Seized :(

[nightpanda2810]

I was heading home from a friends back in May when my low oil light came on. I had a slow oil leak so I wasn't concerned, as I had quite a bit of oil at home. Didn't make it home. Learned a valuable lesson that day.

That said, about 2 years prior I spent 2500 on a rebuilt transmission. It has just over 36k on it. I've been wanting to learn more about engine repair and was considering doing a rebuild myself (with help of course).

Is it worth doing this? Am I better off buying a cheap motor and installing that? If so, can I get a non-supercharged one and install the supercharger on it?

2000 with 173k on it.

Thanks for the help!

[Slick2500]

No its not worth rebuilding. Machine work costs at least $800 by itself. Best bet is to get a junkyard engine put on new upper gaskets and a new oil pan gasket.
You can put a supercharger on an n/a block you just need everything from the heads up, the idler and tensioners, the harmonic balancer, and the coil mount bracket.

[Ifryrice]

non supercharged motors have a weaker bottom end.... but run higher compression, you would have to swap everything over heads on up to make it work right.... if your not trying for high horsepower or anything you could swap the top ends from a non supercharged motor and make maybe 30 more horses on the same setup you have but i dont know how much power people are getting out of non supercharged bottom ends.... you have to run less boost, but you will make more power per psi with the higher compression..... you should be able to find an l67 (series 2 supercharged) for like 200-300 bucks.... there are 7 of them at the lkq near me, only thing is... all the blowers are gone.... so if you go on a half off day... you could get a whole motor for 100 bucks if your lucky.... if your seized your seized and would have to bore it out and get new pistions and who knows what else is bad.... not to mention the 200 bucks in bearings and gaskets... me personally if i blew up my bottom end i woudl re build with new pistons and rods (better than stock ones) but thats like 2 grand for the rods and pistons.... so its up to you.... but a used motor is cheaper than a rebuild, especially on a 3800

[Slick2500]

Ifryrice, the l36 bottom end is actually pretty stout, it the l26 bottom ends that are kinda iffy, most the guys that have destroyed the l26 bottom end were running turbos with higher boost. I'm running an l26 in my car and I have had no issues after 24k miles.

[Ifryrice]

as i said i dont know specifically, i dont really pay much attention to the other engines, i have a l32 so i dont really do much reading on the other motors ya know, i just no they run higher compression and no boost and basic science says non forged internals and higher compression equals less boost you can run and less overall higher horsepower builds... so if the guy was trying to make a 11 second car... i would rebuild with the crazy adimantium pistons and junk.... if hes running stock setup it doesent really matter cuz id estimate than any 3800 block is good for twice the power it came with....

[Slick2500]

Non supercharged motors have a weaker bottom end, but run higher compression. You would have to swap everything over heads on up to make it work right. If you're not trying for high horsepower or anything you could swap the top ends from a non supercharged motor and make maybe 30 more horses on the same setup you have but I don't know how much power people are getting out of non supercharged bottom ends. You have to run less boost, but you will make more power per psi with the higher compression. You should be able to find an l67 (series 2 supercharged) for like 200-300 bucks. There are 7 of them at the lkq near me. Only thing is all the blowers are gone. So if you go on a half off day you could get a whole motor for 100 bucks if your lucky. If you're seized you're seized and would have to bore it out and get new pistons and who knows what else is bad. Not to mention the 600 bucks in bearings and gaskets. Me personally if I blew up my bottom end I would rebuild with new pistons and rods (better than stock ones) but that's like 2 grand for the rods and pistons. So its up to you, but a used motor is cheaper than a rebuild, especially on a 3800

fixed

[Ifryrice]

ah damn messing with my lack of punctuation!

[Slick2500]

as i said i dont know specifically, i dont really pay much attention to the other engines, i have a l32 so i dont really do much reading on the other motors ya know, i just no they run higher compression and no boost and basic science says non forged internals and higher compression equals less boost you can run and less overall higher horsepower builds... so if the guy was trying to make a 11 second car... i would rebuild with the crazy adimantium pistons and junk.... if hes running stock setup it doesent really matter cuz id estimate than any 3800 block is good for twice the power it came with....

I'm running a stock pulley with the overdrive zzp 8 rib balancer, a ported blower, and SD headers I don't see any kr at all and I'm guessing I could probably drop down to a 3.6 and still be safe.

[Slick2500]

ah damn messing with my lack of punctuation!

I'm a dick like that.

[Ifryrice]

get methanol injection, im running just a simple aem boost reference setup spraying pre blower and im running a 3.4 on my gen v with 0 kr non intercooled, i just have headers 3 inch dp, 42inch glass pack to a cherry bomb extreme for my exhaust cai, t stat and all the other simple stuff.... so i could probably drop to a 3.3 and be fine even, i dont even have the "big jet" in or anything yet.... stuff is pretty amazing.... when i do my intercooler im going to tap 2 jets into my LIM to fog post blower/ ic core plus keep the one pre blower to help cool the rotors and s/c housing.

[Slick2500]

That will come some day.

[nightpanda2810]

Wow, lots of info, thanks guys!

All I plan to do is fix it up, sell it, and get a truck/atv. Been itching to hit the trails, and this happening forced me to spend my money on a car instead.

[Ifryrice]

well get the aem kit, i actually got the one zzp sells on black friday, the aem kit is the only 1 that is 100 percent methanol safe, which i always run blue washer fluid with is around a 50/50 mix, but you know you arent going to blow out a seal or something. it does not have a sophisticated controller just a setting for what psi to start spraying and what psi to be spraying 100 percent at, and then it is a linear progression from there. and our m90 hits full boost almost instantly, so no need for all that devils own 400 dollar computer nonsense... plus it comes with enough house and stuff to mount it in your trunk... another benefit is it cleans your whole top end as you spray...

[Ifryrice]

haha well if you are flipping it just take the spark plugs out... pour tranny fluid in all the cylinders, let it sit for a few days.... get a big ass breaker bar on the harmonic balanacer nut and just break it free and fire it up and post to craigslist..... and dont try to sell it to anyone on the forums or anyone you like.... haha

[dsmuts]

Just grab a junkyard motor and in a few hours go from a junk car to a running one.

[Slick2500]

well get the aem kit, i actually got the one zzp sells on black friday, the aem kit is the only 1 that is 100 percent methanol safe, which i always run blue washer fluid with is around a 50/50 mix, but you know you arent going to blow out a seal or something. it does not have a sophisticated controller just a setting for what psi to start spraying and what psi to be spraying 100 percent at, and then it is a linear progression from there. and our m90 hits full boost almost instantly, so no need for all that devils own 400 dollar computer nonsense... plus it comes with enough house and stuff to mount it in your trunk... another benefit is it cleans your whole top end as you spray...

Nah I'm thinking more along the lines of a home made kit or the kit sold by Devils Own.

[Ifryrice]

The devils own one is a lot of money for not a lot of added benefit, just have a cool computer thingy...


Got methanol?

[Slick2500]

They have a kit that you can get without the controller, its about the same as if you made your own kit once everything is said and done.

[nightpanda2810]

haha well if you are flipping it just take the spark plugs out... pour tranny fluid in all the cylinders, let it sit for a few days.... get a big ass breaker bar on the harmonic balanacer nut and just break it free and fire it up and post to craigslist..... and dont try to sell it to anyone on the forums or anyone you like.... haha

Hell if this works I'll keep it. It's got a hitch from the previous owner. I won't intentionally sell a bad car to anyone.