Buick - Regal :: 1995 - Smell Of Antifreeze When Driving
Jan 25, 2014
Greetings from the desert of the SW. I have a 1995 Buick Regal I inherited from my Mom when she passed away several years ago. It had low mileage at the time so when things started going wrong, I replaced things like a rusted gas tank, head gasket, thermostat, and belts and the car got me from the Midwest to the Southwest. It now has 105K miles and I've started to smell antifreeze when I drive. The temperature gauge needle will move from the middle line towards hot but never all the way to hot when the car is idling.
As soon as I get moving again, the temperature indicator moves back down to the middle line of the gauge. The anti-freeze level in the 'jug' is fine and the level in the radiator is ok too. I'm wondering if there might be a problem with the thermostat? Unfortunately I live in an area where there aren't any "real" car mechanic garages to take it to for a check up. I'm planning a trip to Phoenix in a couple of weeks which is 5 hrs away. Since antifreeze isn't pouring out of somewhere, I'm going to drive it and hope I make it there and back again.
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The equipment:1995 Buick Regal Custom 3.8
I noticed a year ago that my car would randomly stall out coming into work after a 20-25 minute drive. It then started to idle really high, very rarely. So i cleaned the throtle body, new air filter, new fuel filter, sparks, and wires. This is about where my expertise ends.
Its seemed better, however, it would act up now and again (stall) but I was fine with it.
Recently I have noticed that the car idles really high 1.5 in drive (compared to 900) and 2k in park after I have drove for 20-25 mins. So I put the computer to the car and all I have is transmission error codes which I have had since I owned the car at 80,000 miles and I am now to 160,000 miles. This car has been pretty good to me because it starts, goes forward, and backwards! What else can you really ask for. A better idle maybe?
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My car is a 1995 Buick regal gran sport with only 64,000 miles. It has been cutting of for 2 years now. It usually cuts off when we slow down. The RPM's will suddenly drop to zero. We have taken it to 3 different mechanics over the past 2 years and have put in thousands of dollars to fix it (more that it is worth). We always just throw it in neutral and it start back up and keep driving. We were sick of paying to get it NOT fixed so we decided throwing it in neutral is ok. Well now some days it won't start. It turns over but won't fire. Some days it will start. We took it in and got it "fixed" again, but it is still doing the same thing (some days it starts, some not). It still also has the problem of cutting off while we are driving too.
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I own a 2000 Buick Regal, and have recently come across a gasoline smell while driving. While taking a longer drive, I realized that it would heavily smell like gasoline when I would go from park or from a stop. It really makes me nervous to drive my car not knowing what could be causing this problem. What is going on?
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About the Car: It has 101,00 miles on it. I haven't own this car for long (less than a month). I bought it pretty cheap to do some grocery shopping with. I have no plans to drive it more than 10 miles in a trip. I have a bicycle with a trailer, but there are days in the winter when the weather says, "No" to bicycling. I had the fuel pump and filter replaced at a shop when it wouldn't start a couple weeks ago. They said the fuel pressure was low, and it needed to be replaced. It was fine for a little while, but then it wouldn't start for the past three days now. No cranking at all. I can turn on the radio and roll windows up and down, though. I do remember seeing a Check Engine, Battery symbol sign, and a couple other lights off-hand. I'm at work right now.. so I'll have to go home to see if the Security light also was there, too.
Also! I did find an electrical line that did not go anywhere... not sure if that has anything to do with the fact that there is no window washer fluid tank (wipers do work).
After reading a little about other Buicks in the forum not cranking, I will definitely try the Security Light issue after I get home from work.
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My 1995 Buick Regal seems to loose gas pressure. Have had several repairs done, fuel pump, fuel pressure regulator, fuel filter and nothing seems to work. It seems that the repair shops are guessing at the problem. Sometimes it even stalls out completely but usually starts back up.
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my 1995 buick regal does not have a spark, and I have had 2 mechanics look at it. The sereptine belt broke while I was driving, I believe it was because the water pump was bad and locked up. the belt got wrapped up in the crank pulley and I removed it. The AC has not worked in a really long time so I do not think that it is that pulley. It is not getting a spark. I have replaced the water pump, and the car sounds like it wants to start but it is getting no spark to it. I have had the crank sensor tested and the coil something. none of those seems to be the problem. some one suggested that it is the computer brain. I suggested that it was the timing. Though I do not really know. the battery is good so i know it is not that. and it has fuel. and i know that the engine is getting fuel. I know that the spark plugs are not getting spark (tested with a screwdriver in the socket on metal) So what is wrong with it.
