Remember that diesel that GM put out in the late 70's that was small block gasoline engine retrofit. And how about all of the creased hoods on the mid 70's to late 80's p/u's. Just two of my all time favortite GMisms. Then there are those old Camaro and Monte Carlo doors that wegihed as much as a Vega but were held in place with door hinges rated for 50#'s so that you got a three inch drop everytime you opened the door. Those were the good old days.

 

77F150,

Sorry to break it to you but these are not BS Items, most of them are things I have experienced my self first hand - lets start with my cutlass supreme international - had a palethera of strut problems (they were always sagging), the rear brakes didn't work when I bought it, I spent over $600s on all new rear brake parts (everything right down to cables) which only aleviated the problem for less than a year and then it was back to no rear brakes again. My wifes chevy lumina needs and intake gasket as we speak and my buddy just put one in his grand prix a month ago with both engines under 100k miles and well maintained, By the way this is an all day job for the average joe that can do mechanics - personally I think it has to do with that garbage they call antifreeze (DexCool)- also the wifes lumina and my cutlass both had and have terrible piston slap as did my buddies grand prix. no way to fix it without replacing the motor and then theres no garentee it still won't do it. My uncle is the night forman for the GM dealer here and he's replaced engines in his 01 grand prix and his 04 Impalla both for piston slap (under warrenty mind you) and complains continuously about it in his 04' pickup (5.3L) but realizes he won't own that past 20k so just lets it slide. Mind you this is a guy that wouldn't own any thing but a GM. Lets move on to the 8.1L in my brother In-Laws 3500 Chevy - yes it burns oil and yes it has piston slap both starting at less than 15k miles, nothing GM will do about it, end of story. And after working on multiple 3.1Ls and 3.8Ls I have decided that rolling the engine forward isn't so bad but either you need a second person to do this while you work or you need a strap to hold it forward but then the plastic bumpers cave in because the only thing strong enough to hold the engine forward is underneith the vehical (also I recomend a towel under the strap so you don't scuff the paint on the bumper). I'm going to stop here as I won't even begin to bring up the problems that all 5 of our company suburbans have, many of the same problems over and over and over agian. But What I'm pointing out is that I have yes in fact fixed many of these issues that just keep reoccuring - also there is no fix for piston slap without a replacement engine or a rebuild, and there is no fix for poorly designed rear disk brakes and struts, and agian is no fix for the ungliness of a the avalanch or the bug eyes on the chevy pickups, agian not FIXABLE - I take that back, there is a fix, quit buying GMs and buy a Ford - see now I get to deal with Ford Problems like there poor ESOF system and my squeaky Crew Cab, at least I know how to fix this (the squeakys anyway) as for the ESOF it take a set of warn premiums after it goes of warranty. As I said before I'm not going to argue just show the facts and agian add a little fuel to the fire. I won't say ford and doge dont have there problems but I kinda a feel like jabbing at GM at the moment. so take it kind heatedly and with a grain of salt.

 

I am open to own any brand of car as long as it is reliable. I personally dont like working on my cars all the time. Its not the brand that makes cars more reliable its more so on the model. Some models dont break down much while some are just bound to go to the scrap yard. Ive own many cars and I had some good chevys and fords while I had some bad ones.
Best cars ive owned
1997 Ford Ranger
1987 Chevy Cavalier
1990 Geo Prizm
1985 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme

Worst ive owned
1993 Ford Probe
1984 Audi 5000s
1984 Buick Skyhawk

 

Dont take this as bashing thing but your a mechanic rite? i mean to avoid all those problems you would have to maintain it on a daily basis for all the GM Vehicles you previously owned. Im not the type of guy that see's and witnesses a brand vehicle having problems and jumps on the internet to make a front of, for me there's only two brands that i would trust to own, Ford and Chevy (GM), i know both of these companies have there problems but there trucks i mean what can you do. While anyway just wanted my voice or my writing to be seen.

 

Changing spark plugs on a 3.1 on a 90 to 94 Lumina is pretty simple, just unhook the two brackets in front of the motor, loosen the motor mounts, and use some sort of a pulley of some sort and pull the motor frontward.

 

SLE- I'm scratching my head on this one. Personally owned five Cutlasses (six, if you include the used one I bought for my kid). Never had a problem with any of them. Have so many Luminas out in fleet service with 100-200K miles on 'em it's not even funny- and it's a zero problem car. Ditto Impalas. Recently took a Grand Prix in trade with over 300k miles on it. Original engine/trans, car still ran and drove (looked like heck though). Engines replaced under warranty for piston slap? Since when- GM calls it a normal condition, no action required...or authorized.

 

....


