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Author Topic: GM 3800 V6  (Read 2026 times)

RadioFreeSeaLab

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GM 3800 V6
« on: May 11, 2006, 01:34:02 PM »
In my never ending quest for cars I enjoy, I've recently been looking at buick sedans with this engine.  Specifically mid to late 90s LeSabres. Any comments on the engine, and the mryiad of cars it was installed in?
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Azrael256

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GM 3800 V6
« Reply #1 on: May 11, 2006, 01:56:49 PM »
That entire series of engines was pretty darn good.
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RadioFreeSeaLab

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GM 3800 V6
« Reply #2 on: May 11, 2006, 01:58:18 PM »
Seems there was a Series I and a Series II 3800.  Both are decent engines?
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Brad Johnson

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GM 3800 V6
« Reply #3 on: May 11, 2006, 02:17:56 PM »
The 3800 is about as bulletproof as it gets. The rest of the car, on the other hand...

Brad
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Sergeant Bob

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GM 3800 V6
« Reply #4 on: May 11, 2006, 02:29:47 PM »
One of the best GM motors made. My wife's Bonneville has 180,000 miles on it and it's still going strong.
Gets about 30 mpg highway and 24 mpg driving back and forth to work (rural and town).
I would drive that car cross country today.
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Parker Dean

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GM 3800 V6
« Reply #5 on: May 11, 2006, 02:42:33 PM »
The main issue I get with this one is the plastic upper intake. Specifically where the EGR passage goes though from the aluminum lower intake. Long story short, the plastic melts and opens a coolant passage and Presto! Instant cylinders full of coolant.

Most of the time it's merely an annoyance in having to have the upper intake replaced (GM does offer a redsigned lower intake that has a smaller EGR tube to eliminate the melting issue) and the engine flushed out, but occassionally I've run into bent rods, and sometimes engines have had rod bearings go 10-15K miles later.
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RadioFreeSeaLab

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GM 3800 V6
« Reply #6 on: May 11, 2006, 02:47:36 PM »
Is this a problem with both the Series I and Series II engines?
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cfabe

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GM 3800 V6
« Reply #7 on: May 11, 2006, 03:04:43 PM »
No the earlier ones did not have a plastic intake, I don't think.

My mom had a 93 minivan with that engine in it, went 170k miles before she crashed it into a pickup truck, had some other issues (mostly body stuff) but the engine was in excellent shape, and the original transmission was just starting to fail.
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GM 3800 V6
« Reply #8 on: May 11, 2006, 06:11:47 PM »
I had a series I supercharged 3800 in an old Buick. That thing was crazy fun. It looked like my grandfathers car, but you could turn off the traction-control and light up the tires at will. Of course the *huge* 6-way adjustable heated leather split- bench seats, passable stereo, sun roof, and electric *everything* was pretty nice too. I kinda miss that car. Yeah, the motor is pretty much unstoppable, I treated it like crap and it never missed a beat.
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garrettwc

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GM 3800 V6
« Reply #9 on: May 11, 2006, 07:29:36 PM »
The 3800 series is based on the 231 V-6 that Buick came out with in the late 70's and it's been GM's best V6 ever since (the 4.3 in the trucks is a close second). Virtually bulletproof if you keep the oil in it.
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RadioFreeSeaLab

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GM 3800 V6
« Reply #10 on: May 11, 2006, 07:36:52 PM »
Sounding better and better.
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Perd Hapley

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GM 3800 V6
« Reply #11 on: May 11, 2006, 07:58:01 PM »
My father was a mechanic at a Buick dealership for about two decades and worked on a lot of other GM's for the thirty-odd years he has been in the business.  He highly recommends the 3800, and has a couple of 90 and 91 Le Sabre's.  I crunched the front end on one of them, but besides that they run better than his newer Park Avenue.

You are on the right track.
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GM 3800 V6
« Reply #12 on: May 12, 2006, 02:45:28 AM »
I'm a huge Honda fan. HUGE. Now with that qualifier out of the way, the GM 3800 was one of the few engines they have made that is very well designed.
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brimic

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GM 3800 V6
« Reply #13 on: May 12, 2006, 02:51:45 AM »
Quote
Is this a problem with both the Series I and Series II engines?
Series II. GM came out with an updated heat shield/EGR tube to fix the problem, unfortunately, GM never recalled the cars with the 3800 series II engines meaning the engine could die catastophically on you at any time with no warning. A new intake manifold with all of the updated parts fixes the problem, but it costs about $1000 in parts in labor.
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Sylvilagus Aquaticus

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GM 3800 V6
« Reply #14 on: May 12, 2006, 07:47:44 PM »
Edelbrock makes an intake for them IIRC.

One of the joys of the Buick even-fire V6 is you never really will figure out how much horsepower it will max out at. The more you build it the stronger it gets. Heard of hot rodders getting 750+ hp from turboed models.

If I ever decide to build this it'll either have a 3.8 or a 4.3
http://www.stalkerv6.com

Regards,
Rabbit.
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