Starting the Old Cold Forgotten Buick 

That 3.8L V6 was one of the best engines GM ever made. Powerful, yet fuel-efficient. Really enjoyed that engine in an '86 Olds Delta 88 that I used to own.

I first watched this video in 2010. Had to see it again after it’s been so long.

You just can't beat General Motors. Best cars on the planet.

I love your videos. The way you have the camera positioned the whole time REALLY puts the viewer in the FOV and same perspective you have. Good editing too. I was more excited as if I was really there with your commentaries than actually seeing the car start with over 250K on the dash!!!!

You know, its magic to hear that sound and see all lights blinking on the dashboard. Its life, trying to come back from the beyond! Awesome! Thanks for sharing it, dude!

The inside of your trunk looks like the back room of our IT-department.

I have an 1988 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale, and she has the same problems. I love her to death, because she was one of the last true American cars

that kickdown when you were accelerating was amazing!, its pretty damn fast for 165HP (the torque probably helped)

I remember watching this on my Windows Xp laptop in 2007. I was in middle school! I'm 28 now and this makes me feel so old. It was nice to look back on the days of Bill & the Key Keeper the way I have always remembered them! Funny, this Buick to this day might be old & cold, but it is likely one of the least forgotten of them all.

OS/2 operating system rocks dude.

Man what a sweet ride! I love LeSabres my folks used to have a 2001 until it was wrecked. I love Caprices too. The generation that ended in 90 and also the 91-96 too.

I love videos like this! Warms my heart seeing a forgotten old car come back to life. Blasting "The Candyman" at the end really makes this video

Kind of funny to think, I first watched this video when it first came out (I'm 21 now, to clarify). Back then this would've been just a junk car that you'd /expect/ to see parked on the side of the road and forgotten about. Nowadays, they're sort of a rare commodity. Never would've really thought about the possibility of this becoming a classic car, the times they are a-changin. Meanwhile, I'm driving a trashy little 08 Aveo from when this video came out and want one of these for my own. ;)

I have a '91 LeSabre with the 3.8. I've had it for two years now, had over 200,000 miles on it when I got it. Changed the plugs. wires, and air filter and it started and ran like a top during some of the coldest winter mornings (negative double digits). I still need to change the fuel filters but it still runs silky smooth. The "Service Engine Soon" light is on on mine too (2 sensors out). I like your videos, very interesting. Please keep posting them!

My dad and my uncle were big fans of these cars and they were the best ones that they could ever own in all their entire life.

I still watch this all these years later lol. I remember showin my buddies this once a few years back and we still get a kick out of the excitement of this old car firing up. I think I mentioned this once before but honest to god, for my sake, the best thing that ever come out of gm was their 3800 V6s.

You do very well bill. Keep up the good work. I am a fan. You are a great speaker. Very articulate and knowledgable with circuitry. I am studying electronics now.

Recommended after 12 years lol

you can go over 300'000 miles without any trouble with these 3.8 engines, they're (will never say it enouth)ones of the best engines ever. A friend of mine's got a '91 Bonneville which has the same engine and it's got 320'000 miles and the only thing he did was fill the clim compresser again.

and I'm sure they can go even farther away... I love these engines !

I thought this was a comedy sketch at first. Funny and interesting. Bravo!

Always good to rev the engine when first starting after it hasn't run in who knows how long.

BONG BONG BONG BONG. Oh my god that must drive people in America mad, every time I see a starting video in the US is BONG BONG BONG BONG when you put the keys in

Glad to know I'm not the only one with car manuals and OS/2 in my trunk!

GM 3800, damn fine engine. I have one in my 1988 Oldsmobile Toronado with 140k, still runs like a dream even after a high speed wreck

Cant blame the car for the bad battery. Buick is one of the best cars you can ever get. My 92 park ave had 276000 and still ran like it was new never burned oil leak anything and always started.

Nice find for a freebie!!You may want to address that power steering issue PRONTO to avoid long term tricep damage.I drove a '78 LTD with no power steering for almost two years.You had to really plan ahead to park anywhere.Those old GMs will run forever, just keep 'em fed (oil and antifreeze).Keep us updated on the progress of this vehicle!!

Cant blame the car for the bad battery. Buick is one of the best cars you can ever get. My 92 park ave had 276000 and still ran like it was new never burned oil leak anything and always started. it had the 3800 to. Those are 400k mile engines. My nephew has a van with a 3800 and has 363000 miles and still runs great

I love the sound of those old staticky speakers...nothing like it... sooooo nostalgic... brings me back to 1994 :')

That was the most satisfying cold start

We had a lot of these cars in our family. We had a nice red one since it was new, think it was from the early 90's late 80's, had nice red seats, anyway it was parked in 2006 when my great grandma could not drive anymore and refused to sell her. Sat behind her garage since 2011. She started up and ran like the day it did when we parked it. Just didn't have any brakes.

