NOISY LUCERNE CX disappointing

[nferr]

That basic drivetrain is a dog in today's world. The Lucerne is a heavy car and that detuned 3800 is working hard. The 3800 has never been a great sounding engine (I've had two of them) when revved. But I love to hear some engine growl when I drive, yes even the 3800.

And whover is talking about the ancient carbed 3.8 from the 70's has to remember that engine had no balancers like the newer ones. It just shook all over, which is why the mounts didn't last long. I had one of those 75 Skyhawks with the 3.8 and a four speed. Bought it used - it was owned by a fanatic woman and was absolutely mint in 87 when I bought it. Wish I never sold it. I always loved that Monza/Skyhawk coupe style.

[Drew Dowdell]

I'll even admit that I do experience some minor front-end vibration at particular speeds (I can feel it through the steering wheel)... but it appears around the time I need to rotate my tires. That seems to make it disappear for 6-8 months and then becomes noticeable again. I originally thought it was a weather/ seasonal issue (being very cold etc...), but I finally linked it to rotating my tires. As a note of interest, every time I've rotated my tires, they've required rebalancing.

My friend who had that 1998 Riviera was constantly rotating and re-balancing his tires. It got to the point where he got the tires done at walmart just to get the lifetime free rotate/rebalance.

[trinacriabob]

And whover is talking about the ancient carbed 3.8 from the 70's has to remember that engine had no balancers like the newer ones. It just shook all over, which is why the mounts didn't last long. I had one of those 75 Skyhawks with the 3.8 and a four speed.

You're not kidding!

At one time, my Dad owned both a 76 Olds Cutlass Supreme with the 350 V8 and a 76 Buick Regal with the 231 ( 3.8 ) V6. My God, the difference in smoothness and engine sound was unbelievable. The V8 moved with a confident whoosh while the V6 sounded like it was farting. Not only that, it did shake at idle because of the lack of offsets in the crank that were later introduced. (That little engine has gone from 110 hp and shaking like it was in front of a firing squad all the way to 205 hp as a normally-aspirated product...what a chronology).

Edited April 3, 2007 by trinacriabob

[caddycruiser]

Really. If I couldn't hear my engine, I'd go bonkers.

Very much agreed, and driving something that's like a fridge makes me crazy. That said, I've been in and driven several different 3.8L cars over the years, and actually very much like that characteristic slight to moderate growl, that's just it's nature because of the pushrod and old design. It's fun, and helps the torquey character, but is still extremely smooth and in most cases VERY refined and even mellow sounding.

What I, at least, was referring to in the Lucerne--which yes, is a very well insulated and silent car overall indeed--was that, the same stump pulling character was there, but from a stop, the first few seconds were the sound like there was a hole in the exhaust and/or no firewall insulation. It just struck me as odd, because even almost semi floored in an Intrigue and a few older LeSabres, I never felt and heard the same gritty growl--they just sounded very smooth and were more of a purr. Still, not bad, but just really seemed odd to me, and especially now that others have mentioned something similar.

Not that I didn't get used to it after 10 minutes, and actually enjoy it a bit, but just how it would be a gutteral rumble for the first few seconds then immediately mellow to almost nothing was strange. The first time I took off I thought something might have been wrong or that it had just been sitting for too long, but it stayed the same for my total 45 minutes of driving.

So I'm not really sure what it is, or if it really is just a hit and miss issue that some notice, but it's worth mentioning at least out of curiosity.

Edited April 4, 2007 by caddycruiser

[LucerneOwner]

EUREKA & WUNDERBAR -- IT'S FIXED!!! Thank you ALL, especially ponchoman49, Sajeev Mehta and others who have been so informative and/or supportive during this C&G Forum topic in my hoped-for clarification of annoying engine growl/noise problems in my 2006 LUCERNE CX. I started out wondering if I was alone in my particular disappointment in this car, and not being very knowledgable generally in this subject matter. After these 50+ posts and a little additional research, I was much better able to articulate my dissatisfaction to my dealer, and with more confidence from understanding and knowing I was not alone. I was also somewhat lucky, in that there is now a new service manager there, who intervened (after my regular service advisor brushed me off in this third visit for the same problems), and decided to have his best technician revisit the situation. Well, unlike the previous go-around, this guy was just what the doctor ordered -- knew right away what I was complaining about, and said he had some ideas for a solution. Both he and the manager were gone by the time I picked up the car, but he managed very significant improvement in BOTH situations: (1) brief growl/shudder accelerating from a stop, and (2) excessive engine noise in the cabin at all speeds when accelerating. I called back this morning to give my thanks & positive feedback and find out what they did. Here's what I THINK he said: there's apparently an adjustable strap that limits how much the engine can 'rock' on the mounts during acceleration. If it rocks too far, then both problems (1) & (2) above can occur, in part because too much resulting angle on the exhaust can cause contact (with something). It's amazing how much improvement a half-inch adjustment of that strap made. I think this Forum has achieved one of its primary purposes, namely, to educate and give better insight into complex car problems. Another lesson, is NOT to give up when you believe something is just not right, and the service manager thanked me for that instead of just going away as a disgruntled customer. Thanks again to all, as my CX is now quiet enuf to satisfy even a persnickity quiet-freak like me ... no, it's not perfect, but I never said it had to be.

Edited April 9, 2007 by LucerneOwner