Exhaust work on a Buick Lacrosse (W-body)

[Vlad2]

Hello,
One thing I haven’t done too much of is exhaust work.. I have a leak at the downpipe on my Buick with a 3800 series in it. (unless its the exhuast manifold, but I am 95% sure its the downpipe after being under it tonight) I can do the work, but here is the rub… I am a large guy, and I can get under the car to get the 2 bolts off from the exhaust manifold/headers to the downpipe/cat. But the bolts to the resonator is right in the middle of the car. Something a “fat body” like me can’t reach while the car in just on front jack stands. Its a rust belt car so that means extra fun with the bolts in the middle.

My question here is, I know its a bad idea to jack up one side of a car with jack stands if you are working under it. But what about jacking up the car and having it on 4 jack stands? Is this safe?

I just don’t feel having the local paper say “death by Buick..”

any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Topic

[college man]

You can have the car on 4 jack stands and the car off the ground.
Just place the stands under the frame. How about car ramps?

[Stephen Bowen]

I get the feeling ramps might not be enough. I’m not being disrespectful, I’m 6′ and until recently 360lbs. (down to 289 now.) Still in “Shape” if you consider “Round” to be a shape.

I’m thinking maybe ramps in the back at the rear wheels. Use extreme caution however when you jack the front end up! If you have a normal garage type floor jack, the jack will have to roll forward/back when going up/down. If it moves freely on your work surface–it’s much safer. Otherwise things get tipsy.

If you can get the front end off the ground enough, rear end on ramps? Should be able to manage the clamp/pipe. Being it’s a rust belt car? (Upstate NY here…Where rust is both a Verb and a Noun.) Expect to have a fight on your hands to separate things.

4 stands holding the car up is safe. Just make sure it’s under a sturdy point. Once all 4 corners are up and off the ground? Give the car a shake on all 4 corners to ensure it’s stable. Yes it will be a really rotten day if the car falls off the stands. But even more so if you’re under it.

S-

[EricTheCarGuy]

I understand where you’re coming from. I don’t think access will be your only issue however. Anytime you work with exhaust it’s good to have a torch handy. Rusty exhaust bolts don’t come loose otherwise. That said, you can do either. You can lift it up on 4 stout jack stands, or you can just raise one side of the vehicle. I’ve done both. As long as you’re secure on good jack stands, you should be fine. I don’t recommend using a creeper. That will actually take up some of your clearance. I think it’s much better to just use a piece of cardboard as that gives you the most clearance and leverage when you’re working in that situation.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[Vlad2]

Thanks everyone, I am going to try the 4 jack stand method. and put the tires under the car of assurance. I will definitely be using the “heat wrench” as we call it to get the bolts lose. 🙂

I’ll let you all know how it goes.

[Vlad2]

So, got the 2 bolts off the exhaust manifold off, actually got them from up top since I figured I should change out the back valve cover gasket while I have it in the garage (They moved the EGR stuff to a bracket on top of the rear valve cover on 3800 Series III, so I was hesitant to move it as those flex pipes don’t like being flexed when they are old. But its leaking out out of the valve cover, this is a known issue. Idid the front a year ago which is much easier.

On w bodies, you can take out the bolts on the 2 front dog bones, rock the engine forward and use the one bolt to hold it forward using a 2nd bolt hole, giving you decent room in the back for plug changes and such.

Then I went to the bolts connecting the cat/downpipe to the resonator. The bottom one came out easy after sitting for 24 hours with penetrating oil on it and a lot of heat. Figured the one that mounted in a position that is higher would be easier to remove. Wrong.. It is a 14 mm nut, that a 13 mm socket spins on. 12 mm won’t grip much either. So I am going to get a nut cracker tomorrow. If the nut cracker won’t work, that side will just get cut off / drilled out and a bolt will be used.

The O2 sensor is pretty much fused in there, and it bent when I tried to remove it. So I am going to disconnect it and just cut off the end. I have a replacement one laying around, it just needs the connector soildered on to it. Hopefully I’ll get this done tomorrow.

[Vlad2]

The combo of the nut cracker and a one of those nut removers that as they turn they dig into the nut or bolt and turn it got the one bolt out with a lot of heat, the other side just came out easy.

So its back together and running like a champ. Cutting the connector off the old O2 and soldiering it onto a spare O2 sensor worked, no idiot lights. Checked it for leaks too and had one, just had to crank on the nut with a breaker bar and it was gone (kinda bent the stud a bit). So its off and running and quiet.

Also, got most of the Dex-cool out of the engine too while I had it in the air and cleared the heater core out and didn’t get any Dex-Cool clumps out so that should be good for the winter. 🙂

[EricTheCarGuy]

Sounds like good times. Thanks for the updates and for using the ETCG forum. BTW I did a video on that engine trick.

[Vlad2]

Thanks.

What is nice about the 3800 is just undo the 2 front dog bones as you said. But the one on the left has a 2nd hole. Using the lift bracket on the back put some rope (I use webbing) and pull the engine toward the front, then slide the bolt through the top hole and the dog bone. It gives a ton of room back there. I actually reached the back manifold bolts there. Changing plugs is a breeze.

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