'94 Grand Voyager: Engine swap???

I have a '94 Grand Voyager with all the bells and whistles, and AWD to
boot. it has 122,000 on it and the engine sounds like a diesel.

I have found a couple fixes here and there, but the other problem is that
after running for 15-20 minutes, at stop lights when the engine is
idleing, the oil pressure drops to 0! Now, I have also noticed that the
idle speed is low (~500 RPMS in drive, foot on the brake) and the engine
seems to run well other wise, except for the terrible claking from a
lifter on the rear bank. Of course, it couldn't be the FRONT bank!

Anyway, everyone tells me the 3.8 is a much more bullet proof engine, and
I can easily get my mitts on a couple, cheap, with similar mileage. Does
anyone know how difficult it is to change from a 3.3 to a 3.8? Bell
housings, motor mounts, etc? The rest of the van is in good shape; body
wise it is very good, the AWD works, there are a few squeaks and rattles
but all easily fixed.

I agree with Mr. Beasley, I wouldn't even consider a 3.8, since the
3.3's aren't exactly bad motors in the first place.
I've seen plenty with 200k+ miles and still running perfectly.
Not to mention the various incompatibilities you can expect to
encounter, plus the ones you don't expect none of which are fun or easy
to deal with:-(
Not that it can't be done, and if you like a challenge...

I agree with Mr. Beasley, I wouldn't even consider a 3.8, since the
3.3's aren't exactly bad motors in the first place.
I've seen plenty with 200k+ miles and still running perfectly.
Not to mention the various incompatibilities you can expect to
encounter, plus the ones you don't expect none of which are fun or easy
to deal with:-(
Not that it can't be done, and if you like a challenge...

On Wed, 08 Dec 2004 12:35:43 -0600, James Goforth wrote:

> I agree with Mr. Beasley, I wouldn't even consider a 3.8, since the
> 3.3's aren't exactly bad motors in the first place.
> I've seen plenty with 200k+ miles and still running perfectly.
> Not to mention the various incompatibilities you can expect to
> encounter, plus the ones you don't expect none of which are fun or easy
> to deal with:-(
> Not that it can't be done, and if you like a challenge...

Well, not particularly!

What I was wondering was about the harness, the bell housing, (I know the
computer will probably have to be swapped...), the exhaust, etc. Unless
there is a GOOD, easy, cheap fix for the rapping niose coming from the
back bank of the engine, and the fact that the oil press. guage drops to
ZERO at stop lights, I'm going to have to change the engine anyway, and a
friend of mine who's a mechanic (Jags, BMW's, Mercedes, Ferrari and other
equally rare/exotics) told me the 3.8 was a better engine and he wouldn't
buy a van with a 3.3. BTW, the rapping is from the top of the engine;
sticky/collapsed lifter, or broken 'tower'?

About 8 months ago, someone gave me the exact same van, minus the AWD,
with 229,000 on it. I know the tranny was a rebuild, but the engine looked
original, and ran like a swiss watch. He also gave me a '94 LHS, so when
he asked for the van back, I let him have it. Oh, well...

On Wed, 08 Dec 2004 12:35:43 -0600, James Goforth wrote:

> I agree with Mr. Beasley, I wouldn't even consider a 3.8, since the
> 3.3's aren't exactly bad motors in the first place.
> I've seen plenty with 200k+ miles and still running perfectly.
> Not to mention the various incompatibilities you can expect to
> encounter, plus the ones you don't expect none of which are fun or easy
> to deal with:-(
> Not that it can't be done, and if you like a challenge...

Well, not particularly!

What I was wondering was about the harness, the bell housing, (I know the
computer will probably have to be swapped...), the exhaust, etc. Unless
there is a GOOD, easy, cheap fix for the rapping niose coming from the
back bank of the engine, and the fact that the oil press. guage drops to
ZERO at stop lights, I'm going to have to change the engine anyway, and a
friend of mine who's a mechanic (Jags, BMW's, Mercedes, Ferrari and other
equally rare/exotics) told me the 3.8 was a better engine and he wouldn't
buy a van with a 3.3. BTW, the rapping is from the top of the engine;
sticky/collapsed lifter, or broken 'tower'?

About 8 months ago, someone gave me the exact same van, minus the AWD,
with 229,000 on it. I know the tranny was a rebuild, but the engine looked
original, and ran like a swiss watch. He also gave me a '94 LHS, so when
he asked for the van back, I let him have it. Oh, well...

