I am having to replace the engine in my Camaro. I found a 3800 Series II out of a 2004 Grand Prix total at a salvage yard.

It has 92K on the engine, spark plugs looked good, oil in filter in good condition.

There in oil in the LIM. No coolant. How did the oil get into this area the is supposed to be sealed off?

Any information appreciated

 

Most like the oil came from the Crank case ventilation system. Either the PCV valve was bad or the motor has too much blow by for the PVC to handle. Can you start it to check for blow by? If not I would keep looking.

You do know you can use the SIII long block?

 

Series III engines are tough to find around here for some reason. I wasn't able to start the engine in the yard. No gas in system, but they would let me use my battery and crank it over. I used a Harbor Freight compression tester, nothing below 182 High was 192

There is a auction sticker on the windshield from progressive insurance stating total lost due to collision in July of this year.

For less than a hundred dollars I bought it and I am going to start pulling it down. Thanks again for the advice

 

Can't go wrong for $100. Think about head gasket while you have the low intake off anyway. Besides the intake it about the only think that goes wrong with the 3800.

 

That what I was thinking, replace all gaskets while it out and accessible and any other soft parts.

I read somewhere the FWD Harmonic balancer and flex plate are the same no need to change them over from old engine?

 

Sorry I have never done an automatic. You saw the sticky?

https://camaroforums.com/forum/93-02...nt-info-57568/

Based on that info it looks like the flex and harmonic balancer need replaced. You could also grab the GM parts book and see if they have the same part number.

 

I had some oil/soot in my LIM as well but nothing that caused me any issues. I just figured it was from the EGR and PCV. On the Camaro the PCV is stuck inside the UIM in that little diamond shaped plate.

Going through all the gaskets is a great idea! Make sure to also get a set of head bolts as the factory ones are TTY (Torque to Yield) and can only be used once. The flywheel bolts are also TTY. The flywheel is not the same from FWD to RWD but the harmonic ballancer is. The ballancer is not the same between manual and auto. Also the Supercharged 3.8s have a unique ballancer. You will have to remove the HB to get to the timing cover to replace those gaskets.

The knock, Crank, Cam sensors are the same on S II engines but may be a little different on S III engines. The S II sensors will attach to a S III engine tho.

Massey