In reply to Wally (Forum Supporter) :
I am too. This one isn't very rusty overall, which is why I'm trying to save it for another few adventures at least.
In reply to Wally (Forum Supporter) :
I am too. This one isn't very rusty overall, which is why I'm trying to save it for another few adventures at least.
Gunchsta said:
Sludge buggy
Mmmmmm. Burnt crunchy bits.
What does the oil pan and crank look like?
In reply to RandolphCarter :
Haven't had it off yet, might not take it off. Probably holds secrets I don't want to know about. 
Gunchsta said:In reply to RandolphCarter :
Haven't had it off yet, might not take it off. Probably holds secrets I don't want to know about.
Years ago a neighbor dragged home a barn find Jeep with an even crustier motor. He drained the oil and filled the crankcase with i think kerosene. He disconnected the ignition wires and ran it for a minute and then let it sit overnight. Drained the cruddy mix out, and it looked like coffee that had almost boiled dry in the pot.
He did the kerosene bath a few times and then oil a few times. Ended up replacing all the gaskets.
Not sure if that's a viable option for a modern engine.
In reply to RandolphCarter :
I've heard similar stories involving a quart of ATF , run for a minute, then change oil a couple of times.
I'm not sure I'm going to go down that path, but I'm not above trying it either
Not much to report but had a good Saturday's worth of progress. Reinforced my roof beams so I can hang my chain fall from them, and started disassembling the 3100 for removal. My wife helped me lift the hood off which was cool, and another cool thing was that bolt of the nuts on the rear exhaust manifold actually came off and didn't strip or otherwise berkeley up. Really excited about that. Few things left to disconnect and then try to figure out how to pluck the engine
So far so good!
In reply to Gunchsta :
I got rear ended in the snow, a minor hit and the car ran fine so I was going to drive it home. Getting back into traffic the rear bumper fell off along with a chunk of the trunk floor.
In reply to Wally (Forum Supporter) :
Yikes!
Where we stand tonight. Had a big berkeley around with the front trans mount/support deal. One bellhousing bolt is buried behind it and otherwise obstructed by the trans cooler lines. Now I have access to it but need an 18mm box end wrench to turn it off because the stud is long for a non-deep wall socket but also doesn't have enough room for a deep wall socket.
Twice so far I've found myself using an 18mm socket with an adapter to go on my 1/4" drive ratchet because it's the only way I could find to turn a bolt.
I think I have 2 more bellhousing bolts to undo, the torque converter bolts, and the drivers side motor mount and I can try to pull the 3100 out. I say try because I'm not 100% sure there's room to get the flex plate past the bellhousing without the harmonic balancer smashing into the passenger side frame rail.
This is fun!
Hello, are you sure its the head gasket and not the infamous GM 3100 intake manifold gasket? Like on my (bought new) 99 lumina....made to about 71,000 highway miles then white smoke losing coolant, diluting oil/ antifreeze...etc. Thanks, GM! Easier than pulling both heads, but not by much. Have to loosen the motor mounts and jack up the engine.
In reply to Agent98 :
Well, not 100% but I just did the intake gaskets last summer so those should still be good. Also have been noticing some seepage from the front head for... well a while. There were signs, I may have overlooked them.
I'm pretty confident my seat of the pants head gasket diagnosis is accurate although wouldn't my face be red if I went through all of this for intake gaskets.
Ok...makes sense with the front head leak....just trying to save you some work...maybe the head got warped back when the intake went bad....so irked at GM...supposedly just a cheapo gasket choice of materials!
That and the Lumina door skins were made of tinfoil. Every lumie I saw on the road, at walmart, being towed , had multiple dimples and dents along each door. Comfy tan mouse fur seats though....
I just talked to a friend of mine who is a professional mechanic and it sounds like a lot of these 3100/3400's come out the bottom of the car with the motor & trans intact as a unit on the subframe.
