Transplanting motors olds 3800 to a GP

[TURBOPOWERED68]

Would a 3800 out of a 92 oldsmobile silhouette drop in to a 98 Pontiac Grand Prix?

 

[turbobuickltd]

The computer on the 92 is OBD I, the computer on the 98 is OBD II. So right off the bat you have to deal with a lot of wiring.

 

[TURBOPOWERED68]

The computer on the 92 is OBD I, the computer on the 98 is OBD II. So right off the bat you have to deal with a lot of wiring.

Sorry i wasn't clear
interested in just Swapping Long Blocks (block and heads as a unit)

 

[murphinator]

different engine alltogether

95 is when series 2 production started in NA form , 96 they started SC

97 & up sc as well as 98 & up NA 3800's got the 4t65e computer controlled trans instead of the 4t60 from the previous cars

pcm's changed for obd2 around 97 also

to bad you arent closer I have a couple 98 series 2's complete and running well still in cars I would sell for $250 ea.

I do work in Mass though so let me know.....

 

[murphinator]

on second thought what is wrong with the engine in the 98 ??

I have bought a 1/2 dozen now off craigs list diagnosed by mechanics as blown motor , cracked cyl head ,blown head gasket ,etc... that ended up just being a bad intake gasket that filled the engine with coolant and hydrolocked it.

including one from a guy with a turboed 3800 that bought another car with a bad engine to mod it and never considered the engine could actually be good....got the car home pulled all 6 plugs ,spun it over , spit coolant all over , put a dry set of used plugs in it fired it up ran well until t stat starts to open , shut it down as soon as it starts runnnig rough so as not to take another life from the short block - they have 9 lives :biggrin:

all these cars are still running - I sold them to local forum members after diagnosing them one has even been modded and sprayed and still runs good.

maybe you have a rod out the block but hey if I can save you an engine job by sharing what I have seen thats what forums are for.

good luck !

 

[GerrywithaG]

to bad you arent closer I have a couple 98 series 2's complete and running well still in cars I would sell for $250 ea.

I do work in Mass though so let me know.....

are they the L67 SC?

i've been toying with the idea of putting 3800 sc in an olds alero... may hit you up soon...

 

[murphinator]

no $250 is for NA I do have an L67 with approx 120k for $350 though long block with sc & lim no injectors

 

[TURBOPOWERED68]

This is my cousins car this is the long story
1-The intake manifold gasket started leaking and he lost all of the coolant and over heated the engine. ---It was burning the water
2-He took it to a mechanic to do the intake gasket, when he got the car back it was worst Milk shake in the oil pan
3-He took it to another mechanic he found a cracked intake and a cracked head.
Supposedly the mechanic had the intake and head repaired.
4-ONE (1) Day of driving and the car looses oil pressure the oil light comes on and you can hear the engine making noise and the temp starts to go up

This car is SUPER clean it looks like a very very low mile car.

Anyway i thought (First mistake) that the 92 3800 Block and heads whir the same as the 98 3800.
The 92 is still sitting in a running car in my yard and i have NO plans of ever doing anything with the silhouette beside the scrap yard. So i was hoping that i could swap JUST the long blocks.

 

[TURBOPOWERED68]

bump for more info

 

[murphinator]

slightly off on a tangent but scrap prices are up , scrap the minivan and use the $$ to buy a replacement engine ???

sounds like the car is worth saving....

 

[TURBOPOWERED68]

slightly off on a tangent but scrap prices are up , scrap the minivan and use the $$ to buy a replacement engine ???

sounds like the car is worth saving....

Not my car, i would give him my engine though.

Its definitely worth saving
i'll let him know about your engines

Just for my info
which years 3800 Short blocks interchange with? Example 86-87, 84-85

 

[murphinator]

normally aspirated 95-03 L36 should all interchange

SC 96-03 l67 should all be the same

NA 04-07 L26 should all be thesame

SC 04+ in gtp's got the L32 with powdered metal con rods ,slightly different heads , injectors , and went to a cable TB

you can mix & match a lot of the above also but the NA stuff is 9.5 to 1 CR and the sc stuff is 8.5 to 1 so if you do a top swap of sc heads onto NA short block you will make more power but need to be more conservative with the pulley , run higher octane , or have more supporting mods like cams ,intercoolers ,headers etc....

sc heads have the injectors in the head , NA the injectors go into the intake manifold

sc engines all got coated pistons

they can all take a lot of abuse (boost or spray) as long as you keep them out of detonation and fed with proper fueling like anything else

 

[Brad Zeidler]

To be honest, the computer won't know the difference between a series I or II as long as you can make yourself an adapter plate to use the seriesII throttle body on the seriesI engine. The accessories are mounted a little different and you'll need the whole motor because of the difference in the exhaust manifolds as well. You'll see the difference if you put them side by side. The I exhaust ports aren't evenly spaced as is the intake ports are layed out the same-uneven. So the int/exh layout was one of the improvements of the series II.They also lowered the deck height of the block on the II by somewhere around an inch.

 

[TURBOPOWERED68]

To be honest, the computer won't know the difference between a series I or II as long as you can make yourself an adapter plate to use the seriesII throttle body on the seriesI engine. The accessories are mounted a little different and you'll need the whole motor because of the difference in the exhaust manifolds as well. You'll see the difference if you put them side by side. The I exhaust ports aren't evenly spaced as is the intake ports are layed out the same-uneven. So the int/exh layout was one of the improvements of the series II.They also lowered the deck height of the block on the II by somewhere around an inch.

thanks Brad this is the type of info that i was looking for.