Beretta.net

So we are out doing some shopping on the weekend and the Quad is behaving itself quite nicely, even without a fan.
Really no issues at all.
Bought some nice lamb chops for the BBQ, picked up some wine, and two or three other errands.
Heading back to Rose's place and the temp gauge takes off!!
YEP, here we go again!
Caught it only because I have been watching it pretty closely of late (re: NO FAN).
Got out of traffic onto the highway too cool it off and NOPE!
Pegged the gauge, light comes on, Service Engine Light comes on, OFF goes the key!
Just as we pulled into her driveway.
WTF NOW!!!
Just let the little sucker sit there and cool off while we enjoyed a glass of wine and pondered the Educational Value of Storage Wars.
Finally go have a look, figuring the Quad is probably toast and the 3500/3t40 is now inevitable for this car. Turns out the heater by-pass Rodney installed failed. Friggen coolant everywhere AGAIN!!
(Read on: Not Rodney's fault.)
Turns out the Dorman plastic connector failed, and it was likely related to last months coolant follies when the fan ate the radiator and a couple other components. Heat is a bad thing.
So I finally locate another mis-match sized connector, get it all clamped up, say a small prayer to the Beretta Gods, turn the key and the damn thing fires right up, purring like a kitten, oil pressure right at 3/4!
This damn thing won't die!!
All this talk of Quads hating heat?
That is twice in a month I have abused this little sucker and it just hates me by staying alive.
Drove it home last night, all systems working just fine.
3500 on hold!

It would be a SLIGHT shame to take a 5-speed car and make it an auto... but then again it is a quad...

I've got a v6 bellhousing for that 5spd. haha

woody90gtz wrote:I've got a v6 bellhousing for that 5spd. haha

I don't think I want a 3500 5-speed, although everybody else seems to.

A 3t40 with a 3.73 FDR and LSD is sitting waiting at Billy's.

Might even be fun behind the Quad that won't die.

Damn! I wish my Quad would have been like yours lol

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SummitBalt08 wrote:Damn! I wish my Quad would have been like yours lol

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I "think" the secret to this things longevity might be down to a couple of factors.

It blew the head gasket under the original warranty, and Jim insisted they use the latest GM racing head gasket (whatever that may have been) and had them install the "Dr. Oldsmobile" 2* cam gears.

He had obviously done his homework and knew what to demand from the Dealer.

That and the fact the car has really never been abused may have given it a couple of extra "lives".

And MAYBE I'm just due for some Good Luck?

Don't forget the heater doubles as another radiator. Roll those windows down Eric.

Money pit Beretta wrote:Don't forget the heater doubles as another radiator. Roll those windows down Eric.

My 22 year old heater acts like a water fall onto the subframe.
New one coming, maybe, and besides, my A/C works just fine.
When I eventually get to replacing the dash with the new one sitting in my storage bedroom, it will get a heater core too.

It's the engine I HATE!

And the whole ruddy car seems to hate me in return.

Berettas are spoiled brats. If you don't pay attention to them they act up or lash out in bad ways. It seems to me that Quads are great engines for many years, then they have never ending problems(unless you rebuild them).

Like SummitBalt08 implied, I could feel good about getting a serious hate on for an engine that just kept running, and running, and running...

My '92 Grand Am had the SOHC step-child 'Quad'. It actually did okay, was punchy enough to bark the tires even on a hot day, and could run up the steep highways in the mountains at 60 MPH without having to drop down to second gear (3-speed auto). It had been in a severe front-end impact before I bought it (as a rebuildable car). I even drove it home. After replacing everything up front (fenders, hood, headlights, corner lights, bumper and bumper-cover, grills, radiator, A/C condenser, even had to weld-in a new frame sourced from an Achieva, the car did run straight and true, was very comfortable and smooth. But, the car hated me. First year of that new body-style, it was a lemon just plagued by problems. I repaired the window-regulators (both bent in the front-end impact that bent the frame and trashed everything in front of the strut-towers), and they failed again months later. I re-repaired and braced them, but they still operated a bit slow (power windows, I am not a fan of). The head leaked oil, so I replaced the head (cam-carrier bolt-holes in the head were stripped-out, I should have just heli-coiled them), but it eventually blew the gasket out again, twice. The radiator was trash so I replaced it, but it still overheated (gasket blow-out #1) due to -yep you guessed it, a bum fan! After I fixed the head gasket, the oil-pan started leaking from a crack near the bottom, and getting tired of this thing, I epoxied the pan -no problems since though. Taking the car on a road-trip, the fan ate into the radiator, causing a leak (and overheat ), but I patched that okay. Then the car started running very rough and losing power -I tested the injectors and they were fine -it must be a coil! I bought a new $55 coil to no avail, and had to drive the car across two states on two cylinders! Well, it was the IDI housing, of course! I couldn't get them from an auto-parts store at that time. I will say though, how many cars will keep running on two cylinders? And after unplugging the injectors from the two dead cylinders, the car got over 30 MPG again, and got us home... I eventually sold the car. The new owner was two payments behind and still owed over a grand, had driven it literally half way across the country and back, twice, and had been smoking in it (I am a non-smoker), then called me to let me know the water-pump had blown, the engine overheated (again), and they were returning the car -it wasn't for them. The good news was that they weren't going to charge me the $98 they paid for a new windshield... That is great! With a new water-pump and now with over 180k miles on the clock, I was starting to think I would be stuck with this car forever. Then, I got an offer to buy it from the now-estranged spouse of the first buyer -they had loved the car. Sold! (Again.) They replaced both window regulators with fast new ones, put in all new brakes and front wheel-bearings (one of them was starting to make noise). Right after the car got paid-off, boom -the head gasket blew out again! The car was stripped in preparation for a 3800 swap, then the whole thing was abandoned with me (through no fault of the owner though). It was like the cat that kept coming back the very next day! I couldn't get rid of this car that hated me! (I still have it, waiting patiently to be reassembled with a new crank and the original engine, now wearing a 2.4 Twin Cam DOHC head.) Cars are great, cars are plagues. We love 'em, we hate 'em. They are what they are, and we are what we are too. The moral to the story? You can hate the engine, but when the whole car starts hating you back, you might as well learn to live with it -at least the car feels something back for you! Enjoy every minute of hating that car.

asylum, can i call dibs on the wiring harness when you do the swap? i wouldnt mind having me a spare for my 91 gtz since it will be kept a quad its entire life.

speedy wrote:asylum, can i call dibs on the wiring harness when you do the swap? i wouldnt mind having me a spare for my 91 gtz since it will be kept a quad its entire life.

OK all BS and fun aside!!

This is an original California based 1991 Beretta GTZ that has been VERY well taken care of it's entire life.

It will ALWAYS be an original car as long as I own it!

There is NO RUST you can find on this car. And I spent a whack of dough stripping the crappy paint and making it right.

Not OEM but not really compromised.

All I am really having right now is an H/Vac issue on this car and it is mainly a maintenance issue as I was sick and ignored the car as it sat for months.

It just turned 70,000 miles. Still has the original clutch.

I already know it's next owner, sooner or later, and confess to having at bit of fun at my expense and a bit of fun on here.

This engine is actually scary the very few times I have had it above 6000 RPM, and WOW!!

My 3500 days are over folks. I had the first one, and still the quickest N/A that I doubt will be challenged anytime soon.

I'm 62! Having fun, but also a realist.

If I was 42 this would become a monster, but not now folks.

It's a 100% rust free Quad and will stay that way, and if it blows up, it will be a Quad again.

It just won't blow up, LOL!!

But "our" love/hate relationship will continue I suspect.