Which, isn't surprising but it hadn't crossed my mind yet. I'm still hoping to drag the motor out of the top, but I guess I'm keeping my mind open to the fact that this may be a ... different ... project in the future if I can't persuade the motor out of the top. Frankly, the subframe drop might be the "easier" option, but I'm not excited about some of the garage logistics of doing so.
Time will tell.
In reply to Gunchsta :
It's actually easier than it sounds. Hardest part is lifting the front of the car high enough to clear the intake, i used my engine hoist and had the car up on 6-ton jackstands when I dropped the engine out the bottom of my Infiniti G20. Lowered the subframe with engine attached down on a standard size HF movers dolly, lifted the front of the car up over the engine, wheeled the whole thing out the front. The height of the jackstands helped limit how high I had to lift the front of the car up to clear the intake manifold. I was out in my driveway doing this, so if you're space limited in the garage it could be an issue.
In reply to 06HHR (Forum Supporter) :
I have a chain hoist that I plan on dragging the engine out with, and it will be hanging from the rafters of my garage which have been braced. I would have more headroom than a traditional engine hoist, and probably enough capacity for the front half of the car if need be.
I'm definitely not ruling the idea out; frankly parts of it sound "easier" than separating the engine from the trans and taking it out the top. But, since I'm currently set up for that plan I'm going to at least attempt it.
I'm enjoying this process overall, and feel like I'm working patience muscles that need working.
A lot of the time I kinda beat myself up banging a project out quickly, right now I'm still dragging my feet for warmer weather so I can clean and paint the 3400 before it goes in. I feel very fortunate that (for now anyway) I have a company vehicle to drive so the Malibu is not needed and can be a go-at-your-own-pace project. I'm taking the luxury of tinkering when I feel like it and am keeping the junkyard in my back pocket. Even if I were to get super frustrated and scrap the car with the eBay motor in the trunk, I still feel like I got my moneys worth of service out of the whole experience.
Subsequently, if I am indeed able to get the 3400 in and have it running and looking kinda spiffy, that will be a big win in my book!
In reply to Gunchsta :
Cool, you've got it covered either way. Maybe pull the front accessories (alternator, water pump, etc) and the harmonic balancer to give you some room to slide the engine over, off the transmission bellhousing?
Here's where I left off for the night. I'm fairly confident I have the engine and trans unbolted from each other, but they've been together a long time and love each other very much.
Past experience tells me they may just literally be stuck together and the right angle/leverage will eventually free them. But, I'm here on the internet contemplating their separation because maybe I have overlooked some bracket or support.
I'm almost thinking I need to put the front trans support bracket back on temporarily to control how much movement the trans has. Right now I can get the engine pretty high out of the subframe and at a steep angle, but the trans also moves with it so it's doubtful there's much force being applied to the bellhousing area. I need to secure the trans so when I'm pulling on the engine it's working to split that bellhousing joint. Heck, I could probably ratchet strap the trans down to the subframe even.
Well heck! Outski!
I was indeed missing a bracket that needed to be yet removed- there's a support brace above the passenger axle and under the exhaust manifold. And then another similar on the bottom side bolting the trans to the oil pan somehow. But, it does come out from the top. And pretty cleanly actually.
(Hearty clapping noise is heard).....nice going!
Well we hit a little snag today. Got both engines mobile and on stands and decided to start tearing into the 3400. Much to nobodies surprise 2 of the exhaust manifold studs broke off in the head.
So, I guess we're going to experiment with easy outs.
Or, maybe get crazy lucky and just spin the broken piece out of the head. Yeah, right!
Woof. Things did not improve.
Further 3400 trash.
broken studs
Crust
rust and sand?
Yuck.
My immediate reaction is that at this point I'm better off slapping new head gaskets in the 3100 and risking that the heads are warped than trying to run this crust bucket
Agreed. Know when to say when, or can LKQ find you a 3400?
I'm sure there are 100's of 3400s around, but at what point does it just make sense to replace the head gaskets on a known "good" motor? It got hot, but honestly not nuclear hot? I don't know
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