If Johnny Cash never sang a sad song about an old, cold, nearly forgotten or dead Buick, well - he should have. Or perhaps Willie Nelson. The best thing about getting a car for free is you got your money's worth out of it by now. Happy thoughts, smooth sailing and good luck with that beast.

I love the part where you are going 80 while listening to 'the candyman'.

That GM 3.8L is a near bulletproof. There’s very little to cause real issues. Minimum amount of electronics outside of their fuel injector systems.

makes me reminisce on my 1986 Buick Century, loved that little car even if it did have the iron duke in it, kinda makes me want another one

Bill, you are the man! What great commentary. Great car, too.

I miss this car! This is the video that brought me to the channel years ago :)

Holy shit, the old devices in the back of your car are worth more then the car itself!

That thing moves along very well.

I've always loved how the 3800 in my '04 LeSabre sounds.

This vid takes me back to the days before I replaced my ignition coil on my 89 LeSabre.

This was a Fancy Car in it's Day.. I hope you fix it up and the old Girl Running.

Good stuff. Those old 80's+ GM stuff is bulletproof usually. Mines got 270,000 too!

This was the first video of yours I ever saw, and I clearly remember that I lived in Florida when I saw it... :) How've you been, William?

Awesome! I have been trying to start an old Scimitar GTE today (I'm British, so you might not recognise car) that's been parked up for about 8 years... Hoping I have similar luck to you to see it back on the road!

I'm amazed that you didn't stop immediately and rush to install that OS/2 in the trunk of the red car....

2.8 3.1 and the 3800...Best GM V6 engines built

GMs, such great vehicles. You just can't kill them!

1:23 I thought I was the only one that kept vintage computer stuff in my unused cars!

I remember this from when I was a child

love it how they remind you its a Buick under the hood, if i break down on the side of the road and see that.... i would be thinking, "should have bought that Chevrolet" ;)

5:32 "Crap smokin on the manifold and power steering is putting out a halatious racket!" lol this gut sound like Hank Hill :)

Didnt think it would even start let alone drive seeing as the fuel in the tank was that old it may have gone off. At least its driveable and resorable. I have a `48 two door Dodge with the Fluid Drive gearbox and a four door Chrysler New Yorker. Both cars live in Western Australia and out of the humidity and damp salt air.

That 3.8 3800 V6 was one of the best, durable engines of that time period. It was made for a very long time. The engine started in the "Buick Special" in 1961 and was made continuously until 2008 for the Pontiac Grand Prix, Buick LaCrosse and Buick Lucerne. Overhead camshafts were redesigned in 1977 and many changes occurred during its life, but with only 208 horsepower on the standard engine, its time was over with the advent of direct injection. Even with supercharging this engine could not do more than 240 horsepower. The new GM direct injection engine design made over 280 when it started and now makes over 310 horsepower today seen in Buick, Cadillac, and Chevy Models. GM's Ecotec 2.0 liter turbo engine made 210 horsepower back in 2003, so this was far from an advanced engine in its late years.

its fun to see these old cars start up

When you made this. Your Silverado was brand new.

You sound like my uncle, he has a yard full of 1980s-1990s cars he's selling for $500 a car.

ah ok. thanks for the info. yeha i noticed u turned ur radio off in ur car. jjst curious, what happens when u leave the radio on?

Replace the battery, Power steering lines, fix the seat, replace missing cat converter, and a good tune up and this car will still run another 100k easy. $500 in parts and this puppy will keep going. GM never built a better motor than the 3800. To this day.

Those Series I 3800s were really built to last; I had one with about 165,000 miles that ran great, when she decided to start (neutral safety switch issue I think). I own a car with the Series II now. The earlier one was better in a way. Less power but that's probably why it's more durable. I prefer a reliable V8 either way. I've had good luck with Ford's 5L and 4.6L V8s.

From what i understand. An alternator doesn't vary all that much in output, no matter what the RPM. A DC generator on the other hand does. Which is why they switched from DC generators, to alternators. Because the DC generators of the time couldn't keep up with the increasing load of the (then) new cars, at the speeds they were being driven.

Oh how time has flown. The old cold forgotten Buick is gone, the Reliant is gone, the S10 is gone, and the truck you now have was essentially brand new when this was filmed.

