Is that you over on yourcobalt too? Haha

 

Yep, too many projects and so little time.

 

I started to work toward pulling the engine but looking at it I don't understand how anyone can get to the starter, much less the flex plate bolts. I can see one starter bolt from the bottom but there is no way that anything could reach the bolt between the oil pan and the transmission and actually rotate the bolt. I can't see anything from the top. Do I need to remove the rear exhaust manifold to gain access?

I am beginning to reconsider the option to leave the engine in place and pull the cylinder heads.

Regardless I need to pull the heat shield from the rear exhaust pipe to gain access to the manifold flange bolts (the front exhaust flange nuts came off without a problem). It looks like I will need to cut the pipe connection flange bolts (a lot of rust) but can I leave the front and back pipes connected or do they need to be removed separately?

It also looks like I need to remove the right (passenger) side engine mount to remove the wiring harness cover and wiring under it as well as the serpentine belt to allow the A/C compressor to be detached from the engine.

 

I'm goaliemo over there. Got banned here a few years back. Haha

Ive looked at these a couple times at the junk yard. Probably best pulling the heads. Cant remember the heat shield situation. Andy probably had some better tips for yuh

 

That is the reason I don’t drive a 6 cylinder one anymore. The four is so much easier to work on. I bought a beautiful 01 L300 with about the same mileage as yours with a broken belt for $400 several years back. It was used for parts for a couple of my cars. The black leather is in my driver and the new tires and alloy wheels went on one I sold. I dropped the powertrain out the bottom and have sold a couple parts off of it. I used one of the rear hub assemblies in my grandson’s car. I would just pull the heads and fix the valves if it a nice enough car. How rusty is it? The engine cradle goes away first on these cars. The unibody seems to hold up pretty well, but the fuel tank straps and the brake lines rust away. This is what happened to the Geo Metro also, the rust belt cars have been gone for years. There are very worn out ones still running around out West. My L200 is coming up on 250,000 miles and I have no plans to change cars in fact I am going to install a turbo charged Saab engine and maybe the trans.

 

I removed the rear exhaust manifold and gained access to the starter area. One of the nuts proved to be a challenge to gain access due to the proximity to the catalyst (?) included. I also have one broken stud for the exhaust pipe flange that I will need to replace which could be challenging due to the heat shield flange.

I removed the starter and the alternator and have started to remove flex plate bolts with the intention of pulling the engine. Getting a socket on the flex plate bolts is a pain given the lack of clearance and short hex height of the bolts. I am hoping to complete the engine extraction in the near future and then dive into the cylinder heads. I have determined that the timing belt is very low on tension (per the tension indicator on the tensioner) but the belt is intact. I have not determined which cams may have jumped time in part because determination of TDC on the crankshaft sprocket is not obvious.

 

Engine is out and heads are removed. All of the intake valves are stuck open and have impacted the pistons leaving some pretty heavy marks.

I compared the cost to rebuild the engine to buying a salvage yard alternative with a timing belt, water pump, and thermostat fix prior to installation and decided to go the replacement engine route. My impression is that these engines are good for 200,000 miles if the timing belt is serviced as intended so I am hoping that this approach will provide a viable long term engine solution.

 

I assume Wisconsin by your handle. There should be lots of engines near you from rusty cars. I recommend Car-part.com as a good resource for used parts. You sort by what you want by zip code and the wrecking yards list inventory for sale. They pay a subscription fee to the service, I have found many parts through them. I located a perfect color matching rear hatch for my Navigator in a different state and made the road trip.

 

I have a replacement engine coming, less miles than the car and "running condition". I also have parts on order to complete the timing belt, water pump, and thermostat updates before installing the engine.

 

I would reseal it while it is out, there seems to be be consistent problems with the crankcase breather systems. Another brilliant design is the thermostat under the intake manifold, as well as the engine oil heat exchanger also in the valley. Typical German over engineering.