Project Malibu resurection: Death and rebirth
- Thread starter The_Eric
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ls1mike
$50 Site Donor 2024
Glad to hear it working out for you! Thanks for the update.
Oh and I did get a light! Love it.
Oh and I did get a light! Love it.
Question, since we never saw that particular model in Oz, is the engine a GM design, or borrowed from elsewhere - it has a very Mitsubishi look to it?
And yes, having a full workshop at one's disposal is cool. As an ex-mechanic, it's nice to get stuck in and get grubby every now and then, takes me back to my 20's...which was almost half my lifetime ago now!
And yes, having a full workshop at one's disposal is cool. As an ex-mechanic, it's nice to get stuck in and get grubby every now and then, takes me back to my 20's...which was almost half my lifetime ago now!
Good job! An excellent thread to have followed. My John Deere hat is off to you sir!
Thanks for the links, I now know lots about 80's and 90's GM fours!
A little bit of trivia - we didn't get the Malibu in Oz, as in the 90's GM's (Holden) mid-size offering here was the Holden Apollo - a straight up re-badged Toyota Camry! (And possibly the most reliable car to ever wear a Holden badge!) And in the small car class, we got the Holden Nova, a.k.a Toyota Corolla.
Come to think of it, maybe the re-badging thing is worthy of a thread of its own, I'm sure there's many examples from all over the world.
Come to think of it, maybe the re-badging thing is worthy of a thread of its own, I'm sure there's many examples from all over the world.
You should, it would be interesting to hear from others outside the U.S. and piece together which cars are re-badged.
I think the Corolla was also re-badged by Chevrolet some years ago. Pontiac, another branch of GM has the Vibe, a Toyota Matrix with some minor changes.
I think the Corolla was also re-badged by Chevrolet some years ago. Pontiac, another branch of GM has the Vibe, a Toyota Matrix with some minor changes.
Well it's about time I posted another update:
Not a good one either...
At around 183,750 miles my wife called me and said the "Low Coolant" light had came on, but while on the phone it went back off. We checked later that night and it was down a bit, but not so much as to cause a problem. I thought I'd better keep an eye on it though. Well a day or two went by and while changing the oil I noticed there was some coolant around the lid of the surge/fill tank. Thought that was a bit odd. When I took the cap off, a whoosh of pressure was released. Hmmm... not good. A chemical combustion gas test revealed the presence of gasses in the coolant. Ouch! Time to plan on doing the head gasket.
At 183,811 miles I drove it into the shop and ripped it apart. Inspection showed traces of carbon creeping beyond the fire rings in between the cylinders. This time I ordered a proper Fel Pro gasket set instead of that DNJ stuff. The DNJ gasket was a graphite type material and the Fel Pro was their typical paper type. That to me suggests that the DNJ set was made of the wrong material. It also showed quite a bit of compression in the material, so I wonder if it lost torque? The head looked like it had some low spots between the cylinders after I hit it with the surface prep wheel, but the machinist said if there were low spots, then they weren't bad. He took an additional .003" and everything was Kosher.
Since coolant and cleaning debris got in the crankcase, I got to change out the Pennz Platinum with around 100 miles on it. Boy what a waste! Once all back together it was pretty much smooth sailing- just found one small leak, due to an installation error. Turns out I nicked an o-ring on the de-gas line coming off of the thermostat housing. Didn't show up until a couple of days later. Thankfully it happened on my own stuff and not a customer's (the mistake on the o-ring install- there's no way I'd gamble on cheap gaskets with customer vehicles)
Also while it was apart, I found that the fuel pressure regulator was bad- fuel was leaking out of the vacuum nipple. Ordered a Delphi replacement. Car seems to run a bit better with no un-metered fuel getting sucked into the intake- just waiting for my wife to report back on mileage changes.
Time for a couple of pictures- only two because I was in a hurry and ticked about the whole ordeal.
