1996 Buick Century has a humming noise while driving at normal speeds and curving or turning slightly to the left only. It will not do this while turning left from a stop or slow turn, but only at moderate or hi-way speeds. You can make the sound while changing lanes, passing or curving to the left. This is only noticeable on actions involving left turn or merging motions.
View 2 RepliesMy wife's car, a 2003 Buick Century, has died a couple times on her while driving. Each time has been while she was in the midst of a left turn, so I think that is relevant. Today it is a humid, raining off/on kind of day, but she says that she thinks the last time it did it was a dry day. When it dies, she pulls over, puts it in park, and restarts the car, it runs normal, no problems. She said she has turned the ignition switch off, and then starts the car, and has not tried just turning forward to start, however her daughter said that when it died on her, she could not turn it to start - she had to turn it off then back on and it started fine.
Her daughter said that she had it die once while sitting at a traffic light, so I may be off base thinking that it is related to a left turn. The car has about 155K miles on it, and the only engine work that has been done on it other than maintenance is that the catalytic converter was replaced a few years back, when it was plugged up.
On this same car, I have to spray brake cleaner on the ABS sensors (front) about every 3-4 weeks, when the ABS light and the TRAC Off lights come on. Is there some way to keep them from becoming fouled?
I recently bought a 2005 Buick Century with 86,140 miles. It has a few things my old Century didn’t have including traction control, anti-lock brakes and 4-speed automatic overdrive. When I slow down to negotiate a sharp turn at an intersection, I sometimes hear a brief humming sound from the front end. It lasts for a second or two. It happens after the car’s been driven for about an hour. I don’t know if it’s the transmission, the brakes or power steering. It doesn’t matter if I turn right or left.
View 15 RepliesDriving this 1996 Buick Century limited,4 cylinder car normally, the car will just stop running without any warning, nor rhyme nor reason. Most of the time this has occured, a tow truck has been called, but prior to towing, the car started normally and ran without problems for quite a while. The car has been in the chevrolet garage multiple times, at least over nine, for this problem, but will never show up for the mechanic. There is no specific driving pattern to cause this to occur: it dies in normal driving on the street, starting from a stop, in parking lots,
View 9 RepliesI have a 1996 Buick Century that I started having problems with tonight.
As I was driving, I pressed the brake pedal down and it felt like I lost most if not all of the pressure in the brake system and it was a bit difficult to come to a complete stop for the rest of the trip.
I admit that the system hasn't been maintained in quite some time, but I recently filled up the brake fluid reservoir (2-3 weeks ago) after the brake dashboard light came on and the brakes worked just fine after this.
What is wrong with my car, and how do I fix it as cheaply as possible (or is it a cheap fix?)?
Added the cruise control brain, the actuator, and the column switch, all parts from the salvage yard, but I haven't been able to get it to work, so far.
Cruise indicator light does not illuminate on the dash when following the GM shop manual "Additional System Check" on page 8A-34-3. Everything meters out, following the troubleshooting guide, so it seems to be hooked up OK. Had a local shop check it - they said the voltage is present at the cruise control module, but they couldn't go any further.
Am I missing a part? A fuse? Do I need to somehow tell the PCM there is now cruise on this vehicle?
I have a 2002 Malibu and we have had the car about 3 years and since we purchased the car it has what a humming noise from the front when changing lanes on the highway or when making curves on the highway only when turning left.
Being an avid Car Talk listener, I decided this was probably being caused by wheel bearings and I decided to tackle the job myself and changed both left and right front wheel hubs and the noise did not change, it is still there exactly as before ! I also replaced the brake pads and rotors while it was apart.
Remembering other car talk conversations, I decided next that it must be the tires, I replaced the tires which were due for replacement anyway and guess what ? The noise is still there exactly as before !
Out of ideas, I took it to a mechanic and he said that he ran the car on the lift and was able to reproduce the noise on the lift and he felt it was coming from the differential within the transmission. While it was at the shop I had him do a wheel alignment as well to eliminate any sort of suspension issue.
