BN Posted December 15, 2009 Report Share Posted December 15, 2009 I always liked these cars when they were new so when I found one about a year ago in like new condition with 46k miles for $3,500 how could I go wrong. Afterall I see hardtop versions with hundreds of thousands of miles still going strong. I even have a friend who's mom has a four door with 250k miles, hit on all sides, and she can't kill it..........Oh those cars don't have the wonderful 3.4 DOHC engine. They have the simple 3.1. Boy if I had only known. First there's the timing belt,,,that normal engines don't have. Then there's the alternator that you have to take the front of the car apart to change. Current debacle was changing the thermostat which led to two different mechanics trying to bleed the air out, which somehow led to needing a new sending unit. The car still overheats so now mechanic wants to rewire sending unit to gage? Is it just me or are these things like the horror stories you hear about fancy cars like Jaguars? Anybody have similar stories? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94 olds vert Posted December 15, 2009 Report Share Posted December 15, 2009 Knock on wood. I have had no major engine problem, all the maintenance on my 3.4l was done before I bought it. Lim gaskets, timing belt, alternator, and starter. I have put 400 miles on my car in the 4 months I've owned it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy Posted December 15, 2009 Report Share Posted December 15, 2009 Is it just me it does sound like it is "just you" ....the timing belt is standard maintenance item on many many many dohc engines, you make is sound like the LQ1 is the only engine in existence that has a timing belt, the alternator job can be done pretty quickly without taking the entire front of the car apart using the method in the FAQ (complete job front start to finish has actually been done under an hour before). The thermostat on the LQ1 is one of the easiest thermostats to change on any engine out there ...try changing one on a 3100 then report back at how difficult it is to change the one on the LQ1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cutty Posted December 15, 2009 Report Share Posted December 15, 2009 it does sound like it is "just you" ....the timing belt is standard maintenance item on many many many dohc engines, you make is sound like the LQ1 is the only engine in existence that has a timing belt, the alternator job can be done pretty quickly without taking the entire front of the car apart using the method in the FAQ (complete job front start to finish has actually been done under an hour before). The thermostat on the LQ1 is one of the easiest thermostats to change on any engine out there ...try changing one on a 3100 then report back at how difficult it is to change the one on the LQ1 I agree! many, many other cars have timing belts, the ones on the LQ1 are just a bit more time consuming. Yes the thermostat on a 3100 sucks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oscar_wilde Posted December 15, 2009 Report Share Posted December 15, 2009 That is just the chance of any car, new or old. They are built by humans, by humans trying to save as much money as possible, for humans to drive, and maintained by humans. I see four huge problems with the car equation already. Sorry about the car troubles. It is frustrating, I have been there so many times. I bought a car that was well maintained and taken care of. It had low miles and was taken good enough care that none of the higher costing maintenance hadn't happened yet. Not to mention I never got any records, so who knows what ever got done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swift13 Posted December 15, 2009 Report Share Posted December 15, 2009 Is it just me it does sound like it is "just you" ....the timing belt is standard maintenance item on many many many dohc engines, you make is sound like the LQ1 is the only engine in existence that has a timing belt, the alternator job can be done pretty quickly without taking the entire front of the car apart using the method in the FAQ (complete job front start to finish has actually been done under an hour before). The thermostat on the LQ1 is one of the easiest thermostats to change on any engine out there ...try changing one on a 3100 then report back at how difficult it is to change the one on the LQ1 AGREED really not that bad of an engine all though i do hate the alternator. even with the write-up. my wife bought a junker one time for 600 it was a pos corsica that had more rust than paint with 150k plus miles and lasted 2 years and then sold for 300 now that is getting your moneys worth!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BN Posted December 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2009 My family had several cutlass's in the 70's and 80's and nothing ever went wrong with those. Prior to this car I had an allante and a GTO convertible and never really had any problems with those. I guess I just didn't expect this car to be so troublesome. But as said above that's the risk with used cars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grannatnl Posted December 15, 2009 Report Share Posted December 15, 2009 You need to keep in mind you are dealing with a 15 year old car. Parts rot after a while regardless of the miles you have. Even Toyotas and Hondas which are built well overall once they get to this age category the list of repairs skyrockets. In fact some times the cars with low mileage were driven so infrequently that they end up with more issues than the the ones with 150k. My own 1994 CS conv. had to have may things replaced because I let it sit and didn't drive it much. I replaced the timing belt at 30,000 miles because its life span is 7 (I think) years or 60,000 miles. The belt after 15 years is toast. FYI: There are 2 screws you can take off to check your timing belt. Some of the belts wore in an odd way because of bad pullys and tensioners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BN Posted December 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2009 FYI: There are 2 screws you can take off to check your timing belt. Some of the belts wore in an odd way because of bad pullys and tensioners. I changed it when I got the car due to the age. Just to be on the safe side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5speedz34 Posted December 17, 2009 Report Share Posted December 17, 2009 If you're still having problems with the car PM me. I live in Detroit (WSU student) but I'm at my parents house(way to much mind you) in Shelby Twp. If you need help with something let me know. I'm one of the most knowledgeable 3.4 DOHC people on this board. As for bleeding it, any W-body engine needs to be bled regardless of engine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willsboattail Posted December 17, 2009 Report Share Posted December 17, 2009 FYI: There are 2 screws you can take off to check your timing belt. Some of the belts wore in an odd way because of bad pullys and tensioners. I changed it when I got the car due to the age. Just to be on the safe side. Where are those screws?? I need to check as I have no maintainence records with my new baby at 79,000 miles! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94 olds vert Posted December 17, 2009 Report Share Posted December 17, 2009 I don't have screws. I think they are 8mm bolts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy Posted December 17, 2009 Report Share Posted December 17, 2009 I don't have screws. I think they are 8mm bolts. yeah, definitely not screws Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5speedz34 Posted December 17, 2009 Report Share Posted December 17, 2009 On 91-93 motors there will be 4 8mm bolts holding the plastic inspection cover on, to the left of the front banks spark plug wires. On 94-97 motors there will be 2 8mm bolts holding the plastic inspection cover on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94 olds vert Posted December 17, 2009 Report Share Posted December 17, 2009 The bolts are on the right hand side and are 8mm. One on top and one on the bottom. If your timing belts looks like this its fine. This one has 6k miles on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grannatnl Posted December 17, 2009 Report Share Posted December 17, 2009 I used the word screw in the generic sense. I have the same set up as you too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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