Here is the head just after I clamped it all back down with new bolts:
Here is the defective gasket:
As an aside, the bores looked really good, and minimal carbon build up on the pistons. As typical for the abomination that is the 2.4's crankcase ventilation- there was all kinds of spooge in timing cover and in the hoses going to the separator and into the air inlet above the throttle blade. No, it's not from the leaking gasket- no coolant was seeping in the crankcase. It happens whenever it gets short tripped.
Not a good one either...
At around 183,750 miles my wife called me and said the "Low Coolant" light had came on, but while on the phone it went back off. We checked later that night and it was down a bit, but not so much as to cause a problem. I thought I'd better keep an eye on it though. Well a day or two went by and while changing the oil I noticed there was some coolant around the lid of the surge/fill tank. Thought that was a bit odd. When I took the cap off, a whoosh of pressure was released. Hmmm... not good. A chemical combustion gas test revealed the presence of gasses in the coolant. Ouch! Time to plan on doing the head gasket.
At 183,811 miles I drove it into the shop and ripped it apart. Inspection showed traces of carbon creeping beyond the fire rings in between the cylinders. This time I ordered a proper Fel Pro gasket set instead of that DNJ stuff. The DNJ gasket was a graphite type material and the Fel Pro was their typical paper type. That to me suggests that the DNJ set was made of the wrong material. It also showed quite a bit of compression in the material, so I wonder if it lost torque? The head looked like it had some low spots between the cylinders after I hit it with the surface prep wheel, but the machinist said if there were low spots, then they weren't bad. He took an additional .003" and everything was Kosher.
Since coolant and cleaning debris got in the crankcase, I got to change out the Pennz Platinum with around 100 miles on it. Boy what a waste! Once all back together it was pretty much smooth sailing- just found one small leak, due to an installation error. Turns out I nicked an o-ring on the de-gas line coming off of the thermostat housing. Didn't show up until a couple of days later. Thankfully it happened on my own stuff and not a customer's (the mistake on the o-ring install- there's no way I'd gamble on cheap gaskets with customer vehicles)
Also while it was apart, I found that the fuel pressure regulator was bad- fuel was leaking out of the vacuum nipple. Ordered a Delphi replacement. Car seems to run a bit better with no un-metered fuel getting sucked into the intake- just waiting for my wife to report back on mileage changes.
Time for a couple of pictures- only two because I was in a hurry and ticked about the whole ordeal.
Here is the head just after I clamped it all back down with new bolts:
Here is the defective gasket:
As an aside, the bores looked really good, and minimal carbon build up on the pistons. As typical for the abomination that is the 2.4's crankcase ventilation- there was all kinds of spooge in timing cover and in the hoses going to the separator and into the air inlet above the throttle blade. No, it's not from the leaking gasket- no coolant was seeping in the crankcase. It happens whenever it gets short tripped.
ls1mike
$50 Site Donor 2024
Sucks having to go back in for a defective gasket.
On a side note I always use fel-pro gaskets. They have been good to me.
On a side note I always use fel-pro gaskets. They have been good to me.
Yes it does! I've used Fel-Pro all my life too, except for this particular build- just trying to be cheap and try something different. Yeah, that's not going to happen again.
I will say that the rest of the gaskets seem to be holding up okay. Not there's that many left at this point. The molded rubber and rubber/aluminum gaskets did seem to be on par with Fel-Pro.
I will say that the rest of the gaskets seem to be holding up okay. Not there's that many left at this point. The molded rubber and rubber/aluminum gaskets did seem to be on par with Fel-Pro.
ls1mike
$50 Site Donor 2024
I remember years ago having to redo the head gasket on a Daytona Turbo, because the combination intake/exhaust gasket was defective. Those parts on the back of the head up against the fire wall. Head has to come off.
I had used some off brand. Was a lot of work to save 15 bucks.
I had used some off brand. Was a lot of work to save 15 bucks.
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