My 90 Z-24 had the 3.1. Power to spare, that was a fun ride. Shoulda kept it.

Thanks for all the input guys....

Turns out he got the name of the car wrong; it'* a '94 Grand Am, not Grand Prix. Still, they probably had the same 3100 and 3400 options, in addition to the 2.2 four cylinder? I'm not sure which one it is, but I guess his dad bought the car so it'* too late for second guesses. We'll see how it turns out.

A '94 GA will have the 3100 if it has a V6. They didn't get the 3400 until '99.

Thanks for the heads-up. Was I correct in guessing that the four cylinder option is a 2.2?

It SHOULD be a 2.3 Quad4.

Great, now I'm confused and worried. My daughters "new" 01 GP doesn't have the 3800. It does have alot of miles (140,000). Is this going to be a problem. The previous owner maintained it regularly, all highway miles. They had replaced the intake gasket at around 90,000. Maybe a water pump also, can't remember.

I thought it has the 3100. Did they even come with a 3400? My other daughter boyfriend has an Alero that has a 3400 so I am confused.

You're pretty damn misinformed, my friend. First off, the 3.4 DOES NOT have a timing chain. It'* a timing belt, non-interference (except for 1996-1997) 60* V6 engine. Timing belt replacement is every 60k.. As for your little bout on 3x00 reliability, there are NUMEROUS 3100'* on W-body.com with well over 150k, some in the 200k range. I've NEVER ONCE heard of a piston issue with one. EVER. Never heard of a timing chain problem either. The only issue 3100'* have is the GM V6 upper intake issue. Headgasket failure is pretty rare. The 3800 wasn't available in the Grand Prix until 1997. The only W-body that could get it before that was the Regal, which started getting it in 1991. W-body V6 Grand Prix engines are as follows:

1988-mid 1989: 2.8L MPFI Gen II (LB6)
1989-1990: 3.1L MPFI V6 Gen II Turbocharged (LG5)
mid-1989-1993: 3.1L MPFI V6 Gen II (LH0)
1991-1996: 3.4L Twin DOHC (LQ1)
1994-2003: 3100 SFI (3.1 Gen III) V6 (L82)
1997-2003: Series II 3800 N/A (L36)
1997-2003: Series II 3800 Supercharged (L67)
2004+: Series III 3800 N/A (L26)
2004+: Series III 3800 Supercharged (L32)

Oh yeah.. the 3100'* use the exact same 4T60e the Bonneville'* got with the exception of an intermediate shaft and a different gear ratio. So.. how many Bonnevilles just randomly have transmission failure?

Your daughter'* Grand Prix SE has a 3100. The Grand Prix never got the 3400. 2001 was the year that they fixed the intake manifold failure problem. So, you're pretty much good to go. Waterpump replacement is normal. If the headgaskets have already gone, then you should be allright for a good long time. 3100'* are pretty much bulletproof.

digitaloutsider pretty much hit it right on the head. The 3100 is just as reliable as the 3800 IMO. All engines have their problems...can we say lower intake gaskets? There is a particular Grand Am we work on in my Auto Tech class that one of the teachers drives and last time we worked on it it had around 360,000 miles or so on it. Its a '94 with a 3100 and the 4T60. I think he JUST had the tranny rebuilt for the first time and the engine has never been torn down very far, I don't think it even ever had the lower intake gasket leak. The most major thing I've ever seen that needed to be replaced on it was the water pump, which is like $22 and takes 15 minutes to do.

And I definately agree with the tranny part. Why would the exact same tranny that Bonnevilles have be weaker when mated to a weaker engine on a lighter car? Trannies are really not a problem on 3100'*. Do they fail, yes, everything will fail on a car at some point. If you want to talk about weak trannies, then maybe we should talk about the 440T4 that were used on most Gen II 3.1'*. I can post some pics of the parts that came out of mine...and then the other parts that came out of it a few weeks later after it was rebuilt and couldn't stand up to the torque yet again.

Yup, the 3.1 has flat tappet lifter and obviously a flat tappet cam (not allowing fast ramp rates). They were rated for 140hp/180ft.lbs. The MPFI system fires the injectors in banks. It fires the front bank at one time and the rear bank at one time. So 3 injectors at a time, if I understand correctly. Problems with Gen II 3.1'* are very few and far between. When I had the heads pulled off the STE the bottom end looked brand new and everything looked great...not too bad for knowing how badly I beat the crap out of it beforehand, and that it hit over 300 degrees a few months prior. (which is what warped the head thus blowing the headgasket causing me to need to tear it down)

Shawn