1989 Oldsmobile 88 from North America - Comments

Leaks about a half quart every 3000 miles. Tranny is getting weaker, but still works fine. Harmonic balancer went bad. Transmission line fitting into cooler started to leak.

This car is pretty amazing. It has been through absolute hell and back. Mainly I drove this on a 1000 mile round trip drive every other weekend. I usually averaged about 27 on the highway at 78 mph, and lower 20's in the city. This car rides wonderful, the front struts must be relatively new. The rear air suspension works perfect. This car has started at temps as low as -30 below F without a problem. My father bought the car with approximately 190k. He put 15k on it then gave it to me. I proceeded to put another 21k. It now has 238k on it and still runs like a top after some severe abuse. I live in northern minnesota so the river freezes up hard, we had about 4 ft of ice so we started to drive on the river everynight. Everynight we would get a little crazier, eventually we would have three cars racing up and down a 10 mile stretch of winding wide river. I didn't care about this car at all after I knew I would be buying a different car in a while. I would put it in 2nd gear and keep it floored pretty much the entire time, I hit 80 mph once on the river, but usually ran about 60 actual speed and about 70 wheel speed. This car is unbelieveable in snow, it accelarates and handles perfectly. I raced against newer 4 wheel drive vehicles and beat them. The suspension also took a severe beating on the river, there was a lot of foot high moguls taken at 60 mph sideways with 4 people in the car. I think the only damage I did to the vehicle through this severe beating was a slightly toed out rear axle. Drive didn't work for a while, it would just slip, but now it works again, it slips sometimes from 1st to 2nd gear when floored. I've taken 1st gear to 45mph and 2nd to 85, but its been slipping for 15k and still works fine. To put it plainly I tried to blow up or break this car, but I couldnt. I floored this vehicle about 10-20 times a day, have pulled a trailer 2000 miles, and raced on the river, and this car still has power to burn rubber from a dead stop.

You know, I think it's great people like this reviewer can enjoy their cars. However, I like to take fairly good care of my old cars and keep them running and maintained. Reading reviews like this, where the cars are beat to death, gives me the heebie jeebies. That poor car! Still, at least it's still being used, and not in the junkyard. To each his own, I guess.

That series one 3800 that is in his car is one of the best engines ever made. With over 225,000 miles it continues to take all the abuse this dim-wit could dish out! How many other flimsy, headgasket poping, aluminum headed junk engines nowdays can handle that kind of abuse even after being worn out??? None that I know of... Not since the Chevy 350 or the chrysler slant six in my opinion.

Yes, thAT IS VERY TRUE! I AM A GM mechanic, and most of this business of head-gasket and intake leaks is totally uncalled for! Aluminum heads have no place on an automobile engine in my opinion- least ways not for long-term, trouble-free use. The 3800 you mentioned, produced from 1988 thru 1994 is one of the best alltime engines. It is not the fastest, most fuel efficient, ect..., but it more than makes up for these differances inan extra long trouble-free life. Cast-iron block, heads and heavy built insides= = long, loyal serice I have personally seen them reach between 350,000-400,000 miles before coming apart (If properly maintained) Most other modern engines lack their simple design, stout build, and doged durability. What good is all this high-tech engine technology, if it requires major work before 100,000 miles? Not much in my opinion!

You can also add the Chrysler 318 to the list of indestructible engines. I had a friend who in younger days treated 318 Dodge Darts similar to the reviewer. Routinely beat it, kept it floored while doing reverse drops (transmission in drive going 40, and then throw it in reverse while holding the gas to the floorboard) for hours, driving sideways doing donuts in frozen, rutted fields, crashing into the slope of a gravel pit trying to climb it repeatedly, etc. They wouldn't die.

Yep, the Series I 3800 V6 is one sturdy engine. It has a lot of torque for its size. In terms of engine technology it's ancient, but it works very well which is far more important to me than having the latest in technology. I'd even go as far as to say that it's perhaps the best engine GM has ever made, even better than some of the Chevy small blocks. I had a 1990 Buick LeSabre with the 3800 engine and it still ran great after 169,000 hard driven miles. That engine (and the transmission) were probably good for at least another 50,000, but the rest of the car wasn't so it went to the salvage yard. I was really sad to see it go. I currently own a 1991 LeSabre with the 3800 engine, and it too is still running like new at 138,000 miles. The engine does seem to stand a fair amount of abuse-I don't beat the crap out of it, but it does see some heavy acceleration from time to time and I've driven it at 80+ MPH for extended periods of time. I maintain it properly and I drive it gently when the weather's really cold until the engine is fully warmed up. I plan to drive it until it dies, which will probably be never because this engine will likely outlast the car just like the 3800 in my previous Buick did.

Amen brother, I will be the first to build the Series 1 3800 shrine- right next top the slant six temple. HEE HEE I miss all cast iron low maintainance engines- - no darn timing belts to replace every 60,000 miles or intake gaskets every other year= = just drive those old engines nearly forever with proper care. Yea, they may use a little more gas than the latest "high-tech" headgasket nighmare engine, but I don't care either. What good is it to save $400 in gas in 2 years if you need a headgasket or intake replaced in that time??= = $$1200??? DA!

I agree about having an engine which is not going to cause grief. In the late '70's towards the end of the '80's we had a 1976 Sunbird with the 3.8 Buick with a two barrel. Not an ass hauler like the newer ones, but I sure suprised a lot of people with it. My dad had 'er pinned on the #2 Alberta highway and got clocked at 110 MPH (175 KmH). The officer let him go thinking it could not be right. Timing chain eventually snapped.

My uncle had a '69 Fargo van. Ugly mutha w/318. He never changed the oil for the 10 years he had it. 285 000 Miles and it siezed. The neighbors used to give him their used oil for him to use in this van. I remember it clattering severely one cold -35 C morning for close to 5 minutes. He did not know what weight oil was in it, but said the last oil he added was like molases. For 100 000 Miles, when at a stop light, he had to put the tranny in Neutral so the oil light would go out or it would start to clatter because of lack of oil pressure.