29th May 2007, 06:50

Regarding jerky shifting I'd had the same problem on mine twice. Bad solenoid both times and partly a loose wiring. Seem that the solenoids get out of sync or something. A solenoid is simply an electrically controlled valve controlled by the shifting electronics. Why do they last for such a short time on this car. These should last the lifetime of the car. It's not a wear item.

Anyone else have diagnosed their shifting problems. Anyone having the same solenoid problem?

31st May 2007, 11:32

I also have a 2000 Buick Century and just started experiencing the intermittent transmission hiccups at about 80k miles. An engine restart usually takes care of it.

Is this something that will cause the transmission to fail at some point? or just annoying?

I also am having an issue with the heating/cooling system either being on high or off... no in-between...

20th Jun 2007, 20:50

My husband and I bought his mother's 2000 Buick Century, and it has been a nightmare ever since.

We have had nothing but electrical problem after electrical problem. She had the car for five years, and not one problem with it at all, and then we bought it, and it was all down hill ever since then.

Two years later, we have fixed all the windows and now the passenger door lock has gone out, and now the head lights go off and on, and the only way to get them to stay on is to turn on the high beams.

I will never buy another American made car; my next car will definitely be a Toyota.

I hate to say that I won't buy an American made car, but I need something that is built to last, and American made cars just cannot stand up to the other cars that are not American made.

26th Jun 2007, 08:16

We, too bought our 2000 Century after consulting a reputable consumer magazine. Upon purchasing we noticed a hard shift and called the person we bought it from. He agreed to pay half of the bill for a new solenoid. Three years later we have experienced the same problem and have just footed the bill for a complete re-build of our transmission. Now, the air conditioner no longer cools. I will also call the number and will write a letter to Buick, along with a copy of my bill asking to be reimbursed. With GM cutting salaries of unionized workers by almost one half, they should be able to fix these problems now.

5th Jul 2007, 11:41

My 2000 Buick Century now (100,000 miles) has the same transmission problem (intermittent whining/ hard shifting). I'm relatively happy with my car, but I do have a question. Do I need to change the transmission solenoid valve to avoid catastrophic failure, or can I survive for a long (albeit indefinite) time with the intermittent problem being solved by shutdown and restarts??

By the way, it seems from the previous notes, the transmission may be a symptom, not the problem. The computer telling the solenoid what to do may be the real problem. Has anyone had a computer change or update? Did it solve the symptom? How much does that cost?

9th Jul 2007, 15:25

Ditto, 2000 Buick Century, 56,xxx miles and hard shifting. I was recently quoted around $2,000 to rebuild the transmission and the mechanic told me "do not drive it in this condition". Little did he know it's been doing this for over a year before he told me this. He claimed it has a "Pressure Leak" but did give me that same code I saw on the previous page. (P1811)

11th Jul 2007, 22:30

We also have a 2000 Buick Century. I just found another website suggesting that a GM transmission has a history of the Torque Converter Clutch relay or apply valve sticking when hot causing a harsh shift condition. A company called Sonnax makes a replacement valve and kit to fix this condition. Has anyone tried this replacement kit with success? It sounds cheaper than having the transmission worked on.

12th Jul 2007, 18:06

I Have a 95 buick park ave. It's isn't plagued with the valve problem like the later GM vehicles. It has 122,000 miles on it and 108,000 when I got it. It was smooth when I first got it, but then it started to shift hard from 1st to 2nd gear. But about 2 weeks ago On my way home from work I took it up to 90-95mph (I'm 19) for about 5-10 minutes. Ever since then It has been shifting smoothly through all the gears. I don't know much about transmission so I guess in theory the pressure of the tran. oil at that speed cleared up the valves. Whatever the case my car drives like a new car.

17th Jul 2007, 22:44

Follow up to former post: I called GM customer service where I was barely able to understand that GM would not be able to help me out with the two replaced solenoids. I then contacted the Attorney General. GM contacted me and after a couple of days I was once again told that GM would not reimburse me for the repairs. The representative told me that there were currently no recalls, but that, since mine was not the only complaint about the faulty solenoid, I should keep my receipts just in case there is a future recall. I'll keep them, but I won't hold my breath.

25th Jul 2007, 10:01

I am glad I found this site as well. I have a 2000 Buick Century with 85k miles. We bought the car used with about 55k miles on it. When we bought it from the dealership the tranny would shift hard every once in a while. The dealership "couldn't find a problem." After the warranty was up the transmission began to shutter when shifting. I took it back to the dealership and they want to charge me almost $3k to replace the whole thing! Is there another way to get this taken care of?

12th Aug 2007, 12:51

Sadly I do have to add to this list; my 1999 Buick regal LS also does the hard shifting. I am getting the solenoid replaced soon! Has anyone found if it is bad to drive the car in the condition. When mine starts acting up I get annoyed and gun the car... I am sure that's not good on it. Oh well! What are ya gonna do!?

22nd Aug 2007, 11:04

Interesting site and interesting string regarding the same problem I seem to be having. I too have a Century 2000 and a few weeks back had a whining sound with some hard shifting. The problem went away by the next morning, however has resurfaced (the whining not the hard shifting). Not a mechanic, but an engineer, I am trying to diagnose the problem. It appears the whining problem only happens when I am in the D position in my automatic, if I drop it to 3rd gear, no problem. Ironically I have the heater knob problem as well and it has happened within the same time period. Otherwise with 105,000 miles I can't complain about the car. I would be interested to know what the ramifications are of driving with the whine. I may just put up with it, but would prefer to have it fixed.