97 Lumina 3.1

[david_350]

Hey there, I have a problem. I have 2 Luminas, both 97s, both with the 3.1 motor. One belonged to my dad and one to my brother. My brothers caught fire and was deemed a write off, my dads has a terrible valve train ticking. So he bought another car too. Anyways I was thinking out of the 2 Luminas hopefully I can piece together a working ride to use as a daily driver.

The valve train ticking, Im not sure exactly where its coming from. I suspect a collapsed lifter. My dads mechanic suggested the camshaft, although he didnt tear into the engine or anything, basically just listened to it. Im fairly certain its not the cam, I just can't see a hydraulic roller cam wearing to badly. But then again I could be wrong. Anyways I was thinking I could replace all the lifters in it, and check the tourques on the rockers and what not. Does anyone else here think it could be a collapsed lifter?

Also in the event its not a lifter, is a cam swap possible with the engine still in the car? Sorry for the newbie questions, I normally work on F-bodys, where a cam swap is possible without pulling the engine. But Im not all that knowledgable on these front wheel drive V6s. any advice would be greatly appreciated. thanks in advance

[3100 MPFI]

Lifter tick is pretty common, but without hearing it in person, it is kinda hard to diagnose.

In the gen 1 cars it is easy to change the cam with the engine still in the car. Yours is a gen 1.5 car, but I think it is the same where it counts, yes, you should be able to swap out the cam if you need too. (some peope might say it can't be done, but I have done it SEVERAL TIMES in my Cutlass Supreme, and my Grand Prix. With my Cutlass Supreme once was with the 2.8 MPFI, and once with the 3100, and in my Grand Prix, it was a 3100.

Replacing the lifters is not that hard to do, and you might want to do that anyways. This would be a good time to do updated intake gaskets bacuse if yours has not been done by now, it is just a matter of time before they start leaking and then you risk the cam breaking.

Also, if you are interested in more power this would be a good time to look into the large port upper and lower intake manifolds. They will bolt right up, and the only thing you might have to do is get a coolant pipe to make it all work.

[david_350]

cool, thanks a bunch. how tricky is it to pull the lifters on these engines?

[3100 MPFI]

not too tricky. You have to remove the lower intake, then remove the pushrods (just loosen the rockers and they will come out). DO NOT MIX UP THE PUSHRODS!!!!!

once the pushrods are out, you can remove the anti-rotation bars and then the lifters will lift right out. They make a special tool for pulling them out, but you don't really need it. I think it is more for the flat tappet lifters that sit further down, than the roller lifters that stick up.

I just use a pair of rubber tipped needle nose pliers to grab them and lift them right up.

When you put it all back together, you have to pay attention to where the pushrods go. They are not equal length, and they are not in order. they go in like long, short, long, short, short, long (not sure if that is right, but you get the idea to really pay attention to how they go in).