The handy candy man can start ur car because he makes the world taste good.

at 6:17 "brakes are always good to have" Yea but going down the highway at 90 not being able to stop is always fun, especially when you can see the look on the passenger's faces in the car

we had the rear wheel drive version of that engine in Australia until 2004

That is not a piece of junk it just needs a lot of TLC

Hell she scoots along pretty good yet! I hope my 2006 Grand Prix 3800 NA runs that good when its that car's age!

3800,s are legendary... I sold one with 217,000 miles and the guy is still running it from San Antonio to houston

nice. my dad gave me his buick park avenue 1968 electra. its been sitting ina garage, concrete floor, im pretty its heat ( he sotrd it at a friends) and its been siting their for almost 5 years. what should i do befor ei try t strat it?

what happened to the electronic controls? i jsut noticed that lol

The speedometer in this reminds me of the one in my 1984 oldsmobile 98 regency brougham

That has to be the world's best out look on life that I've EVER seen. I could use some lessons, btw great video! some minor fixes and that will be a great car.

My 71 yr old father in law has one of these same year but it's so hard to start

ah ok. thanks man. i appreciate u for helping me. hows ur buick so far?

the music fits the car so well lol

so it wouldnt matter (just to get it running) if i changed the oil or not. is that what u ment?

Seems like it ran quite well considering it's circumstances!

lol surprised the old guy didnt have a heart attack when he got so exited..

hey man, i heard jump starting a car like yours may screw up the computer casue a surge may happen , etc. is this true?

very brave test drive there

To answer the question when did they start making the supercharged 3800 I believe that was when they redid the park Avenue for 1991. It was the ultra.

hey man. i have a 1986 buick park avenue. i got it from my dad casue he passed away earlier this year. its been sitting in his friends garage for like, about 5 years now and im pretty sur ehe hasnt started it once. when i get my licence, i think i wan tto drive it, but, after 5 years, will it work and, their anythign should do before trying to start it? thanks man.

This is a touching story.

hey man, how long has ur buick been sitting before u tried t o start it?>

oh, uh, noe mroe thing to add man, when i was little, i rmeber when ym dad started the buick up, their was a light that poped up int he dashboard that said "service engine", whats that mean?

anyone else notice the OS/2 book & old-style keyboard in the red car's trunk?

hey, thanks for the fast reply lol. umm, yeha the battery is probaly DEAD, before purchasing a new battery, is it alright to jump start it like u did in the video? anywyas, right now, im planning for, fiorst, to get it running lol. all the fluids are still in it, just o get it atleats running, would changing jsut the oil be fine? oh, i forgot, the gas. gas sitting for about 5 years. still usable? thanks again man. my dream this year is to get my dads old car to runn agahin lol

instead of keeping the key keeper in the car put him in the brown truck and rev up the engine. it increases the power flow to the battery from the jumper cables. it works with me :)

We need more guys like you

is it better to use a used battery or jump strat the car with a dead battery in it (so i dont have to spend money on only seeing if the car runs or not lol)

the lectronic climate control was an "option" for all models. i was reading over the manul on my car and it said that lol, which oculd explain why some park aves have manual ones.

Did you have the engine running in the the booster vehicle? I could not hear any other engine running in the background. When you have the engine running in the booster car, it gives you more juice, than if you don't have it's engine running.

hahaha LeRoy Brown was playing at the end, love it

Damn shame videos like this would only have maybe a couple K views nowadays, back in the day when RU-vid was just walking. 2007 :(

when your jump starting a car you should also hook the earth up to the engine instead of the battery so you minimise the risk of damaging circuits or if for some reason you have to use the battery then turn your lights on

ah yes the good old reliable Buick, I personally have a 05 Buick Lesabre Limited that I bought brand new my second year out of college and she has well over 200,000 miles I took the picture at exactly 200,000 a year ago and I've never had any major problems with it but it just goes to show a good American made car will run forever

Not mine. I still drive my 1991 Nissan with 221,700 miles. She IS going rusty, though. Still the GM 3.8 was a great engine. Glad you finally got her running.

Wow .... now that's what I'm talkin' about!!!

Speaking of power steering, my spare car feels like driving a car that doesn't have power steering, and feels like The Beverly Hillbillies 1922 Oldsmobile without brakes. My main car has the Check Engine light on, rough idle, sometimes hard starts, and stalls. Auto zone says the car needs a tune up. Hopefully it's the spark plugs since I just replaced the engine air filter, cleaned the MAF sensor, and put in complete fuel system cleaner, new fuel filter, and cabin air filter. My car has 91,812 original miles on it, and I replaced the filter and cleaned the MAF sensor at 91,811.8 miles. After I cleaned the MAF sensor, the car still has a rough idle (was really rough up to a point when the car was fluttering: idle RPM going up and down, repeating a few times, and stalled.

back in old 2007 I remember the old days