I am interested in purchasing a Bonneville SSEI it has the 3.8 supercharged engine or the GXP with the northstar engine. I like the idea of having one with a V-8 but I have some concerns about the Northstar'* reputation. I also have been looking for performance figures between the two but have been unable to find any. Any advice any one can give me about these two would certainly be appreciated.

Thank you

Stay away from the Northstar. They are prone to head gasket leaks.

Agree with Mike......

When it comes to working on a northstar engine, they are a nightmare.....I mean everything.....Doesn't make any difference if you work on it or someone else, the cost and time is unreal....compare changing a thermostat on each engine...a starter on each engine...it goes on and on....in addition to the head gasket problem due to the head bolts pulling out threads, the engine is known for oil leaks that are costly to repair....

Oh, and by the way, dropping a tranny with a 3.8, compared to the Northstar tranny, is a piece of cake....

thank you for your advice. I had heard that as well. I like the idea of having a V-8 in the Bonneville but I have not head really anything good about the northstar engine.

Maybe you can help me with a problem I am having with my Grand PriX GTP. When I am driving the car all of a the motor just dies. There is no warning. It doesn't shutter or shake it just quits. Use to I could restart it right away but lately that is not the case and I haft to pull of to the side of the road and soon it will restart so far. The check engine light does not come on. Doing some research I thought it might be a crank sensor gone bad. My mechanic said no because when he put it on a scope it didn't though out a crank code or any code for that matter. Any help you could give me would be greatly appreciated..

The Northstars that hit the Bonnevilles were not quite as bad as previous years, but as mentioned, ultimately the head studs pull out of the block, causing issues. When properly fixed (re-studded), they can be relatively reliable.

As mentioned however, accessibility is a nightmare. Stock for stock, the GXP is superior in every way however, in acceleration, power, and handling. Plus that v8 makes a very nice noise.

I look at the Northstar as being trouble free for around the first 120k miles, with total life expectancy in the 200k mile range.

3800'* can easily push beyond 200k miles when properly maintained, but usually will need help in the transmission department by then anyway.

If you have no qualms with pulling the engine whenever any major work needs to be done, and are loaded up with the space, tools, and mechanical knowledge, the GXP could be pretty sweet. If you are not quite that crazy, the SSEi can do pretty well also.

Please start another thread properly titled with your issues that you are having.