ATTENTION: ALL 92 EGRless Owners!
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Joined: May 2002
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From: Edmonton, AB Canada
Originally Posted by L27Buick
do i have that problem? and where do i look to find out when i was made?
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Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 20,893
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From: Mississauga, Ontario
First post in this thread
Just a little reminder to all you 92 EGRless owners out there. I have just now completed my repairs to my own EGRless 3800. My 92 SE has 166,000 K'* on it now. I had a burnt Exhaust Valve in Cylinder #6 AND a cracked LH Exhaust Manifold at the #3 bend where it meets the main pipe of the Manifold. Cost wise wasn't too bad though, labour on the other hand well, if you've never done it before you in for a little surprise.
What was needed to fix Burnt Exhaust Valve:
One new Exhaust Valve (STD) Ertel P/N A2317
One Cylinder Head Gasket Set Detroit Gasket P/N 71633
New Cylinder Head Bolts Detroit Gasket P/N 67313
One Valve Cover Gasket GM 25532619
One Lower Intake Manifold Gasket Set GM 12338840
One Exhaust Manifold Gasket Set Victor P/N MS15569
What was needed to fix Cracked Exhaust Manifold:
One used Exhaust Manifold ($60 Cdn) GM new = $465.00 Cdn!
Plus other Exhaust Manifold gasket from Above.
**Might need one to two Exhaust Pipe Seals (Donuts) depending on which Exhaust Manifold needs to be replaced.**
How to help avoid these problems:
1) Change your present stock 195 T-Stat to a 180 T-Stat (can be drilled {2-4 1/16" holes} or not)
2) Do regular maintenance on the engine, if you don't now please start. This includes: Fuel Filter, PCV Valve, Air Filter, Oil Changes, Coolant System Changes, Transmission Fluid Changes, etc...
3) Suggestion: Switch to a full Synthetic Oil to help reduce engine friction which causes heat build up.
4) Suggestion: Install an Aux. Trans Cooler (or a second one) to help reduce engine/trans stress which causes heat build up.
5) Change your driving habits to allow a "warm-up" time for your engine. This will reduce the acid build up in your oil & prolong engine life. Most acid build up is caused by drivers driving less than 5 mins! Or short "Stop & Go" driving trips.
6) Change your driving habits to allow a "cool-down" time for your engine. This will do the exactly same thing as above. Proper cooling will allow the engine to vent the built up condensation & not allow it to turn into acid water.
In closing, these steps I've listed above will help slow down this problem that occurs eventually with ALL EGRless 3800'*. Any questions can be directed to me at any time.
What was needed to fix Burnt Exhaust Valve:
One new Exhaust Valve (STD) Ertel P/N A2317
One Cylinder Head Gasket Set Detroit Gasket P/N 71633
New Cylinder Head Bolts Detroit Gasket P/N 67313
One Valve Cover Gasket GM 25532619
One Lower Intake Manifold Gasket Set GM 12338840
One Exhaust Manifold Gasket Set Victor P/N MS15569
What was needed to fix Cracked Exhaust Manifold:
One used Exhaust Manifold ($60 Cdn) GM new = $465.00 Cdn!
Plus other Exhaust Manifold gasket from Above.
**Might need one to two Exhaust Pipe Seals (Donuts) depending on which Exhaust Manifold needs to be replaced.**
How to help avoid these problems:
1) Change your present stock 195 T-Stat to a 180 T-Stat (can be drilled {2-4 1/16" holes} or not)
2) Do regular maintenance on the engine, if you don't now please start. This includes: Fuel Filter, PCV Valve, Air Filter, Oil Changes, Coolant System Changes, Transmission Fluid Changes, etc...
3) Suggestion: Switch to a full Synthetic Oil to help reduce engine friction which causes heat build up.
4) Suggestion: Install an Aux. Trans Cooler (or a second one) to help reduce engine/trans stress which causes heat build up.
5) Change your driving habits to allow a "warm-up" time for your engine. This will reduce the acid build up in your oil & prolong engine life. Most acid build up is caused by drivers driving less than 5 mins! Or short "Stop & Go" driving trips.
6) Change your driving habits to allow a "cool-down" time for your engine. This will do the exactly same thing as above. Proper cooling will allow the engine to vent the built up condensation & not allow it to turn into acid water.
In closing, these steps I've listed above will help slow down this problem that occurs eventually with ALL EGRless 3800'*. Any questions can be directed to me at any time.
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my manufacture date is 03/92 am i egrless? are they digital? becuase it looks like i have some vacuum tubes going up into my firewall but i have no idea if it is a vacuum. my engine does act like the oxygen sensor is bad even though i just replaced with a very good oxygen sensor. i did find out today that the last people who worked on it mixed my spark plug wires up my 6 was connected to my 3 and 3 connected to my 6. im guessing that it can be pretty bad? also whats the symptems for a bad pcv?
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From: Edmonton, AB Canada
Originally Posted by L27Buick
o ok so what are the problem symtoms?
Originally Posted by DeathRat
It just took me 4 years to figure out what the real problem was all by myself, as everywhere I turned to for advice, I got a different suggestion. It starts off as a "miss" or "ticking". It will get louder with time & that is your first clue it is not an ignition problem. Unfortunately, short of tear down, you may not find it in it'* earlier stages. I didn't, I just replace all the plugs, wires, etc first......to find out the problem was still there. I then started testing coils & modules. I even flushed out the oil system, thinking it was a stuck lifter. I eventually did a "wet" & "dry" compression check on all the cylinders & that'* when I found it. I had one cyinder on the "dry" test that was 60 psi, while 4 others were 120 psi & one was 100 psi. I did a "wet' test to find out if the rings or valve was gone then. The result was slightly better but still quite low, thus confirming it as a valve on the one bad cylinder & something else on the other low cylinder. After tear down of the back head, I found what was left of an exhaust valve on the #6 hole. The #3 hole was the next mysterious problem to be solved, as it had low compression but not that bad. Turned out the #3 bend of the exhaust manifold was cracked behind the heat shield. That was why the compression was low at certain times only as once the manifold heated up, the cracked would sort of seal itself up. I replaced the exhaust manifold & exhaust valve & no more problems.
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Originally Posted by morsmortis
my manufacture date is 03/92 am i egrless? are they digital? becuase it looks like i have some vacuum tubes going up into my firewall but i have no idea if it is a vacuum. my engine does act like the oxygen sensor is bad even though i just replaced with a very good oxygen sensor. i did find out today that the last people who worked on it mixed my spark plug wires up my 6 was connected to my 3 and 3 connected to my 6. im guessing that it can be pretty bad? also whats the symptems for a bad pcv?
A bad PCV may cause a bad idle or a sludge buildup in the engine.