It would be interesting to put a bona fide oil pressure gauge on it to
determine the actual oil pressure--if it's that low I'm surprised you
don't have noise from more than just an isolated spot on the rear bank.
Plus there'd be no point in just addressing that isolated noise if the
oiling system is that deficient.
I've never been inside one of those engines so I can't speak to what I
think that noise is, exactly--most OHC engines have cam followers which
actuate the valves; they basically do the same thing as a hydraulic
lifter but MIGHT not be as sensitive to oil pressure, nor would it
result in a loss of it (I'm kind of speculating here, anyone else want
to jump in?)
I'd probably check oil pressure for sure, and maybe remove that rear
valve cover and see what I could see (shouldn't be that much work,
certainly easier than changing the engine).
Get any filings when you change the oil? Maybe cut the filter open
too...in other words, you might just have to spend a couple of hours
dinking around with it (just for curiousity's sake, if nothing else.

It would be interesting to put a bona fide oil pressure gauge on it to
determine the actual oil pressure--if it's that low I'm surprised you
don't have noise from more than just an isolated spot on the rear bank.
Plus there'd be no point in just addressing that isolated noise if the
oiling system is that deficient.
I've never been inside one of those engines so I can't speak to what I
think that noise is, exactly--most OHC engines have cam followers which
actuate the valves; they basically do the same thing as a hydraulic
lifter but MIGHT not be as sensitive to oil pressure, nor would it
result in a loss of it (I'm kind of speculating here, anyone else want
to jump in?)
I'd probably check oil pressure for sure, and maybe remove that rear
valve cover and see what I could see (shouldn't be that much work,
certainly easier than changing the engine).
Get any filings when you change the oil? Maybe cut the filter open
too...in other words, you might just have to spend a couple of hours
dinking around with it (just for curiousity's sake, if nothing else.

I digress...after reading the post by Gene and clicking on the link I
see that the 3.3 and 3.8 engines are PUSHROD engines.
I posted just before reading that and thought it was an OHC (as I
said, I've never been inside one of those, nor have even owned one until
a few days ago).
My bad.

I digress...after reading the post by Gene and clicking on the link I
see that the 3.3 and 3.8 engines are PUSHROD engines.
I posted just before reading that and thought it was an OHC (as I
said, I've never been inside one of those, nor have even owned one until
a few days ago).
My bad.

On Thu, 09 Dec 2004 19:17:42 -0600, James Goforth wrote:

> It would be interesting to put a bona fide oil pressure gauge on it to
> determine the actual oil pressure--if it's that low I'm surprised you
> don't have noise from more than just an isolated spot on the rear bank.
> Plus there'd be no point in just addressing that isolated noise if the
> oiling system is that deficient.
> I've never been inside one of those engines so I can't speak to what I
> think that noise is, exactly--most OHC engines have cam followers which
> actuate the valves; they basically do the same thing as a hydraulic
> lifter but MIGHT not be as sensitive to oil pressure, nor would it
> result in a loss of it (I'm kind of speculating here, anyone else want
> to jump in?)
> I'd probably check oil pressure for sure, and maybe remove that rear
> valve cover and see what I could see (shouldn't be that much work,
> certainly easier than changing the engine).
> Get any filings when you change the oil? Maybe cut the filter open
> too...in other words, you might just have to spend a couple of hours
> dinking around with it (just for curiousity's sake, if nothing else.


LOL! Change the oil? What's that?

Actually, I just got the thing. One of my customers gave me one back at
the beginning of the summer, and I liked it. We actually bought a '92 in
'94 and I was quite impressed by it. This is a beater I want to use to
move band stuff around with (loud, obnoxious Rock And Roll).

Anyway, around August, the customer asked me to sell hm the van back (I
had sold it to him 2 years ago...). I hesitated, since we were using it
every 3-4 weeks, but, since he buys a lot of cars from me, and since he
gave me not only the van, but an LHS in great shape, I gave it back. Had
229K and ran great, so I figured one with 122K should run even better,
right? Oops...

So, now I need some cheap fix, since I have 2 Toyotas that are becoming
collector's items and would rather put the heavy dollars into those. If I
have to replace the engine, I thought I'd 'upgrade' if possible...