View Full Version : 79-85 231 3.8L v6 trouble


footballhead
06-23-2003, 12:44 PM
I bought a Sterling kit car from a guy and instead of the stock VW bug motor, he dropped this engine in it. Problem is, all the wires on the engine have been cut. I have no idea where any of them go. I found out that this engine might have been in a reatta?
I'm wondering if anyone knows where I could get a wiring guide for the engine. Thanks alot guys!

TODD
06-23-2003, 05:19 PM
We might come up with the data from the shop manual after figuring out what year and series of car it came from. The engine serial number stamped in the block will identify it as much as possible. Unless it was made from 88 to 91, it couldn't have been original equipment in a Reatta.

For starters to narrow down the year and serial number location: was it a front-wheel drive or rear wheel drive? does it have fuel injection or carb (2-bbl or 4-bbl)? Does it have 3.8, 3800, or Buick marked on it? (other car brands used these Buick motors as well) Is there a distributor or all-electronic ignition?

footballhead
06-24-2003, 04:21 PM
For starters to narrow down the year and serial number location: was it a front-wheel drive or rear wheel drive? does it have fuel injection or carb (2-bbl or 4-bbl)? Does it have 3.8, 3800, or Buick marked on it? (other car brands used these Buick motors as well) Is there a distributor or all-electronic ignition?

I found on buickgod.com that the number stamped on the block (25506397) came from a 3.8 v6. It doesn't have 3.8, 3800, or Buick marked on it from what I can tell. I can see the piston markins clearly and the block and head stamps too. The only mark that baffles me is a '239' near the no.1 piston, and 'E 20 2' right under the block stamping; the second two is twice as big as the first too. I'm guessing that it was originally in a front wheel drive car. It's bolted to a porshe trannie right now, with the help of an adapter plate. It's rear mounted right now so it's driving the rear wheels, so I suppose it drove the front wheels when it was in the front of the original car, although I could be wrong.
It has a 2 barrel carb that looks to be the original. Nothing that I can tell is stamped on it though.
It's using a distributer too, also appearing to be original. I'm gonna try to take some pictures of it and scan them into my pc and post them on a page to make this all easier, but I'm not sure when I'll get around to that.
Thanks for all the help.