2003 Buick Park Avenue Oil Pressure Gauge fix

I noticed that my Park Avenue's oil pressure had an extremely high reading of 130 psi on the driver information center (d.i.c).

I decided to fix the problem. The repair should also be applicable to 2000-2005 Buick Lesabre and Pontiac Bonneville. The GM factory service manual was lacking information on troubleshooting this symptom. A quick internet search revealed that the oil pressure sending unit is usually the cause of the high oil pressure reading. I decided to try to install a new oil pressure sending unit. Amazon continues to amaze me on their auto part prices. I ended up with a genuine AC Delco unit, part number 213-1650 for $35 with free two day prime shipping. I'm not an oem part zelout, but the price was right and I know that it would be the correct part.

The threads on the new part came precoated with a thread sealer.

If you place the car on ramps you can access the sensor from underneath. It is a reach, but it can be done. The sensor is located above the oil filter. I had to remove the clip for the electrical connector by feel. Here is a photo of the sending unit from underneath the car:

The GM factory service manual calls for a special socket to remove the oil pressure sending unit, but a plain old fashion deep socket will work just fine. I used a 27mm deep socket. A 1-1/16" deep socket should also work. A while back I purchased a very reasonably priced set of deep metric 1/2" drive impact sockets from Harbour Freight. I amazed how many times I have used these sockets.

Here is a photo of the ratchet, extension, and socket utilized:

A little oil leaked when I removed the sending unit so have a rag ready. The old sending unit was covered in oil. It may have been leaking or there may be an oil leak above.

The torque to install the new unit is 12 ft-lbs. There was adequate room to use a 3/8" drive click type torque wrench. The entire repair took less than 15 minutes. The end result is that the problem is now fixed and the oil pressure reading is approximately 60 psi as shown here:

New wiper blades for $3 a piece.

Want to save a fortune on wiper blades and help the environment then keep reading.

Years ago when a wiper wore out the rubber part of the wiper would be replaced instead of purchasing a whole new wiper blade. There was a time when all of the different required wiper blades could fit in a small display case at a service station such as this antique Anco wiper blade display case.

 I really like how the side of the case says that the ANCO wiper blades are easily refillable and ANCO refills save you dollars.

Somewhere along the way it was decided that wiper refills were too complicated for the consumer to figure out how to install. I am sure someone also figured out more profit could be made selling a complete wiper blade.  In fairness it isn't always easy to purchase the correct refill and I am sure that stores had a lot of people return refills, because they purchased the wrong type. New style aerodynamic blades that are not refillable were also introduced by automakers.

Fear not Park Avenue owners. Our wiper blades are old school enough that they are easily refillable and save us dollars. If you have wipers with a triangular frame such as this you should be able to refill them. I'm not sure of the brand of these wipers as they were on the car when it is purchased.

Wiper refills are becoming harder to find. Walmart stopped carry them. I was able to find these universal break to length Trico refills at Advanced Auto:

When purchasing wiper refills you need to purchase the correct length and width of rubber. In my case the existing rubber portion of the wiper was 6mm wide. The 2003 Park Avenue uses 22" long refills. The best part is that the 6mm wide Trico refills are 22" long so there is no need to break to fit. The refill is the correct length! The Trico refill box comes with two refills for $7. So for $3.50 you have a new wiper. Compare that $8 for the lowest cost complete wiper blade at Walmart.

The refills installed easily and have worked well in the heavy Florida summer rains. Installing a refill isn't much harder than replacing the entire blade. Besides saving money it is also nice to not throw away a perfectly good metal frame.

Last time I checked Honda still sold reasonably priced refills for their factory wiper blades. For our 2012 Hyundai Sonata refills are available, but Hyundai charges the same price for a refill as the complete wiper blade.

One other wiper to consider is PIAA. PIAA uses silicone for the squeegee portion of the wiper and sell refills for their wipers.

Used parts availability as a factor in selecting vehicle type

Your choice of vehicle can have a dramatic effect on your chances of obtaining used parts. Our family's fleet includes a 2004 Honda Accord and a 2003 Buick Park Avenue and I can comment on my experiences with used parts availability for both vehicles.

