What is it about the 3.4 DOHC

[supreme dreamz]

i love the power of my 3.4..its so smooth and torquey

Since when did 3.4's have torque??

 

 

since i compared it with my 3.1 w body...

[Garrett8]

yeah i drove my sisters 3.1 what a dog i wanted to get out and roll that car off a cliff for being so damn slow, BTW ford 4.6 DOHC motors PWN, and the reason the LS* put out more than the ford DOHC is becuase they displace more than an entire litre more

[NY GTP]

I didnt know the 3.1 was ever considered a performance motor in any form I dont know why its even being compared to the 3.4

IMHO, the 3.4 is nothing but an attempt by GM to make a DOHC motor that can compete with the import DOHC motors. And it was a poort attempt at that. I mean c'mon, a TB thats cast directly into the intake manifold? What kinda crap is that? The 3.4 is just typical GM trying too hard and looking too deep into something that didnt need to be addressed in the first place. Their pushrod motors are still around for a reason: they work perfectly and complete whatever task is given to them, whether it be a gas mileage queen or a brute force muscle machine. Theres no need to mess with a good thing, especially when you dont have the technology or engineering department to back you up.

I guess if dropping tons of money into something just to see decent results(at best) just so you can be "unique" is your cup of tea, then the 3.4 is for you. But I would rather spend minimal amounts of money on something with more potential. Remember, 14's isnt really that fast nowadays

[MonteC]

BTW ford 4.6 DOHC motors PWN, and the reason the LS* put out more than the ford DOHC is becuase they displace more than an entire litre more

 

there it is... every mustang owner that has lost to an lsx motor has said that exact same thing...

 

"well they have bigger displacement, durr, durrr"

 

im sorry ford only gave you 4.6l instead of 5.7, not my fault.

 

since DOHC is soooo much better than a pushrod engine, than shouldnt the 4.6 be able to compete?

 

and no the 4.6 dohc does not "PWN". less power thant the lsx, less displacement than the lsx, and it gets WORSE GAS MILEAGE! its a huge motor, physically its bigger than the lsx, it weighs more than the all aluminum PUSHROD lsx.

 

so again, why does it "PWN"?

[GnatGoSplat]

I agree with NY GTP, the 3.4 DOHC is actually rather poorly designed. Its design seems rushed, low-budget, and not very well thought-out. On the other hand, it's certainly more powerful than a 3.1L. They can last quite a long time when cared for, so I wouldn't say it's the worst design out there. I have seen much worse!

 

BTW ford 4.6 DOHC motors PWN, and the reason the LS* put out more than the ford DOHC is becuase they displace more than an entire litre more

 

I agree with MonteC on this point.

Not to mention, what does an entire liter more displacement matter? The LS2 gets better fuel economy than the 4.6L, produces more HP (FREE HP at that, considering it gets better fuel economy), weighs less, is physically smaller and more compact... if we forget about displacement and that "HP/liter" that people seem to be so concerned about and just look at 2 engines... ENGINE A produces more power, is less thirsty, is lighter, smaller, simpler, and easier to work on than ENGINE B, which one is better?

[MonteC]

BTW ford 4.6 DOHC motors PWN, and the reason the LS* put out more than the ford DOHC is becuase they displace more than an entire litre more

 

and easier to work on

 

 

exactly. do you guys know how easy it is to modify and lsx motor? any idiot can do it. GM was like PLEASE mod this engine. cam swaps are easy, you dont even have to take the intake off, the lifters are held up by friction, and to be safe you can slide in two metal rods to insure that they dont fall, i could go on and on. this motor is idiot proof.

[NY GTP]

LOL those lifters are *supposed* to be able to stay up by friction, but I think in any motor with more than 3k miles on it thats not gonna work. A buddy of mine had 2 lifters fall in on him while doing a cam swap :verymad:

[Brian P]

I didnt know the 3.1 was ever considered a performance motor in any form I dont know why its even being compared to the 3.4

IMHO, the 3.4 is nothing but an attempt by GM to make a DOHC motor that can compete with the import DOHC motors. And it was a poort attempt at that. I mean c'mon, a TB thats cast directly into the intake manifold? What kinda crap is that? The 3.4 is just typical GM trying too hard and looking too deep into something that didnt need to be addressed in the first place. Their pushrod motors are still around for a reason: they work perfectly and complete whatever task is given to them, whether it be a gas mileage queen or a brute force muscle machine. Theres no need to mess with a good thing, especially when you dont have the technology or engineering department to back you up.

