2.8L exhaust leak, causing sluggish accleration?

[robertisaar]

whats a do nut?

I've heard of a doughnut

if i had to guess, i would say it's a slight cultural difference between the US and Canada...

[pmaniac69]

whats a do nut?

I've heard of a doughnut

[SofaKingWeToddDid]

that is my one gripe about the GT series, they have all these EXTREMELY common, junk-bucket japanese cars, but the only american ones are the ones everyone knows about...

i like camaros, but come on, i want to pilot a 600+HP FWD Monte Carlo...

that and they dropped the ball on muscle cars too. there was a total of like what, 8 in GT4? wow. how many versions of an integra could you get? or skyline, lancer... whatever, they have like every year of every car from japan in there. its stupid. get rid of like ATLEAST 30% of the used japanese cars, the older ones. and get MORE cars from around here! it was cool to see the GN in there, but thats just not enough. does olds even have a carlot in there? i dont think you could get an old school 442 in there.

and omfg whats up with no roll overs and no do nuts?

[WrathOfSocrus]

no, just means I did a good job, I was able to keep the whole car together with fewer bolts

HAHAHAHAH! On my own car with the old engine coming out I didn't exactly label much or save many bolts but that's my car. If I was working on a car for someone else I would have a bit more respect for their belongings. Since his car isn't mine I figured I would explain it with the best chance of success. Especially being under time constraints, it would be a real hassle to have to drive to the junkyard and buy bolts or take pictures of unlabeled wiring just to get that part done and find yet another missing bolt or wire misplaced. Or get another one of those posts saying 'Where does this go?' followed by a grainy picture of half the engine bay and no arrows, circles, or GOOD explanation of what they are pointing towards. I love those posts!

I wont go any further off topic. A thread this long with so much useless stuff in it means only the people following the thread are going to respond because there is no easy way to see what has led up to this point. Anyway, I am certain the time spent labeling things will be time saved tenfold for installation if this is your first swap.

EDIT - Just in the last 7 pages alone the off topic posts of one person and his agitator make up 2 pages. There is so much of it there are a few important notes even I have missed, and I have followed this thread rather closely. I don't think junking up someone's thread for whatever reason is very fair to 2.8 grand prix.

[robertisaar]

i has 4. and im an addict for the game, my fav car? the Buick Special. my only beef with those little squinty eyed rice farming smart little bastards that made the game is they really REALLY dropped the ball on american cars.

that is my one gripe about the GT series, they have all these EXTREMELY common, junk-bucket japanese cars, but the only american ones are the ones everyone knows about...

i like camaros, but come on, i want to pilot a 600+HP FWD Monte Carlo...

[pmaniac69]

Stage 1 weight reduction kit!

no, just means I did a good job, I was able to keep the whole car together with fewer bolts

[SofaKingWeToddDid]

i has 4. and im an addict for the game, my fav car? the Buick Special. my only beef with those little squinty eyed rice farming smart little bastards that made the game is they really REALLY dropped the ball on american cars.

[robertisaar]

^ i haz GT3 and 4... can't remember ATM... been a long time since i had time/working equipment to play them....

BUT, i do know some NFS games use the "stage" nameing system for upgrades...

oh..... i miss my working ps3

[pocket-rocket]

Actually, stage 1 weight reduction would probably be more popular on Gran Turismo (I own 1, 2, 3 and 4). IIRC, stage 1 was seats and interior stuff, stage 2 is steel body panels and replacing them with carbon fiber, 3 is taking stage 2 a little farther.

[robertisaar]

Stage 1 weight reduction kit!

i think stage 1 would require more than the couple of ounces a few nuts and bolts weigh.....

but it's been a while since i played need for speed, so it might be that defined now

[pocket-rocket]

when I changed my motor, I remembered where everything went

had a handful of nuts and bolts left over though

Stage 1 weight reduction kit! In reality, anymore I don't label anything, and hardly bag nuts and bolts anymore, but vehicles find themselves together just fine. Heck, the last major thing I did (rebuilt a 2.2l for a 2k Sonoma) came to me already half disassembled. Nothing labeled, nothing bagged, half the parts in the bed and a coffee can full of nuts and bolts. The guy loves the truck he paid $800 for with a spun rod bearing on #1 (hence the rebuild).

