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Buick Century Maintenance and Repair

575 messages,  Last post on Feb 21, 2013 at 8:01 PM

You are in the Buick Century Forum.

What is this discussion about? Buick Century, Buick, Electrical, Engine, Sedan, SUV

Messages Page 58 of 58

#566 of 575 Red Signal Lights Give me Anxiety Attacks!!!! ( 97 buick century custom) by fivershyfywfy

Aug 16, 2012 (5:28 am)

In July 2011 I inherited a 1997 Buick Century Custom complete with Dynaride and Concert sound... and the car rides smoother and bumps harder than any other car i have ever had. My mom had been storing the car for me to come and retrieve since my grandmother had her license revoked so in order to make sure everything was working well she took it to the Top Gun or Top Flight service center in Orange County, CA. It passed with flying colors something like a 72 point inspection that cost almost 300 bucks. 3 days later my daughter and i began the 7 hour drive home to Santa Rosa By the time we reached the Los Angeles County line the right blinker had gone out, and the indicator in the interior was rapidly blinking. and yet still we continued on our way... We stopped to fill up in Castaic, near the "grapevine" and then again in San Jose when i picked up a buddy of mine to help me drive the rest of the way. About a block away from his house my fuel gauge said i had a quarter tank of gas left. when he got into the drivers seat to begin driving the gas light came on and dinged at me... we flipped a u turn and headed for the nearest gas station, where upon arrival prior to buying any gas the needle of the gas gauge was now reading pas the full mark. AND THIS WAS JUST THE START!!!
 
I have run out of gas at least 5 or 6 times and i know this is bad for the car but its almost impossible for me to calculate the gas mileage im gonna be getting with this car, and it gives no warning im lucky if i can even get it to the side of the road. I have even started having anxiety attacks at red lights. Ive also noticed that sometimes in the morning my interior dash lights will "appear" to be on only a block later ill hear a pop sound and then they come on all the way. RIght now my ABS and Emergency Brake lights in the dash are on and they have stayed on even though i never use the ebrake because it hurts my back. A month after i got the car my front right blinker and daylamp mysteriously fixed themselves on their own accord,,, no new bulbs fuses or anything, however as of today they are out again and this time ive tried new bulbs and fuses. And STILL THERES MORE
 
twice since i have had the car it has refused to start...at first i thought it was the starter but i wasnt too worried since it had only happened twice.. My dad is an amazing mechanic, specializing in custom fabrication and repair, so i stopped at his house about a month ago because it was having a hard time starting, he again checked all my fluids, and fuses. The battery was really low, and didnt seem to hold a charge according to the voltage reader so he put it on a charger and we let it fully charge before we left, He took out the glove box and hood lamp bulbs to conserve energy and suggested i buy a new battery as soon as possible. 2 weeks ago i went to pick my daughter up from her grandmas house, car started just fine in my driveway but when i tried to start it at their house all it did was click. Thinking it was the battery this time i had my sister in law attempt to jump start my car with hers. And still all we got was a click click click. we disconnected the jumper cables and pushed my car back in the driveway all of 3 feet and the darn thing started right up. My clock had reset itself but my radio stations were still programmed. For the last three days i have had to jump start my car id say like 75 percent of the time in order for it to start, my cables are clean and are not corroded. None of my fuses or bulbs are blown. I make sure everything in the car is off so as not to drain the battery. my dad said he thinks that if its not the battery that its probably the starter not getting enough juice from the battery because all of the lights, radio, door locks, interior dash lights, power windows seats and doors work...
 
Anyone got any ideas.. seriously any ideas on what we should try to fix this problem, other than a new battery cause right now im getting ready to walk to my house cause guess what my car wont start!!

#567 of 575 Re: Century 2000 Limited sedan [daebyoh] by ben109

Sep 29, 2012 (7:02 am)

Replying to: daebyoh (Nov 22, 2011 10:45 am)
i have the same issue but the cause of this issue is the overdrive celonoid which is 30 bucks at oreilly auto parts, the catch is you have take apart the transmission to get to this celonoid so it will end up costing you tons of money. heres a tip if you dont like the jerk when it starts from a stop shift it into 1,2, or 3rd then when you get rolling shift it back into overdrive

#568 of 575 Re: Red Signal Lights Give me Anxiety Attacks!!!! ( 97 buick century custom) [fivershyfywfy] by cmg1111

Oct 04, 2012 (9:36 pm)

Replying to: fivershyfywfy (Aug 16, 2012 5:28 am)
STOP....TAKE A DEEP.. BREATH,,,,,,,lol EXHALE....lol YOUR STARTER HAS A FLAT SPOT...on the sylinode.....you can get away with this issue for a period of time b4 you have to replace.. the starter, by a few tips ,,,, first of all I assume your a manual trans...? rolling the vehical almost wrks everytime... ,as well as turning key ,back and forth prior to starting your vehical , if auto trans...key on shift lever up and down
 
good luck

#569 of 575 Re: Hard to start [rjt427] by moparman444

Oct 25, 2012 (9:38 pm)

Replying to: rjt427 (Apr 08, 2012 8:44 am)
did you ever find out what the problem was? I have a similar problem with my 95 buick century.

#570 of 575 Re: starter problems for 96 buick century [jfreeburg] by moparman444

Oct 25, 2012 (9:50 pm)

Replying to: jfreeburg (Jul 03, 2006 9:49 pm)
did you ever find out what the problem is? I'm having very similar problems with my 95.

#571 of 575 Re: Removing the Starter Solenoid [gaillarry] by moparman444

Oct 25, 2012 (9:54 pm)

Replying to: gaillarry (Feb 10, 2007 3:36 pm)
Did you ever find out what the problem was? I'm having the almost exact same problem with my 95 Century. please let me know asap thanks.

#572 of 575 2000 Buick Century (3.1 L) Tranny issue by kastmaster

Nov 23, 2012 (9:29 am)

When going from Park/Neutral to Reverse there's a loud 'clunk' and it jerks into gear. Does the same 'jerk' going into Drive but doesn't 'clunk'. All shifting in Drive is very smooth. This is my second transmission (professionally installed about 100,000 miles ago). Is the tranny going out or could it be something else (like the torqure converter.....etc)?

#573 of 575 Re: Removing the Starter Solenoid [moparman444] by kastmaster

Nov 27, 2012 (12:57 pm)

Replying to: moparman444 (Oct 25, 2012 9:54 pm)
Not yet....I am going to take it in to either a transmission shop or repair shop (owned by a guy who worked as the head mechanic for our local Chevy dealership) sometime in the next 2 weeks. I'll post the findings.

#574 of 575 Re: Hard to start [moparman444] by jimmy124

Jan 06, 2013 (7:46 pm)

Replying to: moparman444 (Oct 25, 2012 9:38 pm)
sounds like its loseing presser mybe the presser reg u should check it ....or hook up a fuel presser gag and check the psi and let it sit and see if it losses
presser right off hand could be a few things as well

#575 of 575 Re: Starting problem [rdw5150] by rupesattic

Feb 21, 2013 (8:01 pm)

Replying to: rdw5150 (Oct 18, 2006 6:48 am)
We have the same issue with our Buick same as yours and a 98. We still have the problem and have tried both keys that came with the car. Even our mechanic friend is perplexed. Any other thoughts on what could be the issue? We got it turning over but it won't fire. We changed the ignition switch and the starter even added a push button switch in it and still won't fire. Any one have any suggestions?
 
Rupesattic

Messages Page 58 of 58

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