Just bought a 95 Beretta with 3100 engine

[Money pit Beretta]

Lower intake manifold gasket is bad. Just a guess(lol).
Really it's a common thing. Check the sides of the heads and behind the thermostat(there is a low spot there where the oil pump drive is).

[accent]

Lower intake manifold gasket is bad. Just a guess(lol).
Really it's a common thing. Check the sides of the heads and behind the thermostat(there is a low spot there where the oil pump drive is).

if swap engine, what engine is easier to do for this car(1995 Beretta 1SM)?

[Money pit Beretta]

A big port 3100 or a 3400 will drop in, but there are many things you need to do to make it work. We do have a guy here that swapped in a 3400 and used his 3100 heads and intakes to by pass some of the things that you need to do. Really you can use your(or rebuilt) heads and 3400 intakes(big port 3100 intakes are the same size as 3400's) and a newer 3100 short block.
The only problem is that the newer heads flow better than your heads. If you can live with that then you are fine. Older 3100 heads/intakes on a 3400 are a major choke, as the 3400 has a larger bore.
Just to review, the best case: a newer 3100, older 3100 heads and newer 3100 intakes(newer=2000 or up). This way all your sensors will be in the same place. Again I would use rebuilt heads from a 95.
And if you are thinking that you can buy ported 1995 heads from WOT-Tech they only do 2000 and up 3100/3400 heads.

[Asylum]

Just put a 3400 in the damn thing and enjoy the car.
They are readily available (www.car-parts.com). Just punch in your info.
The whole swap info is available and then you will have a neat car!!

[Money pit Beretta]

Swap guide:
http://www.3400swap.com/3400%20Swap%20V ... 02.5.6.pdf

[accent]

How hard is it? and how many hours do I need? I'm not a mechanic but did some DIY projects like timing belt replacement, cruise control installation etc.

[accent]

Just put a 3400 in the damn thing and enjoy the car.
They are readily available ( car-parts com). Just punch in your info.
The whole swap info is available and then you will have a neat car!!

Is 3400 better than 3100? I heard 3400 has blown head gasket risk.

[bondo07]

3400s go through head gaskets just as easily as 3100s. I think it depends on the year or something. Don't underestimate that car though. I bought mine for 350 not running with 300K miles on it. Replaced timing chain, injectors, fuel pump, fuel line, plugs and wires, TPS, and now she runs great. But before you go running to pull a perfectly good motor, check it all out. Do a compression test, check the plugs for fouling noting any lean/rich issue, check for water in the oil and oil in the antifreeze. That's just to make sure you have a good running motor to resell or swap into another car.

[3X00-Modified]

Never heard of blown head gasket problems.. unless people are building the engine wrong and using a cheap ass gasket. I have stock GM gaskets on my engine and I spray it with Nitrous and haven't blown one in over 2yrs on the motor.

99% of the issues are bad lower intake gaskets and GM did revise those gaskets in the 3400's that are year 03+ and people who don't know anything about an engine say its a blown head gasket when infact its the lower intake gasket causing the issue.

[woody90gtz]

Change the LIMG for a metal FelPro and they are good to go.

[Rettax3]

200k miles are okay for those engines if they were taken care of. First, as already stated, check the oil for coolant -ALL of the SFI 60-degree V-6s have LIMG (Lower Intake Manifold Gaskets -these are plastic from the factory and they crack and leak coolant into the engine, which will cause your crankshaft bearings to die very rapidly due to lack of proper lubrication -and the fact that a lot of these bearings are now made out of aluminum instead of better quality bearings like the Clevite 77 tri-metal steel/copper/babbitt) problems UNLESS they were already swapped to the metal gaskets like woody mentioned (I don't know about the '03+ that Jon is talking about, they may be fine, but if they are just the updated but still plastic gaskets, I wouldn't trust them). If the engine doesn't smoke, doesn't rattle, has decent oil-pressure even when warm at idle, and makes decent power, then drive it until you have a symptom, THEN worry about whether to fix or to upgrade. You could very well have another 50k-100k miles on that engine.

Really, any 60-degree V-6 will fit in your bay and bolt to your tranny. To avoid complications like fuel-injector differences or EGR compatibility problems, stick with any of the "M" Code (look at the 8th digit in the VIN of the donor car) 3100s, or to upgrade the performance a little, go with a "J" Code 3100 or an "E" Code 3400 -they will all fit with very little modification. These cars are very versatile, and if you have the time, money, and interest, almost anything can be done, but for ease of swap, keep as close to original as possible. I don't like the 3100 SFIs very much myself, but that is personal preference based on a lot of experience and a little bit of bias, mostly caused by those !@#$! LIMGs ruining countless engines, thanks GM. I think the older 2.8 and 3.1 MPFI engines are more reliable, and seem to perform almost the same with the same MPG, but I seriously doubt you would want to bother with the work it would take to make one of those function properly in your car, especially when you can just install the steel LIMGs into a 3x00 engine and fix the worst design-flaw of the engine altogether.

Good luck, it sounds like you got a good bargain on that car. Just expect a little bit of work ahead of you, and you won't be disappointed.

[3X00-Modified]

No one has said it but the bad egg in this whole thing will end up being the Transmission if anything will fail first. The 4t60e's had some poor design's in that year range that really did prevent them from going 200k+ miles without being a ticking time bomb... and it all depends on how it was treated and driven as well.