engine locked up...

[bigdoug42]

Hi all its been awhile since I last posted. I have a 2001 Alero GL2 sedan in Ruby Red, with 157000 miles on it, bought it new in 2001 and its been a darn good car, up until the head gasket went to hell. I've chronicled the repair in other posts. this situation is about a trans shop rebuilding the trans after a torque converter failure, (their diagnosis) original code (my scantool) showed TCC stuck open, car would want to stall at idle, which I believe is consistent with that. Moving onward, the mechanic said that after the trans was hooked back up and they went to road test it, the engine turned over once slowly then stopped. he said after it happened, he removed the plugs and looked at them.. and they were smashed. I used a bore scope to look down into the cylinders and the tops of all the pistons were damaged. He said the engine will not rotate but about 45 degrees in either direction. the question is did he somehow cause this upon reinstallation, or is it just plain bad luck? I've driven the car 17000 mi. since the head gasket, TC work, with no trouble. This shop has been in business a long time and has a good rep locally. He's offered to keep the trans in lieu of any work performed, and I just take the car and walk away. My car has new tires, struts brakes and rotors, along with a lot of new electrics, so I'm leaning towards buying a lower mileage newer one and using this as a parts car. Sorry about the lenghty post, but I would really appreciate an opinion or two. Thanks in advance.


Have a good 4th of July and God bless our men and women in uniform!

[Starglow]

Well you didn't say which engine you have, but I'd look into doing the 3500 swap. You can get the engine and swap kit for around $700-$800 which is cheaper than a new car. With labor you're probably looking at around $1500 assuming you don't do the work yourself.

Unless the shop somehow screwed up the timing chain I don't see how they could have caused the engine failure just by changing the trans.

[Shiwnath]

Originally Posted by Starglow

Well you didn't say which engine you have, but I'd look into doing the 3500 swap. You can get the engine and swap kit for around $700-$800 which is cheaper than a new car. With labor you're probably looking at around $1500 assuming you don't do the work yourself.

Unless the shop somehow screwed up the timing chain I don't see how they could have caused the engine failure just by changing the trans.

This post was made in the LD9 2.4 section of the forums. A 3500 swap would be a total pain and cost more. He'd need a 4t45e with the correct bellhousing pattern as well.

[[ion] C2]

So basically the car ran fine until you had a trans problem and had it taken in for that?

I don't know how he could have caused it doing anything with the transmission. You don't touch any engine internals during a trans swap. Sounds like timing was off and valves hit pistons.

[Starglow]

Originally Posted by Shiwnath

This post was made in the LD9 2.4 section of the forums. A 3500 swap would be a total pain and cost more. He'd need a 4t45e with the correct bellhousing pattern as well.

Ah...sorry I did not notice that. Thanks.

[a.graham52]

was trans work the ONLY thing they were doing to this car?

[bigdoug42]

Yes, that was it. I,m not saying he damaged it somehow, its just that I know nothing about fwd trannies, and want to make certain I'm not missing anything. It had been idling rougher than normal though. My gut feeling tells me its just bad luck. There are a lot of people here with a lot more smarts than me, which is why I'm asking.

[xXManwhoreXx]

Do you need to pull the timing belt to pull the tranny? If so he effed up. If not it may have just jumped a few teeth on startup

[bigdoug42]

I went ahead and replaced the engine with a re manufactured unit, along with the trans, so I have a drivetrain with essentially zero miles. This was my late wifes car, she passed away suddenly in Jan. 2013, so I'm kind of sentimental about it, maybe not the best decision money wise, but I like the car, lots of good memories with it.

[sleepyalero]

Sorry for your loss.