Junk yards can be categorized into two types. The first type typically has cars 8 years or newer. These yards are typically well inventoried and they remove the parts for you. A lot of their customers are professionals such as auto body shops. Most of these type of junkyards don't want to be bothered selling small parts to a shade tree mechanic. Prices are sometimes often as expensive as new parts. The second type of junkyard has cars 8 years or older. At these junk yards you remove your own parts. If the junkyard is well organized they will have a list of cars and a row number. There is no inventory. The car may or may not have the part you need. The business model for these junkyards is to sell as many parts as possible before the car is crushed. In fact these junk yards charge a core charge on some parts which is based on the scrap metal value of the part. Many of these yards turn cars over quickly. They want the cars stripped quickly and then crushed. Cars stay at these yards two to four months before they are crushed for scrap metal. There are some exceptions to the rule; I have a family owned u pull it yard that keeps cars for a long time before they crush them. Prices at old car self service junkyards are significantly cheaper than the new car junkyards.

I assume that if you are considering buying a $3,000 used car then you are probably also interested in cheap used parts. We can apply what you learned about junkyards to pick a vehicle that has cheap used parts. The first criteria is that your vehicle needs to be at least 8 years old. Now is where it gets more complicated. You need to consider what years are the same model. For our Buick Park Avenue we can take parts from 1997-2005. For our Honda Accord we can select from the years 2003 to 2007. 2003 to 2007 Honda Accords are a lot rarer at u pull and pay junkyards. One of the reasons for the rarity is that a new car junk yard will buy a 2003 Honda Accord. I said that a new car junkyard wouldn't want an eleven year old car, but there is an exception to that rule. Parts from a 2003 Honda Accord can be sold to repair a newer 2007 Honda Accord. If you were involved in a collision with a 2007 Honda Accord then there is a very good chance that your insurance company will use body parts from a 2003 Honda Accord to make the repairs.

Below is a photo of the inside of a 2003 Honda Accord that I observed at the u pull and pay. This Accord had been at the u pull for six days.

Less popular cars at the junkyard take months to look like the Honda Accord in the photo.

Remember that you want to buy a used car that is the last year of your particular generation and is 8 to 10 years old. For example in 2014 you would want to buy a vehicle where the last year of that generation is 2006 or older.

Here is a real world example. A 1997 to 2002 Honda Accord is a much better choice than a 2003 to 2007 Honda Accord for used parts availability. I have verified this by checking the online inventory of several u pull it junk yards in my area. 2003 to 2007 Honda Accords are almost non-existent while there are plenty of 1997 to 2002 Honda Accords.

Older cars at junkyards aren't always worn out. Insurance companies are more likely to total and scrap an older good condition used car than a newer good condition used car. In many cases the newer used car will be rebuilt. Not many people are rebuilding a 2000 Honda Accord that was in a crash, but someone might rebuild a 2007 Honda Accord.

In 2014 a 2005 Buick Lesabre or Buick Park Avenue is a perfect vehicle since it is nine years old and the last year made.

Climate (HVAC) control replacement

When I purchased my 2003 Buick Park Avenue the digital display on the climate control wasn't working.

So off to the u-pull it junkyard I went. Luckily for me the junkyard had two Park Avenues of the same vintage. Here is a picture of the donor vehicle for the climate controller, a 2001 Buick Park Avenue:

The dash was already removed so it was really easy to remove the climate control system. Cost for the climate controller at the junkyard was $15.

Dash removal wasn't that difficult. To assist with removal of the faux wood trim I purchased a $5 set of trim removal tools from Harbor Freight: 

I found this tool the most useful:

As usual I went to youtube to see if there was a video on how to remove the dash and I wasn't disappointed. I used this dash removal video and this dash removal video on youtube. The second video is for a Lesabre which is slightly different, but with both videos you get the idea.

Finally, from my time spent on youtube it appears that General Motors vehicles of this vintage have a lot of issues with digital displays failing as the vehicles age. In many cases the display can be repaired by soldering in new resistors or re-soldering components on the board where the solder has cracked. Here is a video on how to repair this particular circuit board. I haven't had to the time to check if this repair would work on my climate controller.

