1986 lesabre......tell me what there is to know :bglasses: fwd? rwd? anything will be a help, i may go to look at one and want to know a few things to see if its for me and i know nothing.... even some pics would be greatly appreciated :TU: thanks
Warning!!! The 86 Lesabre is FWD, with the 3.8 engine. Now the 3.8 seems excellent in all those GN's and hot cars owned by those who care for them correctly. But an 86 LeSabre stands a good chance of being someone's idea of a disposable car, and perhaps not maintained too well. Here's a real life experience. My son bought an 87 Electra t type which was knocking. It had roughly 160K on the clock and we weren't too concerned because he had an excellent running 88 Electra where the body had rotted through in the front A pillar door jambs and with a lot of electrical problems. First we find out the engines were not a direct swap. Then we find what looked like a well maintained 86 LeSabre in the wrecking yard, which had been front-ended. The engine still spun, and the damaged radiator was not near the motor, so we took a chance and brought it home. Figuring he wanted to keep this car a long time, we put in a new lower end bearing set, a new timing chain and gear, and dropped it in. The car ran for 30 days, and then spun a bearing. Now perhaps I did something wrong in the install, but whatever, it crapped out in January in upstate NY, a fine time to be considering an engine job. So the boy goes back to the yard where they felt sorry for him and they direct him to another 86 Electra where they have the motor running. He buys it and then finds out the motor has 170K on it. This time, we said , if it's running, leave it alone. We dropped it in. He ran the car to 250K and since it was leaking gas plus showing the sign of that A pillar rot, he got another car and parked the t type thinking he'd get back to it, but no go. After 4 months it would not start again, and away it went. The moral of this lengthy story is be very careful on this purchase. If it was maintained well, it'll last a life-time. If it's not, good luck. also look for that tell tale rotting in the A pillars and if a 2 door, in the door jamb where the latch bolt is. A common weakness, especially in the NorthEast Happy motoring!
