Just got a replacement engine, and need pointers

[3100 MPFI]

I just went and paid for an engine for my 1995 Cutlass Supreme. I will go and pick it up on FRIDAY, but I am getting everything ready for it now.

First of all, I am replacing the KNOCKING 3.4 DOHC in my 1995 Cutlass Supreme SL. I went to a local yard and bought a 1994 3.4 DOHC from a Lumina Z34.

It does NOT run, and they are not sure what is wrong with it. They said the block should be fine (they THINK it is the TRANNY that was bad). I know to check the timing belt, but what else should I check. I want to do as much as I can before I put it in the car. I was thinking about just throwing a new timing belt in it (if that is what is bad on it). They are going to warranty the block if is turns out it IS bad.

I am really not interested in doing anything performance to it right now. I just want to get it in and running (I need to get it running so I can take my 1990 Grand Prix STE off the road before I lose the tranny in it). The performance stuff will come later.

The engine that is in the car now is good, and RUNS, but it knocks, so if anything is wrong with the heads on this new engine, I will just take parts off of it, but I want to not do that if I don't have too. I would like to keep my 1995 engine together until I get the new one running.

Just looking for things to check before I put the engine in the car. As for now, I plan on doing the timing belt (assuming that is what is bad on it). and replacing all the gaskets. I am going to throw a crank scraper into it as well (that way if it runs fine, I will not have to do that later).

Thanks

[grandprixgtp_91]

i wouldnt touch it with a 20ft. pole, if your gonna waste your money on that engine, id rip yours out and have the crank reground and new bearings. no point in fucking with a motor like that.

Jake

[series8217]

agreed.

also the worst thing you can do with a new motor is regasket it. if it fails 1,000 miles down the road now you have to buy all new gaskets again and take everything apart! may as well have rebuilt the damn thing the first time.

just fix the motor you have. you need bearings and maybe a crankshaft for yours, though they might be able to regrind it. if its not too bad. have the knocking rod checked as well to make sure it doesnt need to be resized.

[3100 MPFI]

I am going to rebuild the engine, but if I don't get that car on the road SOON, I am going to ruin my STE. When I said replace gasket, I am talking about the oil pan gasket, and the intake gaskets. I am not touching the heads unless I have too.

I got the new engine for only $150.00 so I am not losing any money if it fails 1000 miles down the road. Besides, 1000 miles down the road, I should have my STE fixed by then. If I lose my STE, then I am without car, and it is getting a little worse every day.

I want to do the rebuild right, but like I said, I need to get my STE off the road soon, so it is faster to drop another engine in. I can pull an engine out of the W-body in about 4 hours, so the swap is no big deal. If I rebuild the engine that is in the car, ESPECIALLY if the block needs machining, it will take a LOT longer (the machine shops in my area are GOOD, but they are SLOW).

In the summer, I am going to do a complete performance rebuild on my current knocking engine, but for now, I need the car to move.

Just trying to get an idea of what to check on an engine I have not really dealt with extensively (like I have with the 3100), and to make sure I have a good idea of what all to check, seeing that I don't know the history of the engine I just bought.

and grandprixgtp_91, if it is not worth messing with, then why are you messing with so many of them?

[patgizz]

check the timing belt. if it doesnt look bad don't mess with it, don't need another variable if it winds up not running. put it in and see what happens.

i bought one that didnt start, turned out a bad crank position sensor. but i had a donor car to figure it out in.

[3100 MPFI]

well, I think I might have lucked out. First of all, the crank positions sensor was broken. The timing was not correct. The REAR spark plugs were OLD, and the rear wires were just as old.

Turns out that this engine had been REBUILT fairly recently. They guy said that the shop did it, it did not run, and the owner junked it. NOBODY had messed with it since it was in the yard. One of the first things I noticed bad with it was the front spark plugs were missing.

Looks to me like someone got in a hurry, and when it did not run, they just gave up. The timing belt was NEW, but the timing was off (almost looks like a botched 13* retard)

Everything turns smoothly by hand (err, ratchet), but I am going to take the oil pan off to check the crank.

By the looks of it, all I have to do is replace a couple of sensors, time it, and drop it in.

Not bad for $150.00 plus tax.

Here are some pics:

[napatiger]

good score for 150

[grandprixgtp_91]

the reason i mess around wit so many is because they are all projects, not my everyday drivers , i dont need them to be running in a week , i was just giving you a better way out so u dont waste time and money, jeeze some people are freakin rude.

Jake

[3100 MPFI]

Not rude. Just abrupt. I know they are not easy to work on. I plan on doing a project with my old one. I sometimes forget that there are ADULTS on this site, and not just KIDS like on some of the other ones. I was just not expecting anyone to say they would not touch it with a 20 ft pole, but in their sig, they have a LOT of project ones. Kinda took me by suprise.

Normally, I would not touch the twin cam either (in the past, I have been a HARD CORE pushrod fan), but it is faster to replace a twin cam with a twin cam, than to swap in a pushrod.

[grandprixgtp_91]

sorry, i thought u were being rude about it, im not saying i wouldnt touch the 3.4L dohc with a 20ft pole. i was saying i wouldnt touch a junkyard motor that didnt run with it. just could have been alot of work to get it running in comparison to yours. ive seen a few 3.4L dohcs with snapped rods and siezed cranks out of the junkyard , usually the reason there there is because people dont give a shit about them , they dont change the oil and the motor shits out on them and is gonna cost way to much to fix it. its just everytime ive been to a junkyard and looking at a 3.4L its pretty jacked up. i was just saying it might be faster and more cost effective to just fix your motor.

Jake

[3100 MPFI]

Yeah. I was going to replace the crank, and do it that way, but when I was testing the block, I think I might have some SERIOUS damage to one of the cylinder walls. One of the Cylinders (I think it was number 5), it had NO COMPRESSION AT ALL.

They yard I bought the engine from will warranty the BLOCK. They said it did not run, and they did not test it out to see why. I told them I was only interested in the BLOCK, and as long as that was good, I did not mind swapping out my heads, cams, etc.

Like I said, my engine runs, but it knocks REALLY BADLY. I only paid for the block, but since they thought the engine was toast, they just gave it to me complete. They were told it was snapped timing belt, and possible damaged heads. It was only after I got it opened up, I saw that it was a fresh engine. I think I could have just reset the cam timing, and threw new plugs, and wires in it (as well as a crank position sensor), and it would have run.

I went back to the yard today, and got some other things out of the Z34 that the engine came out of. It is a 1994 Z34, and it has 127K on the odometer. If the engine was pretty much original, then the interiors of the cam carriers would be stained brown (like the interior of the cam carriers in my 1995 Cutlass Supreme with about the same milege). They are CLEAN. There is NO build up. I will get some better pics, but as it is now, I would be hard pressed to tell this junkyard engine apart from a NEW one (at least going by the interior of the engine).

[96MonteZ34]

Take the heads off and replace that oil pump drive seal right away it's only about another half hour worth of work since you have the intake and everything off. Trust me it will save you alot of headaches in the long run. But overall a really good score for 150 bucks let me know how it works out.

[3100 MPFI]

That has already been done. I was checking it out today, and it has the distributor gasket like they used on the small block chevy. It looks like they did a good job of rebuilding it. I think they just got lazy in the end.