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Well I cant wait any longer for you guys. 23.5 years is a bit long to make a guy hang on. So I just went ahead and got it myself.

Good day, I have been a W body enthusiast since high school 04. In my student parking lot, we had a 93 Gran prix, 94 olds cutlass supreme, 94 cavalier z24, 95 monte, and my lumina z34. These cars were everywhere! My first car was a 94 lumina z34 (still have it). In 2012 I put a 4.9 PFI in it and it is almost complete. I just need to replace the rear suspension and odds and ends. I have a 99 Monte (needs some work), and I just picked up a decent (needs some work) Cutlass supreme. I am buying a new top for the cutlass on Friday. I want to get black canvass instead of the white (the car has black leather interior). They come in black, grey, white, red. What do you all think would be the best color? Just curious. Very few of these ole buggies still around (at least in my area). I thought I would join the forum to see what you all are up to (I feel very late to the party). I already have seen some super nice examples of these cars (nice job everyone!). Ill post more as spring hits and I can get them out, and work on them more. Also, not adverse to loading them up on the trailer for any meets that might happen. Thank you! Hope you all have a wonderful day!

Welcome! I think black top will look great on it. Better late than never! Not as bustling as it was back in the day, but there's a few of us W-body old timers left. I wouldn't mind seeing pics of the 4.9L in a W-body.

anyways, welcome to the site.

Hey everyone, My name’s Ryan, I’m from Long Island, NY, and I’m new to the Monte Carlo platform. I recently picked up a 2003 Monte Carlo SS and I’m excited to finally start a build thread and be part of the community. By trade I’m a licensed marine engineer, so I’m very hands-on mechanically and enjoy learning the technical side of things. On the automotive side, I’ve worked on and tuned a variety of platforms, everything from basic bolt-ons and wiring to full tuning using HP Tuners, Hondata, and standalone setups. I enjoy both the mechanical and tuning sides of builds and documenting the process. For the Monte, the plan is to start simple, catch up on maintenance, fix worn components, and do some basic bolt-ons while I sort out the body and cosmetics. Once the chassis and body are in better shape, the goal is to turn things up. I’m currently torn between a Gen V M90 top swap or going turbo, but either way the end goal is a "reliable", fun street car that still rips when you get into it. I’ll be sharing progress, asking questions, and learning as I go. Looking forward to seeing everyone’s builds and being part of the community.

Hi, I’ve just stumbled onto this forum, and i figure I’ll probably need to post here eventually acquired my luminator last year, 2nd owner from a grandma. 70000 (got w 55000)miles. Here’s some pics; thx yall

UPDATE: the car is going to the mechanic on 2/23 for this job. It will be going to a chevy dealer whose mechanic has decades of experience which is exactly what I was looking for. This mechanic is semi-retired and picks & chooses the jobs he wants to do. When he learned I'm the original and 4th owner he took the job. I was asked to supply all the parts which I think I will need. Included with these parts will be a new EGR valve and a new Low Coolant Sensor (due to the coolant being partially drained). I made a copy of Gnat's photo so thanks again for this. I will be seeing how the mechanic feels about just going the RTV route in lieu of pulling the rear head. Not only will the job be alot cheaper, I'd really prefer not opening that Pandora's box of potential additional issues if the head needs to be taken off.

Thanks all for this. As of the moment the car is in storage do it will be a while before I can check it out, but I will say I get more & more confident this will be the cause. It has been happening for a long time. Form the day I bought this car in Oct., 1994, I always wondered where a quart of oil was going every 1000 miles or so. My money is on this as pictured above, it was probably badly sealed to begin with. And these things don't get better, only worse. I went in and checked my 2020 repair bills from when I had the intake manifold gaskets replaced. The mechanic also replaced the gasket for the part 10130955 as you see in the photo but no mention is made on whether the distributor plug seal was addressed so I am going to assume it was not. While it's a shame all that work that was done to the motor back then would have to be re-done just to get at what needs to be repaired, so be it. Even if I decide to get the rear head pulled to replace the O-ring rather than trying my luck with sealant, that's still way better than having the entire motor pulled. I might as well go the whole 9 yards and have both head gaskets replaced for a one and done job. I should be getting the car out of storage within the next few weeks, I'll keep all posted on how things progress, and thanks again, much appreciated!

You're in the right place because we love our W-bodies here. Welcome!

Wow, that's awesome!