Alright boys, heres the deal. As far as owning these vehicles I have, theres no arguement. The 3.1L motor is probably GMs best engine, My dad has one with 240,000 miles and it still runs strong on the original engine and trans although its a 93 and has the old 3 speed with the lock up converter (there version of OD at the time). Now on the other hand my 00 Lumina has a 3.1L that runs great short of 3 things. First is the trans took a poop at 77k on it which was very disappointing since they were 80% highway miles and it had been well maintaned, second is the horiffic piston slap that seems to get worse by the day (this does bother me but it goes away after about two minutes), lastly is the lower intake manifold gasket which as I said is leaking as we speak and needs to be replaced before it start getting into the cylinders, mid you this is a 8-12hour job when done right and with the precision of a torque wrench. Next the cutlass everyone tells me they are great cars as they should be, they were built on the same platform as the 4 or 5 other gm cars. My cutlass was a money sucking pig though. I put more money into that thing than one person should have to; lets run through the list quick - All three coil packs, front and rear struts more than once, entire rear brake system and it still stopped working after less than a year, 3 clutches (no reason as again this was primarly a highway car and was not abused, one clutch was defective but I still ahd to pay labor which is the primary cost; also the clutch is over a $1000 job if taken into a service shop - don't even question me on this as the entire front clip has to be dropped in order to remove the trans, we'll move on, ignition module twice, them dang vertical door handles, one on each side, three alternators which are around $600 if you take it in, other wise plan on doing a whole lot of cusing (goes back to the ignition module and coil packs), the dash buckled by the defroster, three fuel injectors, also for got to add this one also had the wonderfull GM piston slap which began to developed at around 70k on a motor that they said shouldn't do that (3.4L DOHC). I loved that car as the power was awsome for a V-6 and the 5 speed was a rare breed, and it had power everything and was the most loaded vehicle I've ever owned. I think everyone now knows why I don't think much of the cutlass now, I may have had a lemon but it left a sour taste in my mouth non the less. Lets move on to my 94 chevy 1500 that puked the trany fluid all over the ground every time I pull my dads 18' camper; it was down right embarasing when his late 85' F150 EFI 302 could not only stomp me in a race but also had no problem with the camper, matter of fact he upgraded and bought a brand new 28'fter a couple of years ago and still had no problem with the old 302 or trans (although last year he bought a 96' F350 Dually), I took mine into GM and they said it was an easy fix, just take the overflow line and route it back into the trans, thats not solving anything! The rest of the truck was pretty good other than it being quite short on power, thats just the nature of the 305 though. Lastly the piston slap issue; they will replace the engine if it does it for x amount of minutes before quiting down, My uncle did tell me they have gotten very strict on this and he had to pull a few strings on his impalla and thats one of the reasons he decided just to leave his pickup alone. Nobody can deny this is a GM problem, they do by the way have a class action law suit over this right now but I have no Idea where it is as far as the legal process goes. Lastly guys NO I AM NOT A MECHANIC, nor did I say I was one, I simply said I do my own mechanics, as much as possible anyway - the clutch in the cutlass was to big of a job without a hoist so that one went in for the repair. I just figured my previous comments would get a little more reaction as everyone is very easy going about it all. Like I said before all brands have there problems I just haven't had any fords other than my two trucks and the first truck was the best vehicle I've ever owned, the current one I'm not sure about yet as it has had some problems which doesn't bother me untill its off warranty and I have to start paying for them. I do plan on buying a 03 or 04 tarus within the year or so and as I switch to the fords I'm sure I'll have plenty to complain about. after having primarly GMs for the last 10 years it easy to complain about GM problems. Hope nobody gets heart burn over this, take it light heartedly and with a grain of salt as every one here has been doing. Thanks guys for the posts but hasn't anyone else had problems with there vehicles or am I just getting the lemmons.

 

SLE I would like to make a suggestion, if at all possible try to break up your posts with paragraphs, it makes it much easier for all members to read…especially ones like me …my old eyes just have a very difficult time following these very long continuous sentences…

In no way is there anything wrong....just would help to read it.
My eyes, thank you very much~~!

 

No problem, I get going on something and it just kinda rolls if ya know what I mean.

 

Your post are great, well written, and very informative...don't stop

 

I drive a 1992 cutlass supreme LS (4 door ) 3.1 auto trans. I have put a shift selonoid in the trans. I have put brakes in it, a new turn signal/dimmer switch along with an altinator, and a belt tensioner, all of this can be blamed on teh waterpump going out though and screwing up the bearings in both of the previous. The front dash is screwed up. The starter and battery are starting to get weak in it. The motor is on it's way to 150k. Oh I put new tires on it. It also could use new shocks. It is also just starting to show a little rust right behind the front tires and right in front of the back ones.

Also I had to put a new oil pan under it, but that was owner error and a whole story in and of itself.

On the postive, I think the car runs great and I think it handels good and is fun to drive. It does great in the snow too, even in 10+ inches.

I think I will be keeping the car because I get good gas mileage.

Might even be a collector since oldsmobile is out of business.


Dad had an 1989 1500 ex cab 4x4 LB had the old 350. Not a complaint in the world on that truck.

 

Hey, you reminded me that I had to also put a starter in the Cutlass, Obviously tires and shocks, brake PADS and that are going to wear out but 3 sets of struts in less than 75K, and the entire rear brake system seemed a little excessive to myself.

 

I don't think my car has nickel dimed me to death yet, and has been fairly reliable for what it was when I bought it.

Oh and I also had to get the air conditioner charged, but that wasn't a big deal, it had just had a new system put in it a year ago and one of the fittings wasn't sealed good so it leaked out during the winter.

My brakes work good but they tend to fade if you get on them real hard while in a littlehurry.

3 sets of struts seems a lot extreme to me. would that have anything to do with how you drive? if you cross railroad tracks like me??? oh well never mind that.

 

150ford- I think GM has plenty to offer the Mustang for competition, this is off topic
but I think the GT0 would handle the mustang pretty easily with 400hp. The stock C6 corvette is the hot ticket and the corvette C6 Z06 will blow most cars off the road and handle the Ford GT. I think these are good days for sports car buyers.

 

I think someone posted on the wrong thread!!