New engine, remanufactured transmission

I've found a place that sells new (not remanufactured) 3.1 L engines for my 99 malibu for $1600. I'm 99% sure I'm going to do this. Is there anything I should be watching out for with this deal? Do brand new 3.1 L engines have the intake gaskets that have the new design? If not I'm tempted to tear it apart before I put it in and put the new gasket in but I can't imagine they would not come with the improved one. Is there any way for me to tell?

I'm going to put green in the system from this point forward. There is too much controversy over the dexacool stuff. Maybe it's alright, maybe it's not. All I know is that I'm willing to flush the coolant every year so it's not worth it to run the dexacool. So I'm wondering, is flushing the radiator good enough or should I just get a new radiator while I'm at it?

The goal here is to walk away from this experience with a very reliable car, even though it does have 170,000 miles on it. I don't want to tear into it in a major way for a long time after this. As such I'm planning on replacing the transmission at the same time.

When hitting it from a reliablility standpoint, it seems that replacing the radiator may not be necessary, but it also may be one of the few things that could bite me after it's done so I'm inclined to replace it as well.

I'm thinking maybe replace the CV joints while everythings torn apart as well. lol...anyone else got any other ideas? I'm trying to keep this at $4000 or less.
Engine: 1600 + tax
Transmission 1300 + tax
Radiator 250?
CV Joints ???

The most I would invest in this vehicle would be a scrap yard motor. If you want reliability just buy another car. All the money that you pour into this 170 000 mile vehicle would give you a good down payment on another good used car. With that type of mileage everything will start failing due to fatigue. I'm talking suspension, alternator, wheel bearings, rad, water pump, a/c. You'll probably get a bunch of small little annoyance items pop up also.

The most I would invest in this vehicle would be a scrap yard motor..

+1 to that. That's too much time and resources to throw into a high mileage car with no value. As far as being a brand-new factory 3.1L? I doubt that. That would be an extremely rare and limited find. It's probably a remanufactured engine. Regardless, I'd still pull the top end and replace the gaskets. Rebuild what you've got, install a used/rebuilt engine/trans for less than $2K or get rid of it IMO.

Joel

$1600 whoa i would recommend finding a junk yard with a decent reputation. IMHO. I got a motor with 67000 miles for $500 froma quality business and it is running great now.

+1 to that. That's too much time and resources to throw into a high mileage car with no value.
I guess I'm not into having a vehicle that has a lot of resale value. To me, if I can sell it for a lot of money, that means I'm going to get killed with depreciation as time and mileage accumulate. The value that's important to me is reliability.

As far as being a brand-new factory 3.1L? I doubt that. That would be an extremely rare and limited find. It's probably a remanufactured engine.
I share your hesitation. However, this is what this dealership does and is known for. They sell new GM engines and GM remanufactured transmissions. They don't try to pull one over on you by saying that the transmissions are new when they're actually remanufactured so I don't know why they'd try to do so with the motors and not the transmissions. In addition, we've already bought one motor from them, a 5.7 L for our 93 chevy truck. That engine now has over 150,000 miles on it and it's using a quart of oil every three thousand miles, typical of an abused farm pickup of that era.

When we installed the 5.7 L engine in the 93 chevy we could find nothing that would indicate it wasn't new. Obviously the only way to tell for sure would be to pull it apart and see if it's been bored over but we weren't interested in doing that...if it were actually new it would void the 3 year 100,000 mile warranty...

Regardless, I'd still pull the top end and replace the gaskets. Rebuild what you've got, install a used/rebuilt engine/trans for less than $2K or get rid of it IMO.

Joel
If I were to get rid of it I'd have to get another $5000 car and even that would be seriously pushing my budget. For $5000 you're looking at the 100,000 mile range and you don't know how the previous owner treated it...you don't know what your base point is. If I spent $2000 on my car just to get rid of it, I'd probably only be able to sell it for $2000...at the most $3000. If I spend $2000, get $3000 out of it, and then buy a $5000 car I've got essentially $4000 invested in something that I'm not sure of as far as reliability is concerned. If I spend 4 grand replacing the stuff I mentioned, I know where I stand and that's important to me. I know that I replaced the fuel pump at 130,00 so I'll likely make it to 260,000 before that needs to be done again. I know I recently replaced the right wheel bearing and if I replace the left I'll be good there till over 300,000. I know the motor and transmission should last till well over 300,000. If I replace the radiator, hoses and heater core while I do this I'll know the cooling system is good for at least the life of the engine/transmission I installed.

With that type of mileage everything will start failing due to fatigue. I'm talking suspension, alternator, wheel bearings, rad, water pump, a/c.
Very few of these things are likely to cause a major reliability concern. Suspension might make weird noises if something screws up (spring breaks or whatever) but it won't stop you from getting from point A to B. Wheel bearings are checked when you rotate tires and the front ones you can hear them when they're getting rough so you can replace them on your terms. Radiator, as I said is being replaced as a part of this process. New water pump comes with the new engine. A/C has a good reputation on these cars except for the control unit and the fix for that is simple. However, if it fails, once again, that's not something that stops you from going from point A to point B. The alternator would be just as likely to fail on a $5000 dollar car that I could barely afford to buy, especially since I've already replaced the alternator...

If annoyance items pop up, thanks to this forum I'm pretty sure I can find a fix without even having to post a question...

I guess my goal in starting this thread was to get some advice on what I should do to improve the reliability of the vehicle while I'm completing the process of swapping the engine/transmission. I'd like to focus on things that will be easier to do while I've already got it torn apart. One other thing I've considered is to replace the CV joints while I'm at it. Any other ideas? Thanks

All good points dpilot. If you plan to drive that Mali' until the wheels fall off, $4K is more cost effective that starting over with another hi mileage used vehicle. I think you've got that resale thing backwards though. Hi resale means you take less of a beating for time/mileage. Used Hondas or Toyotas are a prime example. I'm with you though. I like dropping as little as possible on the purchase of my daily drivers. That means a car with no resale.:shakehead (Cobalt, Mali, Impala, Taurus, etc...)

Joel

I think you've got that resale thing backwards though. Hi resale means you take less of a beating for time/mileage. Used Hondas or Toyotas are a prime example.
Joel

I agree with ya. If you're already an owner, high resale is a good thing. I guess what I meant to say is that I don't want to buy a vehicle that's currently worth a lot (ie a new car) because that means while I'm using it, it will lose much value in depreciation because of mileage and time. Depreciation is one thing that can't hardly hit me anymore with my current car.

Anyways, you're right, high resale is definetely a good thing for an owner who is interested in selling anytime in the near future.

If you have any suggestions on what to do to help the reliablity of my car in this process, I'm still all ears. Thanks

If you have any suggestions on what to do to help the reliablity of my car in this process, I'm still all ears. Thanks

There's not much more you can do to help reliability on these beasts. Factory IMG's aside, once you get a good set of a/m gaskets in the GM 3.x series engines, they are as tough as you can get IMO. The 4T45E (and larger 4T65E) are awesome transaxles as well. A decent oil change interval, tip-top cooling system and a trans pan drop & filter change hear and there and you are good to go. Replace stuff as it breaks! A/C work is expensive. On an old/hi mile car, I'd just leave it if it breaks.

Well, I have a 98 malibu 3.1 Change the motor and labor for 800.00Dls Change the tramission for 1,000 plus labor, fix both heads for 150.00dls change half motor gasket set for 230.00dls, termostat and labor came to 700.00dls change a worn out lower control arm for 80.00 change both cv-joints for about 150.00dls with labor starter for 130.00 (did it my self)