Pontiac Repair: Grand Prix, upper intake manifold, upper manifold

Question
Hello,  my brother just called said his 2000 grand prix is on its third engine.  He does not run them hard.  First engine had around 80,000 miles fueled up at gas station went to start it and it spit and spattered.  The mechanic said it looked fine when he took it apart was not sure why it blew up. Second motor was around 100,000 pretty much the same thing happend.  Now tonight called said his third motor did the same as the first two.  The computer reads fine no error codes. The last motor was in some old lady's car that had never been driven hard.  Could his timing be running to hot or is the computer bad. Any help would be highly appreciated.  Thanks Zach

Answer
Hi Zach:

it depends on what has happened to each one. neither of the engine in that car were nited for rellly going bad either a 31. or a 3.8. It depends on what happened to each engine. sis they seize up? the 3.8 liter was noted for hydrolocking due to a bad upper intanek manifolds but when it hydrolocks meaning the cylinder fill up with coolant and the engine will not turn over do they need replacement usually they are fine after the coolant is drained out and the upper intake manifold replaced.. the upper manifold would eiither warp aor actaullt melt where the passage is for the EGR valve. there are aftermarket manifold out ther that have that part of the mnifolf reinforced to prevent that from happening... Hope that helps out. getting the info second hand I think things get lost in the translation.