I guess if dropping tons of money into something just to see decent results(at best) just so you can be "unique" is your cup of tea, then the 3.4 is for you. But I would rather spend minimal amounts of money on something with more potential. Remember, 14's isnt really that fast nowadays

 

Spot on, man . Who are you anyway?

[MonteC]

LOL those lifters are *supposed* to be able to stay up by friction, but I think in any motor with more than 3k miles on it thats not gonna work. A buddy of mine had 2 lifters fall in on him while doing a cam swap :verymad:

 

ya man thats what the metal bars are for that i mentioned. spin the cam around get them all up, the slide in the bars and there is no way they are gonna fall.

[sonyman87]

I didnt know the 3.1 was ever considered a performance motor in any form I dont know why its even being compared to the 3.4

IMHO, the 3.4 is nothing but an attempt by GM to make a DOHC motor that can compete with the import DOHC motors. And it was a poort attempt at that. I mean c'mon, a TB thats cast directly into the intake manifold? What kinda crap is that? The 3.4 is just typical GM trying too hard and looking too deep into something that didnt need to be addressed in the first place. Their pushrod motors are still around for a reason: they work perfectly and complete whatever task is given to them, whether it be a gas mileage queen or a brute force muscle machine. Theres no need to mess with a good thing, especially when you dont have the technology or engineering department to back you up.

I guess if dropping tons of money into something just to see decent results(at best) just so you can be "unique" is your cup of tea, then the 3.4 is for you. But I would rather spend minimal amounts of money on something with more potential. Remember, 14's isnt really that fast nowadays

 

See this is where i agree totaly. but the falt really cant be blamed on the motor itself but the transmission its straped to. anything over 260hp on the trany is just asking for death. And if i recall correctly one of the first models were rated at ~270hp with room for potential not 200hp. If only the 4t65 was by developed in 1989 im positive there would be several 300hp+ 3.4dohc motors on the road today.

[NY GTP]

Spot on, man . Who are you anyway?

My names Rich. My dad signed up on here to ask about a problem hes having with his 93 Cutlass Supreme International, and his post was kinda vague so I stepped in to explain the problem a little better. Browsed the forums a bit and found this thread, and I had to give my $.02, because some of these guys are acting like this motor is really something special, when IMHO its really not. I couldnt believe seeing some people say they would rather have an LQ1 over anything. I'd rather have my L67 over a 3.4 any day of the week. Hell I'd rather have the 305 out of my 91 Camaro over the 3.4, only because of its modability. I guess I just dont understand people that want to be strapped to spending gobs of money to make maybe 250hp when it can be for so much cheaper and with alot more ease. If you like the motor, thats your cup of tea. But PLEASE dont say you would rather have a 3.4 over say, an LS1. Cause thats just borderline retarded

ya man thats what the metal bars are for that i mentioned. spin the cam around get them all up, the slide in the bars and there is no way they are gonna fall.

Well he used the pen magnet method instead of buying the bars, and he never bent the pocket clips out so they would stay, the stupid ass. So the 2nd rear most lifter on the driver side fell. We put the cam in as far as we could to hold the other rockers in place so we could take the head off, but we still needed a pen magnet to hold one more lifter since the cam couldnt go in all the way. So while we were taking the head off, the other one fell down in. I ended up fishing it out of the oil pan with a pen magnet thank god, and now its all back together and the car is currently making about 330hp at the rear wheels

[chadz34]

You're damn right. If it weren't for Hydramatic! :?

[z34_nut]

I still don't believe that a 3.4 was supposed to have 270-275HP stock. Kinda seems stupid that GM couldn't make a tranny for the motor, so they had to "downgrade" it. If it originally had 275HP, then wtf is it so hard, and so costly to get that much HP out of these engines?