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1995 Buick Regal, 128k miles, 3.8L V-6.Problem: When running errands around town, car will temporarily not start after 3rd or 4th stop. Vehicle cranks, has spark, has fuel pressure at fuel manifold. No codes on computer (Wish it was a '96). Car will start normally after cooling off (generally takes at least 45 minutes). No problem driving to work, parking all day, driving home. Have not tried long distance driving since problem arose, due to concern about being stuck for awhile far from home. Have determined at EGR valve is NOT a part of problem.
Sample situation: Drove 5 miles to town. Shopped for 15 minutes. Drove 2 miles further with 5 minute stop. Drove another 2 miles with 5 minute stop. Drove 1 more mile and stopped for 30-40 minutes. Car would not start. Cranks strongly, has spark and fuel pressure (don't know if fuel getting to injectors). Still would not start 30 minutes later. Left car for several hours. Started promptly and ran normally on return. Weather conditions - 90 F, low humidity. Problem has been occurring for several months. No computer codes to dive guidance.
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1995 Buick Regal 3.8L Series 1
This is my first car and I got it at 100k and I am up to 162k. She has been good to me. A week ago I noticed that my car was shuddering and having real issues getting up to 55 (misfire). These were intermittent and seemed to go away when I put new sparks in it.
Tonight I started it and heard a good sounding pop. The car would not idle right at all. Press the gas, up to 3k rpm, and let go ... stall. I got under the hood, heard a strange sucking noise, with some cell phone light found out the vacuum hose fell off??? Put that sucker back on. Idled way better. Driveable (the brakes worked again).
Took a look around the car and noticed that some smoke was coming out of the exhaust. Not a lot, but I havent really seen exhaust from it before. My buddy followed me home and said he could smell me the entire way.
It is was dark and I lifted the hood and noticed moisture all over. I mean everywhere. Spark wires, airbox, frame, and etc... I have been looking through my books and then online. I cant find anything. What I can be looking at for a root cause? What is messed up with this car?
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My running lights aren't working. My father (who has been working on cars since the mid 1960's and now fiddles with small farm equipment too)- checked every single fuse - on the passenger side panel, and both right and left panels under the hood. All fuses were good. A couple of years ago I had a problem with the brake lights (not the third one) not working and it turned out it was in the turn signal lever. We had tried the fuses, wires, etc. and couldn't figure it out. So I'm thinking that the running lights are something weird like that too. Especially since I can't drive at night without any running lights.
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Where is the ignition control module on a 95 buick regal custom 3.8L ....
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I recently worked with a friend get a '95 regal custom 3.1 with 178k miles and the only issue I cant figure out on my own is that the back up lights never come on when either shifting into reverse or through it. I've checked all of the fuses and replaced the bulbs and still not even a flicker.
I have researched online a bit and my only idea is it could be the back-up light switch/neutral position switch.. Would that be an accurate guess? And if so where at on the vehicle would that switch be located?
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Turn signal lights not working on a 1995 Buick Regal. I have replaced fuse & flasher but still didn't solve problem.
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I own a 1996 Buick Regal with 132k miles on it, 3.1L six cylinder. The other day I was doing some general maintenance and noticed that the exhaust smelled like sulfur (rotten eggs). Now, I am loosely familiar with the causes of such a thing but not well enough to diagnose it properly the first time. The car has been idling rough since I got it (almost a year ago now), I have a feeling that it could be the O2 sensor causing the rough idle and the sulfur smell but I am not completely sure. I should have one of those fancy three-part injector cleaners done?
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I have a 95 Buick Regal, V6 3.8 Liter. The symptoms are the following: stuttering idle. And lack of response at times when I try to accelerate. Like sometimes I'll be driving on the highway, and having no problems. Then I'll be going up a hill at around 55 mph, and then the car will shudder as I try to maintain a speed of 55 mph. So I have to ease off the accelerator and slow down. At first I thought this was a transmission problem, but I am guessing it's the same problem that causes my choppy idle.
