04 timing chain got me...what next?

OK Stupid me...I bought this car six months ago with a little more than 60,000 miles on it. I didn't even think about checking or replacing the timeing chain. Now the car is sitting at the dealer's lot and they want $5000 to put a new engine in it, a thousand more dollars than I payed for the car! So, what is the best option, rebuild the engine, replace with a used engine, or look for a different car? I don't know how severe the damage is. What are the chances that the pistons are still ok and I can just do a valve job? Thanks for any and all advice you can provide. What is this mistake, of not replacing the timing chain in time, going to cost me?

take it from the dealer. Bottom dollar= you need a $400-600 valve job, and a $400 timing belt job. then add $ for the labor to do a "head gasket".. Total should come out to $1200-1500.

or find a used engine and get it installed for about $1500-2000

Timing belt, no chain. First step is to get it out of the dealership and into a local shop if you have one. I would not go back to the dealership. The damage 99% of the time includes the valves and such, sometimes it is more extensive. A re-furbished head on eBay goes for roughly $400, so that is the best route if the shop wants a lot for a valve job. Beyond that though is a guess, someone would need to take it apart and see what is wrong. If the damage is more extensive, another engine can be had for very cheap (eBay, CL and other junkyards and such will be a good source) you can get a nice engine for well under $1000. Overall though, it will cost quite a bit (a LOT less than the stealership) I would say around $2000 at another shop would be the total cost if things are really bad, but that is a guess. You could sell the car if the costs are too high, either way it is going to hurt :(

At least when you fix it, you should be good for another 60,000 miles after that :D

damn you rabbit, you beat me to it while I was typing!!!!

we were close on prices though.....

it does not have a minimum number of words required there college boy. type less, answer faster.

Thanks for the quick replies. OK, I got it out of the dealers's before they could rape me. Now, I might attempt to pull the head myself but can't find a repair manual for the Aveo in any of the local auto stores. Is it that hard to do it yourself?

have you ever done anything like that before?

I've pulled two engines out of different cars, had them machined by someone else and replaced them. But, it was around twenty years ago and cars have changed alot since then. There's alot more extra stuff under the hood now and it's much tighter and more sensitive with all the electronics.

After you unplug the electronics its not that different. Just make sure ya unplug everything before you pull it out! Its really not that difficult. I bought my Aveo with a snapped timing belt and put a salvage yard engine in. I thankfully only paid about $500 for the engine and only needed to get a few things (including a trip to the dealer to do a relearn procedure).

if you are mechanically handy, understand that things like torquing the head need to be don in specific order, and if you are worried about space and electronics then label each connection (tape and a marker) and then list them to double check, you will be ok. the only strange thing on the aveo, is verifying the timing (a lot of people end up a tooth off) and the water pump turn thing.. which is what i attribute the tooth being off from.

Well, I got the timing belt covers off and the belt isn't broken but the teeth on the belt around the crankshaft are stripped out. It looks like the crankshaft turns but doesn't turn the belt. Is it possible I didn't damage the valves?

Its possible, but pretty unlikely.

I got the head out and took it to a machine shop. Every valve was bent. It looks like it'll cost about $440 to replace the valves and refurbish the head. I'll replace the water pump, water pump gasket, serpentine belt, timing belt, tensioner pulley, and idler pulley. I guess I'll need a new head bolt set and head gasket set, too. Is there anything else that I'm forgeting? Also, will I need to take the car to the dealer to reset or "relearn" anything?

Thanks for the replies; they have been very helpful.

how did the bottom end look, may be more damage down there

you could have bought my Aveo from me LOL. my lightly modified 04 is for sale $3000

An update...I got the head and everything bolted back on. I had a lone dangling wire and you guys helped me figure out it was the wire to the coolant sensor, which I had forgotten to install on the head.

I started the car up and it smoked like crazy. I checked under the car and coolant was leaking from what looked like the backside. My first thought was that I hadn't tightened the coolant sensor good enough. I found that the bottom radiator hose was leaking but it didn't appear to be as bad as it first had. I drove the car up the street and back. Parked it the garage, popped the hood and the thermostat housing had burst and was steaming. I ordered a themostat and housing from Autozone and it'll be here in a couple of hours; they didn't know if it was plastic or metal.

I got an aluminum thermostat housing and fixed that problem. I then noticed that one of the fuel injectors was leaking fuel, took that apart and found that an o-ring had a bite taken out of it. I got the fuel rail back and started the car.

