Quote:
Originally Posted by camerjeff
The old Buick 3.8 V6 was kinda a turd, but the 3800 V6 is a great engine, and the series II N/A version in that Bonneville was probably the best engine GM had ever built durability wise. Some of the newer engines may be better, but only time will tell.
N/A 3800's routinely would last over 250,000 miles. but by then the rest of the car was usually shot. And the transaxle they were bolted to had been rebuilt at least once.
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With the benefit of a transmission replacement, the 3800 are a 300,000 mile engine all day long. I have seen a photo of one late 80s LeSabre odometer with over 400,000.
The best ones are from 1988-1992. Before 1988 it was called a 3.8. Then they changed the nomenclature to 3800 when they upgraded it with an internal balance shaft and roller lifters.
1992 was the last year they used all aluminum intake manifolds. For '93, the bean counters at GM decided to make the upper intake plenum out of plastic
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These are well known to cause a coolant passage failure in the intake gasket, usually before 125K-150K miles. If it's caught early, they can have the same longevity as the 88-92 motor.
The 3.8 "turd" SSR was informed of must have been the one found in Ford mini vans.