A few questions
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A few questions
I recently just bought my first camaro a 1995 3.4 l v6, i've been working on getting it for awhile. I know that the 96 and above have the 3800 series II engine and noticed some differences I was curious about. 1) the 3.4 says to put 5w30 but the newer engine takes 10w30. A friend said it doesnt matter and i should put the 10w30 in the 3.4 is that right? and also more of a curious question the specs for the 3.4 vs. 3.8 was 160 hp at 4600 rpm vs 200 hp at 5200 rpm i was wondering why they are said at different rpms and what it means mechanically. On an purely look wise topic, the car is missing the hood ornament. I have a replacement and the letters spelling out "camaro" for the sides off of a junk car, anyone know a good adhesive for attaching to a car i could pick up at an autozone or a hardware store? Thank you! and once I get the car looking real sharp i'll post pics!
The 3.4 and 3.8 are very different engines, not the same engine with 2 versions having different displacements. Both engines were developed back when each division of GM designed/produced its own engines. The Chevy Division designed the engine that became the 3.4 and Buick designed the engine that became the 3.8
The 3.4 is a 60 degree V6 dating to the early 1980s (when it was a carbureted 2.8) and installed transversely in the X-car (Chevy Citation -- front wheel drive) and longitudinally in the S/T trucks (Chevy S10). The 60 degree design made the engine very compact and allowed it to fit in a small engine compartment. Even bored out a couple of times to become the 3.4 and fitted with port fuel injection, the 3.4 is a raspy-sounding engine with very limited upgrade capabilities. Having rebuilt the one in my 94 'maro to stock specs I can say that it is plenty peppy for regular driving.
The 3.8 V6 is a 90 degree engine that has its roots way back in the early-1960s when Buick introduced it as an aluminum block V8. By the mid-60s they chopped off two cylinder and it became a 225 cid V6 made of cast iron. It was used in GM mid-size cars of the day like the Buick Skylark. The 3.8 has been through more iterations than any engine I know of, probably becasue it's so old.
GM sold the whole design to Jeep in the late 60s and they installed it in the Jeep Commander as a 231 cid (3.8L). GM bought back the design a few years later and then installed it in the so-called "egg" cars for 1975 -- Olds Starfire, Buick Skyhawk. It got some big mods by 1977 to smooth it out (split crank throws) and then, a couple of years later, it went into the Buick Riviera luxury car! There was even a turbocharged version of that car (Riviera T-type).
Next it was turned sideways again and installed in the front drive C-cars of 1985, the Olds Ninety-Eight and Buick Park Avenue. Big changes came for 86 with serpentine drive belt, front cover oil pump, and distributorless ignition and it went into the front drive H-cars (Olds Delta 88, Buick LeSabre) and *zillions* of those were sold.
Mid-year 1995 GM introduced a version of the 3800 turned longitudinally for the F-cars and it replaced the 3.4 in Camaros and Firebirds.
Another big design change for 1996 and it became the 3800 Series II with the wonderful plastic upper intake manifold. A few years later it got yet another redesign and became the 3800 Series III but by then I had fallen out of touch with what was going on at GM. The 3.8/3800 V6 has been recognized as one of the 10 best engines by Ward's Automotive magazine numerous times.
So as you can see the 3.4 and 3.8 are completely different engine with very different histories. About the only thing they have in common is that they are both pushrod V6 engines made of metal, LOL. Therefore they have very different operatiing characteristics and will have different power curves. The manufacturers want to advertise the max hp/torque an engine makes and those maximums happen to occur at the RPMs stated, not at the same RPM for all engines.
As for oil, the main factors used to determine which oil viscosity should be used are the bearing clearances in the engine and the ambient temps at which the engine will be started/operated. Very modern engines have super tight bearing clearances becasue modern manufacturing plants can crank out the parts with very high precision and consistency. Some modern engines use 0W-20 oil that pours like water out of the bottle and they can do that becasue the bearing clearances are so tight that a light oil can do the job. Put an oil that thin in an old V8 with much larger bearing clearances and it will pound itself to death in short order.
