Basically put: is the 3.1 litre the worthless hunk of iron that the 2.8 litre is? or are they actually a good engine?

 

I have a '92 RS with the 3.1L . It's a good engine. I put 170 miles on it five days out of the week for the past year and a half. No major break downs that weren't caused by neglect by the previous owner, or high millage (178,000). Even at the only major break downs have been the clutch ( it's was bad before I got it) and the EGR valve ( it had the factory orignial, replaced at about 140,000 miles). I bought the car with 125,000 miles on it.

I need to do things like rebuild the front end, but with it driving 170 miles a day and about 50 of those miles are on twisty turning country mountain roads what do you expect.

Personaly it sounds like you all ready have reservation on picking up a v6 or a used car. When ever you buy a used car you are going to have to put money into it. especaily this old. No body gets rid of a car becuase it runs perfect.

 

Sounds like he does not like the engines either. he has obviously does not care for the 60* family. All engines have problems. No engine is perfect and runs forever with no problems. The enigine will only run as well as you take care of it. period. I have had the 80's dodge K car that has gone well over 300K and ran perfect until it was in an accident. I also took care of the engine. The Dodge 2.2 mistu motors were great little things. They got a bad rap cause people trashed them and expected them to run forever with no oil, factory oil filter on it after 4 years ect ect...


But I will say that with the few mods I have I beat out 305 TBI's all the time. And I have a 3.1 W/over 110K...

 

my '90 bird of course has the 3.1 in it, and its a great little motor. i have gotten more bang out of it than i expected. i bought it two and half years ago with 70,000 miles on and now shes up to 103,000. the only things the engine needed was and alternator and a starter, both went within a few weeks of each other at around 85,000 miles. since then no engine work has been needed....just few mods (listed below). maticulous care and maintainence....and a previous owner did too (only drove the car 2,000 miles over 4+ years....info from carfax.com) this car is pretty darn reliable....and quick too.

i wouldn't say the 3.1 is a worthless piece of junk. with a little effort you can find all sorts of performance parts and at the same time run a reliable engine on AFFORDABLE insurance. but thats just me and my opinion

 

great engine...........its still got pep and mine has 180,000 on it


i just did a fuel injection system diagnostic check in school on it yesterday

100% perfect!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I bought my Firebird brand new. The only problems I've had are alternator problems. I have ~150,000 miles on the clock. I've been waiting for a while for the engine to go out (12 years and counting) so I could put a V8 in. Well this not true. I have to sell the car because, I bought a Corvette - Kinda made a deal with my wife. If I bought a Vette then I have to sell the Bird also the wife said I have to many cars. 2 - cars in the garage 2 - car in the drive way and 1 - car on the street (I hate to put cars on the street). I'm draging my feet to sell the Bird

 

Ohhhhh the humanity you have to sell the Bird for a Vette!!! J/K

I would trade my Camaro in for a Z06 any day!!!!!! I all ways wanted one, but can't aford it. So I went with a Camaro. All though I like the RS a lot I would still go with the Vette over it.

 

How much for the bird 90?

 

I was hopping to get $2500-$3000 out of it. But everyone is sell their V8 for the same price... $2500

 

Yah, I'd like to buy from a member on one of the thirdgen boards because I know most of them actually care, but I'm not looking at spending much above 1500...sorry.
I know that I an get an 84-88Z for around that.

 

I think you could easily get $2500 if you lived in the NorthEast.

 

i don't have a personal beef with the 60* family of V6s, it's just that my brother had a 2.8 litre in an 83 s-15 jimmy. that was the most worthless hunk of **** engine i had ever seen, i wanted to make sure that the 3.1 was at least a little better. the reason i'm asking is my neibor just bought a 90 firebird with a 3.1 litre in it, i wanted to make sure she wasn't getting shafted by buying a car with a lame engine. that's all. thanks again guys.

 

It all depends on the owner. A well taken cared car will go a long way. Doesn't matter what type of engine you have.