New project: 1997 Buick Riviera Supercharged

[3800ScSeries]

I got my 96 riviera stock for $500 and now its Head Turner! check it out on my vid

[btbbelesky]

also you sure its a 97, mine looks way different and has different interior features

[moldymac]

@btbbelesky Yup, its a 97. The center console looks different in mine because its out of a 96 (different wood and has cassette holders instead of CD). Don't know why it was replaced with that.

[btbbelesky]

i have a 97 and i love it!!!!! awesome car. 111k on mine

[idkhaveaname1369]

this is the car im looking for now, 400 for a supercharged car? not bad!! id love to have that motor in my 85 olds 98.

[CODxFUNxMAN]

hey i saw yo uhave a 89 park ave or something sitting in your driveway?

[moldymac]

@CODxFUNxMAN Thats an 87 lesabre custom. My family bought it new.

[CODxFUNxMAN]

@moldymac nice i have a 91 lesabre custom, need engine work tho so im driving a roadmaster limited :) gm<3

[moldymac]

@CODxFUNxMAN Nice choice of cars, nothing rides like a Roadmaster!

[CODxFUNxMAN]

@moldymac got that right!

[Buickonthedragstrip]

Hey buddy welcome to the GM world.

Anyways hows your project coming along?

If youd like you can check out my videos on the strip

Take care

[moldymac]

@Buickonthedragstrip Project has been done for a while, new engine is in and working great. That's one modded Regal you have there!

[Watcher3223]

Lemme guess: cracked polymer intake manifold allowing coolant to leak into the sump, contaminating the engine oil.

Bad oil = spun bearings and other problems due to bad lubrication.

[moldymac]

@Watcher3223 you nailed it! In one of my later vids I take the gaskets out of the replacement engine and show how bad they look on an engine that didn't fail yet. Never took this engine apart, must have been really cracked to leak as much coolant as it did.

[gostrosky15]

Damn looks like you got a deal on that! I picked up a 95 with 116k on it 8 years ago. My uncle is a Buick mechanic and we replaced the rod bearings and a few smaller engine parts around 120k... 7 years later at 170k its still running but kind of a ticking time bomb. Doesn't tick as loud as this one was. It's a bit more metallic, less thud. Going to drop a Series II supercharged in there soon.

[angryace13]

my buddy has a rivvy, its a darn good car! same year i think.

[14sonik14]

yo..tht knockin is most likely tht one of the rod bearing overlapped the other and everytime the pistion goes up it tends to drop in the empty space where the other bearing was....so ur gunna have to get a new rod and bearings..and most likely a new crank shaft.....trust me...its gunna hurt ur pocket so...best answer...junk the car.

[moldymac]

@14sonik14 All fixed now. Dropped a junk yard engine in it.

[308RoadReady]

the knock is the coupler in the supercharger. its a common problem. These engines rarely have rod knock because of the rev limiter

[moldymac]

@308RoadReady while there was play in the SC coupler, it still made the noise with the belt off.

[splashonyou]

sounds like a bad rod bearing.

[joshua0712]

my 96 had a real close knocking sound although i cant really tell since it was a while ago but inside the supercharger there is a plastic piece that connects the snout and the turbine housing that was worpped, sadly i wasnt able to find that piece any where so i found a 3800 with a supercharger on it at the junk yard and scraped the piece i needed.

[moldymac]

@joshua0712 That piece is shot in the knocking engine, but that wasn't the problem. The knock was still there without the SC belt on.

[Chocolate6mac8]

ah! i just found a gray metallic with black interior! 1k$ Clean. But 400$ what a great price!

[moldymac]

@Chocolate6mac8 Nice, $1k isn't bad either.

[wharghoul]

I've always liked these things. Actually, I like anything with the Supercharged 3800, and the Buicks were always the best bet for that motor because they had tolerable interiors and didn't get lost in the cladding factory. I'd rather have a Regal GS myself, but Rivies and Park Avenues would work, too.

Funny how your Buick running wrong sounds like a Subaru running right, though.

[Inuyasha11966]

thats what I thought it was. I got a 95 pontiac bonneville ssei. :D

[senad54]

wow what a steal.

[heatherandpaul2]

Cool! good deal.

[Inuyasha11966]

whats auto leveling? is that something to do with an air compressor or something?

[moldymac]

@Inuyasha11966 Yeah, it has air shocks in the back and if you add weight to the car, it will pump them up to keep the car at a set height.

[axeme1]

i have one with individual cd compartments

[moldymac]

@axeme1 Mine does now too after a quick swap.

[nickv11763]

what kind of gas is in there, cuz if it's 87 or 89 youll get knock for sure they need 91 to 93 octane

[moldymac]

@nickv11763 It was 2 years old whatever it was. This was beyond a knock from low octane. The new engine didn't knock with this gas in there.

[nickv11763]

@moldymac oh i know it's worse then low octane knock i can hear that from when its running, i owed a grand prix gtp for a while, i was putting it out there that you can't run on those or you'll get even more knock but that motor sound pretty damn bad but i'm sure you already kno not to run any lower then 91 oct.

[moldymac]

@CoolVideoGameVideos It sure is, Body is straight, but the paint needs some work.

[houkiko]

I was wondering if anyone could help me.  I have a 97 Riviera that I currently purchase and it needs a lot of work. To start with, I need to replace the radiator and I am looking for instruction on how to replace it or a repair manual for a 97 Buick Riviera would be awesome. If anyone could help, I would appreciate it.

