Dadgum GM 3.4!!!!

[Goose]

My wife's been driving a Pontiac mini van with that no-account 3.4 engine. As a one-time GM Assistant Service Manager, I knew better than to buy the thing, but our other Pontiac van with the bullet-proof 3.8 got totalled and this van was in the right place with the right price, when we needed a vehicle in a hurry.

Like most 3.4's, this one has had the intake gaskets replaced. It now has a coolant leak coming from behind the power steering pump where the accessory bracket covers the leak and you can't see what's leaking. Barring the intake gaskets again, it could be a head gasket or it could be the front cover. The Catch-22 is the head gaskets and front cover gaskets are completely separate. You could pull the front cover and find it was a head gasket leaking, or pull the heads and find it's the front cover.

The only way to find the leak is to simply tear into it. Fixing it at a dealer could easily run a couple thousand bucks.

So far, I've parked the Pontiac by my shop and gone in to the local Chrysler dealer and bought a Chrysler Town & Country for my wife. My buddies have all seemed to have good luck with Chrysler and Dodge mini-vans, and I've always wanted to try one. The Chrysler 3.8 engine has been trouble free and the Chrysler transmission problems of the mid 90's seem to be behind us.

Haven't figured out what to do with the Pontiac. I have an '89 Chevy pickup scattered all over my shop redoing the body and getting it ready to paint. Although I'll work anywhere under the hood of passenger cars and pickups, including rebuilding engines, I normally refuse to do anything more than routine service work under the hood of a mini-van. But, I guess when I get the pickup done I may see what I can figure out on the Pontiac.

My rant for the day.

 

[RobMD]

I did have a 3.4 impala gl, then got rid of it. We did have a '93 olds with the 3.8. I'll tell you one thing, that GM 3.8 was an AWESOME engine!!!

 

[Old Ford Mechanic]

Yeah,I just loved to R&R an alternator on one them Lumina's.But i got good,it paid around 3 hrs and i could could smokem in 2!Ah,the good ole days in the service bay!

 

[Anonymous-0]

All that FWD stuff is a royal pain to own and operate but cheap to produce. The FWD's handle funny and are nothing but trouble when it comes time for service. Wait till the next generation of goverment mandated high fuel economy scooters hit the market. Real hard to generate any excitement for those little rat traps. China has not gotten into the USA car market yet but are working very hard to make a throwaway product for the USA customer.

 

[Mike M]

Pull the upper intake plenum off and see if you may have a metal pipe leaking. It just drives in with no seal in the lower intake center. Or you may still have an intake leak ? Gaskets may of moved on you ? Or had the wrong ones ?

Those 3.8's are GM's best engine,but they are never happy with it and keep screwing it up ! The 1996 and up to 2005 they built in a bad intake that likes to leak. The NEW ones remain to be seen.

 

[bradk]

Head gaskets are notorious on the 3.1's and 3.4's.Almost always comes from rear bank at front of head.

That 3.8 in the "U" vans were great,but the 3.4's are leaking junk.

I'm a GM man,but won't own a GM mini van.I drive Chrysler mini vans.

 

[Goose]

I hear ya, brad. My gut feeling is I will find the rear head gasket leaking, if I decide to go into it myself. Like I said, the intake gaskets have been replaced, and there's no reason for the front cover gasket to leak. I tried to talk our local Community College into doing it, but they won't work on mini-vans for the same reason I hate to.

As far as I'm concerned, GM's 3.8 is second only to the small block Chevy V8 on GM's list of all time great engines.

 

[1206SWMO]

3400 GM's arent very good.We had one in a 02 Buick Rendezvous.The old 3.8 and 3800's were one of the best engines ever built.

 

[Anonymous-0]

kids second motor in monte carlo same thing.