Long story short my wife blew out her engine in her 2000 MC SS. I want to keep the car so I am thinking about getting a new/rebuilt engine or rebuilding one myself.

I am not sure how much damage has been done to the engine. The oil pressure gauge was going to 0 at times on and off. One day my wife drove it to the store and when she came home and puled in the driveway the engine was screaming. I told her to turn off the car and after a while I tried starting the engine and it was locked up.
The next morning I was able to free up the engine by rocking the car back and forth. The engine started but runs kinda crappy. Not terrible but not as good as it used to. When I took it around the block I got halfway around and the engine started screaming again. I got it back home and haven't started it again.

I'm thinking I spun a bearing or something at the bottom end.

What do you think I should do? It had 200k on it anyways so it was just a matter of time.

 

Shouldnt be too hard to replace the engine and while your at it you might as well check the transmission and its parts. You can easily find a 3800 or even a 3800 sc with trans but since its for your wife you can just get another 3800. Oil pressure went to 0, I know on a camaro I wanted to buy thats what happened when the oil pump went out the day before I was going to purchase it.

 

I'm going to take it over so the sc would work. I was just looking at the ls4 swap topic too..lol Same engine would be fine though.

 

If you are going to go supercharged just take the trans and engine from a donor car and rebuild them or get the top half of the engine and take the tranny. I also think that you need the passenger side axle. You have to have the Pcm reprogrammed if you go s/c so you can source to ZZperformance for that or any other company that can do it.

Heres a write-up I found on an old thread:
http://www.grandprixforums.net/top-swap-info-faqs-also-lots-3800-info-7763.html

 

Thanks man. Any advice on what rebuild kit to get?

 

Im not sure about that one. Maybe one of our more experienced members will step into this thread and share some info.

 

Here is a rebuild kit. 99-02 Buick Chevy 3.8L 3800 V6 RWD -ENGINE OVERHAUL KIT | eBay
A crate motor will probably cost around 2500 and a used motor will probably be between 400 to 800 depending on mileage. If you rebuild of course you'll need to make sure there is no damage to the block, heads and crank. If it was me I just find a good used motor that you can hear run and then get serial numbers off it to make sure they get you that motor.

 

I think your diagnosis of the engine being toast is valid (and with 200K on the clock, given the other symptoms, all helps support it's fate). But before you took it for a run around the block, did you check to ensure it has any oil in it?

Given what you described about the engine, I would not mess with rebuilding what you had (as you will want to have a professional shop check ALL the parts). As suggested, find a compatible donor, nab the engine AND trans, both with lower miles then the drive train you have, should be a fairly easy swap.

 

Thanks guys.

Just wanted to update since it's been a while, I ended up buying a used engine from a junkyard. I was able to hear the engine turn ( they already took out the fuel pump) and it had 70k on it. It's from a 02' Bonneville.

I'm currently in the process of taking the old engine out, I have to take out a few things still but I'm almost ready to hoist it up.

Hopefully this goes smoothly.