[moldymac]

@houkiko I haven't done it on this car yet, but according to the book you drain the coolant, remove the upper radiator support (big black bar on top of radiator), disconnect all wires/lines on the rad, remove hoses and fans, and remove. I bought the 1999 shop manual for my car. That year manual is dirt cheap on ebay, if you have a super charged engine they cover just about everything you need to know.

[mikehul]

counter balance shaft common also...

[moldymac]

@mikehul That wasn't the problem on this engine. Had that go on my lesabre twice though.

[TheGrayTruck]

Knock Knock!!

Who's there?

Buick

Buick who?

Buick Knocker!

LOL!

[lemon12121]

you said that the moon roof was leaking and going to the trunk, how did you fix this problem?

[blackbill44]

it will be a labor of love. and you saved it from a certain junk yard death. should be sweet when done. any one heard from Lynol?

[MultiCrazyCar]

No question about it, rod knock it is.

Get the title figured out before doing the engine.

[moldymac]

@MultiCrazyCar Got the car registered, and an engine is coming next weekend.

[1984diplomat]

GM has a bad habit of putting the batteries under the rear seat more common than what you might think the reason you ask because normall put an engine under the hood that just barley fits and then the engineieers looked and said uh where we goin to put the battery I dunno under seat. lots of olds had it that way some buicks. For a record they are abount as much of a pain in the butt as the chrysler wheel battery that you mentioned.

[moldymac]

@1984diplomat Makes sense, a "minor oversight". The pain is the vent harness is missing, now I gotta either buy one from a dealer or make one myself.

[supercolts82]

The reason they put the battery under the rear seat in this car is for weight distribution. See BMW.

[clubcar98]

Nice deal for $450...im thinkin rod knock...but the clutch on that compressor was stuck and im thinking the compressor might be bad and making the noise...either way a junkyard engine wont be terrible

[dangeroustoys56]

Nice car- all the bells n whistles.

Y could hear it when y fired it up the knock- think it could be some lifters? Maybe spark knock? My moms 78 LTD would knock some when it was hot out.

What ever happened to the car you were tinkering with- the olds i think ( with the digital dash/computer )? Could y swap motors?

If its a rod - could be someone reved the heck out of it with the supercharger on it - hope y find out whats up with it.

[moldymac]

That other car was an 86 riviera. The car has since vanished and no one knows what it went (and I never got a chance to pull the parts I wanted). Either way the engines are too different. The earlier ones were not balanced like the newer ones.

[dangeroustoys56]

That sucks- someone probably stole it and stripped it.

Are y gonna rebuild the motor in it or look for another motor? Itd be a nice cruiser car for road trips.

[phill903]

Nice clean car...

[Jon13bur]

Definatly worth the time and effort. Great Vid.

[mjmcomputers]

If its a rod knock you should be able to pull the plug wires off one at a time, when you pull the wire off for the cylinder with the bad rod the knock should quieten down. Like you said it could be the harmonic balancer, also could be the ac compressor. You can pull the accessory belt off and run it to check those.

[moldymac]

I took the belt off and its not the accessories or the balance, I will have to give that a shot next time I get

[CSAKvids]

Wow...really is well equipped. Interior is great too!

Be a nice car once she's done. What you planning on doing, keeping it or selling?

Weird how americans call it 'moon roof' and in the UK it's called a 'sun roof'

[TGGZ06]

@CSAKvids A lot of people call it a moon roof if it slides back and opens completely, or a sun roof if it just vents.

[moldymac]

I plan to keep her once I get her going

[uscar17]

great great deal. I drove one of these, dark burgundy with beige interior and wooden dash, one of the best cars I've ever driven

[moldymac]

The 100ft I drove it to park it was pretty nice

[nickdigg5]

nice find!

[TractorWorld]

wow suprising the 3.8 is and awesome enginge!

[30GB]

looks like the engine has a HARD life under 100k

[moldymac]

Previous owner probably never checked the oil

[666mike2009]

looks like the AC Compresser is what is makin the sound and not the motor but i could be wrong.

[moldymac]

@666mike2009 The clutch was sticking on it, but I don't think it could make a sound like this, they usually make a squealing sound. Once I get the belts off I will know for sure.

[1ChevyGuy375]

Nice Buick!

[motox458]

nice car, i'm looking for another car at the moment, i currently have a 1991 mercury cougar with a 5.0 v8, it was my first car, but the transmission is shot, and most of the car is falling apart, lots of electrical problems, engine misfires, oh well, it served me well

and i can't resist saying this so knock knock, whose there, its a buick!

[moldymac]

@motox458 I was thinking the same thing when I first heard it run

[conan6868]

You can pick up a good motor from a junk yard and slap it in!

[moldymac]

@conan6868 Thats what I will probably end up doing, maybe save this engine for a future rebuild

[Mississippi1313]

whoa supercharged???

[moldymac]

@Mississippi1313 Yeah, it was optional until 97, 98 it became standard

[Mississippi1313]

@moldymac

oh ok cool

[justin3zelda]

holy crap a supercharger lol!

[moldymac]

@justin3zelda hell yeah!

[chevymonte1]

ya know i got a 3.8 and they run forever.

it'll run forever with rodnock, the engines are tough as shit

[moldymac]

@chevymonte1 My 87 lesabre has a 3.8 in it, good solid engine. Its only flaw is all the electrical stuff around it

[FordBroncoMower]

Nice. Good luck with it.

[moldymac]

@FordBroncoMower  Thanks

[DuallyDieselFord]

450! good deal