Engine life

[Fred]

I was wondering what is the average life span on 3.8? My 2000 Firebird currently has 141k miles, I use it aa daily drive and my commute is 50 miles a day.

[redv6]

Re: Engine life

if i was you id just look for someone to rebuild my engine and tranny?. or not just swap out my engine my body has 103k miles and engine has 70k

[96blackmaro]

Re: Engine life

Theres a couple people hear in the 1/4 million mile club. I'm getting on up here near 170k and mine is still fine. I still race it as well.

[mousemonster1232]

I don't feel a need to worry at all. Especially if it is stock. Just if you haven't gotten a head gasket change it might be somewhere in the mid-200k range. Or I have had bad luck with 3.8s. :)

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[landj]

Re: Engine life

I wouldn't be concerned. I wouldn't race ANY engine with that high of milage and not expect a faster demise.

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[1997Canadian3.8]

Re: Engine life

Tough to put a number on an engine, depends on how you drive it, how you take care of it and the climate you live in... 3.8 is good for a lot of miles if you respect it and maintain it.

[CFreed11]

Re: Engine life

http://forum.camarov6.com/showthread.php?t=104415

[Fred]

Re: Engine life

Well I live in the same city as the old man in the link. I do my own maintenance and only use full synthetic oil. I drive it normal trying to get the best gas mileage as possible, occasionally I do get on it but only on the highway. I did race it for the first two years that I owned and did the basic bolt ons.

[rhouse21]

Re: Engine life

I've got ~240k on mine. Just keep up the routine stuff and it'll run forever. The thing to worry about is really leaking seals. I switched to Mobile one high mileage which took care of most of my seal issues, though. Just treat her like a lady and she'll keep bringing you home.

[nascar24jd]

Re: Engine life

if i was you id just look for someone to rebuild my engine and tranny?. or not just swap out my engine my body has 103k miles and engine has 70k

Rebuild engine and transmission when there is nothing wrong with it???

[nascar24jd]

Re: Engine life

I was wondering what is the average life span on 3.8? My 2000 Firebird currently has 141k miles, I use it aa daily drive and my commute is 50 miles a day.

It sounds like you take good care of your car. You have nothing to worry about. Engine don't just fail without warning. If it does not burn oil, knock, tick, overheat, etc., then just keeep maintaining it as you already are.

You could easily get many many more faithful miles out of it.

[Opontee]

Re: Engine life

I have 306k on my 3.4. It uses about 1/2 quart on a 5000 mile oil change. No smoke, no leaks (except the p/s rack, need to find the receipt and replace it), no knocks. Just wish it had more than the 165 h.p. it came with from the factory.

[nascar24jd]

Re: Engine life

I have 306k on my 3.4. It uses about 1/2 quart on a 5000 mile oil change. No smoke, no leaks (except the p/s rack, need to find the receipt and replace it), no knocks. Just wish it had more than the 165 h.p. it came with from the factory.

Good old 3.4L. Glad to hear it.

My 1993 3.4L is coming up on 180,000. Original engine and original transmission. Very reliable, and no issue whatsoever.

Just routine maintenance.

[Rob Bell]

Re: Engine life

It's certainly hard to beat the simplicity and reliability of GM's engines. They may not be high-powered, but they certainly are just about bullet-proof.

[Need4Camaro]

Re: Engine life

I was wondering what is the average life span on 3.8? My 2000 Firebird currently has 141k miles, I use it aa daily drive and my commute is 50 miles a day.

Be prepared to change your coolant elbows (2 of them) behind your Alternator - they are most likely brittle and ready to give out... They cost like $3.00 at Autozone

I'm at 160K miles - At around 140k the engine overheated and ran red-line temperatures for about 15 minutes with no coolant - and although it wasn't happy, it lugged home. Surprisingly there was no apparent internal engine damage and a new fuel pump got it started right back up again. (Why a fuel pump? Long story short I was driving it from a shop who installed my Racetronix - the installation went horribly wrong and the pump failed to deliver enough fuel to keep the engine running... It overheated due to a coolant elbow bursting)

CURRENTLY however, my engine has developed a knock, is eating coolant and is on its way out. I'm replacing it with a 5.3L Truck V8 LSX swap...

if i was you id just look for someone to rebuild my engine and tranny?. or not just swap out my engine my body has 103k miles and engine has 70k

Why did your original motor die at 33k?