 

And who said I would take an LQ1 over and LS1!? Dayum. I think aaron is the only one who is that nuts . I know that its not practical to spend money on these motors, I know I shouldn't. Oh well, I just like how its different, thats my cup of tea. I don't blend in with other cars on the road, and people don't expect 260-270hp lumina's...

 

Besides, there are plenty of civics that can own me on the road. Oh well.

[topless94style]

Half you guys are being babies about this motor. Sorry but it needs to be said. I have spent hours, a couple grand, and alot of learning building my turbo set up for this car. Thats all the fun in this motor, creating the power for it.

 

Why do you want to be like every other jack off out there on the road with an LT1, LS1, L67 and any other motor easily accessible to mods. IMO, i like being different, and driving a camaro/trans am/mustang/GTP(97+) is like being like everyone else out there.

 

This motor may be a hack job I agree, it may be hard to draw some power out of it, i agree, is that going to stop me? Hell no, i want to be apart getting some sort of after market performance for this motor.

 

For those of you guys complaining about the 3.4, most of you drive a 3.1, or a turbo 4banger dodge. You cars arent race motors, they arent fast by todays standards of lower than 14 seconds according to one guy. Yet you stick money and time into the motor just as i and other LQ1 owners do to our motor.

 

So there are alot of cars out there, stock/modded that can beat mine. I dont care, this is my motor, and im having fun with it. If you dont like it, go join the crowd or stick with your old modded 3.1L pushrods that are STILL slower than many LQ1s.

[94CutlassSLCoupe]

I think the things that hold the LQ1 back the most are the camshafts and the gearing myself...I think it has the world's most pussy set of stock camshafts...they idle smoother than my original 318 V8 in my Plymouth Duster did, even with all that rotating weight. I know for a fact my 3100 has a choppier idle and a bigger cam in it.

 

I think a cam set that has the specs of the W41 quad 4 cam would liven it up a lot. Probably would add a good 40hp at least.

 

The only way I will buy one for myself is when its hooked to the HM-284...no matter how expensive clutches are for them!! I think the 5-speed would greatly increase the "fun" factor!

[MonteC]

ya man thats what the metal bars are for that i mentioned. spin the cam around get them all up, the slide in the bars and there is no way they are gonna fall.

Well he used the pen magnet method instead of buying the bars, and he never bent the pocket clips out so they would stay, the stupid ass. So the 2nd rear most lifter on the driver side fell. We put the cam in as far as we could to hold the other rockers in place so we could take the head off, but we still needed a pen magnet to hold one more lifter since the cam couldnt go in all the way. So while we were taking the head off, the other one fell down in. I ended up fishing it out of the oil pan with a pen magnet thank god, and now its all back together and the car is currently making about 330hp at the rear wheels

 

that sucks man.

i hang around with the local fbody club around charleston. so every other weekend you will see a post "doing a cam swap who wants to help" or something to that effect, so ive helped on a few camswaps. lol

[MonteC]

 

Why do you want to be like every other jack off out there on the road with an LT1, LS1, L67 and any other motor easily accessible to mods. IMO, i like being different, and driving a camaro/trans am/mustang/GTP(97+) is like being like everyone else out there.

 

their are a bunch of people on this board that drive around in lq1 cars. so does that mean your trying to be like every other "jack off"?

 

 

 

For those of you guys complaining about the 3.4, most of you drive a 3.1, or a turbo 4banger dodge. You cars arent race motors, they arent fast by todays standards of lower than 14 seconds according to one guy. Yet you stick money and time into the motor just as i and other LQ1 owners do to our motor.

 

no ones "complaining" about it. were disscusing the draw backs/potenial and history of the lq1 while having a discussion about DOHC vs. PUSHROD.

[sl3196]

For those of you guys complaining about the 3.4, most of you drive a 3.1, or a turbo 4banger dodge. You cars arent race motors, they arent fast by todays standards of lower than 14 seconds according to one guy. Yet you stick money and time into the motor just as i and other LQ1 owners do to our motor.

.

I doubt you will be able to touch alot of those modded td's. I bet iTurbo's lancer is a high 13 sec car.

