My nephew is looking at a 2002 Alero with a 3400. The car is in great shape, but I am not familiar with the 3400. Is this a good engine, or are there some things I should be looking for (other than the stuff you would look for on any engine)?

A common problem with the 3400, especially in the n-bodys, is the uim and lim gaskets. I think it was MY 2002 they changed to a revised version. Other than that, like any other car, they have their little bugs, but nothing really major.

X2 on the UIM / LIM gaskets have to do them in the neighbors 2001 alero this week. price of the gaskets aren't bad, they are actually cheaper than the LIM set for the bonnies. will let ya know how bad it is to do them soon

they like good plugs and wires at about 100k. so if it runs rough and someone put chinese junk on it that may be all it is. my 03 monte and my moms 03 imp always had brown junk in the rad/overflow no matter how much i flushed it. doesnt seem to care though i put a bunch of miles on it without one engine issue.