My question, does this make any sense ? To me when the car is on the lift, the differential really isn't doing anything, the wheels aren't turning at different speeds because they aren't touching anything therefore to me, the diagnosis of differential doesn't hold water.
I'm looking to sell my dad's '97 Buick Century Limited, but it has a problem with the steering. The short of the problem is that when you step on the gas the car steers to the left but only when you get on it. The more you get on it the more it goes left.So a little more detail here. So if the steering wheel is aligned correctly, it sits at 9 and 3 o'clock, but it isn't, it sits at 8 and 2. It goes pretty much straight at that position; it would take a couple blocks at least to go from the left side of a lane to the right. It doesn't pull hard or anything, you can easily steer it with one finger.
So the problem comes when you get on the gas, either stopped to cross a road or going 55 to pass on a highway. When you get on it the car starts to vere off to the left if you don't let the steering wheel automatically correct itself back to a 9 and 3 position. So it still goes straight unless you don't let the wheel move. The more you get on it, the more the steering wheel goes back to 9 and 3 position. So if you don't floor it, it won't go all the way back to 9 and 3. As soon as you take your foot off the gas it will automatically correct itself back to the 8 and 2 position. However when you are just cruising the wheel is at 8 and 2, doesn't matter if your going 15, 30, 50 or 75 mph.
I have a 96 Buick century that the headlights will dim during acceleration and stay dimmed till I let off the throttle. Or they will essentially blink bright and dim at highway speeds. The weird thing is, at idle, the lights are fine!
View 8 RepliesI have a 1996 Buick Century Custom 3.1L V6 with about 93k miles. As background, I've done quite a bit of work to the car in the last month and a half - replaced the engine with a rebuilt, replaced the catalytic converter (that was damaged when the old engine misfired badly), replaced my ignition control module and two coils, and replaced my fuel injectors as a couple weren't firing well. In addition, I replaced my EGR valve to resolve a P1406 (EGR Valve Pintle Position Sensor) code that came up last month (the original EGR valve looked to have quite a bit of carbon buildup, and was likely original to the car from 1996).
That replacement was done about 9/25, and my check engine light came on again this week. Now it's showing a P1406 (EGR Valve Pintle Position Sensor) code, and occasionally (maybe every 2-3 starts) will also have a P0300 random intermittent misfire and P1406 code shown as pending. In terms of running/performance, if I leave the car in park and give it gas once I get the pedal to about 1/2 down, around about 1800 RPM, it sounds almost like it's coughing, and that's also the case if I leave the car running and go listen/feel at the tailpipe, the exhaust seems to pulse rather than being just a steady stream. Performance wise on the road I haven't noticed any major problems - the car seems to run alright, I haven't noticed any serious misfires or performance problems, seems to have good acceleration, etc.
The one thing I will mention is when the catalytic converter was replaced the shop mentioned that my O2 sensors may need to be replaced as well down the road, as it's possible that they were damaged when the old catalytic converter was. When I checked the live data on my scan tool I do see what seem to be good values from both O2 sensors.
Currently I have a 1998 Buick Century Custom having turn signal issues.
The front left blinker is not blinking. Understandably, with this malfunction, the rear left blinker blinks rapidly when the turn signal switch is in the left turn signal position. However, when I put the hazard lights on, BOTH rear blinkers blink normally as does the front right blinker.
When the headlights are on, the amber-colored blinker bulb remains lit (left front). The right side front and rear blinkers work great.
I have checked the fuses, replaced the bulb and cleaned the socket of the front left blinker and still have no results. While my next guess would be that the flasher unit is the problem, I don't believe the rear, or front right blinkers would blink if that was the problem.
My 03 Buick century is overheating. I changed the thermostat and the water pump. And still overheats as soon As I start driving. I am also getting when it is overheating some misfiring in cylindar 1. I am going to reflush and bleed the coolant even though it seems to be full . i dont think it is disappearing. Is it Possible i have a blown headgasket or intake manifold leak?