 

I'd like to see what your turbo set-up can pull in the 1/4 mile.

[88Regal Limited]

i dont see how you guys are saying that a stock 3.4 DOHC is "fast". imo is "peppy" at best.

 

Lets say this. Any 3.4 DOHC car can whoop any late 80's monte, even the almighty SS. Compare 180HP (305ci) to 205Hp (3.4) and see who is faster. Trust me, We have an 85 and 86 monte SS. Even without racing, I know that a 3.4 lumina (like white93Z34's) Can beat it. Peppy, only compared to a 13sec street machine.

[Guest TurboSedan]

For those of you guys complaining about the 3.4, most of you drive a 3.1, or a turbo 4banger dodge.

 

why do i feel i was singled out there? i feel so special spend $500 on a TD and it will be running far away from an LQ1 W-body. nothing wrong with that! same goes for the Turbo 3.1 LG5....hell....just look at what Luke's car did on the dyno :shock: that's surely enough to run away from a mildly modified LQ1. and the LHO? wtf? it isn't even considered a performance engine, wasn't meant to be one in the first place. why bother comparing it to the LQ1?

 

that's cool you want to spend gobs of money on your LQ1, more power to you. i just think there are much better alternatives out there, ecspecially when your budget is very limited and lacking in fabrication skills (not saying you do, but i certainly don't as many others don't either i'm sure).

[Guest TurboSedan]

for the hard core LQ1 fans out there....i suggest following timg's footsteps and then come back and try again. maybe then you'll have a real arguement instead of the old standby "oh but my car is so unique!!!" "it has 4 cams (well, 5 ) and 24 valves" OMG!!!

 

now get off your butt and tap it's potential instead of just talking out your ass. i just hope your credit card can back you up.

 

i see PLENTY of LQ1 W-bodies around here....not something i would call unique by any means.

[MonteC]

i dont see how you guys are saying that a stock 3.4 DOHC is "fast". imo is "peppy" at best.

 

Lets say this. Any 3.4 DOHC car can whoop any late 80's monte, even the almighty SS. Compare 180HP (305ci) to 205Hp (3.4) and see who is faster. Trust me, We have an 85 and 86 monte SS. Even without racing, I know that a 3.4 lumina (like white93Z34's) Can beat it. Peppy, only compared to a 13sec street machine.

 

please quote where i said my car was fast or even compared it to an lq1 car. i never compared teh 3.4 to anything, and i dont need to, regardless the 3.4 is still just peppy.

 

i wont even get into the fuckup job gm did on v8s in the 80's. ill just let you sit there content, thinking your rebuttle made a difference to me.

[slick]

Why do you want to be like every other jack off out there on the road with an LT1, LS1, L67 and any other motor easily accessible to mods. IMO, i like being different, and driving a camaro/trans am/mustang/GTP(97+) is like being like everyone else out there.

 

I like the challenge of modding this car. All the ones listed above are too easy to mod, whats the fun in that. I like the challenge this engine gives me to mod it, making it more interesting for the outcomes.

[topless94style]

All fun and games. I know the turbo dodge would beat my car, I have raced them, knowing very well they would beat me. And guess what......they did!!! shocker? no. Trans Ams, the WS6, you have no idea how much I love that car. But going off what slick said above, i too love the challenge of modding this engine. There is no challenge in doing (basic)mods to Lt1s and such. Sure, getting into tuning and all that is hard, but christ once you get there your already running 12 seconds if not faster.

[topless94style]

As far as getting off my ass. Thats what I am doing, while in the process of building this turbo set up, i have done research into tuning my computer. Specifically the 94 computer. I have also been doing research to sell a turbo kit to those who would want one, for the fact of other people not having the custom fab skills. I am still learning, so it wont be for awhile until I would put one up for sale.

 

Every car i talked about above, all great cars. Guys who spend $20G on there civic and walk away from every domestic at the track, i give em probs. They made that little mom and pop car fast. While not economically pheasable(sp?) they still did it. I dont have the money to be doing work to this car, but its still cheaper than paying for insurance on a V8 car for a 20 yr old guy.