Items to look for when purchasing a 1997 to 2005 Buick Park Avenue

This list is based on my vehicle and reading internet forums and shouldn't be construed as perfect. The list should be applicable to 1997 to 2005 park avenues and possibly lesabres:

• Heating and air blend door motors. These motor direct where air comes out of the dash.
• Upper intake plenum (non supercharged engine) when fails coolant can leak into engine (bad!)
• Lower intake manifold gaskets. Super and non supercharged engine. When fails coolant can leak into engine.
• Intermittent stability control system warning.   A common failure item is a sensor in the steering column that tells the computer the steering wheel position.
• Heater hose elbows. These plastic elbows pass coolant thru the serpentine belt tensioner on the front of the engine to the intake manifold and water pump.They are plastic in a hot engine compartment and crack and leak with age. Their is an aftermarket aluminum version available from Dorman. These are usually replaced when the intake manifold gaskets are replaced.
• Rear self leveling air suspension. Failure modes include compressor, leaks in tubing, or the air shock leaks. System can be replaced with a simpler system.
• Up / down movement in power seat. There is a plastic gear that fails. You will hear the motor run, but the seat will not move up or down. I have read that GM wants to sell you the whole seat track. If you want to fix just the problem there is a brass replacement gear available on ebay. It is a little bit of work as the existing shaft has to be modified to accept the brass gear.
• Oil pressure reading on digital information system will constantly read 130 psi. Usually a bad sending unit.
• Trunk leaks
• Front struts usually need replacing by this time.
• Power windows are slow or inoperative.
• Motor and transmission mounts
• Hard shifts when the transmission is warm. Hard shifts go away after the car is restarted. Culprit is usually pressure control solenoid in the transmission.I haven't seen any youtube repair videos on a park avenue, but on General Motors cars with a similar motor and transmission such as the Chevrolet Impala it is possible to partially lower the transmission on the car and replace the solenoid. It is fairly labor intensive and a decision would need to be made if the car is worth the cost and if a complete a transmission would be a better choice than replacing one part on an old transmission.

After reading this list I can see why the original owner was ready to get a new car. To have a shop perform all the repairs would cost thousands of dollars. However, it isn't as bad as it seems. Some items such as the stability control system don't need to be fixed. If you are handy you have the ability to drive in a luxury car that you probably wouldn't be able to afford. 

On my car the up / down motion on the power seat was broken and the car had the original upper plenum, lower intake gasket, and heater hose elbows and worn struts. With knowledge of these issues i was able to reduce the purchase price.

I missed the service stability system, high (130 psi) oil pressure reading, and one inoperable rear window.

Car purchase

I have been looking on and off for a few months for a new used car. I was lucky that I didn't need to buy a new car right away. The best time to buy a used car is when you don't need to buy a used car. It takes time to find a well maintained fairly priced used car. Tips on purchasing a used car will be the topic of another post.

The car I chose is a 2003 Buick Park Avenue. Here is quick preview.

Additional information on the car and a comparison of the Buick Park Avenue / Buick Lesabre to the prevailing wisdom of purchasing a used Honda or Toyota will be an upcoming post.

The economic case for a used car

Assuming that the average new car loan is 65 months, interest rate 4%, and a total purchase price of $28,000. Your payment would be $479.83 a month. Over the life of the loan you would pay $3,188 in interest. We also need to consider sales tax. Assuming a 6.5% sales tax rate you are looking at approximately $1,700 in sales tax.

So you are looking at spending a total of $4,888 on taxes and interest. It is even worse if you live in a state that has a yearly property tax on the value of your car.

My proposition is that for $4,888 one can buy a great used car that might last three to five years. I am currently in the market for a new to me used car. I plan to monitor the cost of owning an older used car. Edmunds Debt Free Car Project performed a similar study of the costs of driving an under $5,000 used car. 

Why this blog

It seems that every year vehicles consume a larger and larger percentage of a house hold’s budget. A new car was once considered standard for the middle class is now for many American’s an impossible dream. I plan to track my experience buying and maintaining an older debt free used car. I am bit of a shade tree mechanic and hope to share what I have learned in the past fifteen years that I have been driving and repairing cars.

I also plan to discuss some public policies issues along the way as I have a love / hate relationship with cars. I love the freedom that a car provides, but I also believe that we have built our infrastructure in the U.S. to be too car dependent and hostile to other modes such as bikes and pedestrians. I think that we would all be a lot better off if we walked or biked more and drove less.