Most Reliable Pontiac Engine?

[hopeless4life]

I'm wondering everyones opinion of what is the most reliable pontiac engine. Don't say the 2.2L cause thats what i'm swappin out

[65Ponchoboy]

what is it out of a sunfire? grand am? id go with the 3.8 non or with supercharged my neighbor had a 99 GTP and it never ever broke down or had engine trouble once.

[hopeless4life]

The 2.2 out of a sunfire, I'm on my second engine leaning towards a third. I don't race it but it seems like if you give that engine a little bit of a goring and boom somthin goes. I'm leanin towards the 3.8 supercharged because i've heard they're reliable and powerful. I know people think well its a sunfire but i love the car and it'd just be nice to have that much power under the hood.

[jimmy[the]gent]

my friend has a 04 sunfire with a 2.2L ecotec engine n he treats it like shit r u sayin hes engine is gona be done soon :]
its manual

[landyacht]

The most reliable Pontiac engine in my opinion is the 3.8L V6.

I noticed in the poll that it was said the motor is more reliable without the supercharger....i haven't found that to be the case in my experience; in fact, the ones with the supercharger seem to have lasted longer in my experience.

Unfortunately that means having the supercharger replaced at least once, but that comes with the territory.

[CarSuperfreak]

ah crap


i meant to put the 3.8 n/a, but hit the s/c one.



Id rather have the suprcharged one, but the n/a one is more reliable; fewer things to break, easier on the trans, etc.

[AdamOn6thStreet]

3.8 NA here. 9 years on mine and Ive replaced the water pump, oil, belt, air filter, and PCV valve.

[Old Lar]

I have a 3.8SC and it has been reliable after 78K miles only oil changes and a tune up. The engine requires 92-93 octane and that still is over $2/gallon. I find that the need for the SC is a rare occurance in daily driving. But most 3.8s are very reliable.

[justan455]

The 3.8 supercharged is the most reliable. I have no experience with them, but it makes sense. Under normal driving the SC engine doesn't have to work as hard to move the not-so-small cars they're equipped in, as the N/A engine does. The only factor is...half the GTP's I see at the pump are getting 87 octane fed to them. They're both reliable engines either way. But if you'd trade 40-60 ponies for a slight edge in reliability...you're not the type of person Pontiac had in mind when they dreamt up the SC version anyways.

[lakerfan1784]

Originally Posted by justan455

The 3.8 supercharged is the most reliable. I have no experience with them, but it makes sense. Under normal driving the SC engine doesn't have to work as hard to move the not-so-small cars they're equipped in, as the N/A engine does. The only factor is...half the GTP's I see at the pump are getting 87 octane fed to them. They're both reliable engines either way. But if you'd trade 40-60 ponies for a slight edge in reliability...you're not the type of person Pontiac had in mind when they dreamt up the SC version anyways.

I have to disagree, the supercharged 3800 is not as reliable, and is costlier to maintain... the n/a engine doesnt have the stress put on it by the supercharger, and doesnt have the supercharger maintenance to deal with. Neglecting the oil in the supercharger is common, causing them to break down between 80000 and 120000 miles. When driving normally, cruising along, the supercharger isnt making any significant power boost, that only occurs when you are accelerating.

[MagicRat]

I have a n/a 3800 from 1988. Its been in my family since new and has 251,000 km. Total reliability, no problems, no repairs of any kind. A friend of mine at work has an Olds 98 with the same engine. He got 500,000 km, no problems. That car rusted away around the engine. Another friend has 450,000 km on a 3800.

[matt919]

i'd vote mine, which isn't even listed, 3.3

[M Jarve]

I also noticed that there is no provision for selecting a 3800 series I or series II. It seems that the Series I units (at least according to a GM mechanic friend) are more reliable than the Series II units. I can attest to that... My 1994 Buick Ultra with the 3800S/C (series I) had over 200,000 miles before its first major problem (bad head gasket). My 1998 Bonneville SE with a 3800 series II needed a new engine the first time at 90,000 miles (cracked upper-intake manifold), then then again at 104,000 miles (same thing). If not for the repeatedly bad upper intake manifold, I'd say the Series II 3800... But because of that black mark I'll say just the Series I 3800.

[leadfootGTP]

the 3800s are incredibly reliable engines, not just withing the pontiac category, but with engines in general. With proper maintenance they will run forever 200,000 plus. Supercharged 3800s ted to take a tougher beating than naturally aspirated 3800s, but this is mostly because the people who drive them generally like to drive harder. Pontian and gm did take proper measures to ensure safe use of the supercharger (more vacume lines, well programmed pcm, better fuel pump, piston heads, compression ratio, and a stronger lower end. I wouldnt say that the engines are very much more reliable w/o the superchargers, but more so the transmissions in n/a 3800 tend to last longer, b/c even though the supercharges 3800 vehicles have a better tranny, for some drivers it is not enough.

[leadfootGTP]

^^^
wtf i posted that like 3 months ago and now all of a sudden it says i posted it today and brought it to the end...