[AT] OT GM downward spiral was Big Truck Pickups - Ramble on

Phil Auten pga2 at basicisp.net
Fri Nov 29 17:05:16 PST 2019


That 3.8 V6 started life at Buick and then it spread throughout the GM 
lineup. The issues started when they converted it from it's "odd fire" 
V8 with two cylinders left out to a redesigned crank and 6 cylinder 
distributor "even fire engine. I bought my son a '75 (or maybe a '76) 
Buick Skylark with the odd fire engine. It worked pretty well until the 
timing gear stripped. Anyway, in about 78" I test drove an Olds Cutlass 
with the even fire V6. It blew a head gasket less that 3 miles from the 
dealership. When we stopped, I pulled the dipstick and found the water 
and oil "milkshake". The temperature light had come on, but I couldn't 
see it due to the sun shining on the instrument cluster just right. The 
salesman mentioned it just as we were able to take an exit off of the 
freeway. I bought a different Cutlass with the 260 CID V8. Drove that 
piece of crap until '84 and went back to driving Fords and no regrets since.

The issue with the later 231 CID or 3.8L V6 was that when they 
redesigned the crank, they also redesigned the block for a thinner 
casting. This led to lots of head gasket failures. The issue was 
corrected after a few years and in it's final design configuration, the 
3,8L V6 was a good engine, just like the "odd fire" V6 was, just like 
the original 225 CID version used in GMC pickups and Buick Specials.


On 11/29/2019 5:14 PM, James Peck wrote:
> In the early 90s, wife was driving an 80 Chevy Malibu wagon that got hit in the driver side quarter behind the rear wheel. I cut a large patch panel out of a salvage yard car paying maybe $25 for it. I GMAW welded the panel in and touched up the paint. They do not let you keep and repair totaled vehicles anymore. We had bought an 83 Malibu wagon with the settlement so I sold the old one.
>
> Now I really liked the looks of that 83 Malibu wagon . I later bought an 83 V8 El Camino that matched in. I also bought a low mileage 82 Malibu 4 door that had a gasoline 250 swapped into it because the original V6 diesel had been run low on oil. My plan was to get them all painted the same and keep them forever. Besides being visually appealing but low quality vehicles, something happened to everyone. Those cabbage heads that ran GM then dropped the line in favor of the less appealing Celebrity.  No wonder GM went bankrupt. Toyota did not go bankrupt even though all their products are unappealing. The Chevy 3.8L V6 was a little bit lemony anyway.
>
> https://itstillruns.com/history-chevy-38l-v6-8538589.html
>
> Mike Meulens AT List member (meulenms at gmx.com) ; Well, It'll be a long time before I buy a new pickup at the prices they are at now. I have a 2010 Silverado with 110,000 on it, and the rust is beginning in all the suspected spots, the rear wheel well being the main culprit. It'll be a fender flapper in a couple of years, but as long as it's reliable I'll keep it. I've heard rumors, not first hand information that body shops are having a hard time learning how to work on the aluminum body panels. Sure would be nice to have a truck that doesn't rust out before it's service life is though. You guys in the south many not have this problem, due to little or no salt ever being used.  What bothers me is that my wife's Camry has 70,000 more miles on it, gets driven every day in the salty slush, zero rust.
>
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