It passed!
So excited to be able to drive this car again!
I forgot how much power it used to have before I messed up the original engine.

I've still got a few things to straighten out but nothing keeping me from using it as my daily again.
The temp gauge and cooling fan situation has not resolved. I must have damaged a wire or something. At least it doesn't appear to be running hot. Of course warm starts are a little hard due to the overrich mixture but it still starts.
The transmission was shifting hard, like old school hot rod shift kit hard but it's getting better as I drive it. 'Puter has to relearn the tranny I guess. Just so long as it doesn't knock that input shaft nut loose, but if it does I definitely won't wait to fix it this time.
Still need to get the front wheel alignment done but that has to wait until I get paid again. Meanwhile I swapped the front wheels & tires over from the '97 to save my nearly new tires I had on the 2000.
I used the power steering pump that came with the '97 engine but it's making unhappy sounds. I'll probably have to swap the one from the 2000.
I did swap over the alternator from the 2000, forgetting that I suspected it was having issues. No problems yet but I might find myself doing a double swap when I do the PS pump.
The interior needs a thorough cleaning too. Spider webs and dust from sitting for almost a year. At least the ant colony moved out.
Other than the ECTS signal problem (or lack thereof) and the wheel alignment everything else is something I can take time to plan for as I am able.

Meanwhile, I will harvest what I can from the '97 and leftover 2000 parts for spares.
I will also take time to document what it took to make this swap happen, with pictures. Some of what I learned could be added as an update to the Ultimate Saturn Swap Guide.
Finally, I'll be enjoying saving about 30% on my fuel expenses since I don't have to drive one of the vans to and from work unless I want to.

Thanks again to Dude for making this possible!

 

Check the acts connector very carefully. If there is any corrosion the electrical connection will not be good. This is a very low resistance circuit, so it will not tolerate additional resistance that shouldn't be there.

Also, the acts connectors often suffer breaks in the wiring pigtail where the wire goes into the actual connector. You have to examine it very carefully or do a continuity test with a backprobe to determine if the connection is broken.

What does your scanner show for coolant temperature? -40 or something else, and is it bouncing around? might help with respect to diag

 

Drove it to work this morning and other than an overly firm shift sometimes it performed flawlessly.
Running temp seems to be ok based on feel and smell but getting the temp sensor situation fixed is the top priority for this weekend.
Convenient that I happen to have a spare ECTS and pigtail

 

There ya go!! Glad you're mobile.

 

Congratulations, Jamnar. You performed a pain in the neck transplant and are an example to all of us here. Kudos to you and DON'T drive it like you stole it, for a change! LOL

 

Thanks guys!

In addition to documenting the transplant I also did a postmortem on the 2000 engine.
I don't know how much of the damage was due to thrashing it before, during and after the oil shortage or due to 281k miles or due to the stress of running on 2 1/2 cylinders.
Regardless, while it was in much better shape than I expected, there was bearing wear, piston scuffing, cylinder scratches and the most worn out timing chain I've seen in a while.
And every set of oil rings was solidly lodged in the groove and was clearly not doing anything.


stuck oil ring

One weird thing I found was when I pulled the water pump; there was a small spring lodged in the impeller. No idea where it came from.
All of this will be posted along with pictures for future reference.

 

Glad you're almost squared away Jammnar!!

 

Good job, you have your car back!

 

Been driving it for almost 2 weeks now. Tuesday it started acting funny on the way home. I saw the temp light (not the low coolant but the scary red one) flash once for 1/2 second and then about 10 minutes later it started losing power.
Worried that it might be overheating (I still didn't have the temp gauge working) I turned the heater on full blast and the rest of the way home I didn't hear any bad noises and the engine didn't smell hot. When I got home I immediately checked and the engine was definitely not hot, I could put my hand on the upper hose and cam cover and it was just warm. OK, no overheating but maybe the ECU is tired of not having any idea what the engine temp is and gave up guessing.
I drove the van to work the next day and when I got home I tried to see what might be going on with the Saturn. I started with the ECTS and the wiring seemed to be ok but I unplugged and reconnected it. Nothing else seemed to be out of order.
I restarted it and took it for a short test drive. Ran great and now the temp gauge works. I guess there was some crud in the contacts causing too much resistance. Since then it's been running flawlessly.
In fact, not only that but for the last 3 days there's been no check engine light on. The bulb is not burned out, it still comes on during the bulb check.
That hasn't happened for literally years! I think it's safe to say that this project is complete.

 

For the win! congratulations it has been a long time coming.