V6Discussion and questions about the base carbureted or MPFI V6's and the rare SFI Turbo V6.
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Bought a 91 3.1 RS yesterday. It has the 3.1, guess the previous owner put a new timing chain on it, but otherwise all original. The engine has 171000 miles on it, Im hoping to keep this going till I can get the bodywork and paint done and another engine ready, probably 6 months or so. What point do these engines go and what can I do to keep it going?
I seafoamed the car, changed the oil, ran it for 20 minutes, and then changed the oil and filter again and put high milage oil in the car. Gonna do plugs, wires, and filter next oil change.
Also what emission stuff can I remove from the car. I dont have to get it tested so whatever I dont need, Ill take off.
It depends. Could last until tomorrow, could last another 100,000.
Mine is ~180,000 miles and runs great, other than needing new valve seals.
As far as emissions, legally you can't remove anything. Physically, you can remove everything (as I'm doing). I pulled the cat and blocked off the air injection, no codes. Next up is egr and smog pump, but I hear that will throw a code. I'm gonna have it tuned out. Even with a code I hear it will run fine.
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Any idiot can make a fast v8. It takes a real idiot to make a fast v6.
search around, it's easy to tear off your emissions. the digital EGR is the only thing I would think of keeping. It could throw a code or cause you to run pretty crappy. otherwise air injection and the smog pump should be the first to go. the cat comes off, it's just dealing with the rusty exhaust that's kind of a pain. 170000 on a 3.1 I wouldn't worry too much, these 6's are very reliable.
How long do you want it to last? If you take care of it, the engine could probably go farther than the rest of the car (most do). Removing the EGR does have some effect, making it run hotter, for one, and increasing NOx emissions, for 2, but if you don't have to deal with smog Nazis, and you can deal with a code 32 until you can have that system disabled, then by all means get rid of it.
I don't recommend removing the cat... Unless you're 100% sure it's the original that was on the car from the factory (you can easily tell the difference). Newer cats are free-flowing and have very little restriction compared to the old pellet bed types. Besides, if you end up somewhere where you need it, you'll shell out another $120 for a new one.
__________________ Dan V.
Project Raven is on hold... She's a body shell with a rather large collection of parts. 1987 Pontiac Firebird, T-top, 1991 VIN T engine, getting MegaSquirted. 85 T-5 5-Speed manual trans. Hybrid 3100 V6 swap nearly complete, too much body work to do first . Restomod in progress. So many parts to replace, so little money .
Agreed. Leave it alone. Unless you plan on doing major upgrades to the V6 motor, don't remove anything. I just clicked over 197,000 miles and still running strong. I plan on doing an LSX swap but doing anything to my motor would just be a waste of money right now.
I overmaintain my cars i think, mainly cause i work at a tire shop and get free oil so I change it like monthy. Im just worried the previous owner never maintained it, oil was black when it came out, change the oil 2 times though and its clean now. just hope no damage was done. Does seem like one of the exhaust manifold gaskets are bad or cracked. The right rear of the motor has a small exhaust leak.
We have 3 thirdgen birds. Two are V6s... one with a fresh rebuild, the other still going strong at 228K miles. Oil is still clean, and she doesn't knock or smoke. Gotta love that motor.
no many people on here knew about me running nitrous on a otherwise stock motor with MSD and injectors. but that v6 took it like a champ, I'm going to rebuild the motor in the spring getting it ready for twin turbo with like 5-7 pounds of boost
__________________ if they don't want me speed then why does it say 120 on the dash come on
. Restomod in progress. So many parts to replace, so little money 
I'm still not sure what I'm doing with mine. 
