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Hi this is my first post in etcg Im 16 and I have recently completed my first engine swap on a car. Its a 1994 regal with the 3800, Its my dads car, we have had it for 2 years we bought it with 18000 miles on it for the estate of and old lady that had passed, so long story short The car ran beautifully,We had put in a new battery and alternator and it ram like a new car. So my dad had it on a trip when 800 miles from home the oil pan gasket went and of course he drove it until the bearings went. So he got a price of 2000 dollars to put a salvage engine in it which is more than my family paid for the car. Being that between me and my dad we have a pretty good selection of tools I decided to conquer the job myself. So with the purchase of an engine hoist and a salvage engine with 60k on it that was made 11 days apart from the engine in the car I was on my way. It took me 2 weeks after school but I watched a lot of erics videos and did a good bit of research, I documented every step I took and took pictures along the way even though I have one of those minds that just seems to remember ho things go back together. So the car ran fine even with the bad bearings had plenty of power and could burn the tires no problem. So with this salvage engine I basically stripped it of all its components (wiring, sensors, hoses, replaced every gasket except for head, and intake gasket, I lubricated every cylinder with some tranny fluid, new plugs, wires, all the sensors are either from the old engine or are new, The throttle body was from the engine with the bad bearings, etc. the car just doesnt have the power it used to have now, there are no lights on, it starts right up there is just this hesitation/miss/sluggish running.i have checked everything that I have thought to check and honestly dont know what else it could be. The one odd thing is that the lower rad hose doesnt get hot not even really warm, I am pretty sure that I have bleed it properly with the bleeder valve/ rad cap, the thermostat is new and I did check it in boiling water, the car doesnt overheat but it does run a little warmer than the car used to ( it runs at like 220)which is the middle line but the temp never even used to get to there ever. It has the 4 pin obd adapter which I dont know how to pull codes with but there are no lights on, Im really at a dead end on this one, someone please help, sorry for how long it is, I really appreciate any help, and stay dirty as always, Thanks!
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Did you check basics starting with compression and then moving to fuel pressure and a cylinder balance test? Also check for vacuum leaks. Start there and let us know what you find.
I did look over all of my wires and took the plugs out and re gapped them I was going to do a compression test when i did but my tester didnt match the plugs which surprised me, I am going to get the right size adapter for my tester, and i will probably go pick up a fuel press tester today and check that as well, I did check all of my vacuum lines and I did a water test on the intake to no avail. I will go get the tester and let you know what I find, thanks!
As for bleeding the cooling system here is the procedure for that.
One thing that comes to mind is that not every engine of the same displacement is set up to run in all vehicles. Often times they set up the engine to be optimized for a particular vehicle so if your engine was from another vehicle it may just be that you won’t get the same power out of it. See if you can figure out if your engine came out of the same vehicle.
Also we’re all human and forget things from time to time. I think it’s a good idea to go back over your work and make sure you connected everything and connected everything correctly. I myself a time or 2 have screwed up in this department. Swapping engine’s is a big job and it’s easy to miss something.
Lastly I’ll post links to this video series that may help you. I know it’s not the same vehicle but the principals are the same.
Solving Performance Problems 1
Solving Performance Problems 2
Re Performance Problems
Ok so I finally got to the store to get a few things i needed to do some more tests, I did a fuel pressure test and got 40 psi which is normal i believe, I did the propane test on all the vacuum areas that I touched, and the ones on the salvage engine, the engine didn’t surge at all in any of the places, ive gone over all of my work a couple of times, I still haven’t done a compression test because 1 its a real pain to get to the back plugs and its been cold and rainy for like 4 days now, Im in PA, Today I took it out to drive it and I realized that when its in park or neutral the engine seems to run fine, but when I put it in drive or reverse that’s when it hesitates/just seems low on power, The flex plate is from the salvage engine but I looked at it and it seemed to be fine, I know they can get warped but you would still feel that in park and neutral right? plus it starts fine. Any suggestions? thanks for all the help I really appreciate it!
Oh and by the way the engine I got is out of a lesabre, I put it in a regal but its identical, same year, model, vin, the engine that went bad and the one I got were only mfg 11 days apart
I still haven’t done a compression test because 1 its a real pain to get to the back plugs and its been cold and rainy for like 4 days now, Im in PA,
this is a good example of why it pays off to know how to use a scope and graph your compression waveform; it’s quick and eliminates the need to get to those hard to reach spark plugs. B)
Scopes are too expensive for home use.
[quote=”Wrench Turner” post=35949]
I still haven’t done a compression test because 1 its a real pain to get to the back plugs and its been cold and rainy for like 4 days now, Im in PA,
this is a good example of why it pays off to know how to use a scope and graph your compression waveform; it’s quick and eliminates the need to get to those hard to reach spark plugs. B)
i think I will end up doing a compression test, I was going to weeks ago but I went to thread my tester into the spark plug hole and it was the wrong size, There aren’t any lights on but i would like to scan it, it has a 4 pin diagnostic connector which I cant seem to find any info on and I don’t know which ports to jump to get the codes to flash if that’s even possible on this model? I also kinda scared about doing a compression test cause im worried of what I might find, haha, My coil pack is from the old engine which ran fine but i did hear of those being culprits for hesitation/ sluggishness? This forum is the best I’ve never gotten so much help on a forum before, I am going to become a premium member soon! Thanks!
your compression test might be fine, but if it does fail you should go straight into a leak down test.
I will try to do one by this weekend its still raining here from the hurricane, haha, I have to go pick up a leak down tester too. Cars Cars Cars… I also determined today that my 05 durango 4.7 has a blown headgasket, which is what I suspected since my recent compression test, oil burning, and smokey exhaust, I went to add oil tonight because my dad was going to be driving it tomorrow for a couple hundred miles which is what I have been doing lately ( about 1 quart per week) just to get myself through the winter so I could fix it after, but wow it must have really blow up in the last few days because I took the oil fill cap off and it was pure milk, and it was a quart low on oil in a weeks time. gotta love it! The good thing is that I know a guy that was a chrysler mechanic and went into business for himself so at least ill know it’ll get done right, my guess is that its going to cost me a lil under $1000 to do the job right, I would have done it myself if it was the summer or if I had a bigger garage that wasn’t filled with tools
Well I would like to but I dont know how. the Diagnostic is the size for a 12 or 16 pin connector but theres only 4 pins, I tried researching on if you can jump them to get the codes, but I cant seem to find anything on GM 4 pin diagnostic connectors from what I have found in 94 it should have either a 12 pin or 14 which mine has the 12 or 16 pin connector but there are only 4 pins the rest of the spots are empty
haha, I have to go pick up a leak down tester too.
According to enrique de hombre coche, you might be better off just plugging shop air directly into your engine:
Thats what I did on my Durango when i did the leak down test, It worked good, unfortunately it told me the head gasket was blown ugh, The check engine light came on today in the buick today though Have yet to figure out how to retrieve the codes though
This should help you pull codes on an OBDI GM
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