I don't think you can really "drop" the oil pan on an Aeorstar. It's more like lower it enough to clear the crank shaft and slide it back because the front cross member is in the way. So you sort of have to remove the transmission; at least slide it back a couple feet, which requires dropping it enough to clear the tunnel.
I did it. Used to slide tranny 3" back. Of course I closed colling holes and rear end to get no ATF leaking.
Couple of feet - no reason, easier to remove.
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And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
was it an oil burner?
how many miles on engine, high mileage on it's last legs?
any major problems with engine other than those fixed recently?
if yes to any of the above, dump the engine and get another, lots of low mileage junke yard dogs out there. lots of Aeros setting in the tall grass in fields rusting away with blown trannys
if no, i recommend pulling that engine to find and correct the problem.
with the skill levels present, working on an engine and putting it back together correctly outside a difficult to work in engine compartment gives a much better chance for success.
will be a real OJT project for you drcb. lots of new skills learned and add to your knowledge base. get or borrow a Haynes, library has them, copy the pertinent pages on the engine.
in depth look will tell you if engine cylinders are worn too far, valve problems, ecetera.
have fun, good fall project
thanks man. engine has about 89k on it, as does the rest of the van. never burns oil, (changing plugs verified that)slightly leaked from drain plug but not enough to cause problems (no leaks on driveway, just greasy oil pan). no major problems ever (besides ac compressor siezing up 10 miles away from point of purchase)
only reason all these parts were replaced in the first place was because the car ran hot and several cooling ports on the i/m and heads were clogged with sludge (as is the radiator). will be doing more work on this thing tomorrow. and will post some pix if i remember to take them ;-)
oh forgot to say that i have a haynes, had that thing FOREVER but it is a life saver time and time again! accept for when it comes to torquing stuff down on the 4wd aero's after a cv axle swap
look, there are unused channels in manyfold depending on application (FWD ore RWD). So the hole you look at is "blind" and goes to nowere. That's why so much dirt! Look at manyfold gaskets and at heads and you will understand what direction and where coolant flows.
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And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
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I used to fors out dirt with Karcher cleaner. ouh.... if heads on engine, get plastic film and other things to cover camshaft area to get no dirt inside engine.
IHMO. I use to flush cooling system before I take engine apart. Less risk to get dirt in oil.
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And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
yep pablo has pointed you in the right direction.
these passages are not used in our application but do cause major problems
the coolant breakdown acids and crud settle in these still water spots eventually eating thru the intake manifold or head, usually the IM because of the more corrosive aluminum. clean and look for deep pitting thru the castings. that one is worse than mine by far but my gasket surface was damaged by corrosion leakage.
blow the block and heads out with a high pressure water hose or better yet, a pressure fired steam cleaner.
radiator will probably have to be replaced, these pathetic aluminum new age things don't hold up well to aggressive cleaning, you'll blow extra holes in the tubes
have fun, the weather is getting colder so it makes for a pleasant day under the DIYer shade tree.
hope you plan on using distilled water?
see too many rigs from east of the mountains, that high mineral alkaline water kills radiators and engines. makes shop owners rich
stopped to help a wheat rancher in his Caddie north of Moses Lake this summer with overheated engine. the goop coming out of the radiator cap hole looked like a boiling brown mud volcano. pee is cleaner than some of that ?water? over there
that's gross. yes we are using either 50/50 or strait anti freeze with mineral water.
i have a small update, i finaly got around to working on this yesterday. pulled engine harness out of the way, removed fuel rail and lower intake mani, and if anything the problem got worse?? idk what's going on, but now istead of rotating 3/4 of the way around smoothly, it goes maybe a third, hits a rough spot making it hard to turn then get's easy again untill it stops.
i visually inspected all intake ports, all 6 plugs are out, did not see or feel anything along the cam shaft or in the dizzy hole. not sure what is going on... but i've been givin the go ahead to pull the heads off, so that's what's comming up now.
here's some pix:
harness pulled back into the cabin:
fuel rail pulled out of the way:
fuel rail tied up:
push rods all organized, no visual damage, only rub marks were from installation and ad removal (and my civic, no rice or fart cans here!! sorry thieves, no plate numbers for you!!):
lower intake mani removed:
i also removed the cam shaft cover to see if anything is under that, but didn't get pix. i know things seem a little bit dirty under there, i shunned my dad for that. going to use compressed air to blow it all out before reassembly
One of the things I read in many of the instructions for working on the 3 liter engine is that you should never turn it backwards. It had something to do with the way its cam timing chain runs, or something like that.
Since you're this far into it, can you pull off the front cover to see if the cam timing gears and chain all look right?
well sorry to bring this thread back from the dead, but i have a small update. my dad and i have decided, after letting the van sit for almost two months as a storage shed, that we are going to just pull the engine out of the van, and tear it down to see why it wont rotate around on my engine stand. we just purchased an engine hoist, and i will be following the stickied link as how to remove the engine. i will post updates as they go. after buying two 4wd's my dad says he misses his 2wd 3.0l. i told him ok so lets fix your car. lol
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