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I have a 90' 3.1 liter chevrolet and hearing from you folks say I have the better of the blocks puts me at ease, it only leaks a little from the gasket too. A problem I'll soon address, however my issue is the timing chain. It broke and I'm wondering if I need ( or can find) an upgrade chain. Anybody think I may have screwed up the cam shaft?
I have a '93 Olds Cutlass Supreme. It's in the shop now, so I can't remember if it has a 3.1 or 3.4L V-6.
Anyways, are these one of the worst engines from GM? I haven't talked to anyone that has one that didn't leak a ton of oil - mine leaks about a quart of oil every ~250 miles/1 week. Because of the way the engine is placed, it's actually more cost effective to just keep putting oil in it than spending $800+ to get it fixed.
Now, I'm leaking water and coolant like crazy. It's coming from the intake manifold, so it's too expensive to fix ($1,000). I only paid $1,300 for the car back in 2000! I think it's getting time to give this car to my brother since he can actually fix it himself and use it.
Anyone else have a similar model or experience?
I had a 1990 Cutlass Supreme with the 3.1. I ran it up to over 300,000 miles without doing anything to the drivetrain. I would have kept driving it had it not been so rusty and (thanks to some teenage sons) dented up.
Your oil leak is likely due to a 50 cent O-Ring where the distributor was in those engine blocks. The problem is that it's under all kinds of intake stuff, and the labor to replace it is about $500.
The faulty intake manifold gasket (another extremely cheap part that's extremely expensive to fix) was a given during the mid-90s. It is a perfect example of why so many people grew to hate GM. They knew it was a major problem, but in their arrogance they kept installing the same gaskets for years. Idiots...
That said, if you actually have the 3.4 (which I doubt), you'd be facing a whole different set of problems.
I know a man with a Cutlass Supreme 4dr that has the 3.4L DOHC engine. He bought it new and babies it, so it still looks like new. Not sure how good mechanically it is.
I had a 1994 Chevrolet Lumina with the 3.1L. The engine was perfect. I never leaked or burned any oil and it had 194K when I sold it. It had been a telephone company car, so I am sure it was super well maintained.... may have had something to do with it.
I had a 1991 Camaro with the 3.1L V6. Again, good engine and transmission, but the car had been totalled before and I didnt know it... only had 28K, this was in 1995, so it was an OK car.
I have a 90' 3.1 liter chevrolet and hearing from you folks say I have the better of the blocks puts me at ease, it only leaks a little from the gasket too. A problem I'll soon address, however my issue is the timing chain. It broke and I'm wondering if I need ( or can find) an upgrade chain. Anybody think I may have screwed up the cam shaft?
I'm guessing you have a 3.1L Camaro. Good ol' iron heads and block, but the heads flow like junk.
Anyway, since the chain is bye-bye, you probably hit valves and pistons together and need an engine.
Ah, memories. Mom's first new car was a 1991 v6 Camaro. Wonder where that car went...it was still around Brazoria County, TX, last I checked.
I think the earlier 90s vee-engines had asbestos in the gaskets and that was outlawed around that time, hence the crummy intake gaskets from GM ever since...well, other than GM being GM and never updating their product in that regard.
Thats what I had... 1991 Camaro RS with the 3.1L. I bought it in 1995 and it had 22K miles. I paid $7400 CASH (my life savings) and like a fool, I didnt have it checked by a mechanic (I was 19 and foolish). The suprise was that I found out it had been totalled and the POs BF had the title "washed". Further research on my end, we found out the person that crashed in the car... died in it. The car had been welded back together. I drove it until January of 1997 when it had 49K miles. I sold it and TOLD the buyer it had been crashed before... he didnt mind since he only paid $2900 for the car. I sold it to a local guy, but I never saw the car again.... Lord only knows where it is now. Probably ended up in a junk yard.
Biggest loss I have ever suffered.
Bottom line is that if you pay alot of $ for a used car... have it checked out by a reputable mechanic!
Quote:
Originally Posted by AlfredB1979
Ah, memories. Mom's first new car was a 1991 v6 Camaro. Wonder where that car went...it was still around Brazoria County, TX, last I checked.
I was working on putting a gasket in my 1995 Pontiac Grand-Am and my son in law took the push rods out and did not put them in the order that they came out. Now I need some one to help me find the order that they go in my wife is in need of having her car back
I was working on putting a gasket in my 1995 Pontiac Grand-Am and my son in law took the push rods out and did not put them in the order that they came out. Now I need some one to help me find the order that they go in my wife is in need of having her car back
Although the ideal situation is to put the pushrods back with the same cylinder they came out of, it's not the end of the world if they get mixed up.
The longer pushrods go to the exhaust valves, the ones closest to the exhaust port in the head and the short ones to the intake valves.
The rocker arms have to be torqued and then tightened an additional 30 degrees.
Torque is 124 in lbs plus 30 degrees
Intake torques at 115 in lbs for the long bolts, 18 ft lbs for the short bolts.
GM recommends replacing the intake bolts.
I know a man with a 94 Cutlass Supreme and it has the 3.4L DOHC and its a 4-door!
The 3.1L is a good engine, or at least I had a good experience with it. I had a 1994 Lumina with the 3.1L with nearly 200K. The engine was perfect. My 1991 Camaro also had the 3.1L... again, never any problems.
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