Now, I have a new problem...I drove the car around the block a few times and while stopped at a stop sign the oil pressure light started flickering and came on. The oil pressure light comes on only when the car is stopped at a low idle but when driving it goes off. What gives?

The car has only 64,000 miles on it.

Low oil pressure can be caused by a few different things, worst being worned main bearings, also if u have the leak on the injector still or anything that screws up the fuel mixture could cause the idle to be lower than it should(that would also cause hesitation and erradic running) too low idle will cause the low pressure light to came on(u cannot adjust the idle by the way, its controled by the on board computer). Basicly the car will have to be diagnosed properly to find the cause and hopefully someone else here can help u more. Sounds like u had a lot of issues with this car and I hate to say it but it may be time to move on to another car...

did you change the oil after pulling the head off? did you check it? odds are good you go coolant in there anyhow.

whether or not that relates, i can not say, but you might need to check that before really writing it off.

if it is actual pressure issue it could be a few things, but you should check the actual pressure, not just an idiot light.

Oinkjackson, you were lucky to get it away from the dealer. Parts haven't done you in, but the others are right. The Dealer would have squeezed you for labour.
My poor girl is sitting at just over 157 000 and I just had the timing belt changed. Come to find out, the belt had been changed before, no one knows when, but the pump and the idler have not so now I'm waiting on parts to have the car go back into the shop again and I still need to get an oil change.

The never ending aveo story...I took the car to a mechanic yesterday, hoping he would check the oil pressure and sending unit; he did neather. He changed the oil and filter (both of which I provided) and called it cured, having found some fuel in the oil. It wasn't fixed; he hadn't even let the car warm up to reassess the oil pressure light at low idle. I took the car to some more competent mechanics this morning and they said that they could check the oil pressure but if it was low pressure there wasn't much I could do, anyway. They suggested 10w30, STP, and a new sending unit for a cheap alternative. I have a friend that will check the oil pressure today and then, I'll go from there.

By the way, where is the oil pressure sending unit?

Its on the back of the engine (nearest the firewall) down by the crankshaft pulley.

i would like to know why there isn't much you can do about low oil pressure? what did they mean by that?

I think they meant that it would get expensive and wouldn't be worth it, referring to worn crankshaft bearings.

except the oil pressure light is directly off the oil pump. So you would most likely be replacing the oil pump, on the front of the engine, not rebuilding the bottom end.. i have seen cars with terrible terrible knocking from completely worn out bearings and still have high oil pressure.

Mr. rabbit, I suspect that you might be right again. I had no problems with low pressure before the big belt failure. I'm thinking that maybe some debris from valve stem seals etc. might have entered the oil pump and caused some mayhem. Although I haven't had the opputunity to check the oil pressure yet, I'm guessing that it might indeed be low because I've heard some knocking, possibly the lifters, in the engine at times. As mentioned before, the car has only 64,000 miles on it and I doubt the bearings are shot.

You can hear the lifters on a perfectly good engine. I'd change the oil pressure sensor to see if that fixes it. If not, you know you actually do have low oil pressure.

Help! I have something mixing with the oil, thinning it out and prompting the oil lamp to flicker and come on steadily when the car is hot and at low idle. I've changed the oil and filter three times since the head work; it's always ugly, diluted looking, with a slight green color similar to the coolant, and always has a wee milky swirl like two fluids seperating, when stirred.

check the coolant level and color? check the gas flow?

The coolant level looks fine. I'm sorry, I know very little about car engines. Can you expand a little on what you mean by check the gas flow?

if the injectors are stuck open and pouring fuel you will might /will have gas in the oil past the rings (if there is not so much that you hydrolock)..

what color is the coolant? you used a new head gasket? what steps did you install it in? no coatings or anything?

does the oil look like a milkshake? or just runny? have you changed it since putting the head on?

hey I have the same problem please help

I'd start with checking to make sure the engine oil was filled to the proper level..you might be just a bit low, and that could cause the pressure light to come on when you're stopped at a light/sign.

Sounds like the beginning symptoms of a blown head gasket...The cylinder head bolts in most cases have to be retorqued if the head was removed, generally within a week of installation to make sure the head is properly seated, and as the leakage progresses, the engine will begin to run rough and get worse.

Disregard the post on checking the oil level; I didn't read the thread all the way through..Grrr!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Donalds2009Aveo

Sounds like the beginning symptoms of a blown head gasket...The cylinder head bolts in most cases have to be retorqued if the head was removed, generally within a week of installation to make sure the head is properly seated, and as the leakage progresses, the engine will begin to run rough and get worse.

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you should not be doing this with torque to yield bolts.