'97 LeSabre Engine kaput

So in a fit of madness I bought a '97 Lesabre with engine issues. Car is rust free in great shape with 85k miles. It was suffering from a leaky intake. Previous owner continued to add water and drive the vehicle until it overheated on a trip to the point the engine stopped.

He let it cool and drove it home having to stop several time for overheat. His mechanic replaced the upper intake manifold but now it runs like crap

Compression Test #1 140 #3 140 #5 140 #2 180 #4 120 #6 140

Chocolate shake visible in oil fill so I know there is water in the engine. Assuming at least bad head gasket since the manifold is new.

So if you made it this far here's my question. If this was your project that you wanted for your daily drive would you

Pull the heads and have them magna fluxed, shaved and reinstall (unknown cost at this time)

Or replace the engine? My favorite local junkyard has one that just came in that he says is still in the car and I can hear it run. He wants $700 for it.

Your experience greatly appreciated. My biggest worry is fixing the top end and a shortly after having a bottom end failure due to running on chocolate milk for an unknown time frame.

Steve B.

Reply to
Steve B.
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I'm no expert on such things, but if you can get a spare engine that you can hear run for $700 I'd say grab it, that's pretty cheap.

Reply to
Pete C.

By the time you dig into that aging engine, you're going to have several hundred dollars in it, and the lower end is still suspect. The block could be cracked, the way the previous owner tried to make a water pump out of it

I would strongly consider the junkyard engine.

Reply to
HLS

Engine swap. 700 for a good running engine is less than you will spend to repair what you have. I would probably wash down the replacement, then change out any suspect parts prior to installing it. Much easier to replace the water pump and the thermostat and intake gaskets prior to installing it. I would probably also do the intake over with it out and maybe pull the pan and clean it out while it's out. Then install it.

Reply to
Steve W.

Steve B.

Steve W., and others, give good advice if going with the junkyard engine. I'd also replace timing chain/gears. If eng. is basically good, with all these parts replaced you should get another 100K with basic servicing. That's a super good engine. s

Reply to
sdlomi2

I've been debating this in my head all day and appreciate the feedback from the group. I'm having a little trouble getting past my perception that used engine = pig in a poke.

Would I be better off to take my existing engine and clean it out good and replace all the bearings?

Steve B.

Reply to
Steve B.

second that. If you really want to rebuild the old engine just for the experience you will need to check heads for warp/crack, block deck for warping, replace all bearings, maybe cam/lifters, and the rings have probably lost tension due to overheat so you're looking at new rings at a minimum, maybe a rebore and new pistons (in which case you may as well have it balanced) then while you have the heads apart even if they are good might as well throw new springs and a valve grind at it. Basically somewhere between 3/4 and a full rebuild. Not much different than rebuilding an engine that is slap wore out from mileage.

(this is why they come with gauges, people...)

nate

Reply to
Nate Nagel

Junkyard engine = Used engine that is running properly, you can hear running properly and no known history of severe overheating abuse.

vs.

Engine in car = Used engine that is not running properly, that you can hear not running properly and with a known history of severe overheating abuse.

Your choice which you want work with...

Reply to
Pete C.

If the boneyard engine sounds good, you might go for it. See if you can find how many miles are on it. Fix the problem that caused the original to fail. Used to be able to get new 3yr/36000 guaranteed engines from GM for a couple grand, and if I liked the car it might be worth it. But I looked a bit for new GM engines and didn't find much. No 3.8's Here's something you might consider, since you're looking at a PITA and more money which ever way you go. Write off the car and send it to the boneyard. If you have a yard and cinder blocks keep it for parts. When all is said and done you can probably find a same car decent low mileage good runner for less than the cost and time of farting around with what you have. Yeah, that hurts, but you've heard about throwing good money after bad. Think about it.

--Vic

Reply to
Vic Smith

No, you wouldnt...If you are going into it, you need to do it right, or it wont last.

When I bought a 3800 from the junkyard for my Reatta, I paid $100 for the engine (which was really in darn good shape), plus another $750 for boilout, machining, new pistons, rings, oil pump, head work, balancing, all soft parts, etc. That was a couple of years ago.

Reply to
HLS

-kaput - sounds good. Price ok. why not.

Reply to
sven kraske

Is this thing going to be a daily driver or not? What's your tolerance for duct tape and bailing wire repairs?

It's possible that it's still leaking from the intake - either done wrong, or warped from overheating.

Used engine you can hear running: good. Rebuilding an old engine back to stock is probably going to almost run the same price as getting a new one. Start pricing it out - if you need to get it bored out, you'll need new pistons. You'll need new bearings. New cam and lifters. Machine shop work. You're probably looking at $1000+ just for the stuff I mentioned.

Here's my experience: my 1990 Chevy truck blew the intake last winter and filled the engine with about 15L of chocolate goo. My wife and I let it sit for a while while we discussed what to do with a 20 year old farm truck with 150,000 miles on it.

In the end, I decided to try the cheap and redneck fix. New intake gasket and a shop vac to the top end of the engine. I was so cheap I didn't even change the valve cover gaskets or plugs. Damn thing's still running, and runs better that it used to... but it's a work truck - it goes to home depot, the junk yard, the dump. I don't drive it to work or anything like that, so if I get another year of truck usage out of it before something else blows up, that's one more year of not having to buy a newer truck and spend the money. BUT... we did seriously discuss buying a 3 year old truck that would allow me to also get rid of the 19 year old winter car (I would need an extended cab for the kids now...)

Ray

Reply to
ray

Thanx to everyone that offered advice on this one. I did go with the junkyard engine. Took about a week of a couple hours an evening to swap them. I've been driving it for a couple of days now and all seems well. Steve B.

Reply to
Steve B.

I assume this was a 3800 engine....if not disregard below. If 3800, did you fix the freaking plastic plenum on the junkyard engine before you installed it.

Reply to
HLS

That's' what wiped out the original engine. I have a new one sitting here but didn't swap it yet as I didn't want to "waste" it if the junkyard engine turned out to not be good.

I will swap it in the next week or so before this one starts to leak too.

Steve B.

Reply to
Steve B.

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