Just a little curious, have any of you been able to REALLY kill a 2.8. I hear a lot of people from where I am say they are a sucky motor but my friends and I have always had good luck with them. I have owned 2. The first in an 85 bird with a manual tranny. I actually was pissed off one day at the car (hyd clutch line burn though on headers) cuz I couldn't shift out of 1st and wasnt able to find that "sweet spot" where I learned how to shift without a clutch, so I just got her home on 1st gear and actuall pegged the tach.... past 7000 rpms... figured if I blow the motor its was an excuse to start puttin in the 327 I had. Well it never blew. I ended up finally installing the 327 a few months later ... the 2.8 still ran great when I pulled it.... tranny broke so that was my excuse. I pulled the 2.8 apart just for curiosity and after 151,000 miles it was in surprisinly great conition... not even a ridge at the top of the cyclinder walls... of course I used mobil 1 its whole life but nothing at all had much wear if any at all. I now own a 2.8 in an 89 bird with auto tranny with 115,000 on it and also no problems... guy at midias said it was the smoothest 2.8 he has seen. 2 other friends had 2.8's one in an s-10 and one in a camaro. Also ran great when the car was sold. The only 2.8 I ever sold even halfway blow was an 83 bird my bro bought ... didnt know at the time but was blown. Started didnt work either... we push started it and she went. We took the motor out when we got it home and found 2 broken rods and a hole (where the rod exited the pan. One rod was kinda wedged between the crank and cyclinder wall but the thing is ... it still ran!! It lacked power and had some black smoke but it still ran. So my question is what does it take to blow these motors... they seem well built and strong to me. Seems like as long as you keep oil in the pan they will run forever.

 

Mine was a big pathetic POS. NOTHING but problem after problem! Noticed a 6 inch crack in the block along the pass side when i pulled it. The motor lost power quick in the last few weeks i had it in the car. had 109k and some change when i pulled it.

Seems like the prev owners fualt though, Others like TOm p have a ton of miles on the 2.8 and its still going.

Then again with proper care any motor SHOULD last long.

But to answer your question im sure a 200 shot would do the trick.

I forgot, theres a junkyard near me, any day of the week it has 15-20 fbodies. Out of them all ONE is a v8.

 

Runs like a top. Made it home with a blown radiator and didn't miss a beat after the proper repairs.

 

I've said this before, but i'll say it again.

In the back of the shop at work, we have about 7 blown engines sitting around. 5 of them are 2.8/3.1 engines.


The 94-03 FWD 3100/3400 is a POS. They all have piston slap, the intake manifold gaskets leak at about 36,001 miles, they have injectors sticking closed when cold, I've seen about 3 of them with snapped camshafts. Total garbage, i'd never own one.

 

Early 2.8s (82-86) are rod chunkers... when they go, they go. I know of a few sitting around this town with bent crankshafts, snapped rods, and huge gaping cracks in the block.

 

Unfortunately, this analogy goes for ANY engine that is repeatedly abused and tortured.
EARLY engines, being the deciding factor here, were put to the test because of the absence of the V8.
Run any smaller V6 up to 6-7K rpm on a regular basis, and you'll get similar results.
It's NOT a suprise, just a sign of the times my friends.

 

No. Seriously. They have issues. I see *way* more 82-86 blocks end up useless than 87+, and yes, the bottom end was redesigned for 87.

 

The 2.8 in my 'bird ran great, did a tune up on it when gas prices went up and detonated 3 plugs, which made it start knocking on the wrist pins and it finally siezed up on me with 215k miles on it.

I always ran Castrol 10W30 oil in it, used the long oil filter instead of the short one and it ran great.

Now the tranny on the other hand...I was about to put the 4th one in the car as the 700R4 is the biggest piece of junk that GM could have ever come up with.

The only thing I did with the motor was 5 alternators before I finally got one that worked right (seeing it had a 97 amp which no parts store could get and Pontiac wanted almost 300 bucks for one)

 

My 87 2.8 ran like a champ all the way till 150k when I pulled it to put it my 350. Still got it in the garage, thinking about one hell of a go cart.

 

It is a fact that the 2.8/3.1 V-6 in the 80's in our cars and almost any fwd cars have a very, very weak intake manifold gasket and the coolant leaks into the oil destroying the main bearings. I bought my 1986 sc yellow, loaded v-6 camoro with an essentially blown 2.8 for a very low price w/ 77K on the motor. I pulled the cam and found the last lobe non-existant because of the coolant leak from the intake.

I never had a problem like this from ford or chrysler although I have had other stupid problems like impossible to tune carbs(mopar) and stupid, hard to find vaccum leaks(77LTD headlight actuators). Anyway, at the shop I work at part time, I have seen the following so common it is sick. Our 60 degree V-6's with poopy intake gaskets causing ruined motors. Seveal Ford Taurus and Sable with bad tranny's( the pan itself has a sticker describing recall's and specific before and after dates for reference to repairs.

My 1991 Mazda 323, 5 speed, 4cyl, never leaked, ran like a frickin top. I purchased w/ 50K for $900 and sold at 90k for $1500, original timing belt, water pump and belts. Go figure.

 

I had a friend with a 2.8L S10. Right before he swapped in modded L98 in it... he abused the heck out of it. WOT in neutral for a long time....popped the hood and opened a nitrous bottle into the intake. Both times it idled a little rough but soon after it ran fine. Sumbitch wouldn't blow up. The guy he sold it to said it was the best truck he'd ever had. Go figure.

Gokart with a 2.8L motor? hah.... Gixxer kart.. nuff said. :evil:

http://www.xdweb.net/~dibblego/miscellaneous/videos/

 

I killed mine before I put the 3.4 in. well after the 2.8 went I decited to put the 3.4 in. My water pump went with out leaking. I have a really loud exhaust on the car so I couldn't hear it sounding like a washing machine till it was too late. I collapsed a few lifters and bent my pushrods cracked a piston. And I don't know what else was wrong I never opend the bottom of the engine.. Well I still ran even with all this wrong but it was slow as hell.. I beat a 4cyl sun bird with it with all that wrong

 

I have an 87, from a purely mechanical standpoint I have not had a single problem with any internal part in the engine nor the auto transimission. I currently have 123,000 miles and its still running although better than the day I got it. Either 87 ups are good motors or I have been lucky.

 

thats how my 87 was too. Ran like a champ till the time I pulled it.

 

Did you know that people said the same thing about the "bulletproof" TH-350's when GM first built them? Yep. People took out their three speed automatics and put in Powerglides because the TH-350's were junk. Now everyone complains about the TH700r4, and puts in the TH350. It all comes down to the year that GM made it, and if it's a rebuild then it comes down to if the guy knew what he was doing or not.

I'll never understand why people try to blow up their motors if they're running correctly.

 

I agree with TomP, if it runs real good and you wan't to swap, sell it instead of killing it...

 

I just pulled a 2.8 out of an 84'. Ran real smooth but had a bad knock. Pulled it apart and the rod has a big crack half way thru it

 

My Blazer ran great until 211,500 miles.
Then the Milk Shake hit the oil pan.
This next 700R4 I'm having installed in my 3.4 Firebird sounds like it's built like a TH400.
Early versions of the 700R4 are just time bombs ya pay to await for explosion.