Quote:
Originally Posted by mfuller
If you want to know why.....it was heavy, unreliable, and expensive. Three strikes and it doesn't get into a bread-and-butter car.
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This is probably the most ignorant thing I have ever read on this entire forum, and that is saying something because there have been some pretty
idiotic things posted here. I think we are all dumber now for having read that. You are awarded zero points and may god have mercy on your soul.
The only part of that posting that is even remotely close to something rational at all is the fact that the shortstar was expensive, which many believe is why Oldsmobile went out of business, don't believe me count how many Intrigues you see on the road and multiply that times a $3,000 loss per unit.
First off I find it incredibly ironic that GM decided to stick a 3400 SFI in a "bread and butter car" an engine that goes 40k-60k before needing an intake seal and maybe 100k before needing head gaskets, lets not even talk about the cam issues wth the experimental tube swaging (swaging is a diametrical upset type of casting) cam technology, this caused many of the early 1999-2000 engines to have snappage issues with their camshafts, I wont get into oil pump drive seal issues either... talk about reliablilty.
The truth of the matter is in regards to reliablity the 3.5 liter DOHC is nearly bullet proof, I have owned at least 10 of these cars with these engines and currently own 3 Intrigues 1,700...157,000...100,000 miles respecitively and an Aurora 17,000 miles with this motor. I never have once replaced an intake seal or head gasket and never will. I once owned an Intrigue with over 200k miles that had 1 mechanical problem with the engine and that was a crank sesnor. My best friend works at a GM dealership as a mechanic and routinely does work on 3.5s and that's oil changes, thats about it. he drives a 3.4 Alero and after 3 intake seals he's looking for an Intrigue to drive for his driver. The only issue with these cars is after a while they start to use oil, The oil rings on the pistons spin and let trace amounts of oil into the combustion chambers and this will burn off 1 quart of oil every one thousand miles (that's the worst case I have seen...and that was a car with 200,000 miles on it)..It's a 6 quart system car and there is a low oil warning light that comes on when it's a quart low so if you can read a warning light it's not an issue. The Aurora I have was in a front collision which broke its oil pan and dropped al 6 qts of oil on the ground and was left running on more than one occasion with out oil. I replaced the pan and put 6 new quarts and there is no lower end issue with this motor. Some times the AIR regulators on the exhaust manifolds on the 3.5s can throw up false check engine codes but this is very easily fixed with a new set froma salvage yard. The crank sensor and those regulators are the only problems with these engines I am aware of.
In my experience, the Northstar (that includes the Shortstar) series of engines are currently the best engines offered by GM period...I will not buy a car as a driver that uses the cast iron 60 degree v-6.
In terms of weight...it is an all aluminum casting even though the heads are huge for the DOHC setup it's still lighter than any 60 degree v-6 GM has produced (that includes the 3400)...don't believe me compare gross vehicle weights on 1998 Intrigue with the 3800 Series II and compare it to a 2000 Olds Intrigue with a 3.5 Shorstar there is about 240 pounds of difference, think thats the weight of other options...I don't think so. The foot print of the engine is large, it's a wide engine... but it's more than possible to stuff a 3.5 into a Alero it was done with the 2000 OSV Alero and GM still had room for a supercharger.
As for buying a used Intrigue it's probably the wisest choice for a used car out there. I don't have time right now to post all the reasons why but if you want more info on the car PM me and I will explain.
That's my $.02 on this issue.