Got the fuel line disconnected and fuel can ready to go but no go on the fuel pump. Do I have it wrong here? The car has been sitting for 6 weeks so the battery may be weak but radio turns on. Edit nevermind I'm an idiot i see the number on bottom of relay and i had it wrong Works like a charm thanks all

Damn, that's a rare one!

I wanna see pictures of the Gran Prix, never seen one before! /s Welcome!

Does the pump run? If it does, unhook a fuel line under the hood and jump the fuel pump relay.

That's how I'm looking at it. I wouldn't have not bought the Regal, or insisted on paying any less for it if there was a disconnected and neatly stored amp wire running back to the trunk, everything else being equal. My thought is that the target buyer for that car is the type of person to be a member here, and is likely to be relatively well versed in them to where something like that wouldn't make a difference in either case. It's not a super low mileage museum piece where I feel something like that would make a difference. If anything, that car being "The Car" of these forums makes it more desirable, but that's just me.

Agree. As I always say, your car, your call. Do it for what you want rather than what the next owner may (or may not) want. I myself am after the total factory look, but if I can hide something that will otherwise give it the factory look, that's good news. I've replaced my Retrosound rear speakers with another aftermarket brand set that fits into the hole and under the grille sufficiently. They get hit by the sun with that huge rear window so I avoided a paper coned speaker with something more durable. I'm loathing replacing the door panel speakers, but as soon as II find that set of correct NOS ones I've got in storage somewhere, I've got a job to do............

Unfortunately its the opposite of that pre-conceived notion of the south, they spread that stuff anytime the temp gets close to 32F overnight and its wet out. Ive researched a bit more into the options available and will go with the coated PowerStop kit from RA. Just trying to generate some conversation I guess...

A maroon or dark green GS, tan interior and tinted windows with "Buick" mud flaps hits a 99-04ish nostalgia spot. Would still have to have those logo puddle lights though.

Check Amazon. Just search Buick logo door light. Some are stick on with double sided tape and a magnet style sensor to activate them one the door opens.

Welcome!

Wow, you've almost had that car as long as I've had my 89 Cutlass! Can't remember if I got mine in late 93 or early 94. Yes, that seal goes bad in all of them. Not if, but when. Rear main seal is rare. Oil pump drive O-rings going bad I'd say is 100% rate. If you were going to DIY it, I'd say don't worry about pulling the rear head. I owned my 94 for 12-years and my fudge-fix lasted for most of that time up to the day I sold the car. If you're having a shop do it, I imagine the intake manifold R&R itself isn't cheap, so I can understand wanting to do the head gaskets at the same time so as not to have to pay for a repeat job in the future. However, head gaskets on a DOHC V-engine sounds like it could be quite expensive labor-wise.

I've ground the top ridge of the pump drive down slightly to allow for more room to work, then use a distributer gasket for a Lumina van with a 3.1, just give it a cut and slather it in RTV, seems to work well. and I'll be damned if I'm pulling a head just for that.

It's in the valley right by where the transmission and engine block are joined together. Oil will pool around the distributor plug (also called "oil pump drive") and run down the side right where the transmission mates to the block so where it drips on the ground looks very much like a rear main seal. An O-ring goes bad on it allowing it to leak. Shine a flashlight down there, and if there's oil pooled in that area, that's your culprit. Unfortunately, yes, it's blocked by the rear head. What most people do is lift it up as high as possible and clean it and the block as well as possible. Some sandwich a thin O-ring under it, others RTV it. My memory is hazy, but I think I may have done both. On my pic, high pressure oil-resistant RTV is the stuff kind of squishing out from under it. It's dirty because this was many years later, but it worked great. Official GM procedure is to pull the rear head, but that's way, way too much trouble.

I think the mounts will fit the doors, but I don't know that they'll fit under the door panels. 95-96 used 5.25" in these angled enclosure pod things that stick out quite a bit while 88-92 used 4x6's on a flat plate.

So my hunt begins for an intrigue with the 3.5, I'm looking specifically for a GL or GLS with the 3.29 gear ratio. Anyone know the RPO code for that to help me in my searches? Google and rpocode.com aren't helping me

There are various designs...plastic or steel.......seeing as you don't intend on getting into this sort of repair again I'd suggest just picking up the plastic set, you should be able to find them at Harbor Freight. The inlet (pressure side) is 3/8 as for a gas can..really up to you..pick up a pair of containers that will hold a total of 15 gals?

there should be a loose red wire near the relay jump that to the positive post and it should turn the fuel pump on

Thank you(I hope I replied to your comment the right way) will definitely taking care of her best I can. As per my city; I’m located in Philadelphia.

