dex Cool when you should it shouldn't become acidic

[@tonymanchester9898]

That supercharger needs a rebuilt you should have no plat when going back and fourth I own a built Pontiac grand prix gtp same engine everything that's on that car

[@mikehoncho278]

My 99 Buick regal with the 3800 supercharged has a slip downshifting from 4th to 3rd under light acceleration trans fluid looks like crap wish me luck on trying to fix this

[@SIXPACFISH]

So Hoovie tried to replace the alternator? Fuck a replacement valve cover! JB Weald that bad boy!

[@blaakrose]

You should go to watchjrgo warehouse and do this. You help him with repairs and camera work. You could get him to join the fun.

[@100PercentJake]

Don't wanna get in the way, that dude is a whirlwind of activity getting that warehouse done up!

[@elijahnelson3185]

The music sounds like it’s from Final Fantasy.

[@janibeg3247]

typical "Hoovie" car

[@AndrewKarpyszyn]

You started working from home a couple of weeks ago? I started working from home a couple of QUARTERS ago. Guess which of us has the messier hair? Bwahahahaha!

[@HUBBABUBBADOOPYDOOP]

*@**10:24* That hole in valve cover is also a manifold vacuum leak.

[@joannaatkins822]

They say necessity is the mother of invention, but never underestimate the genius of a lazy person. The internet was invented because nerds wanted to check the coffee pot remotely instead of walking to it...

[@michaeltutty1540]

The father in Cheaper By The Dozen, I mean the actual Mr. Galbraith, used to go to a plant and ask the foreman to introduce him to the laziest man who actually did the job right. That was the most efficient worker. That was in the vet early days of ergonomics, when the science was called "Time and Motion Studies". Mrs. Galbraith was also a fully qualified engineer who took over the business when Mr. Galbraith died.

[@trapjohnson]

Did Hoovie give me a lemon? Is the Ocean salty? Do bears shit in the woods? Does Hoovie traffic in anything BUT Lemony Hoopty goodness? Which is to say, Yes, (OKay, that last question is phrased such that the answer is no... my bad)

[@johnhansen4550]

The car will be great with less than $500 is parts....total... The 3.8 is a 500,000 engine. That is why millionaire own and drive this cars....

[@triviace]

Not a lemon,it doesn't even suck.

[@jedislegomovies146]

I mean it is a hooptie it should be a lemon

[@jmdjasonday]

I'm led to believe that the Buik 3800 was modified by GMH, which might shine some light on the imperial & metric dilemma.

[@tyler2610]

It was modified 3 times by GM, first around 1995 designated Series II when they started using the plastic intake manifold gaskets and increased horsepower, and then Series III around 2004 or 5 when they went back to metal gaskets. The engine ceased production in 2008 or 2009. The 3.9 that replaced it was less efficient and the 3.6 develops major timing chain issues. So much for progress!

[@bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb77]

i like this vid cause i have the 04 dale sr monte carlo with same motor but 67k miles but i see a water pump wont be fun lol

[@dave11686]

Hey Elliott!

[@christopherkraft1327]

?

[@ElliottAlvis]

Hello!

[@christopherkraft1327]

@@ElliottAlvis Hello Mr Notary Public!! 🙂

[@dave11686]

@@christopherkraft1327 I always say hey to Elliott. It’s a kind of a running thing :)

[@christopherkraft1327]

@@dave11686 I see, cool 😎 Happy New Year 🎊🎉🎈