I got my Trailblazer from my girlfriend's dad for free. It was sitting in his backyard with 4 years of dust on it. I asked him what was wrong with it and he said it just lost power one day and it has been sitting there ever since. He said that I could have it he just wanted it out of his yard. I figured I scored big!
Well I'm still trying to get it fixed. After installing the fuel pump I was getting a P0300 a really bad misfire and this is what I've done so far.
Installed a new battery
New fuel pump and filter
New ignition switch
The fuel tank had the broken filler neck so I plastic welded it
6 new coils
New spark plugs
After this I was still having the same misfire. I did a compression test and the #5 cylinder had zero compression. So I went ahead and pulled the valve cover and found what appeared to be a bent intake valve. The rocker had been pushed out and was sitting in the head and the valve was stuck open. So I removed the cylinder head and to my surprise there was a bolt stuck in the valve!!!! 😫🤢🤮
I found out later it was from the throttle body!!
This is where I want to hear what you think about what I have done so far from here.
I got a used head from the scrapyard and the cheapest head gasket set with bolts that I could find online. I completely disassembled the head and replaced the valve seals and hand lapped the valves. I didn't use any special tools to hold the timing tensioner I just held the chain tight against the crank so it wouldn't skip a tooth on the bottom and let the tensioner extend out. I don't see any reason to waste time playing with garbage expensive tools that don't even work very well. My tensioner tool is a wire hanger cut in two long pieces I bend a hook on one to grab the plunger and pull it in and I bend a tiny bit of the end of the other to grab the tensioner retract arm I used a little flashlight to see into the front cover took a total of 4 minutes to retract the plunger then my girl held the plunger with the wire while I put the chain guide and the sprockets on. After getting the chain right I just gave the wire a little yank and it came out and the tensioner extended. I did push it out a little to make sure it was tight against the chain. I got everything reinstalled and started it and she RUNS!!! No more misfire lol
So now I was getting a cam correlation code. I had already replaced the actuator and sensor but the code staying coming back. I was already going to buy a new cam phaser when I figured I would just check the actuator one more time and guess what?? Plugged screens!! I think it was the Seafoam treatment. The bottom end of the engine is very sludged up from using conventional oil so I Seafoamed the crankcase before I changed the oil. I think it loosened up a whole lot of crap and it found its way to the actuator. Well I no longer have the pending cam code but I still have the stored cam code but I think it will go away after the cold start tomorrow we will see. My current issue is 9 MPG!!
My fuel trims are really high especially LTFT. It will get around 21% at cruising
1800 rpm. I'm leaning towards thermostat but the temp gauge reads fine needle straight up after warm-up but I'm thinking the sensor is probably bad too. Am I going in the right direction here or is there something else I should be checking as well? I believe the VVT is functioning properly now because there is a huge difference in bottom end power and when I floor it it doesn't make the weird roaring/bogging sounds like before. Also the pending code is gone and has been for 2 cold starts.
I have pics and I'll post them in a few.
Well I'm still trying to get it fixed. After installing the fuel pump I was getting a P0300 a really bad misfire and this is what I've done so far.
Installed a new battery
New fuel pump and filter
New ignition switch
The fuel tank had the broken filler neck so I plastic welded it
6 new coils
New spark plugs
After this I was still having the same misfire. I did a compression test and the #5 cylinder had zero compression. So I went ahead and pulled the valve cover and found what appeared to be a bent intake valve. The rocker had been pushed out and was sitting in the head and the valve was stuck open. So I removed the cylinder head and to my surprise there was a bolt stuck in the valve!!!! 😫🤢🤮
I found out later it was from the throttle body!!
This is where I want to hear what you think about what I have done so far from here.
I got a used head from the scrapyard and the cheapest head gasket set with bolts that I could find online. I completely disassembled the head and replaced the valve seals and hand lapped the valves. I didn't use any special tools to hold the timing tensioner I just held the chain tight against the crank so it wouldn't skip a tooth on the bottom and let the tensioner extend out. I don't see any reason to waste time playing with garbage expensive tools that don't even work very well. My tensioner tool is a wire hanger cut in two long pieces I bend a hook on one to grab the plunger and pull it in and I bend a tiny bit of the end of the other to grab the tensioner retract arm I used a little flashlight to see into the front cover took a total of 4 minutes to retract the plunger then my girl held the plunger with the wire while I put the chain guide and the sprockets on. After getting the chain right I just gave the wire a little yank and it came out and the tensioner extended. I did push it out a little to make sure it was tight against the chain. I got everything reinstalled and started it and she RUNS!!! No more misfire lol
So now I was getting a cam correlation code. I had already replaced the actuator and sensor but the code staying coming back. I was already going to buy a new cam phaser when I figured I would just check the actuator one more time and guess what?? Plugged screens!! I think it was the Seafoam treatment. The bottom end of the engine is very sludged up from using conventional oil so I Seafoamed the crankcase before I changed the oil. I think it loosened up a whole lot of crap and it found its way to the actuator. Well I no longer have the pending cam code but I still have the stored cam code but I think it will go away after the cold start tomorrow we will see. My current issue is 9 MPG!!
My fuel trims are really high especially LTFT. It will get around 21% at cruising
1800 rpm. I'm leaning towards thermostat but the temp gauge reads fine needle straight up after warm-up but I'm thinking the sensor is probably bad too. Am I going in the right direction here or is there something else I should be checking as well? I believe the VVT is functioning properly now because there is a huge difference in bottom end power and when I floor it it doesn't make the weird roaring/bogging sounds like before. Also the pending code is gone and has been for 2 cold starts.
I have pics and I'll post them in a few.