1998 Buick Lesabre Engine and Engine Cooling Problems
Owners have filed 196 complaints with NHTSA about engine and engine cooling problems on the 1998 Buick Lesabre, 49% of all complaints for this model year. Half of the reports with a mileage happened before 67,212 miles. The words owners use most often: “intake manifold” (38% of reports).
- 196engine and engine cooling complaints
- 67,212median miles at failure
- 1mention a crash
- 1mention an injury
- 0related recalls
- $1,800typical repair cost reported by owners
- 52%of reports with a speed happened at 50+ mph
What owners describe
Phrases that appear unusually often in these complaints compared with complaints about other cars.
- Intake manifold: mentioned in 75 of 196 complaints (38%)
- Caught fire: mentioned in 18 of 196 complaints (9%)
- Anti freeze: mentioned in 14 of 196 complaints (7%)
- Claim slc: mentioned in 10 of 196 complaints (5%)
How much does it cost to fix?
Owners who wrote down what they paid or were quoted put the typical engine and engine cooling repair on the 1998 Buick Lesabre at $1,800, and half of them between $950 and $2,300.
Based on 19 NHTSA complaints about this problem alone that state a repair bill or quote (2003–2011), converted to 2026 dollars with the U.S. consumer price index. These are owners' own figures, not a quote: they include dealer quotes, and owners who file complaints often faced larger repairs, so they can run higher than typical shop prices. Prices vary by shop, region and warranty coverage. How we calculate this.
At what mileage do engine and engine cooling problems happen?
Based on 104 complaints that reported the odometer reading.
How serious are the reports?
Of 196 complaints, 1 mention a crash, 29 a fire, 1 an injury.
Buick Lesabre engine and engine cooling complaints by model year
| Model year | Engine and Engine Cooling complaints | Share of that year | Median miles |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 Lesabre | 1 | 1% | 65,500 |
| 2004 Lesabre | 8 | 5% | 17,695 |
| 2003 Lesabre | 8 | 5% | 56,500 |
| 2002 Lesabre | 18 | 6% | 44,000 |
| 2001 Lesabre | 28 | 9% | 78,536 |
| 2000 Lesabre | 78 | 12% | 48,528 |
| 1999 Lesabre | 69 | 33% | 66,486 |
| 1998 Lesabre | 196 | 49% | 67,212 |
| 1997 Lesabre | 110 | 28% | 88,000 |
| 1996 Lesabre | 18 | 18% | 90,000 |
| 1995 Lesabre | 14 | 8% | — |
When owners reported it
Related recalls (0)
No safety recall lists engine and engine cooling for the 1998 Buick Lesabre. A pattern of complaints does not always lead to a recall.
What owners report
Short excerpts of recent complaints, with personal details removed. Full reports are on NHTSA.gov.
I have a 1998 buick lesabre. The car stopped when it was pulled into the garage and when i tried to start it again, it made a screeching sound. The car was towed to a mechanic. The mechanic advised the starter "exploded" because fluid was leaking from the pleneum into the cylinders and starter. The…
Here's what happened, the car started consuming dexcool antifreeze, but none was noticed leaking external to the engine. The upper intake manifold made of plastic apparently warped, and/or a hole burned in near the egr stove pipe, thus dumping antifreeze into the engine and hydrolocking the engine…
My intake manifold gasket was made of plastic and my engine locked up, i was informed from my mechanic that gm was aware of this problem and came out with a better one made of metal. This a costly mistake leading to 850 dollars of repair, that could have been prevented if gm would have stepped up…
Frequently asked questions
Do all 1998 Buick Lesabres have engine and engine cooling problems?
No. NHTSA has 196 owner complaints about engine and engine cooling for the 1998 Buick Lesabre (49% of the 400 complaints for this model year). Complaint data shows that the problem is reported, not how many of all cars sold are affected.
Was there a recall on the 1998 Buick Lesabre engine and engine cooling?
No recall currently lists engine and engine cooling for this vehicle.
At what mileage do engine and engine cooling problems start?
The median reported mileage is 67,212 miles: half of the reports with a mileage came before that.
How much does it cost to fix engine and engine cooling problems on the 1998 Buick Lesabre?
Owners report a typical cost of $1,800 (half paid between $950 and $2,300), from 19 complaints that state a repair bill or quote, in 2026 dollars.
What do owners say about engine and engine cooling problems on the 1998 Buick Lesabre?
The most frequent phrase is “intake manifold”, in 75 of 196 complaints, followed by “caught fire” (18).
Other 1998 Buick Lesabre problems
See all 1998 Buick Lesabre problems or engine and engine cooling problems across all Lesabre years.