Top 5 Problems Buick LaCrosse Sedan 2nd Generation 2010-16

In this video, we're gonna be going over the top five problems on this second-generation Buick LaCrosse.

Now, there's nothing wrong with this car as far as owning it or buying it. All cars have their problems. These are the top five that we have found.

Number one, cold start misfire. Because most modern-day vehicles have direct injection where the fuel injector directs the fuel directly into the cylinder, it doesn't pass the valves. Now, because of that, you're gonna get carbon buildup on the valves. And when that happens, you'll get a check engine light. When you start the vehicle and it's cold out, you'll get some rumbling in the engine, and a misfire.

The way to repair this is to do a top engine decarbon. Now, with the vehicle running, pop off one of these hoses, either over here or over here, that leads into the intake and you use a special cleaning chemical that goes in there. Most of the time you have a special tool, so it doesn't dump too much chemical in there. While the engine's running, you can rev it up. Let that chemical coat the valves, and then you gotta let this vehicle sit for a while mostly, an hour and a half to two hours. And then, after that, you drive the car like you stole it. Get all that bad carbon off the valves and you should be good to go.

Now, the higher RPMs is gonna heat up those valves a lot quicker, get some of that carbon to break off and go through the system. Now, in extreme cases, you may have to pull the intake off and use walnut shells in a sandblaster, but that's a lot more work, probably something you don't want to get into.

Number two, timing chains. Now, the timing chains are in the front of the motor, internal. They connect the bottom of the motor to the top of the motor. So, the crankshaft is spinning, and it is gonna synchronize the camshafts.

Now, your timing chains are lubricated with oil, and there's guides and there's tensioners in there. And over time, they're gonna stretch and wear out. But if you change your oil regularly, and keep it up to par, they'll last longer. Now, you may not even notice anything drivability-wise. You may just notice a check engine light come on with different timing chain type codes. And in some cases, you'll have a rattle in the front of the engine.
Number three, throttle body assembly. Now, you may notice a check engine light with a code P2135. That's a throttle body issue correlation code. Basically, there's a sensor in here, and there's two sensors, and they need to line up properly. And when they don't line up, when they're out of sync, that sets that code and gives you that issue.

Now, you always want to check the wiring and the connector. But most of the time, it's internal to the sensor itself. These sensors sometimes are replaceable separate, but most of the time it's just easier to replace the whole throttle body. And cleaning the throttle body isn't gonna fix the condition. It's a circuit, internal, problem.

Number four, wheel speed sensor issues. Here's the wheel speed sensor. This one's for one of the front ones. Now, it goes through the knuckle right there, and it's gonna read a ring on the hub itself, and the wire comes off here and goes up. Now, there's a lot of flex in the wire, and over time it may break internally, so the only way to fix that is to replace the sensor itself. And also, the ring that's on the hub, if you can see that it's moving right there, a lot of times that will break. They'll crack, and then parts of that will fall off, so there will be a break in the signal. When that happens, then you're gonna get your your ABS light come on with an ABS code, and the only way to fix that is to replace the hub bearing.

Number five, the door latches. What specifically fails on the door latch is the actuator. So, you go to unlock or lock your vehicle and you'll find that it won't actually unlock that specific door. It'll open other doors, but not that one. Hopefully, you can use the key and unlock it. The actuator is part of that door latch assembly, and you have to replace the whole assembly. In the event that you can get them separate, you still have to take the latch assembly out to replace just the actuator.

So, those are the top five problems that we have found with this Buick LaCrosse. If you enjoyed this video, make sure you subscribe to our channel, ring that bell, and turn on all notifications so you don't miss any of our videos.