Welcome! I remember when those were your everyday generic GM car back in the day (`99-`04ish) but they really stand out now. 70,000 is great mileage considering the age and the only real problem spot on that 3100 is the LIM gaskets. Flush the fluids and keep the oil changed regularly and there`s no reason you couldnt see 200k on the OD if there isnt any rust. It looks like a brand new car from the pics, and that makes it extremely uncommon to rare nowadays. Great pics with the city background. What town are you in?

Greetings forum members! New member, so thought I'd take a moment to introduce myself. Last Spring (2025) I acquired a relatively pristine (54k miles) 88 Pontiac GP SE. I hadn't even known they made these with a 5-speed, so I hadn't explicitly been looking, yet lo and behold here we are. I've got it on good authority I'm only the second owner. It started life in central NY but spent the last 10 years parked in a sweltering hot garage in central Florida. It was never ever even registered in FL. So it's got some internal heat damage, which I've been repairing. The door upholstery glue had given up years ago. The stereo was a mess, but I replaced all of the capacitors on the amplifier boards and even plumbed in a bluetooth module to the cassette inputs. I'm not much of an auto mechanic myself, I do cybersecurity for a living, but I don't mind getting my hands dirty on projects like this. On the serious mechanical side, I've had it at a local "rural mechanic" who's did a flush on all of the fluids, changed out the master/slave cylinders, and replaced the brakes. I seem to have dodged the bullet of any serious rust or corrosion, but I know these are prone to rotting out their rear strut towers so I plan on installing a strut tower brace and blast the insides with as much cavity wax as they'll take. Any other "gotchas" tips, tricks, or suggestions for keeping something like this roadworthy? Google's AI guestimates, based on statistical analysis of scrap rates versus production numbers, there may only be 15-25 "roadworthy" versions of this model, trim, and transmission combinations left anywhere I didn't buy this planning on a super rare preservation "duty" yet here I am...any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Don't worry, despite living in the salt-belt, I don't plan on driving it in winter for that reason...I do hope to drive it during the warmer months though! An 88 GP was my very first car when I turned 16, so I'd always been looking for a decent one, "just for fun". I never planned on ending up with a bigfoot-riding-a-unicorn of rarity...something I'm not all together happy about...yet here we are!

One thing to be careful of there is that 2004 was a bit of a transitional year. A 2004 Lacrosse is a 3rd gen W and came with the 3800 series 3, while the 2004 Monte/Impala was still a 2nd gen and came with the 3800 series 2. Compatibility wise, you’re very much going to be stuck running a compressor compatible with a 2004 Monte SS if you want any hope of things functioning properly. The other potential gotcha is that 2nd gens also ran a BCM. There is a possibility that the PCM requires input from the BCM in order for the AC compressor to run correctly in the first place.

Putting all of the *hardware compatibility* aside for a moment.... what ECM/PCM are you using to drive that L67? Are you using the 1227727 case or the 1614936 case?.........with a burned chip tune for an eeprom These are OBD1.. or are you using an OBD2 pcm?

What they liked the best: The brakes. What folks complain about the most on this site: The brakes. I've said it before, I'll say it again: The biggest problem with Gen 1 brakes is not the brakes per se, it's the brake booster.

"Automatic shoulder belts"

Gotta love that quality 80s GM fit and finish! And that Regal is very oddly equipped. Bench seat, manual locks and windows, no rear reading lights.....but it has alloy wheels. Then there is this: That cluster must be from a pre-production vehicle, as the tach was never red like that on any of the production ones. My old 88 Regal was a November 87 build, and the tach was green like the rest of the cluster.

Like the title says, I am a new member now, but I was a fairly regular member here around 15-20 years ago. My screen name at that time was Regal_GS_1989. I originally owned an 89 Regal GS coupe, a 92 Cutlass International Coupe, and finally a 2000 Regal Sedan. Life got busy, I stopped posting regularly, and the 2000 was sold off about 10 years ago for something newer and more family friendly. Time has marched on, and I am now in a position where I have the time and resources to be able to own a “weekend” vehicle. As luck, or possibly fate would have it, this beauty quite literally fell into my lap at the perfect moment… A 92 Regal GS Coupe. Black, Grey leather interior, low milage, One owner, garage kept its entire life, ordered new with every option box checked off…save for the sunroof. It’s truly worthy of the term survivor, and it’s exactly how I would have ordered one myself back in the day. Gotta say…it feels sort of strange to be back here posting again about a 1st gen coupe…but I can get used to that I am also surprised at how many screen names I still recognize as well!

