95 Olds vs. 96 Buick

[GreeCguy]

Greetings and good morning fellow Bitogers on another rainy day here in Central Florida.

So I did it, rolled the dice and shelled out 500 big ones for a 1996 Buick Century. Said car does need some work, (new radiator and a new EGR valve), but all in all it has a straight body with no rust, (Florida car).

My current ride is a 1995 Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera Sl, 3.1 V6 automatic transmission. The 1996 Buick also has a 3.1 V-6 with an automatic transmission. Under the hood, both cars look exactly the same. Are the drivetrains of both these vehicles the same? Can I swap parts from one to another?

Thanks for the info - GreeC.

 

[Rolla07]

Whats wrong with the olds? You plan on getting both operational or moving parts from one to the other? Reason I ask is that you might of been better off spending the 5 bills on parts for the olds...but im guessing there is more to the story that im not aware of...

 

[Zaedock]

It's pretty much the same car.

My kid drives a '94. 72K miles from my friend's parents. New Uniroyal Tigerpaws were $160 shipped. Parts are cheap and she drives like a sofa on wheels.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Identical mechanically. Only cosmetic differences.

 

[ls1mike]

They are the same. Only thing I would verify is the coolant. They 1996 mayv have Dex-Cool as the original fill.

 

[Vikas]

Quote:
500 big ones
???? When did George Washington become "big"?

 

[GreeCguy]

Originally Posted By: Vikas
Quote:
500 big ones
???? When did George Washington become "big"?


When you stack 500 one on top of the other - it's pretty impressive.

 

[silverrat]

There are OBD differences, right?

 

[RobertISaar]

Originally Posted By: silverrat
There are OBD differences, right?


yes. 95 is OBDI(may or may not have the 16 pin OBDII DLC connector though), 96 is OBDII.

otherwise, not very much difference at all. i know the 94-95 3100 A-bodies had a rather..... unique intake manifold/MAF arrangement, but i don't know if that was kept for 96 or if they went to the style used on all of the other 96-99 3100s.

 

[The_Jeff]

I think it went to a newer generation V6 with more power and the newfound ability to blow intake gaskets. Do they both have the same vin identifier? Is one a "3.1" while the other "3100"?

 

[RobertISaar]

they're both 3100s. the century/ciera never got a 3.1, the 6000 and celebrity could though, oddly enough.

 

[ls1mike]

In 95 it could be OBDII, lots of GM stuff that year switched over half way through.

 

[RobertISaar]

if it's a 95 model year, it is OBDI, guaranteed. it may or may not have the 16 pin connector, but it has an OBD1 PCM, a non-underhood version of the unit found in the 94-95 3.4 W-bodies, which itself is a derivative of the 90-93ish 3800 PCM.

there are legitimate GM OBD1.5 and early OBD2 applications, but these are not one of them. some 4.3 S/T trucks and the 95 3800 F-bodies come to mind.

 

[GreeCguy]

Originally Posted By: Rolla07
Whats wrong with the olds? You plan on getting both operational or moving parts from one to the other? Reason I ask is that you might of been better off spending the 5 bills on parts for the olds...but im guessing there is more to the story that im not aware of...


Well, here's my thinking. Wonder the Thunder Pig is starting to burble again and I'm not really sure what the problem is. This here Buick kinda fell into my lap through a friend. When I looked under the hood, I got to thinking that maybe I could drive Wonder the Thunder Pig into the ground and when she leaves this life, I could use her as a donor car to keep the Buick running far into the future. There are a few things wrong with the Buick. The radiator has a rather large split down the side, the EGR valve is acting up. I can fix both of those for a few bucks and have three cars to tool around in (including the ever faithful "Bluesmobile"). When Wonder the Thunder Pig does, that will knock me down to two cars again BUT with a perfect donor car. They're even the same color.

Now all I have to do is think up a funky name for this here Buick. Any suggestions?

 

[CBR.worm]

Bluick?