View 4 RepliesI have a 96 Buick Century Special with the 3.1 six cylinder engine. Starting on March 18, 2015 my car has started blowing the Injector Coil fuse any time I take a fast left-hand turn. It never does it during a right-hand turn. I have now replaced the fuse a total of 5 times since March 18.
View 1 RepliesDoes this mean I need to see a mechanic. My car is a 97 buick century, 94kmiles. Rear brakes were replaced at 83k and front brakes were replaced at 80k. A few months ago, the noise began and has persisted once a day when brakes are applied first time of the day.
View 5 RepliesMy morning commute is about 33 miles. After about 30 miles, when I almost reach my destination, my 1992 Buick Century makes an additional noise besides the normal engine, muffler and road noise. It sounds like a BRRRRRRR....., but only when the car is moving, not idling. I thought it could be a temperature- related transmission issue. I noticed it was low on transmission fluid, so I added some. It still makes that noise, but only after I traveled about 30 miles. I didn't notice it last year when my commute was only 16 miles. What could cause it?
View 11 RepliesA couple of weeks ago my 2005 Buick century start making a noise when i hit the brakes and all the lights on the dash lit up like a christmas tree. The noise it makes when i hit the brakes is like humming sound and the pedal will get kinda spungy and push in and out, if i keep driving it stops and all the lights come on (abs, trac off, service engine, and sometimes the brake light as if the parking brake is on) after all these lights come on the noises stop and the brake pedal works fine. I was told that the anti lock brake pump was going bad but I didn't realize there was a pump.
View 3 RepliesLast month I changed the oil and filter in my 1992 Buick Century with 264000 miles. I used a name brand (Citco) of the correct oil, 10W-30, API Service SN. I bought the oil on sale at a local supermarket. Now, I hear a loud tapping sound from the engine, especially when it's cold. It dosen't sound as loud after warm-up. The tapping increases in frequency when I rev up the engine. I don't intend to keep this old car much longer, but is this problem an immediate concern? Could it be a valve problem? Could it Could I have bought some bad oil with a conterfeit label? Other than this noise, the car runs okay.
View 3 RepliesCar : 03 Buick Regal
Recent Repairs : Installed new brakes, rotors, and bearings a month ago
Problems/Symptoms:
1. When going forward grinding noise ONLY when turning wheel to the right, becomes a tad louder when applying brake.
2. When going reverse cannot turn at all without hearing an AWFUL grinding noise and the tire seizing up.
3. Front left rotor (where noise is coming from) is beginning to wear heavily on the upper-outside portion in a 2" band.
Possible Solution that I thought of:The metal brake pad clip is somehow bent/not installed right so it is grinding on the rotor.
Why Can't I Check Right Now : Do not have hydraulic jack currently to get my car up. Waiting until Friday.
Today, I took the car to the shop today and they actually found that my sway bar needs to be replaced, but unfortunately they did not open up the brakes to check out the grinding noise. So when I left, I got to thinking about the brake pad clip.
My 96 Buick Regal acts like it is out of gas after driving for about 10 min. Takes awhile to start, then runs rough if at all. After it sits, it runs fine again for about 10 min. I changed fuel filter, fuel pressure sensor and fuel pressure regulator.
View 4 RepliesI have a '98 Buick LeSabre, 112,000 miles and it's white. When I put the ignition key in and turn it without starting it completely I get a humming noise coming from the rear of the car. It lasts about 5 seconds and stops. When I start the car it begins again and continues all the time I'm driving. A friend suggested it might be the fuel pump.
View 1 RepliesAs I begin to accelerate a humming sound from the front of the car begins. The noise becomes more pronounced the faster I go. No additional noise is made when I brake or turn, nor does it appear to be any noise when I went in reverse. I made a 180 mile trip on Sunday with no problems, although I did travel at closer to 55mph than 65. The car has 170,000 miles on it and has had most of its scheduled maintenance performed.
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