Ok so my 96 camaro just turned 181,200 and bucked and kicked and threw out a service engine soon light....
so bought the car back in 96 with 3 miles (and put some of that on test driving)
the only thing that has been changed is:
battery
idler arm wheel
water pump (cool design.. modular only change the propellar part and cheap)
alternator
1 of 3 coils
plugs and wires @ 100k

so now I am not vesting alot of money as the car is going in the trash when the new one comes out.. wife already said yes to it.... car owes me nothing and I owe it nothing

can I expect 200,000 out of a gm product that has had virtually no major problems right now?

current small problems that are starting to creep up..
oil leak (tried valve cover gaskets but still leaks and dont know where)
turn signal doesnt return when turned left...
need to assist drivers window up as it slides on the track and bows in
rear hatch needs new shocks

all in all I could fix the stuff above.. but not worth it to me.... well the oil leak is....

my current service light is misfire number 2 cylinder.. wire or coil?

for 23mpg I cant complain with the camaro ...current gas prices are at $2.21 for regular... I could drive my truck... 40" hawgs, 11mpg and a rough ride... but dont think so....

 

1. Maybe, maybe not. I guess with GM, if your car was a Wednesday built car or thereabouts, you might be in luck. That is GM for you. My mom's 91 Camaro is stil around. She sold it with 140,000ish miles on it about five years ago. Still passes hands to new owners. Others...not so fortunate.

2. Who knows. Might be neither. Really. Could be as bad, theoretically, as the common intake manifold gasket leak in the act of happening. If you wanted an accurate guess, any of the aforementioned might be the issue. That's the beauty of diagnosis for you...you do it yourself.

 

Considering them mileage your car has, it has served you very well and the problems it now has are minor. As for it making the 200K mark, I don't see why not. Plenty of 3.8L engines make it to the 200K mark. As for your misfire, yes, the plug or wire can be an easy source of the problem. Also, a faulty coil pack or even a clogged fuel injector could lead to a misfire in that particular cylinder. As for the oil leak, I would look at the intake manifold as well first. That is usually a pretty common problem.

 

Just turned 220,000 on my little 3.4L. You will see the 200k mark. I have some oil leaks though but they just started. The engine still runs like a raped ape, well at least in 3.4L terms lol . l8tr

 

well I got it..
got home friday night.. stopped off and bought a plug...
didnt do it..
went back and bought a new wire and coil pack...
wire didnt do it...
coil pack did...

so I attempted to save a few bucks... but that didnt work out right...
instead of $22 coil pack it cost me
$5 plug
$11 wire
$22 coil pack
but hey I did it myself and still cheaper than paying a mechanic.....

 

237000 on my 95 3.4! No leaks or smoke! Yet.

 

i hope i can get as far on my 3.8 as you guys are getting

 

207,000 miles on a completely original 3.4. I've got a very slow rear main seal leak and she smokes a little bit on start up. It's still running strong though...I don't see why you wouldn't make it to 200k.

 

I had a 1996 3.4 with 150K on it and sold it a few years back for perfectley good trade in value for a newer firebird; the only problem I had with the 96 was a little decrease in the oil pressure when comming of the highway and stopping in traffic but still ran OK... wonder if it made it to 200K, probbaly did

 

well, i have around 140,000 miles on my 3.8, all i had to do was change the platform that the coils sit on becuase i shorted them out with a sound system, and i still mess around with these little ricers in my town. it runs really strong.