Hey everyone. New to the forum so bear with me. First off, I am sooo not a car guy. I can change my oil but that's about it! I LOVE Monte Carlos both old and new and am looking at getting my first one. I'm looking at an 02-05 and was hoping you experts could help me out. I love the 3800 motors and have read nothing but good things. Seems like everyone I know that has one, has put 200,000 miles plus on them with little problems. My question is about the supercharged 3800's. Does the addition of the supercharger have any negative affects on the motor? The extra power is great but not at the expense of added wear and tear on the motor. I'm looking to keep my first Monte for a long while and alot of miles so I want something that will be reliable. Just wondering if the supercharged 3800 has any more/less problems or issues than the standard 3800? Any advice or info from you experts would sure help me out with my decision. I want my first Monte Carlo experience to be a great one that I can enjoy for years to come! Thanks everyone!
Jared

 

Go with the supercharger, because if you go with the n/a 3800, youll just want the supercharged engine later. Another plus to the SC engine is that it comes with a harder transmission, which will last linger. Most stock 3800 trannies wack out after or around 120k miles.

 

 

If you maintain the supercharger every 30,000 miles (change the oil) and don't abuse it, I don't think it will lessen the life of the engine.

 

Get the supercharger. You'll regret it if you don't.

 

Thanks for the quick replies everyone. I sure appreciate it. Just wanted some info on the supercharged 3.8 compared to the regular 3.8. Wasn't sure if there were any negatives with the supercharged 3.8. The extra power is great but I'm not planning on drag racing the streets of Lincoln anytime soon I'm looking to hang on to the Monte I get for a long long while. I'd like to get a black one which seems to be really hard to find. All but two black Montes I've found have been the supercharged. I found an 05 supercharged ss with 52k. They want $12k but the guy I talked to said he could go $11 something. Found an 04 Intimidator with 39k but not sure of the price. Both black and look gorgeous!!! I'll definately make sure it gets all the routine maitenence she needs and will for sure get a Carfax report before I buy. The tougher tranny on the supercharged 3.8's is definatley a positive. Seems like I've read alot of reviews about only using premium gas? Any truth to that? Is the Intimidator any different from a supercharged ss or is it just cosmetics? Thanks again everyone! Hopefully I'll have pics of a new Monte Carlo up here sometime soon!

 

That's what I always hear about GM trannies. Everyone I know with one ends up rebuilding it around 125K when it goes out.
Why is that?

 

Engine reliability between a supercharged 3800 and regular 3800 is practically identical. The engines are 99% the same.

The only difference with the supercharged engines is you add two maintenance items:

-supercharger oil
-supercharger coupler

Opinions differ on how often to change the s/c oil, but a lot of people with these engines never do (take a look at the oil on most used cars).

Its not like its a big deal though- its ~ $10 or so to change it, just takes two bottles of GM S/C oil, you unscrew the plug on the s/c snout, suck all the old fluid out (I use a soap dispenser pump, just stick the tube in the hole and pump away), and refill.

The supercharger coupler is the other thing that wears out- although you're probably only talking once or twice in the life of the car. You need to pull the snout to change it, but its not really that tough- you can change the s/c oil too while you're in there and kill two birds with one stone.

Yes- the supercharged engines must run on premium- just like any other boosted engine. Its not that big of a deal, its only like .20 / gal

 

They wear out.
Where I grew up, everyone with Fords had rebuilds at about 75k. I'll take the 125k statistics any day.

-Riggs.

 

There's a lot of wear on these transmissions, and they warm up fast.

It's a lot of tiny little metal parts moving as you drive, constantly. But they aren't expensive to swap / rebuild if you catch the problems early.