Hello,

New to this forum and wanted to introduce myself and get some pointers. I am a regular at Nastyz28.com and have a 71 Camaro project currently undergoing a rotisserie restification and a 1969 4-speed Corvette that I am trying to get running too.

Ok now fir the reason for joining this forum...got a heads up from a member at the above forum to check in here. I am looking at purchasing 2000 v6 3800 Camaro hardtop 5 speed wit 82000 miles and wanted to some pointers on potential common problem areas to look out for on this particular year and engine combo. The car seems to be in good condition, clean interior and paint is normal for original. The issues I have found so far are pretty basic I think...Slow window on passenger side, passenger door speaker not working and the back-up lights do not illuminate. All of these I am confident I can repair for a modest amount and some time.

So I just wanted to get any lowdown on other more costly repairs that may be common to this car. Thanks in advance for any helpful comments and or suggestions.

Chevyreb

 

Has the clutch been replaced, or is still the original? Things like that you need to pay attention to. The 3.8L in the f-bodies seem to have frequent ignition problems too.

 

He said he just had the brakes done and a coil replaced, forgot to ask about the clutch.

Thanks

 

If played with nicely, the clutch may still have plenty of life left in it. But it is a wear and tear item so sooner or later it will need replacement. The 3.8L V6 is a very stout platform in my opinion. Decent power, decent fuel ecomony, and very reliable. The aftermarket has also responded well to it as there are alot of different parts available.

 

If you work it right the 3.8L is excellent in terms of fuel mileage. I had mine up to 35mpg (keep in mind i usually cruise between 75 and 80mph) before i started running into trouble. I've seen a few people (who are much better mechanically than I) get close to 40. either way you still will beat many 4 bangers in terms of fuel mileage at those speeds.

 

Well heres a pic of the new car.



It has a flowmaster muffler and it's not that it's too loud, but the sound it makes when bleeding off rpm's when you push in the clutch just sounds terrible to me...about one step better sounding than an import with a fart box. Any suggestions on how to tame that problem, almost sounds like old glass packs when you get out of it, but being a V6 it's worse IMO.

 

What do you expect from a V6 with a Z28 bagde on the side...

 

You could try doing a search and seeing if you can pull up some old posts on exhaust ideas for the v6 platform.

 

Don't know if you are kidding or an **** purist concerning the Z28 badges, but I really don't give a rip if it has them or not. My son likes them and the only reason he does not have a "Real" Z28 yet is because it's his first car and I don't think a new driver needs that kind of power from a V8...although the V6 is quicker than I expected. Besides, 98% of the high school girls could care less or know the difference so whatever. But I would like to research and find some better sounding alternatives for the exhaust musical notes. :-)

 

There is a good sticky at the top of this forum page that gives alot of bolt-on ideas for the v6 f-bodies. Also, www.fullthrottlev6.com is a good message board that caters more specifically to v6 f-bodies and v6 applications in other models. There are several catbacks that are available, along with headers, and some people are even doing true dual setups so there are alot of options out there.

 

Sorry, it wasn't meant that way!!! Just something that cought my eye when I looked at the pic.

aaand, you are right. I was surprised about the 3.8s performance as well when I testdrove one. Actually I'm thinking about replacing the Fiero as my DD with a V6 F-body!

 

Or you can put a supercharged 3.8L V6 in your Fiero.

 

I have the same car with same mileage trans etc.. Did you fix the back-up light problem, I have the same thing. thanks

 

Any aftermarket exhaust is going to make it sound bad. These cars in my opinion are better left with the stock "quiet" exhaust.

 

On my 99 Firebird 97k Recently coil packs, Monsoon speakers are starting to give out, rear ones first. obviously the window motors! a crack just showed up in the hard plastic on my door panel! My Flowmaster is completely rusted out and about to fall off although no other signs of rust. and ive not figured this out so maybe somebody can help me too, but i went out after a rain the other day and after starting the car water came trickling in the passenger side floor from the dash. I drive the car maybe once a month and its not happened agian but it was a lot of water that came in so it sorta worries me. but other than that i love the car! Last time on the interstate got 32mpg's