3.5 V6: Any thoughts on reliability or such?

[Wastelands Warrior]

I'm looking at a 93 Eagle Vision as a daily driver. It's in great shape with only 50 thou miles on it. I'm not looking to hot rod it but figured I'd ask you V6 gurus for your opinion on this engine.

[Vigo]

The engine in those is just fine. Non-interference timing belt. No major mechanical issues that i can think of.. They are picky about air pockets in the cooling system but they have a bleeder right on top for it.

[jonnymopar]

I've always liked the 1st generation Vision/Intrepid. Little bit of a strange drivetrain layout for a front-wheel drive car, but then again I haven't done any hardcore work on one, so who knows if it even matters. Nice comfortable, reliable cars as far as I can tell.

[Vigo]

They're not hard to work on. I did a fair amount of work to the 97 3.5 intrepid i had. Timing belt, water pump, fans, motor mounts, coolant gaskets behind the inner timing cover, took the plenum off a couple times, removed and rebuilt the transmission, etc. Some of it was not easy but none of it was especially hard. I think the thing that bothered me the most was the water pipe that runs behind the engine and bolts down under the bellhousing bolts. It was kind of a ----- when i was dropping the trans.

[1BADVAN]

I had a 99 300m was a great motor, they say that it is common to get 300,000 miles on them with regular maintenance. Mine had 230,000 ran real good, the transmission is the weak link on those not the motor from my experience

[shadow88]

Overall, I'm not a fan of the LH bodied cars, but for the right price, I would own one. Engine wise, I think that's the least of your worries. Transmissions (keep on top of the cooler line leaks) Suspension (lots of sway bar links and inner/outer tie rod ends and control arms) and an assortment of trim issues like shrinking door weather strips and door check straps would be priority above engine. If you are looking for a little extra oomph for free, there's a noise reducing restriction in the intake track between the air filter and the y connector. Easy to remove and make a notable improvement.

[Wastelands Warrior]

Thanks fellas! Lots of great info here!

[jonnymopar]

I had a 99 300m was a great motor, they say that it is common to get 300,000 miles on them with regular maintenance. Mine had 230,000 ran real good, the transmission is the weak link on those not the motor from my experience

That's a little different 3.5L, but another fantastic engine. I've always thought it was crazy that the 3.5L in the 300M & 2nd gen Intrepid, same year, stock-for-stock, was as powerful as the GM supercharged 3.8L. I'll never understand why the GM was so conservatively tuned from the factory. I was so surprised (and disappointed) when I got to drive one.

[/tangent]

[Vigo]

I have raced a 300m against a similar year supercharged regal GS. Both stock. Similar performance once rolling but the Buick was much stronger off the line. It shows clearly in their 1/4 mile times too.

[135sohc]

LH's can suffer electrical glitches. Nothing I worry about burning the car down or causing concern for reliability but just going along and the interior lights can blink and hear the bcm relay clicking ect. Decent overall platform, don't think it ever came anywhere near its potential before getting killed off.