Thread: nOOb from West MI

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  1. #1 nOOb from West MI 
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    Hows it going everyone, new to this forum, but quite active on a few others (not W-Body related though).

    I just bought a 98 Buick Regal LS for a DD/Winter Beater. Was really kinda hoping to find a GS, but they were all beat to hell and rusted at the price I wanted to spend. This car is just going to be driven in the winter, and in rainy weather. I spend most of the nice weather on my motorcycle, and I also have a ZR2 Blazer that sees some miles.


    Body wise its fairly clean, nothing I wouldn't expect for a 15 year old car with 182K on it. I purchased the car from the 2nd owner, he has owned it for 7.5 years. The body has its fair share of dings and scratches, but its damn near rust free - total rust on the rear wheel arches is less than the area of a quarter. Most of the other Regals I was looking at in this price range were cleaner dent wise, but rusted out bad. I figured a dented car is going to last longer than a rusty one And in reality, if the body issues really bother me, I am good friends with a body guy.

    The motor and drive-train have quite a few new parts. Rebuilt trans this spring, new water pump and radiator in the past month, 1 new coil pack, new plugs and wires this summer, new starter last year, new Cooper tires last summer, and brakes were done about 2 years ago. It runs and drives great, and should have a ton of usable life. There are a few issues though, one of which is the ABS Module, the other is a wheel bearing/speed sensor I think. I'll probably just expand on that in another post. It does need a new AC compressor, there is currently not one on the car - it froze up and the guy put a dummy pulley in place.

    The interior is also in pretty good condition, there are a few issues though, part of the reason I joined - hoping to find some parts for sale! Its light gray leather, and the drivers side seat has 2 rips in it. The car came with a repair kit, I'm going to try that and see what happens :lol: The wood trim around my shifter is broken, it would be nice to find a replacement. And the cover for the back of the center console is missing, I'd like to find one of those as well. If anyone has either of these parts for sale let me know. The only other thing I need to fix in the interior is the driver side heated seat. It doesn't work and I have no clue why. never had to mess with one before.

    Anyways, here is a picture of the Regal.



    - Kevin
    Last edited by Keviness; 10-16-2013 at 07:45 PM.
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  2. #2 Re: nOOb from West MI 
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    Quote Originally Posted by Keviness View Post
    There are a few issues though, one of which is the ABS Module, the other is a wheel bearing/speed sensor I think. I'll probably just expand on that in another post.
    So, hopefully someone can help me on this one. Haven't searched yet, but I'll do that momentarily.

    When I bought the car the ABS light was on. The seller told me the ABS Module went bad on him a few years ago and he elected not to replace it, since it was a $500 part + labor. Understandable on a car of this age.

    The other day while driving down the highway, I had the cruise set and it suddenly kicked off. I looked at the dash and noticed the "Low Traction" light was flashing at me. After a few moments it stopped, and then the "Service Vehicle Soon" (different from the SES) and the "Traction Off" lights kicked on and stayed on for the rest of the ride. After I shut the car off it goes away, but then comes back again at what seems like random times, but only at highway speeds.

    Has anyone seen this before and know what the solution is? I'm wondering if the ABS light is on because of a bad hub, which would also cause the "Low Traction" issue? Or perhaps they are completely unrelated.

    I had a similar issue in my Blazer and it was the ABS sensor in the hub causing issues. A new hub solved them.

    Thanks in advance for any help!
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  3. #3 Re: nOOb from West MI 
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    I'm guessing this will fix my heated seat issue. Just wish I knew a way to double check before pulling my seat apart.
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  4. #4 Re: nOOb from West MI 
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    Oh damn, almost forgot one of the biggest issues that I have. I didn't discover this until after I bought the car, but the gas tank leaks when its being filled all the way up. I noticed that as the pump was hitting the auto-shutoff, I started hearing liquid dripping on the ground. Stuck my head under the car and noticed gas was spilling out from the tank Hitting the exhaust too! Not good!

    I'm assuming that the tanks on these use O-Rings for both the filler neck and fuel pump, correct? I've got to drive this tank down to E and then drop it I guess!
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  5. #5 Re: nOOb from West MI 
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    The filler neck is metal then a hose clamps onto the neck and runs to the tank where it clamps on to tank. My filler neck rusted out which gave me a small vacuum leak to the evap system check engine light ( I don't remember the code). It was higher up by the cap but yours could possibly be leaking towards the bottom. Have you gotten under the car yet to see if its actually the neck or the tank?
    current mods: DIY FWI, res & u-bend delete, SD headers mated with custom 3in downpipe, 2.5in catback with turbomax muffler, autolite 104s, 180 t-stat, poly mounts, can tune, 3.4 mps
    soon to be mods: NIC cam, possibly dna springs
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