The oil filler cap on a car often indicates the grade oil recommended for the best overall performance in most climates when the engine is new. Basically, it's a guide. You should look in the owner's manual to see what grade oils are allowable for consistently hot or cold climates.
The 3.4 is a 60 degree V6 dating to the early 1980s (when it was a carbureted 2.8) and installed transversely in the X-car (Chevy Citation -- front wheel drive) and longitudinally in the S/T trucks (Chevy S10). The 60 degree design made the engine very compact and allowed it to fit in a small engine compartment. Even bored out a couple of times to become the 3.4 and fitted with port fuel injection, the 3.4 is a raspy-sounding engine with very limited upgrade capabilities. Having rebuilt the one in my 94 'maro to stock specs I can say that it is plenty peppy for regular driving.
The 3.8 V6 is a 90 degree engine that has its roots way back in the early-1960s when Buick introduced it as an aluminum block V8. By the mid-60s they chopped off two cylinder and it became a 225 cid V6 made of cast iron. It was used in GM mid-size cars of the day like the Buick Skylark. The 3.8 has been through more iterations than any engine I know of, probably becasue it's so old.
GM sold the whole design to Jeep in the late 60s and they installed it in the Jeep Commander as a 231 cid (3.8L). GM bought back the design a few years later and then installed it in the so-called "egg" cars for 1975 -- Olds Starfire, Buick Skyhawk. It got some big mods by 1977 to smooth it out (split crank throws) and then, a couple of years later, it went into the Buick Riviera luxury car! There was even a turbocharged version of that car (Riviera T-type).
Next it was turned sideways again and installed in the front drive C-cars of 1985, the Olds Ninety-Eight and Buick Park Avenue. Big changes came for 86 with serpentine drive belt, front cover oil pump, and distributorless ignition and it went into the front drive H-cars (Olds Delta 88, Buick LeSabre) and *zillions* of those were sold.
Mid-year 1995 GM introduced a version of the 3800 turned longitudinally for the F-cars and it replaced the 3.4 in Camaros and Firebirds.
Another big design change for 1996 and it became the 3800 Series II with the wonderful plastic upper intake manifold. A few years later it got yet another redesign and became the 3800 Series III but by then I had fallen out of touch with what was going on at GM. The 3.8/3800 V6 has been recognized as one of the 10 best engines by Ward's Automotive magazine numerous times.
So as you can see the 3.4 and 3.8 are completely different engine with very different histories. About the only thing they have in common is that they are both pushrod V6 engines made of metal, LOL. Therefore they have very different operatiing characteristics and will have different power curves. The manufacturers want to advertise the max hp/torque an engine makes and those maximums happen to occur at the RPMs stated, not at the same RPM for all engines.
As for oil, the main factors used to determine which oil viscosity should be used are the bearing clearances in the engine and the ambient temps at which the engine will be started/operated. Very modern engines have super tight bearing clearances becasue modern manufacturing plants can crank out the parts with very high precision and consistency. Some modern engines use 0W-20 oil that pours like water out of the bottle and they can do that becasue the bearing clearances are so tight that a light oil can do the job. Put an oil that thin in an old V8 with much larger bearing clearances and it will pound itself to death in short order.
The oil filler cap on a car often indicates the grade oil recommended for the best overall performance in most climates when the engine is new. Basically, it's a guide. You should look in the owner's manual to see what grade oils are allowable for consistently hot or cold climates.
April 2011 ROTM
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 22,016
From: Tokeland, Washington
ROTM Winner's Club
if your oil pressure is low at operating temp then use the 10w30 if it does not respond to the 10w30 try 10w40. keep an eye on the intake manifold gaskets and head gaskets. change the antifreeze regularly. i like the green stuff and dont mix green and orange antifreeze. turns to jello.
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