Hey guys..

Excuse my ignorance here, but can you guys chime in with what some of the failures are on the older (95-99) and newer (00-current) 3100s and 3400s. The information out there on the troublesome spots is rather scarce compared to what you can find on the 3800s.

Only a handful of members have 3100, and 3400 because they're not in our cars. Most of the cars they come in, are a PITA to work on. I changed a belt on a 3100 and i had to pull the whole motor mount, and a huge bracket that goes infront of the accessories.

Tipping engines to change rear plugs isn't out of the ordinary, or pulling fenders to swap out accessories.

Head gaskets are blown a lot on 3.1s. :? A LOT.

I'll send you a link to check out, but not post it here, because we've had problems with that place and our members.

There are a ton of 3100 and 3400 engine out there that are haveing an issue with blown upper and lower intake gaskets. My sisters 99 Alero (3400) has had it bad enough to where I had to replace it. My parents 99 Malibu (3100) is showing signs of leakage but nothing to loose sleep over... yet.

If you check out the forums (the malibu and alero forums) for this issue you will see a long list of these happening. GM has come out with a new gasket for these engines but has not issued a recall on original gaskets.

Otherwise they are a strong motor for their size...

Is that just for the older 3100s, or all of them? Are there any other major issues with the 3100??

When did GM start using the new gaskets? A relative has a 2002 GA GT with the 3400 that we're getting concerned about.

Outside of the gasket issue on the 3400 and being difficult to work on, are there any other major issues of the 3400??

Keep the information coming....this is what I'm looking for!!

no whine

I belive the new gaskets were used from 99 on, but I am not positive. Only the new gasket is available now though. The old one is no longer being made.

Otherwise I think the 3100 and 3400 are good engines. I haven't heard anything of any other reoccuring issues. Still, the best place to find reoccuring issues on these engines is someplace like http://www.aleromod.com/.

What they said. The only problems I heard of were the gaskets. I have had the pleasure of driving my share of 3100'* and one 3400, and those engines run great. My bro'* 97 GA has a 3100, and never had a major problem. Just an alternator failure not too long ago. The 3400 in my mom'* 03 GA runs amazing. No problems yet.

almost all GM V6'* and V8'* have this problem 95 and newer (upper intake) i heard off 2 5.7'* and a few 4.3 and of coruse the 3800 and 3.1 and 3.4

if you MUST have a car with one of those engines..I would plan on having to change the intake gaskets and possibly head gaskets someday. MIne had blown the intakes and a head gasket right before Christmas. I wrenched it myself and had the heads checked for cracks as well as a very minor amount of polishing. Everything is buried, hard to get to and I went ahead and changed plugs and t-stat during the repairs, because I could not even TOUCH the plugs with the engine assembled. It wasnt a fun job, but I love the 3800 so that might have influenced my feelings about the 3100. I might add that this failure occured in my 99 Malibu at 92K miles and I just now have 94k on it. Seems to be running OK except for the quart it uses every 1000 miles or so.

Well, your right about that, but some of them have a hissing noise (turbocharger), and and confuse the blown 3.8'* because they keep right up with them (stock), even with the .7L disadvantage.

If you want to find information about the 3100 & 3400'* a good place to start would be www.60degreev6.com/forum. They should know a little about those engines there.

We just got rid of a car that had the 3100 in it. It ran great, and we never had any problems with the engine at all. (other than the usual stuff, bad ignition coil, bad alternator, etc..) I have absolutely no complaints at all about that engine.

We also have 3 cars with 3.1L engines and all of them run very well. We've had no major problems with any of the engines. I've had to replace the radiator and the water pump in mine, but thats it. (and those aren't really problems with the engine) I 'think', but I'm not sure, that I may have blown one of my head gaskets, but it was due to my own stupidity and can't be blamed on the engine at all. However, I bought some 3100 heads for it, so the heads were coming off anyways. I should gain some significant power by switching to the newer generation better flowing heads and fix a head gasket at the same time.

I don't know why you are asking about those engines, but if you are looking into a car with one of those engines in it, don't worry about the engine. They are very reliable engines, that have a few problems, just like every other engine. Personally when I go looking for a car I look for either a 3.1/3100, 3.8, or LS1/LS6 because I know they are very reliable engines.

Shawn