Posted by Goose on January 08, 2008 at 20:23:13 from (199.184.119.22):
My wife's been driving a Pontiac mini van with that no-account 3.4 engine. As a one-time GM Assistant Service Manager, I knew better than to buy the thing, but our other Pontiac van with the bullet-proof 3.8 got totalled and this van was in the right place with the right price, when we needed a vehicle in a hurry.
Like most 3.4's, this one has had the intake gaskets replaced. It now has a coolant leak coming from behind the power steering pump where the accessory bracket covers the leak and you can't see what's leaking. Barring the intake gaskets again, it could be a head gasket or it could be the front cover. The Catch-22 is the head gaskets and front cover gaskets are completely separate. You could pull the front cover and find it was a head gasket leaking, or pull the heads and find it's the front cover.
The only way to find the leak is to simply tear into it. Fixing it at a dealer could easily run a couple thousand bucks.
So far, I've parked the Pontiac by my shop and gone in to the local Chrysler dealer and bought a Chrysler Town & Country for my wife. My buddies have all seemed to have good luck with Chrysler and Dodge mini-vans, and I've always wanted to try one. The Chrysler 3.8 engine has been trouble free and the Chrysler transmission problems of the mid 90's seem to be behind us.
Haven't figured out what to do with the Pontiac. I have an '89 Chevy pickup scattered all over my shop redoing the body and getting it ready to paint. Although I'll work anywhere under the hood of passenger cars and pickups, including rebuilding engines, I normally refuse to do anything more than routine service work under the hood of a mini-van. But, I guess when I get the pickup done I may see what I can figure out on the Pontiac.
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