How many miles on your Quad-4?

[J-Ri]

I just bought a '98 Grand Am GT with 187,000 miles on the original engine. Someone told me that these engines are junk, and under no circumstances should I buy the car. I think he's an idiot in general, but I just wondered what people with some knowledge about these engines think.

I got the car dirt cheap due to numerous problems that I can easily fix in a couple weekends, so even if I needed to rebuild the engine, I would have got a good deal.

[Theessence]

I've never actually heard anything bad about them. Speaking of G/A's in general all I ever hear is how great and reliable they are. There must be at least some truth to that because every time I park in a parking lot I pass at least 2 other G/A's every time. I'm at 93,000 now and haven't had an engine problem yet.

I've heard lots of stories about people easily making it to 200k if you take care of it.

[xeroinfinity]

I have seen 250K+ but they were taken care of.
You either have a good Quad or bad one IMO not much in between, maintenance is the keep though.

Pretty cheap to rebuild the engine, heads sometime can take work to find on certain years and are not always cheap . Usualy if the head is not cracked it can be used after machining.

I still see 80's models GA around, mostly the 96+ but they are plentiful and a decent ride for the price.
just my

[skibum1111]

My 95 gt had 270k on it when I sold it last April. Kid that bought it now has 285k on it. Big thing with these motors is maintenance. Change the oil on a regular basis, keep it running cool, and pay attention to the timing chain. I blew a head gasket at 240k, replaced the timing chain, sprockets, tensioner, guides etc. at the same time. I also ran synthetic oil from about 10k miles, and the chain that I replaced was the original with minimal wear on the guides and tensioner. Good luck, if you take care of it it should take care of you.

[J-Ri]

Thanks for the input. I always thought they were good cars and I had never personally heard anything particularly bad about any part of it.

With the manual transmission, I have no doubt I'll get it to 300,000 miles. It runs like new after a few seconds of running slightly rough, pretty sure it just needs plugs and a good induction cleaning.

[wafrederick]

The 1996 and up is worse when changing the waterpump.GM made worse than the 1995 and down to change the water pump.The timing cover has to come off when replacing the water pump.Do not let one jump time,the valves bend and is about a thousand dollars for machine work on the head.I hate Quad 4s,GM should quit making parts for them.You do not turn a 1996 and up Quad 4 backwards or you will bend the valves if you do.Turn the crank as you are tightening a bolt.The Quad 4 is not cheap to fix,very expensive to fix and used Quad 4's are not easy to find.You will pay $1,200.00 and up for an used engine,1996 and up.

[wlkjr]

I had an '89 2.3 and thought it was the best car I ever had until about 126,000 miles. Then it started. Two head gaskets, two ecms, the ignition and a myriad of other things. Never had clutch problems and it'd run like a striped-A-ape. Sold it after 8 years for $1000 and it had 300,000 miles on it. Needed a starter when I sold it. Other than the head gasket problems, it was pretty good and a joy to drive.