qwick6 Posted March 10, 2011 Report Share Posted March 10, 2011 I am looking at adding another cutlass to my fleet and could use some info on the interchange. I have a line on a 95 vert with a bad 3.4 engine from broken timing belt. I have a 90 cutlass, 92 cutlass, and a 93 gtp all with the 3.4 as parts cars. My question is will any of these cars be a direct swap. Any help will be very appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galaxie500XL Posted March 10, 2011 Report Share Posted March 10, 2011 (edited) The 95 LQ1 has sensors your earlier cars don't. Wiring is problematic, unless you intend to use an earlier harness/ECM. Are you sure the motor's bad? 95 and earlier are noninterference motors. Edited March 10, 2011 by Galaxie500XL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwick6 Posted March 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2011 So basically for a direct swap I need a 94 to 96 engine. The shop where the owner took it to did a leak down test and said it was leaking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfewtrail Posted March 10, 2011 Report Share Posted March 10, 2011 Check out this thread. It has some information on using the earlier LQ1's in a later car: http://www.w-body.com/showthread.php/49742-3.4-crate...any-experience-with-thsi-site Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galaxie500XL Posted March 10, 2011 Report Share Posted March 10, 2011 (edited) I've got to wonder how the mechanic did a leakdown test on a vehicle with a broken timing belt... It would be exceptionally difficult to do so, since the cams would be holding certain valves open...which would naturally cause the engine to fail a leakdown test. Moving TWO cams in order to get them in a proper position on each cylinder would be hard to do. Additionally, leakdown tests are supposed to be performed on WARM engines... You might want to get a second opinion before tearing things down, that motor may actually be OK. It might not be, but it would be worth investigating before making any decisions. Edited March 10, 2011 by Galaxie500XL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliasCT Posted March 10, 2011 Report Share Posted March 10, 2011 Agreed. Time it, put a belt on it, and then run it! If it still doesn't run right, what did you lose? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy K Posted March 10, 2011 Report Share Posted March 10, 2011 94 to 95 motor is the same. 91-93 is the same long block, but cam carriers timing cover and all that jazz are different. a 96-97 engine has been used in place of a 95 before, using hte 95 intakes, but it is an interference motor... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwick6 Posted March 10, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 10, 2011 Thx for the replies, I just talked to the shop owner and he said they pulled the heads and there is damage. I am probably going to purchase the car and wait for a 94 or newer engine to show up. Will a 94 grand prix or lumina 3.4 work as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiderw31 Posted March 10, 2011 Report Share Posted March 10, 2011 My '92 had damage after losing the t-belt, so it does happen. If the heads are off already, why not just rebuild them and put it back together? Seems like less work than replacing the motor... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwick6 Posted March 11, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2011 My '92 had damage after losing the t-belt, so it does happen. If the heads are off already, why not just rebuild them and put it back together? Seems like less work than replacing the motor... Since the shop told me they did remove the heads I think that rebuilding the damage is the way to go. He said that he pulled away from a stop sign at low rpm and the belt let go, is there usually damage to the piston or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5speedz34 Posted March 11, 2011 Report Share Posted March 11, 2011 The motors are designed and stated by GM service info to be non-interference. We are talking thousandths of an inch though and it has been documented to happen before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AL Posted March 11, 2011 Report Share Posted March 11, 2011 I would take one of your parts cars and pull the heads and use them in your rebuild Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwick6 Posted March 11, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2011 I would take one of your parts cars and pull the heads and use them in your rebuild I was thinking that would definitely be the cheapest way to go as long as the heads are the same between the years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiderw31 Posted March 14, 2011 Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 Since the shop told me they did remove the heads I think that rebuilding the damage is the way to go. He said that he pulled away from a stop sign at low rpm and the belt let go, is there usually damage to the piston or not. As Tony mentioned, the motor is supposed to be non-interference but barely. I could see a small mark on the piston where the contact was, so I know there was damage. The damage was that the valves were just tweaked slightly, but the machine shop was able to salvage the valves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwick6 Posted March 15, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2011 I purchased the car but the shop put the engine together without gaskets before I could see it. I pulled a set of used heads but I will definitely take the damaged heads to the machine shop for further inspection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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