Questions and Answers

Buick LeSabre Won't Engage Q. Hi, I have a 1992 Buick LeSabre with 90,000 miles its a 3.8 liter F.I., automatic with P/S, P/B, A/C, cruise. My problem is that when the car is cold it won't engage in gear all the way in Drive or Reverse only if you shift down to D1 then you can feel it engage.

Or let the car idle or warm up for about 4-5 minutes and then everything seems to be fine in all the selected ranges. It will kick right in with no problem and the car has no slippage that I can feel in any gear. I bought the car used with 84,000 miles the previous owner had the fluid and filter changed at 71,500. I didn't have this problem at first it just started to act up one day and has continued almost every time I go out now.

A man I work with says his Oldsmobile has had the same problem for years and the mechanic told him they could fine nothing wrong with his but would rebuilt it for about $1,500.00. The transmission shops I have talked to all say about the same thing "Sounds like a complete rebuilt is needed." I Thank you in advance for any help you can give me.

Thank you,
Gerard

A. You have two choices, rebuild it or replace it with a remanufactured GM SERTA unit which has a 3 year/36,000 mile warranty. The GM unit has all the most recent updates done to it to improve the shifts. You don't want to go with a junkyard transmission. It may have the same problem or worse! If you like the car and it's trouble free, give a dealer a call for a price.

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