Interior is back together and looks quite good. Now to figure out the trans.

my initial thought is to drop the pan and drain the fluid, the. Look for any obvious problems like metal shavings. If that looks good, I assume we should replace the gasket and filter. What else should We do while in there? He thought he only had first gear, but it shifted fine for us both times we drove it, including into every gear.

 

don't really want to mess around to much, just change filter and refill with fluid. do not have it flushed.

 

Getting the pan off while the motor is a pain. If its not leaking I would not mess with it.

 

gorn, pretty sure he's talking about the trans pan, at least that was what I assumed.

 

Let's go chronically. That's to say, good first.

We've replaced the broken mirror, replaced all bad bulbs, finished all but a tiny bit of cleaning. We removed the trans pan, replaced the filter, refilled correctly. We changed the oil. My daughter became a little frustrated that it's taking so long, but she has sports, school, etc., so progress is slow. I have to bleed the brakes, but it stops safely and we'll get to that soon.

Today we drove it, including that she drove it around a parking lot for about 10 minutes. I dropped her off to an event and took it for a drive for about 45 minutes around town and just out of town where I could keep nearby and get it over 55. It ran quite well for about 15 miles, then I got on it to see how it shifted at high RPMs. First time I noticed it shuddered a little at high RPM as if missing. the check engine light came on for a few seconds, then started flashing. I immediately slowed to pull over and it stopped flashing. All sounded well and I didn't notice any missing. I eased back into it, eventually running it harder again.

Then the trouble began.

I have a pretty terrible knock. It sounds like low-end, likely a rod. I put a scanner on it and all I had was a miss in cyl 6 and an evap code, both stored codes. Neither came back in the few stops I had to make before parking it. The knock continued.

The oil pressure gauge seems to work correctly, but when it's sounding terrible, it bounces lightly, moving maybe 10 degrees back-and-forth quickly. When it sounds better, it doesn't bounce.

I need to pull the plugs and check them all, which looks like a monster job on this car. I'll look at some documentation. But that knock is worrying me. I've heard many GM 4cyls with the tick, but don't recall hearing a V6 knock like this. I just doesn't sound like a lifter.

So, is this common? I'll search the forum this morning when I get home from work, but wanted to get out an update. I'm hoping the knock will take care of itself, but doubt that. If not, we're back to the decision of whether to replace parts or part it out. Or rebuild it. Seems like a good learning experience, but also a TON of work.

Appreciate any advice.

 

Did you do the coolant pressure test? how does the oil look now? Pull 6 plug first.

 

Haven’t pressure tested. Hadn’t thought about that. Oil looks good.

Im going to pull the plug next. Maybe weds or Friday. I also have an evap code and can smell it. I’m guessing bad valve or canister.

I started It today and let it idle for about 10-15 min. No knock. No misfire code and it didn’t sound like it was misfiring regularly. I’ll run some fuel cleaner and spray the intake. Might be a carbon problem as well as EVAP and possibly plug/wire. So many variables when it set 2 years.

 

I doubt its evap since that is gas tank related. wire are a very strong possibility. Don't forget you can move parts like wires and injectors and coils to see if the miss fire follows.

The flashing light means it misfired enough the PCM thought the Cat was in danger of being damaged.

 

Thanks. Didn't mean to conflate the evap and misfire. Just one more thing to work on. The misfire comes-and-goes. I need to spray some cleaner into the intake over time and see if there's not something keeping a valve open, etc. I"ll get the plug(s) out. I'll search around, but is it possible to get all of them out without dropping the motor? If so, I assume through he wheelwells or using contortion (and universal joints) from below? It's the 3.8.

 

I always got them from the top. I don't think there is a way to get them from the wheel well, on a 4th gen that is all solid. I use a swivel socket and swivel ratchet.