How is the question!!????!?!?!?

**KwazrollinZ28GTP** · 01-21-2011

How do all of you guys blow up so many motors, i'm harder then hell on my cars when i race, and have yet to blow a motor in the 8 years i've been driving.

maybe its just that i maintain my cars after i beat on them, i don't know. i just keep hearing of storys of bad pistons, rod knocks, what not.

honestly the only thing i've blown is 2 transmissions in my whole life and thats cause the shop worker was a fukcin idiot. so i build all my own stuff and have yet to blow anything. just wondering thats all. or are most of the cars on here high mileage that blow???

**PurpleGuy** · 01-21-2011

Haven't blown anything up yet...*knock on wood*

**matt5112** · 01-21-2011

some bad decisions and some bad luck = blown motor.

It happens.

**machinegunsquid** · 01-21-2011

CAUSE....

I wanna be like blue!

Ummm...The first engine I had, when I bought my car, lasted me a whole 30miles...
All fluids were good, everything was fine...outta no where BAM, dead.
No boost, not even going over 45mph...just...booom...

2nd motor was bad from the yard I got it from. Got it in, cranked once, and knock knock knock.
Took the motor back out, and they swapped it for the one I currently have...
Car ran fine for the 2 years the motor was in. Sure I beat on it, but I've always been good to my car. New gaskets, all properly installed. Synthetic oil, Dex VI trans fluid, etc...

Never knocked with my 3.4 setup..

Out of the blue a few days ago, parked the car, went to start it up the next day, KNOCK KNOCK...whos there? A chipped piston....or 3.
Seriously...No idea what the hell happened...

Now some I imagine are from running too small a pulley and saying "what, Im not knocking" without really knowing whats going on.

Also, all 3 engine had less that 100k miles on them

**brandonl2000** · 01-21-2011

yea, and some i see due to improper mods like not having headers and what not.

or like the engine that was in my GP, previous owner ran it with coolant inside engine for too long and even after i fixed it, i got in on it one time at high speed high RPMs and it went bye byeee

**Bio248** · 01-21-2011

the only reason i lost a motor was a dumb mistake on my behalf of running the motor with no oil pump gear for about a minute total. i spun a bearing 3 days after i got it back together fully. other than that my motors have been strong.

**TLSheff** · 01-21-2011

LOL Intake and basic tune for tranny and speed limiter. Coming off the highway I think its the deisel beside me. it wasnt. Spun bearing for cyl#1, not sure how long it was like that because I had the radio turned up to cover the sound of the tires on the pavement at 80mph and the girlfriend talking

She made it back to the apt and then straight to the shop at work and put in a used rebuilt L67, going good so far. Only tracked the original engine once for 3 runs, flat 15s as she sits everyday on regular tires, not even street performers. 83,000 miles was as far as the fir one got. it happens sometimes
(I blame previous owner, but well never know)

**goldgp** · 01-21-2011

256k and counting

**redlinepontiac** · 01-21-2011

200k and 112k so far

**QUICKSILVER462** · 01-21-2011

From the factory, the 3800's top piston ring gap is too tight to be safe for hard driving. Sure it works and lots of people run it stock gap. but it is dangerous for serious boosted conditions. If the top gap had another .015-.025 in it there would be no worries what so ever of breaking the top ring land off, but somthing else would go wrong that needs attention. From the factory, the engines are design to last 100's miles, and to meet emmision regulations, and be quite.
Bluprinting is needed to make them live under steady WOT, but that will reduce the longevity somewhat. A properly blueprinted engine can handle lots of power, all day long, so long the A/F mixture and timing are correct. Sometimes that is not the case, and to an engine that is built to very tight tolerences, things go wrong fast, there is no safty margin for the engine. Extra power make heat, and lots of it, if it can not be dissipated, the parts expand over the design limit and bind, that is how bearings spin in thier bore, head gaskets blow, and pistons rings expand to the point the end gaps touch each other and lock the piston in place at TDC. And in the 3800 the ones that see the most heat are 1,3,and 5 because the stock exhaust manifold is very restrictive and the exhaust just cannot get out fast enough limiting the fresh cooler intake charge to enter the combustion chamber. Detonation, or pre-ignition starts to happen and create alot more heat, very fast, and the ring expands to the point is traps the piston at TDC on the way down and the top part of the piston breaks off.

