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1998 Chevrolet Malibu LS 3.1L auto

Tiny
NE69CHEVELLE
  • MEMBER
  • 1998 CHEVROLET MALIBU
  • 140,000 MILES
I changed the lower intake manifold gasket and spark plugs on a 1998 chevrolet malibu and after I finished the project the car acts as if it has no compression. It ran before the job, rough but it ran. It turns the belt and you can tell it's turning the motor by sight but it free spins making more of a whining noise? Any and all suggestions would be helpful. I triple checked to make sure everything was hooked up after. I have done two other of the same gaskets but on oler models and they turned out just fine. Thank you.
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Monday, December 5th, 2011 AT 11:16 PM

17 Replies

Tiny
SATURNTECH9
  • MECHANIC
  • 30,870 POSTS
HAve you checked the compression yet?I would check it. Also why did it run rough before?
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Monday, December 5th, 2011 AT 11:31 PM
Tiny
NE69CHEVELLE
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  • 11 POSTS
It had water coming in from the lower intake manifold gasket. Common problem on these motors. I even took the rockers and arms back out to make sure none were bent or in the wrong spot. Everthing went back in exactly as they came out.
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Monday, December 5th, 2011 AT 11:35 PM
Tiny
NE69CHEVELLE
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  • 11 POSTS
I took it to a mechanic friend of mine and checked for spark and added that the only thing that comes to mind is that the valves are loaded and possibly bumping the motor over every couple of hours may help them bleed out and build compression. Either that or the valves may be bent. I was just hoping someone had run into something like this before and had some other advice or confirm the thought that it may build compression this way?
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Monday, December 5th, 2011 AT 11:39 PM
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
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Lets start with a compression test just to rule that out since there was coolant intrusion etc. If you dont have a comoression tester they rent them at auto zone. Also have you checked for codes?
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Monday, December 5th, 2011 AT 11:40 PM
Tiny
NE69CHEVELLE
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  • 11 POSTS
He says that since there is obviously no compression that a test would only show the obvious and that without it running would make it difficult to pull the accurate codes. I am not sure if this is inaccurate information but I could make sense of it I guess.
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Monday, December 5th, 2011 AT 11:45 PM
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
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Before you tried starting it after the repair you removed all the plugs and stuffed a rag againist each plug hole and cranked over the engine to blow the coolant out of each cylinder?
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Monday, December 5th, 2011 AT 11:46 PM
Tiny
NE69CHEVELLE
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No I didn't do that, the plugs didn't seem to have any wet residue on them but I could still do this at this point and recheck all of the plugs while i'm in there.
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Monday, December 5th, 2011 AT 11:50 PM
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
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So did you get all the coolant out of the cylinders before tryingto start it?You know theres no compression?Even if it didnt start there could still be codes codes can be set without the engine running.
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Monday, December 5th, 2011 AT 11:50 PM
Tiny
NE69CHEVELLE
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No I didn't attempt to get the coolant out of the cylinders while they were removed. I never thought to since I never saw any residue but I will sure try it. Take all six plugs out at once or just do them one at a time?
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Monday, December 5th, 2011 AT 11:53 PM
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
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With coolant in the cylinders you can bend connecting rods etc.I would check for coolant and and also do a compression test on cylinders. Let me know what you find.
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Monday, December 5th, 2011 AT 11:54 PM
Tiny
NE69CHEVELLE
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So. Should I remove them all at once or one at a time to clean them out?
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Monday, December 5th, 2011 AT 11:56 PM
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
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All plugs at once and do one cylinder at a time holding the rag tight againist the hole while cranking the engine over.
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Monday, December 5th, 2011 AT 11:56 PM
Tiny
NE69CHEVELLE
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Okay, thank you, i'll try it and see what I find. I'll let you know once I get there.
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Monday, December 5th, 2011 AT 11:58 PM
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
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Keep me posted.
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Tuesday, December 6th, 2011 AT 12:13 AM
Tiny
HOMER1967
  • MECHANIC
  • 875 POSTS
THE ENGINE MAY HAVE HYDROLOCKED AND BENT A ROD. ALSO THE 3.1'S HAVE DIFFERENT LENGTH PUSHRODS.
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Tuesday, December 6th, 2011 AT 2:51 AM
Tiny
NE69CHEVELLE
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  • 11 POSTS
So all I ended up doing was the re-replacing the spark plugs with the double platinum plugs and cranked on it a few more times and she came to life.
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Wednesday, January 4th, 2012 AT 12:28 AM
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
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So you had fouled plugs glad you got it all figured out.
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Wednesday, January 4th, 2012 AT 12:40 AM

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