Yep, those gaskets were gone. however, changing the coolant will not correct that problem. The real problem is a design flaw in the gasket. Aluminum framed gaskets is what corrects this problem for good.

so now what....tear it back down ????

Did you use OEM gaskets? Your good for a while, the stock ones lasted how long? The new ones should last abut as long. I used OEMs on mine because I knew I was tearing it down again in a year. And after one year with green coolant I found the gaskets just starting to fail.

One year, unreal !! I made a mistake the date code on my upper was 2003 not 2005, the dealer did it in 2005 and I believe they did the lower at the same time. The previous owner had this car to the dealer 41 times bfore I bought it for oil chgs, coolant flush, tranny service, etc

So when I got it the coolant had been chgd but I flushed it and took the Dex out . It is spotless clean but you say that doesnt matter....

Now IF they did the lowers when they did the upper its been almost 5 yrs and 120k.

So do I even dare drive this thing .... Or is it something that starts loosing slowly then keeps getting worse

Total LIM gasket failure is a myth brought on by a few alarmist people. UIM failure is far more likely. The lowers tend to seep and you will find a bit of foam in the oil, not saying they shouldn't be changed, but your not going to kill your engine. When you do them use aluminum gaskets and your set for life. To prevent the uppers for going again, I say seal off the coolant ports that go to the throttle body and your set for life there as well.

Your symptoms will be exactly the same as they were with this current issue. It will start small and gradually get worse. You'll notice a loss of coolant, and then it will start to heat up.

If you have the time, you can change them out as preventative maintenance. You've already taken apart the top end once, so it should be fairly simple to take it off again. Add about 1-1.5 hours on top of that to change the LIM gaskets. I didn't realize that it had been so long since the job was done the first time.

will GM cover any of these repairs ?? If its their fault they should no ??

They should, but will they? No. I've been there, done that. Tried to get them to cover some of the repairs on the Bonneville, like the leaking oil cooler lines that every single Bonneville GXP has had due to a faulty design, but I have learned that there is absolutely no goodwill left in GM. Its all business, and if it isn't under warranty, you're out of luck.

So...when i replace this car what should I get to have the least amt of rouble ?? Are the newer Lucerens good ?

What year did the Lesabre or Park Ave chg both the lower and upper intake problems so they are not a woory or didnt they ?

They changed it starting 2006. In 2006, the 3800 naturally aspirated engine came with an aluminum upper intake manifold.

Depending on your budget, keep an eye on the new Regals coming out, or the 2010 Lacrosse. They're both two excellent cars if you want to stick to buick. Otherwise, used Cadillacs like the CTS and STS around 2005/2006 are also very good cars and with low mileage are now well within a $15k price range.