Help!!!

Hi there,

We have i think a chevy v6 3.8 engine. does anybody know if there is any distinguishing features or numbers to confirm that this engine is a 3.8? the other problem that we have is that the exhaust manifold glows at high idle and it over heats. we have set the timing at 8 tdc at tick over and 37 tdc at about 3000 revs. is this right? we have fitted this into a vw bay window pick up and we are just trying to make sure that the timing is right.

can you help

Sam :p

Welcome to AF. And the year and model is, kinda important info to leave out!

You forgot a few small tiny issues here.Injected?Carbed?Front wheel engine?Rear wheel engine?

Welcome to AF. And the year and model is, kinda important info to leave out!

We dont know what year it is or what vehicle it came out of. as the engine was bought on its own. it runs of a holley carb which looks like a webber 32 to 36 progressive. so we would be grateful if any body would know of any way of identifying it. if you want a picture of it please send me your email adress as i dnt know how to put pictures on to this web site.

thanks :)

where is the distributor.
front or back?
if the dist is in the front, its a 231 3.8L. good engine.
if its in the back its a 229 3.8L. liveable engine.
not sure about the 230, but it was also a 3.8L

can you guestimate the year?
if its carbed, then it is pre 89.

email: [email protected]
doubt it will help, but i can upload the pic.

The 231 is a Buick based engine, the 229 is based on the Chevy 305 small block, and looks like a 6-cyl version of the SBC.

The 231 will either have a distributor mounted at the front on the timing cover, at about a 60-degree angle, or a coil pack for distributorless engines.

If the exhaust is glowing after a while at high idle, that's usually an indication of an over-lean or over-rich mixture condition, check the idle air bleed/idle mixture settings.

well if it carb engine if should have casting info on the side of the block and if intake jus look on the hood slide

You need to work on your sentence structure and spelling - it's really hard to read your post.

Does the manifold glow in one place only? It could have a burned valve(s). Also look for an exhaust restriction.

Bob

glowing exhaust manifolds are usually indicative of severly retarded timing. The timing marks you are using may not be in the correct place or the balancer could be the wrong one.

You say that this engine is in a VW of some type? Very important, are the cylinder heads ABOVE the top level of the radiator? If so, you need a surge tank, somewhat like the 60's Fords had with the 390 set up in them.

Bob