[pmaniac69]

when I changed my motor, I remembered where everything went

had a handful of nuts and bolts left over though

[pocket-rocket]

I've had awesome luck with pretty much all 60v6 exhaust studs/nuts. Everything else, not so much. Like Wrath said, digital cameras do help a buttload. Once in a while I will find a pic of something I did on a car a long time ago to help me get it back together right. Things like vacuum lines with colored stripes on Asian cars.

[WrathOfSocrus]

Doing an engine swap like this you are going to have to learn a few tricks. Rock Auto is your friend. Even if they don't have the cheapest price or if you can't afford to wait for something to be shipped you can still find part numbers and the vehicle interchange for the parts they list. If I remember correctly you have a 2000 Malibu engine and it says for the A/C compressor bypass pulley you will need DORMAN Part # 34217. Many of the parts they carry have a picture so you can compare to the parts you have or need. If you click on the part number it shows what vehicles the part will fit.

Stopping and starting a lot will confuse you so if at all possible I would try and hit it hard and long on a day off when you remove the engine. The last engine I removed I went out the night before and labeled all of the wires with masking tape. Find a connector, put a piece of tape on either side with matching identifying numbers (or letters if you prefer) and write down the names of the parts they go to if you know them. The important part is getting the wires labeled with numbers but when swapping out dislike engine parts it can help to know what the part type was in case you have any problems with wire length or connector differences.

When it comes time to remove bolts it is extremely handy to use plastic bags (sandwich bags) and some paper or masking tape so you can label each bag. When there are bolts of varying sizes coming off of one part it helps to draw a diagram to show which bolt went where and drop that in the bag with the bolts. Also pay close attention to where wires are grounded. You want to get the same grounds put back into the same location to avoid issues with the sensor voltages being out of spec. A digital camera can also be useful for seeing how it comes apart since you probably wont be swapping the engines around all in the same day.

It looks like the new engine has the 'header' style rear exhaust manifold with the center outlet. I'm not 100% positive but it may actually be close enough to bolt to the stock downpipe. There is a 'donut' style gasket that looks like a bunch of compressed steel wire that would make it fit up as the old 2.8 manifold had that piece cast into the manifold. However I have only found the steel adapter that mounts the gasket to the manifold. Hopefully I will find out where to get them unless someone here knows about it and is kind enough to share.

Somehow I got amazingly lucky and all of my 2.8 manifold bolts came out easily. However working on a car 11 years younger I broke nearly half of the bolts lolz. If you can leave the manifolds on the new engine then I would definitely try that out. You may have to tilt the engine a bit to maneuver it in, assuming you are going in from above. Being a W body with plenty of room it would probably be easier that way. When I removed my 2.8 I had someone pump the engine hoist as I held the engine clear of any hang-ups. To be honest I spent more time cleaning all of the gunk out of my engine bay (found no trace of the rear main seal left in the 2.8, no wonder the #5 bearing spun. I'm glad I only paid $100 for the car ) than I did removing the old engine. The motor mount in the sub frame is probably destroyed and gunked up beyond belief so definitely clean that out if nothing else.

Getting the motor out is pretty easy. It is far more important to document where your bolts and wiring belong than it is to worry about how fast you move your ratchet. Anyone determined enough could get and engine out in a couple hours but to do it right would be more like doing a long overtime day at work. Make notations for every bolt and wire and try to take a few pictures every so often. The work spent there will pay dividends back to you when installing the new motor.

[SofaKingWeToddDid]

or fix the olds. lol it might be easier than you think!