well like said a good 3.8L has been a very reliable car for me without breaking the bank ,totaly different engine then the 3.4l you have now,but like any car head gaskets are there biggest downfall,my 95 has had 2 engines in 10 years but been a very reliable car for me for the first 7 years did nothing but a water pump but its a z28 or was ,then did a whole different thing with the oldshcool 406 is fun an still runs great,the 2010 5th gen cars are comeing down in price you may find one a v6 lt car with 75k average is 7 to 10k. show your son that will give him hope .not many people have done this swap,but its to each there own

 

Well we have a bigger problem evidently. Changed pump and discovered battery was dead. Charged it overnight and it turned over but nothing on the pump end. In less than a day we were back to clicks on battery. Seems something is draining it. So let me go back and add in some stuff. We did the hatch method. We as in my husband and 24 yr old son. A piece of metal was cut out and the self locking screws were put in to hold it. Then the car wouldnt crank. Guess metal on metal? If it was open, car would crank. So my son laid something over that part and closed the metal hatch up and taped in a few spots to keep exhaust at bay. He discovered if it was like this, it would crank. Screwed on, it would not.

Then we had the die in the middle of the road issue 2 days later. He's put a new filter and fuel pump relay on in addition to the carquest pump. Pump instructions said it included a harness but it didnt. He thought maybe the wires were being stretched on this one and it needed the wiring harness. He looked online a bit and didnt see what he thought it needed. So he gave up. Then he decided to find a scanner for the car. I think that's where we left off yesterday. He was gonna order one. We may end up towing it to shop. In the meantime, I should be picking my 2012 up Sunday so this car with go on the backburner for me. He just needs it to drive while he goes through his engine change.

 

keeps burning out pumps ,there may be a negative ground thats not connected ,this is a tough one ,i would think about how much you got into it ,with his other project ,get it going an sell it ,seems you got alot of money in that car ,2012 ,good luck with it there ok i just like the 4th gen cars better ,there are alot of these cars good ones out there from 98-02 ,if he comes up with some codes post them hear someone will know what they are .then he may know the couse,,but i hear you need a reliable car ,sometimes it pays to get second opion meening take to someone

 

so the screws on the hatch are messing it up? that would indicate the screw is hitting a wire.

 

I'm assuming that was the case at one time. Then it was all removed and the car ran fine for 3 days. Now it doesn't do anything but he's waiting on a scanner he ordered.

I love the 5th gens. I havent had one before and I"m excited to pick up the LT RS tomorrow. This baby is loaded lol. I do love the 4th gens but I get very attached to my cars. It's like adopted children and where there's a will, there's a way. It will be fixed!

 

i hear you on the 5th gen car ,you will feel some power from that car they have 323hp wich is alot from3.6L v6 plus good on gas ,like said in another post the high powered v6 cars ,are nice ,i kinda like the 2010 cars myself ,they do have every option congrats post some pictures