93CutlassSupreme Posted November 23, 2007 Report Share Posted November 23, 2007 Since you have the intake off I'd replace the rear PVC hose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B_A_Buick3.1 Posted November 23, 2007 Report Share Posted November 23, 2007 Also make sure you get those rocker arm nuts PERFECT and i can't stress that enuf cus when i was rebuilding my rocket 350 the first time, i mistorqued one and and my intake valve ended up punching a hole in one of my pistons.... talk about a pissed off poor person!!! Just some friendly advice from experience... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RYS Posted November 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 23, 2007 I'm gonna torque everything down to spec even the rockers I didn't touch. So I don't need to change the oil? Got a little coolant down the valley nothing serious. Anyone else think it's wierd this car has a coolant tank for a 3.4L? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ns87 Posted November 23, 2007 Report Share Posted November 23, 2007 Looks like you know what you're doing. Its fun working on a car as long as you don't need it to go somewhere as soon as your done lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joey b Posted November 24, 2007 Report Share Posted November 24, 2007 napa sells a tool that looks like a giant torx bit. I think it costs about 10 bucks. You hammer it in and twist out the stuck part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GutlessSupreme Posted November 24, 2007 Report Share Posted November 24, 2007 I'm gonna torque everything down to spec even the rockers I didn't touch. So I don't need to change the oil? Got a little coolant down the valley nothing serious. Anyone else think it's wierd this car has a coolant tank for a 3.4L?  looks the same as my 3.1's coolant tank  Personally, I would change the oil, but maybe that's being anal over a few drops. That motor looks really clean overall.. nothing like all the shit that was caked on everything in my STE  You're not going to throw any valves through pistons on this motor just by overtorquing the rockers.. so don't worry about that, but it will run like shit if they're wrong. Make sure you rotate the crank with a wrench to check if any of them are lose. Supposedly each cylinder doesn't have to be at TDC when you torque them down (least pressure on spring here), but mine always seemed loose if I didn't do it that way.  btw, hang onto those stock plug wires. A lot of the cheap wire sets work pretty poorly and you might even want to go back to your 106k stock ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RYS Posted November 24, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 24, 2007 napa sells a tool that looks like a giant torx bit. I think it costs about 10 bucks. You hammer it in and twist out the stuck part. Â It's called an easy out but this is too far corroded for that. I got a 5/8 brass barb. Now I can't find a 5/8 tap set anywhere not even home depot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joey b Posted November 24, 2007 Report Share Posted November 24, 2007 napa sells a tool that looks like a giant torx bit. I think it costs about 10 bucks. You hammer it in and twist out the stuck part. Â It's called an easy out but this is too far corroded for that. I got a 5/8 brass barb. Now I can't find a 5/8 tap set anywhere not even home depot. Does an EZ out look like a TORX bit? Go to NAPA tell them your problem and look for a tool that "LOOKS LIKE A TORX BIT" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RYS Posted November 25, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2007 Well either way they serve the same purpose and the metal was too corroded for either tool. I could not find the tap I needed so I just bored the hole out a bit and forced the brass barb to screw in. I did it very slowly and the brass barb bit the aluminum nice and cut its own threads. I put RTV on the threads before doing this and put some around the outside edge. I didn't put it all the way in because I didnt know how much more it was gonna go in but it's deep enough. It is very tight and I don't think it should leak. I'm all for doing things the right way but I don't really have a choice at this point. Â Here's a pic of the repair and another with the new gasket in place, pushrods reinstalled and rocker arms torqued to spec. Â Â Â Â Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RYS Posted November 25, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2007 I'm really starting to get aggrivated..... I snapped a few of the vacuum lines that go to the TB. Gotta find those now... One of the bolts on top of the rear valve cover stripped the threads in the head so it won't tighten because the ratchet I am using started to jam up so I thought it was jammed but I over tightned the damn thing! I keep dropping bolts and loosing them for at least 15 minutes... All I have left is mount the UIM, TB, EGR and alternator... But stupid things are slowing me down bigtime. :evil: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GutlessSupreme Posted November 25, 2007 Report Share Posted November 25, 2007 keep an eye on that valve cover.. Â as for the TB lines, just replace the broken sections with rubber line from NAPA or somewhere. Just slide it over the hard plastic lines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ns87 Posted November 25, 2007 Report Share Posted November 25, 2007 http://www.w-body.com/forum/index.php/topic,61171.msg726378.html#msg726378 Â Read my post on that page, it breaks down the vacuum lines pretty well. They seem difficult, but are actually pretty easy compared to what you've done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RYS Posted November 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 27, 2007 OK guys about 12 hours ago I started the car and it is running great! No more leaks! Thanks slim I used your pictures and replaced the vacuum lines with rubber hose and thank you GutlessSupreme for the idea on the brass barb fitting it's working great. Here's a pic of the repair in it's final stage. Â Â One thing though now the BRAKE! light is lit on the dash... could that be from the car sitting?? The brake booster pipe in the back of the plenum is not tight I cannot for the life of me get it to thread in properly. Could this be the cause of the light? Â Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RYS Posted November 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted November 27, 2007 The engine is leaking coolant. There is a pinhole sized leak comming from the brass barb. I do not want to take it out and put it back in. I'm gonna put a shitload of RTV around it to see if that helps. Hopefully it does I have spent enough time under the hood of that car for this one problem.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RYS Posted June 9, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 9, 2010 I know this thread is a few years old but I thought I would update. I ended up putting JB weld around the brass fitting and it worked perfect. I threw in a set of front struts and sold the car for $1000. I still regret selling it today. I have started a new W-body project. 1996 regal. You can see it here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cutlassman Posted June 18, 2010 Report Share Posted June 18, 2010 Thanks for the update. I actually have the same problem right now. Just replaced a blown head gasket on my '92 3.1 Cutlass Convertible, putting in about 30 hours to rip apart the engine and re-assemble, and around $350 in new gaskets and parts and getting the heads checked and resurfaced. I removed the quick-connector from the LIM, only to find the threads stripped. I installed a new connector and used a bunch of thread sealant, but after running the car now, it's leaking from there. I will definitely try the JB weld as a quick-fix if it worked for you. I have other issues, too, I'm afraid. Upon restarting the car, it runs rough. I was spewing some white smoke from the exhaust, but that could be leftover from the hydrolocking. My oil level dropped by about a half-quart, but it's not leaking oil - not sure where it's going. After 30 hours of sweating under that hood, I'm about done. I'll fix the coolant leak and see if the engine runs better after it warms up. I only ran it about 25 seconds because it was so rough...then I saw the coolant leak and didn't want to damage the heads. Anyway, I have a mess on my hands but your update helps me with part of my problems - thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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