Hi guys. I am hoping this is the right place and right way to ask this. But a guy wants to trade me a 91 firebird with the 3.1 v6 and an automatic transmission for my car. The car I'm trading is worth about 2,500 in it's current state. The firebird has a clean body, nice wheels, but the interior is rough (expected tbh).

But I am more worried about that engine. I've heard that it's a turd of an engine as far as breaking down. I'm not worried about speed. Just want a nice looking car I can put a good stereo in. Typical ****.

Is there anything to look out for when I check that firebird out? I know how to check a car out in general but warning signs of typical issues with that engine would be helpful. I've heard the intake manifold gaskets goes bad pretty often and causes oil and coolant to mix. Not sure how to tell if that has happened in the past or is about to happen. Not sure if there is even a way to tell. Any advice is appreciated

Nice looking car and it seems to be well kept to me

 

The Firebird 3.1L is a tank. The fuel injectors are crap, and the 700R4 will lay down long before anything in the engine goes south. It's not a front wheel drive 3.1, it's a rear wheel drive 3.1, meaning it has iron heads and low compression, pretty much the S10 style engine that was very very very well sorted out by 91. I pulled a 91 Firebird out of a junkyard in 2000, it was rough with around 130k miles on the clock. A new trans and a few sets of injectors aside, I drove that car daily for another 7 years. Sold it to a kid with zero car knowledge, he drove it at least another 4 years before it turned up in the junkyard with "bad trans" scribbled on the windshield. The one I have now had a blown engine at 141k miles, but the kid that had it must have been a friggin' idiot. Had he kept up on the most basic maintenance, like changing the oil and not beating the **** out of the car, it'd have probably gone longer.

Biggest issue with a V6 thirdgen is simply that they're not a V8. The 3.1L is rated at 140hp, which doesn't put it too far off from the base V8, but let's be honest here, the base V8 in 91 was slow by 1991 standards. You've really gotta push the 3.1 to get any power out of it. That means around town gas mileage is no better than a V8. Nobody wants a V6 Camaro or Firebird. That means they have next to zero resale value. I started trying to sell mine almost immediately, and ended up practically giving it away after 7 years.

So if someone asked me if they should buy a V6 thirdgen, I'd say probably not. If the plan is to daily drive the car, you're kidding yourself, it's a 30 year old car! Things are going to let you down, and if you're depending on the car to get you to work, you're going to have issues with consistency. Even a well kept car is going to need constant upkeep. In the first 2 or 3 years driving mine, I didn't go more than a week or two without fixing something. The engine was solid, but I went thru the brakes two or three times, water pump, starter, alternator(s), belt tensioner, exhaust, shocks/struts, fuel pump, transmission, heater core, heater fan, steering column rebuild, speedometer sender, torque converter clutch solenoid, oil pressure sender, injectors, etc. There was always something to work on. If you don't want to, or can't do the work yourself, it'll nickle and dime you to a frustrating end. And I was dealing with a Firebird when it was only 10 years old. Now you can plan on anything rubber being done, brittle plastic, etc. Things like rebuilding headlight motors, changing suspension bushings, all kinds of rattles in the dash, doors, etc.

 

Wow man. Thank you so much. That was super informative. I'm a truck driver so it would only be getting driven once a month around town. But I don't have the time to put work into a car and I'm instilling to sink heaps of cash.(it's why I'm trading my Chrysler with the hemi) I appreciate your reply a great deal.

 

I'd say go drive it, accept that it'll likely never be any faster, and decide if you want to fight with it. Upgrading the V6 to something else isn't easy or cheap, and resale is difficult.

 

I got an offer for an 85 trans am but it's been sitting a long time without care. As far as the firebird. It's a good looking car and I'm going to check it out. If it seems solid I might trade for it. My Chrysler needs work, which is why I was willing to trade even for it despite my cars better resale value. A lot to think about. A 3.1 isn't much fun to drive. I had that engine in a lumina. If it were manual I would be more willing... Guess it's good I have a few weeks to think it over.