You should be able to OBD2 swap if you want to go that route, but I'm not sure how possible tuning is with the current options besides what GTP091 mentioned. DHP can still be obtained, but support isn't what it used to be. redzmonte had a turbo 3.4 95 Monte that he swapped the OBD1.5 to OBD2 and tuned. I had tuned my 96 3.4 GP with DHP years ago. I believe you can run a 97 PCM and use HPT, who supports 97+ 3.4 Montes, so I'm not sure how that would work. edit: after some research, looks like you can buy the DHP interface from the original manufacturer (AVT) and it SHOULD work. Setting up DHP on a Windows 10 laptop is a bit of a chore. http://www.avt-hq.com/852_hw.htm http://www.avt-hq.com/price.htm

I like the puddle lights and overall classy/nostalgic look of those Regals. What year is it? I thought all the GS models had a "supercharged" emblem on them somewhere.

BCC= AXSJ2368 Scan id= 2391 Part number= 16162364 Release date= 11/09/90 Engine size= 3.4 Trans Type= Auto trans ECM/PCM: ECM #16149396 Used in cars: Chevy Pontiac Oldsmobile Possibly used in: LUMINA LUMINA EUROSPORT LUMINA Z34 GRAND PRIX LE GRAND PRIX SE GRAND PRIX GT GRAND PRIX STE CUTLASS SUPREME SUPREME INTERNAT'L CUTLASS SUPREME SL CUTLASS SUPREME CONV Options: With LQ1 3.4L GAS 6 CYL (3.4X) SFI OHC V6 HO With M13 AUTO 4 SPD (4T60-E) With NA5 FEDERAL REQUIREMENTS With QGW ALL P215/60 R/16 N BL R/PE ST TL HWY With QXJ P225/60R16/N NL R/PE ST TL AL3

91 auto which is what I have in my 91 GP is the AYSZ, AUSJ is the T code engine (3.1) W body for 91, AUBU is the T code engine W body for 93 auto trans these all come out of the 16149396 ECM I have nothing on the ASXJ

The 4 memcal's used with the 91-93 LQ1 are AYSZ, BBUK, BCDT & BCFA. BBUK is the early manual trans memcal, & BCFA or *1441* is the later manual trans memcal.

Use the trans that is in the 88 and the ecm from the 2.8 as well. If the 95 doesn't have the coolant temp sensor for the Guage/light in the rear head you will have to install a 3 wire temp sensor where the 2 wire is. The throttle cable from the 95 is needed as well. If your '88 has a 3spd you will have to rig up a kick down cable linkage on the throttle body some how. I welded a bracket to the throttle body myself, wasn't perfect but it made it drivable. Sure there may be some other things that I'm missing since it has been about 6 years since I swapped my old lumina!

get it tuned and at a minimum, adjust the TV cable so it shifts later, the LA1 makes more power past 4700, think more along the lines of a 6000 RPM shift. better yet would be to replace the th125C with a 4T60-e

the last 2 3400 swaps I did used 3.1 injectors on stock obd1 ecm's and they both run fine. the bigger injectors will make more power with a tune, but the first thing I would do is start with a better fuel pump. when I first put the 3100 in my old 84 cavalier I went to the track then swapped to a Camaro LT1 fuel pump and went back the next weekend with no other changes an dropped almost 4 tenths off my ET. if I was doing a basic (stock) 3400 swap on a obd1 car I would use 96-99 3400 or 3100 injectors with matching fuel rail (2000+ injectors will not work on stock ecm) or 2.8/3.1 injectors with a 2000+ 3400 fuel rail that has the higer pressure regulator. But if I was mooding a 3400 and dropping it in I would use injectors sized for the fuel requirements of the engine and a full tune.

Yup, it was the ECM. Cars running fine now. Now i just have a spare MAP sensor in my garage,lol.

Well i tryed a new ECM last night and it worked fine. It stood on for 30min and that was with shutting it off twice in between. The cars idle is even smoother than before now. In a little bit im going to drive around and test it out so ill let you guys know how it goes. I think im still going to test that fuel pressure thing out though. Just to make sure...

That's no shit! That'd be a keeper!

I would probably keep it as-is just for the novelty of it! A Quad4 W-body is rare enough, a Quad4 5-speed is extremely rare!

OMG tom lets buy that car....since I could use it for a parts car