Just saw a 1997 Catera for sale in the wrecking yard where I bought two Grand AMs which turned out to be good cars. The car is a 3L V8 and looks to be in good shape with 80,000 miles on it. The thing is the intake system has been removed and is in the trunk. I figure that someone wanted to repair it and realized that they were in over their head. Is there a known problem which would cause someone to do this? Also, they are asking $3995. This seems a bit high. What do you think?
Thanks, Scott
Let me put it this way, (I work on Catera's) if someone "gave" me a Catera in a good working order, I would have it towed to an auction and get whatever money I could get for it.
By the way, that 3.0 liter engine is a V-6, not a V-8. Quite possibly the nastiest engine to work on that I've ever seen. Of course, I've only worked on GM engines.
Ian
Worse than the dreaded 3.4 DOHC? I can't believe that.
Garrett Fulton
Much worse then the 3.4 DOHC! I'm actually doing head gaskets on a Catera today. We would be better off just giving the guy the
4000 dollars it's going to take to fix it, and then have it towed to the nearest wrecking yard. There are actually some people that like these cars. I don't really know why...but I guess it takes all kinds.Ian
Man. I don't want any part of those dogs then. My oldest boy who's about to graduate from college was thinking about getting one that he thought was a good deal. I seemed to remember some posts here condemning them and think I talked him out of it. Dad would have been the one working on it too.
Garrett
Co-worker had one. 56,000 miles head gasket/intake coolant leaks. Dealer charged him over a grand for the repair, only for it to leak again at about 70,000 miles. He has since traded it off. I always thought it was one of those cars made by some foreign company for GM. It had alot of German parts on it.
Before you get too down on the Catera / Omega motors keep in mind they came with a good one in Europe. The Diesel engine (made by BMW) is a sweet, reliable engine. However the rest of the car is still....um... Fragile.
That foreign company is one of GMs European divisions, Opel.
Perhaps in Europe they came with a "good" motor, but they neglected to put one in when they sent it over here. This 3.0 liter motor is one of GM's "world" engines and apparently is used in many different vehicles. I think they put them in SAAB's too. The design of the engine is ghastly....you would have to see one and have some knowledge of how most engines are put together to understand what a nightmare this one is to work on.
Ian
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