Gid, congratulations on the graduation. That was a seriously long degree plan, but I know it will be worth it. Physics makes the world go 'round. A nuclear engineer (like myself) knows that.
If you hadn't read the story in the LSSHOC list, I'll let you know that my car got more Christmas presents than I did. I performed the valve gapping and timing belt services along with replacing the connecting rod bearings. You can see some of the photos from these services by clicking
here and entering the guest password
269k. Each of the three services has its own, appropriately named, album.
The results of all the services are that I believe my engine can go another 60,000 miles before I need to dig into it again. That will be up around the 330,000 mile mark. The valve train looked excellent: only one shim at the upper gap limit, all shims looked smooth, little or no visible cam lobe wear and new shim surfaces under all cam lobes. I installed O-rings under the valve cover bolts to stem the leakage of oil by the hard bushings under the bolts. I replaced the seals between the fuel injectors and the head ports, the intake-to-head gaskets, the spark plugs and the plug wires.
On the front end service, I replaced the three camshaft seals, the CID sensor, the crankshaft seal, the crankshfat Woodruff key, the CPS, the timing belt and the accessory belts. A good engine cleaning with intake cleaner left the aluminum parts in their shiny glory.
On the bottom end, I replaced the connecting rod bearings for all six cylinders. I also resealed the oil pan with fresh silicone in addition to the relatively new seals and put in a new exhaust ****** gasket. After starting the engine with the new bearings, it was noticeably smoother and quieter. Even my wife noticed the difference.
I'd be curious to know what the bill would have been for all of these services at a dealership. Certainly more than the car is worth. But for the $300 in parts, I think that the SHO is still ready for the long run. I sure don't want a new car payment.
