The death of a 'loved one'

[2.3Lxhatch311]

My way over priced N/A motor bit the dust today at only 3,000 miles. While attempting to set belt timing, I accidentally left the belt un-tightened and the engine jumped timing. Something in the rear of the motor broke. I heard it while turning the crank by hand, then heard it again when I started the engine. it ran, but with a deep firm knock. So I just shut it down, and packed up my tools after a week straight of tune-ups. I'm going to pull the motor out tomorrow and break it down, just to see what happened, but I'm guessing a crushed rod. Maybe I'll get lucky and be able to fix it, but I'm guessing it's toast. So, what's the average cost of a 2.3t drop in? I'll be doing that more than likely.

 

[Saleen8786]

sucks dude, but look at it this way now you can have boost . Cost of a 2.3t drop in, all you have to do is buy the motor $700 at the most, easy as hell to hook up. (if you know how) Connects to most of the stock wires in you enine bay now.

 

[2.3Lxhatch311]

awesome. I was hoping a little cheaper than that, but cool.

 

[bhuff30]

The 2.3 is a non-interface motor. Nothing should break when the timing belt jumps. I milled my head .090 and run a cam with an extra .55 valve lift and it still isn't an interface engine.
Figure out the problem before pulling it. Might just be a lifter or something simple.

 

[2.3Lxhatch311]

It's not a lifter. It's a deep rear engine mechanical issue. But I will indeed pull the head first to be sure. But you can hear the sound coming from the block down deep in the rear.

 

[2.3Lxhatch311]

So it's 1:41 AM and I think I'm gonna go get that motor ready to pull out. I just gotta know what went wrong in there...

 

[2.3Lxhatch311]

So as I was loosening my transmission bolts, I noticed the starter is loose. I came in to get a drink, and hope for a few minutes that I find it torn all to hell inside the bellhousing. Fingers are crossed...

 

[bhuff30]

might have just been the starter rattling around. tighten it down and go for a drive.

 

[2.3Lxhatch311]

I just pulled it out and in fact yes, it was making contact. Hopefully, upon putting everything back together, it will rin just fine...

 

[2.3Lxhatch311]

timing is still out, but the engine is not damaged. Well worth a couple hours in the early morning.

 

[2.3Lxhatch311]

I got the engine timed properly earlier. But it still isn't streetable. The air fuel mixture is still way way off. The car will still run great at full throttle, but sputters and coughs at any thing less. I unplugged the TPS, and it got a little better, but would still do it. Then when I got to the house, it cutt off, and wouldn't crank back up, so I'm guessing it was flooded at that point, and the plugs had become fowled. So since the TPS, the EGO, the MAP, and Fuel psi Regulator are all new, and the TPS reads .94V at bottomed out throttle stop, I am left with only one idea... Bad ECM. It's the only thing left that is related to air fuel mixture. So can anyone tell me what is required for removing it? I have already scoped out the one in the 88. I see it, but I don't see a clear path for removing it. What holds it in? That little plastic strap? Or are their bolts? I didn't really feel like tearing the whole dash out to find out. GM is alot smarter about where they mount their ECM's, so much easier to get at.

 

[93 teal terror]

Just because your sensors are new, doesnt mean they are good

 

[2.3Lxhatch311]

Yay! It wasn't as hard to remove as I thought it was. Just two bolts, I was impressed. Now, if putting this in doesn't fix my problem, I have decided that I will just convert this girl over to carbureted. That way I KNOW where my air fuel mixture is set. Is the lower intake manifold the same on EFI as it is on Carbi's? Or will I have to replace the whole intake? Just want to have an Idea so I'll be ready. The idea came to me while I was asleep. I was dreaming about doing to convert for some odd reason, but when I woke up I said "hey, that's actually not too bad an idea" especially if I go with a high pro carb. Any of you guys running a carb setup? anyone have a performance carb to suggest if I do have to do this? Lastly, anyone ever converted an EFI over? is it harder than I think? I'd much rather stay efi, but I'm not going to just keep spending money for no reason...

 

[2.3Lxhatch311]

W00T W00T!!!

It was the computer. Car runs perfect now. So, I think I'm gonna post a tech article containing the syptoms of my problem and the final cause, BAD COMPUTER. So that noone else will have to spend 500 dollars in new sensors and crap just to figure out their computer is defunk. I am SOOOO extatic, I can't even describe to you the joy of my car being right! OMG! Stupid computer. I'm gonna take it apart and see if there's any visually noticable problems. It looked like the computer has been changed once before in this car, if so, I may have a wiring problem to track down, no reason any one car should EVER go through two computers in it's life if all is well.

 

[2.3Lxhatch311]

DAMNIT. I thought it was fixed. I went to leave and it pulled the exact same crap. I drove to autozone and had it code scanned, the TPS was throwing a code for low range or intermittent signal. So, I drove back home and adjusted it. Well, I went on a test drive, and at first, the car ran even better. But after a few minutes of driving, it did it again. Then, a few minutes later, it would do okay again. So I pulled over and unplugged the sensor. The car ran fine. So, now I am wondering, is this brand new TPS bad? Or do I have a wiring problem that's causeing it to black out or read improperly occasionally? Now I'm super confused. If I can't trust a brand new part to be good, what can I trust?

 

[Keasbey]

try J/Y parts before.

 

[2.3Lxhatch311]

try J/Y parts before.

good point. I mean, If it was a job application, who would you pick, the guy fresh out of college, or they guy's who's done his job faithfully for 16 years. I know who I'd pick. Makes perfect sense when you apply this analogy.