Re: Official Car Thread

[Jake from State Farm]

The most important thing is never buy a blue car.

I did that once. Ended up selling the piece of crap six months later.

[kingstonlake]

Had an old Pontiac STE 6000. Loved that bitch.

[Gomer]

What size motor in the bonneville?

3800 V6. Should last a while.

The internals are solid. Three things to mind though... the first and biggest is the lower intake manifold gasket. They tend to like to let go between 60-100K and fill the crankcase full of coolant. Not the greatest thing in the world for the main bearings. The upper intake (plastic) should be replaced too. It's plastic and burns/melts through near the EGR valve port (hot exhaust gas + plastic = whodathunkdit) dumping coolant into the intake. Also not good for the engine. Make sure both of these have been done in a high mileage car. Plenty of DIY writeups out there if you can turn a wrench and aren't intimidated by it.
http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/f53/when-did-gm-fix-3-8-series-ii-intake-manifold-problems-158905/

http://www.pontiacbonnevilleclub.com/forum/engine/topic1061.html

The second are these little coolant elbows that connect route the coolant through the belt tensioner confused for some oddball reason. They are plastic and cost like $5. They will be the first thing in the cooling system to let go >100K and will leave your ass stranded on the side of the road. They usually get brittle and crack and leak for a while first. Have them replaced when you do the intake.
http://autotrend.activeboard.com/t55929620/coolant-elbows-leaking-3800-pontiac-gm-chevy-38-liter-v6-eng/

The final thing is a recent recall that goes way back ('97). The valve covers (plastic [noticing a theme here]) leak and pool oil which spills onto the exhaust manifold with hard braking. It's led to these things spontaneously combusting after they've been parked for a few minutes. Keep your insurance up. GM has tried a variety of fixes to try to stop this but I think they are pulling them all in for new front valve covers now.
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/dacda44d267c49bca9d8d54021f9fc06/gm-recalling-14m-cars-oil-leaks-can-cause-engine-fires

[Tim Wakefield]

3800 V6. Should last a while.

The internals are solid. Three things to mind though... the first and biggest is the lower intake manifold gasket. They tend to like to let go between 60-100K and fill the crankcase full of coolant. Not the greatest thing in the world for the main bearings. The upper intake (plastic) should be replaced too. It's plastic and burns/melts through near the EGR valve port (hot exhaust gas + plastic = whodathunkdit) dumping coolant into the intake. Also not good for the engine. Make sure both of these have been done in a high mileage car. Plenty of DIY writeups out there if you can turn a wrench and aren't intimidated by it.
http://www.gminsidenews.com/forums/f53/when-did-gm-fix-3-8-series-ii-intake-manifold-problems-158905/

http://www.pontiacbonnevilleclub.com/forum/engine/topic1061.html

The second are these little coolant elbows that connect route the coolant through the belt tensioner confused for some oddball reason. They are plastic and cost like $5. They will be the first thing in the cooling system to let go >100K and will leave your ass stranded on the side of the road. They usually get brittle and crack and leak for a while first. Have them replaced when you do the intake.
http://autotrend.activeboard.com/t55929620/coolant-elbows-leaking-3800-pontiac-gm-chevy-38-liter-v6-eng/

The final thing is a recent recall that goes way back ('97). The valve covers (plastic [noticing a theme here]) leak and pool oil which spills onto the exhaust manifold with hard braking. It's led to these things spontaneously combusting after they've been parked for a few minutes. Keep your insurance up. GM has tried a variety of fixes to try to stop this but I think they are pulling them all in for new front valve covers now.
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/dacda44d267c49bca9d8d54021f9fc06/gm-recalling-14m-cars-oil-leaks-can-cause-engine-fires

Good post. Thanks

[Herbie Green]

Sadly, I own 3 cars that would have fit right in your price range:

2001 Honda CRV 160k miles
2006 Chysler Town and Country 120k miles
1990 Ford Mustang green and white convertible 70k miles

[Sponsored content]