So I had this acceleration problem on the highway when I was going up a hill. And a weak idle. These problems have been going on for several months now. They were annoying, but didn't seem that serious. Then all of a sudden, on a rainy day, the car was really responding poorly to acceleration at all speeds. I was able to drive around, but I couldn't count on the car responding right away when I hit the gas pedal. And the car would shudder at times. Then, I didn't drive the car for a few days, and then it was dry, no rain, and the car ran better. So I am thinking humidity makes the problem worse.
I have also noticed over the past few months, that the car runs best when I start it up after a few days of not running it. Then if I drive the car a few miles and let it sit for about 2 hours or so, it would idle weakly when I would start it up again. The car's been doing that for several months now, but it wasn't really affecting the drivability or the response of the car when I hit the gas pedal.
Now it's gotten much worse. So, I've already replaced the following items myself to no avail: mass air flow sensor, oxygen sensor, and egr valve. I am guessing the next thing to fix is the pcv valve. But I also think it might be the fuel pump. My first guess though is the pcv valve. What else could it be? And is there any easy way to test to see if the fuel pump is going bad? Or should I just take out the pcv valve and see if it looks bad?
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1991 Buick Regal. I'm driving at night a few days ago and all of a sudden the lights on the instrument panel go out. The headlights are still on and the radio is still playing.
So I click the headlights on and off and the instrument panel lights come back on. The next night this happens again. This time I just give the headlight switch a little jiggle and they come back on. Tonight they go out again, jiggle the switch and they come back on. They go right back out. Jiggle the switch again and they're on.
I drive for another five minutes and now I smell plastic burning; it's the typical electrical/wire short smell. I turned the interior lights on and there was no visible smoke.
I'm going to try and pull the dash tomorrow and see what's going on in there, but they want $400 for an OEM replacement switch! I found some used ones online, but I'd have to get them mailed from a junk yard for about $50 bucks.
So I'm wondering, is there a easy/cheap way to rig a headlight switch in the interim so I don't have a fire in this thing? I don't understand why a headlight switch has so many prongs on the connector.
The only caveat is that the guy who had this car before me rigged the ignition through the headlights (I was told as some kind of security feature?) so that the car will not crank unless the headlights are on. Maybe/hopefully some shoddy wiring on that is just causing an arc.
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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.
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Cars turns off while driving and may or may not start. The voltage fluctuates and dims the lights and such. Now it wont start.
The battery is good. The alternator is good. I put a new computer in it. I don't know what else to do.
On top of this awesomeness, I found this relay/sensor that seems to go nowhere (picture below). There is also a second something or another that you can see in the bottom right quarter (red wire grey attachment underneath cruise control module next to that bundle of wires) that seems to go nowhere. I didn't unplug these.
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2001 Buick Regal LS 3.8L. When I am driving over 20MPH my front passenger side of the car starts to shake. This shaking causes the steering wheel to shake as well. I am not sure what the cause is and if it something that a novice can fix. The front brakes are new with little to no wear on my rotors. I have rotated my tires to see if the shaking stopped or moved to the rear of the car. After the tire rotation the shaking persisted. If I turn the steering wheel sharply I hear a squealing noise. I do not know if that is related or not.
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I have a 1998 Buick Regal where the steering wheel randomly locks up while I am driving it. I usually stop the car and start it back up with success. The last time this happened was after I had the supercharge engine replaced. Once it locked up it I tried to start it up. The first time it did not restart, but the second attempt worked. I have taken it two really good mechanics and neither were able to diagnose the problem. I cannot remember if I am running the air conditioner when it happens. I know that sometimes I am. What could be causing my car to randomly lock up like this?
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Tonight when I was driving home, I drove my 1999 Buick Regal through a deep puddle kinda fast- the water went up to the windows on my car. A few seconds later, when I was pulling into my parking space, my car started to make a "mrrrrrmrrr" sound and I noticed steam coming off the right side of my car where the puddle had been. I was able to park and check under the hood but there was no smoke- just some steam and a little bit of a burning rubber smell. There seemed to be some water on the engine- not a lot, it was already drying up when I took a look at it. I also noticed that there was also an oily (not all oil- just oil mixed in the the water puddles on the ground) trail from just outside the puddle to where I had parked. I let the car sit for a few minutes and then drove it a few feet to repark it. It seemed OK- it didn't make the noise again or steam. No lights came on. Is it possible that I've seriously damaged my car or could some water have come up under the hood and onto the engine causing the steam and some oily runoff?
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