**TLSheff** · 01-21-2011

^^^ Unfortunately leading to

**KwazrollinZ28GTP** · 01-21-2011

love my headers on all my cars.

wouldn't headers flow better then togs? yet i see people going to togs instead of there headers, or is it because they fit better???

**kfish** · 01-21-2011

Togs are a brand of headers. The Other Guys. Are you thinking of pem's or plogs? They dont flow as well as headers but the install is much easier. I think you keep more of your low/mid range torque with pem/plog more so than headers.

**machinegunsquid** · 01-21-2011

Yeah, you means Plogs....TOGs are a header brand as kfish stated...

then again, I've always had headers on my motor...didnt stop my boom from happening this time...

oh well...500hp turbo build soon?

**KwazrollinZ28GTP** · 01-21-2011

yep plogs lol

**mechguy** · 01-22-2011

I view this scenario slightly differently. Let's say guy "A" buys a GP with 150k miles, gives the car some mods and then blows the engine. It would be incorrect to solely blame the mods and current owner, because the car has already experienced the majority of its lifespan with other owners.

I know some people that are wealthy but very, very stingy. They will buy a brand new car and refuse to perform maintenance because they will sell the car at 100k anyway. They might have given the engine just a few oil changes in that mileage, and certainly never spark plug replacement or trans service. This type of behaviour disgusts me; the subsequent buyer gets totally screwed.

The same type of people almost definately never use the correct fuel (regular fuel is cheaper). They will usually not care to plug in the block heater or even warm up the engine when necessary.

GTP's originally had high sticker prices so I think it's fair to say many of them were bought new by the aforementioned stingy b@st@rds.

**01gpgt01** · 01-22-2011

Been "topswapped" for 5 years been running a 3.4-3.25 pulley on it for 3. Still runs fine. Original engine, Original trans(which is dieing).

**QUICKSILVER462** · 01-22-2011

I do not wish any misgiving on the GP owners, and thier modified cars. If it were not for thier posting thier expieriences I for one would not have learn of the inherent problems with these cars, which is the direct reason I myself have installed a zzp PLOG on the front bank of my GTP, along with the u-bend delete, and free flowing
Magnaflow downpipe and cat. I could tell an imiediate difference in the performance
and consistant boost when into the thottle after the upgrade, and I am sure headers would have benefited even better but I have no plans of modding for extra power, just for more consistant performance and durability.
I do not wish for anyones engine to blow up which is why I an giving back a little bit of my knowledge and expierences, I have learned from others mistakes and I say thank you for letting us know what went wrong and showing pictures of the "carnage" when possible. I would love to modify my car more but finances and phyisical ability at this point in my life will not allow such, so I am just shooting for reliability and performace.

**01gpgt01** · 01-22-2011

Originally Posted by QUICKSILVER462

I do not wish any misgiving on the GP owners, and thier modified cars. If it were not for thier posting thier expieriences I for one would not have learn of the inherent problems with these cars, which is the direct reason I myself have installed a zzp PLOG on the front bank of my GTP, along with the u-bend delete, and free flowing
Magnaflow downpipe and cat. I could tell an imiediate difference in the performance
and consistant boost when into the thottle after the upgrade, and I am sure headers would have benefited even better but I have no plans of modding for extra power, just for more consistant performance and durability.
I do not wish for anyones engine to blow up which is why I an giving back a little bit of my knowledge and expierences, I have learned from others mistakes and I say thank you for letting us know what went wrong and showing pictures of the "carnage" when possible. I would love to modify my car more but finances and phyisical ability at this point in my life will not allow such, so I am just shooting for reliability and performace.

Thats good because stock engines have made it over 600WHP. Its all about the tune and modding safe. That being said these motors are very forgiving. I once made a Entire 1/4 mile pass with a 14.5 AFR and 9 psi. I hit 12 degress of KR. Engines still alive lol. Problem is people get canned tunes, run to small a pulley, And do 30 Sec WOT runs

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