Getting Ready To Put It Back On The Road...

[jmgtp]

My dohc has been sitting in the garage since Thanksgiving. Hasnt been started since then. The only prep work I did was pulled the battery, overinflated the tires and threw a bar of irish spring in the trunk and one in the cabin, to keep vermin away, and a box of that arm&hammer stuff to absorb moisture (like the kind you would put in the fridge) I have spring break this coming week and plan on doing a bit of work on it and get it ready for May when it'll be back on the road. I'm toning the exhaust cams back down to 13* to regain some low end torque (and I'll get to put my 94 pullies on while I'm at it), compared to what theyre set at now, and to help reduce emissions a tiny bit since its due to be tested. I imagine any anti drain back valves meant to retain oil have all leaked down by now. So the motor is prolly sitting pretty dry. I dont really want to crank on it like that. Would pooring a quart in the oil fill get enough oil in the front head to reach the bottom end a lil sooner? I dont want to think about how nasty the lifters will sound until they pump back up. When I put it down for the winter it wasnt running because the wiring from the CPS to the ICM is shot, so unfortunately its been sitting all winter with about a half tank of gas and no stabilizer since I couldnt get to the gas station before I put it down. Gas is prolly bad by now, I was thinking I'd disconnect the feed line at the fuel rail and just let the fuel pump pump the gas out into 5 gallon jugs for the lawn mowers and fill the tank with fresh gas. Other than that my only issue is making an egr adapter plate which shouldnt be too hard... but I also need to make an exhaust tube to run from the exhaust manifold from the intake manifold. Its gotta be custom because of the 91 exhaust manifold vs the 96 intake manifold, any ideas on what to use for that? I think it has to have some flex to it.

[Anonymous]

As far as the oil goes, if you have the 5.5 qts in it, then go ahead and turn it over, even if the top end is dry. The DOHC oil pump is really effective, I've heard it out pumps a 5.7s by over 15%. I cranked mine over to build oil pressure for the first time after the rebuild. It built proper oil pressure really fast, like the third full turn of the motor. No damage will be done, the motor will get oil up there in a matter of 10 seconds. It is basically the equivalent to a cold start in the morning.

Why don't you just totally forget about the EGR system? Give the guy at Jiffy Lube an exra 5-10 bucks and he'll pass you no problem. I am switching to the 96 intakes, plus I have headers. So I totally removed my EGR valve and the tube that connects it to the exhaust manifold. And if you get a chip from Ben that dissables it, no SES light will go off. But if you must....Buy a 1/2" diameter piece of copper from Home Depot and that should work fine.

[grandprixgtp_91]

i think the best idea is to go to the ecm fuse inder the hood and pull it out. then crank the engine over for a bit and let the oil circulate. thats how im priming my engine when i rebuild it.and paying people more money to pass your car dosent work. ive tried, plus the only way they can pass you is if they put a different car on the dyno.

Jake

[jmgtp]

I cant bribe anyone, cause we dont have some retarted little puke running emissions at Jiffy Lube and even if we did bribing people is a risky business. It used to be done by the state at their own facilities but now theyve revamped it and only certain places like dealerships, for one, can do the tests. The letter I got in the mail says that they hook up to the ECM through the aldl on OBD equipped vehicles so theyll detecet a missing or 'off' egr. I dont even know if they do the sniffer test at the tailpipe anymore, I'm sure it would pass that but if they hook up to the ecm I have to worry about the egr and lean cruise kicking in, which means the stock chip has to go back in for the test. 1/2" copper pipe wont work for so many reasons.
Anyways, I figure I'll just dump a quart of oil on all the cams since I'll have it apart to bring the exhaust cams back to 13*. No need to unplug the ecm fuse to crank without a starting, just hold the gas pedal to WOT and it cuts all the fuel on start up.

[pocket-rocket]

I pull the fuse when I change oil, and crank it over a few times, even though the ECM cuts fuel on WOT startup, just because the throttle might not be adjusted quite right. On the T-bird, I pull the connectors on the coil packs since both of them are right there on the front of the engine on both sides of the alt (yes, right on top in the middle of the engine, bastards). Didn't someone have something going on adapter places for the EGRs?

[Anonymous]

Whatever. My friend works at JL and does emissions. There is no "dyno." It is a computer, they tell it the motor, the vin, and the type of car. Then you put in a rpm probe, then you put the exahust probe, then they run the test. Now if I was to fail on my Lumina Z34 cuz of my mods and crap, then Justin would put in his 1998 Z24 Caviqueer. It will pass, it is 100% stock. So then they enter in the computer my 1992 Lumina, but they run the test on his Cavi. the Cavi passes, I win, JL tech earns 10 bucks. Easy as that.


Yah I forgot to mention that we unplugged my ignition when priming it. After oil changes I just start it, the 3.4 builds oil pressure so fast that it really doesn't matter.

[jmgtp]

ya whatever is right. shut up little boy

[pontiac92gp]

LOL .. I dont know the guy .. but shit .. every thread I read be dissin Aaron ..
Anywho ..

[5speedz34]

then Justin would put in his 1998 Z24 Caviqueer.

Caviqueer lol, but I dont get how u prime the engine?

[Anonymous]

That's the thing, the GM Goodwrench guy told me that the 3.4L DOHC didn't get primed. Since the tab on the head blocks the access to spin the intermediate shaft, you can't turn that. So they told me to unplug the ignition, and turn it over in short bursts. like hold the key in the start position for 1-2 seconds. then keep doing this until it builds oil pressure, was only like 2 or 3 tabs for me, and you're ready to go. That is essentially how it is primed. The only possible problem with this is that a winter car hasn't had a bazillion tubes of assembly lube in it like my rebuilt had, but even so it will be fine.

[grandprixgtp_91]

like i said to do!

Jake

[Anonymous]

If you look back, I did say it first

[jmgtp]

No one cares what either of you said, at least I dont.

I timed the exhaust cams back to -13* degrees last week and there was still plenty of oil chillin in the top end from what I could see, so looks like most of it didnt leak down. I still poored some fresh oil over the lobes on all the cams before I turned any of them. I'm sure all the lifters bled out but thats expected. I got the egr tube made, but I have to get some new gaskets to button the top end back up. I didnt get to finish it over spring break cause other problems came up, my beretta shit the cat and burst a tire on the highway and the 'rents minivan crapped the fuel pump so I was busy with those cars rather than the dohc. It's ok, I dont plan on putting it back on the road until May, when the semester ends.

[TDC GT]

Hi John-

Just for the record and to help you sleep better, the TDC doesn't have lifters. They're called risers and they're not hydraulic. They're just a piece of steel that rides the cam lobe. If you think about it, it makes sense. OHC engines don't have rockers so all the slack is taken up by the valve springs. I just got my heads back from the machine shop so I can tell you first hand there is nothing hydraulic to worry about in the valve train as far as a dry startup goes. Hope this helps.

[jmgtp]

?!

of course it has lifters!