1999 Intrigue 3.5 with a engine from a 2000

Hi all well i guess really i dont where to start i bought my olds about 1 year and half ago, i drove the car for 6 months before it started overheating all the time out of the blew for no reason. So me and my dad took it apart it ended up needing a new engine becuase the block had warped. so it sit in the garage with the hold top of the engine missing for about 6 months. i would say about 4-5months ago i came along some money and started searching for a new engine alot of them were expeniseve 1000 dollars up? well i just so happened to find a junk yard in cleveland i forget the name but they had one out of a 2000 with 74,000 miles about for 400 even in cash. i bought it. it was dirty and grimy i complete rebuilt the hole top half of this engine all new seals replaced intake manifold and then installed it within 2 days lol no joke had it all done and in the car me and my dad were working together. after that the car ran good but always kept throwing random multiply misfires for no reason and would come back with the mass air flow sensor was malifuctioning but the car would run fine the SES light would come on and go with normally within the same day.well that wasnt it, The car started hesatating really bad it would hold oroung 3500-4000 and then rocket and if you were going down the express way about 50-70 there would be a bump under the hood and it would be fine well it got worse, the gas mileage go terrible it took me 10-12 gallons to drive to sandusky OMG we are broke we had to go we were needed for family reasons. anyway then the car started sounding horrible when you would start it in the mornings missing and rpms bouceing around untill you gave it gas then it would rev up and fall back down and be fine. What the hell i dont understand. ontop of all of this the car no leaks coolant and cant figure out where the hell it is coming from the engine looks new i dont understand well untill 2 days ago i had itread out and the same codes came back P0101 and the P0300 i kept all of my read out slips the guy at autozone suggested that i buy some MAF Cleaner well i didint have the money at the time the next day i got paid so i bought some. AND WOW DID IT WORK SO MUCH MORE POWER NO MORE NASTY START UPS POWER POWER. So in concolusing to this i would like to say CLEAN THE MASS AIR FLOW SENSOR IT REALLY WORKS U MIGHT BE SUPRIZED. IT IS CALLED CRC MAF CLEANER IT WORKS

How hard was it to replace the engine?

Did you use the computer from the old car?

No it was not hard to replace the engine altought the transmission mounts were a little diffacult to get to, no i didnt use the computer out of the 2000 used the one that was in my car. i also used the intake manifold off of the 1999 engine so pretty much the engine looks just like a 99 it runs excenlent now besides the phanton coolant leak? i dont understand that

Wow all that from a dirty MAF'S nice work, I also did this I brought CNC electric cleaner form AZ and did it to clean the MAF'S also Igntion switch for better mpg's I used the nozzle not the red pipe. I think I have a coolant leak from my headgasket next to the radiator by the intake it leaks slowly I have to top the resivoir every week and a half. Is the cylinder head hard to remove to change the head gasket while its still in the car and what tools would I need.

Well u need need head bolts to start with u need them and i new gasket u need to take the head and have it machined at a shoppe and clean all gasket material from block and wait to get the head back. then place over top of the guide pins take extra caution not to dent gasket of tear then it is ruined then u have to tighten the bolts in a certian pattern then u are done o also u need to remove the entire timing chain houseing and chain its self

oh yes u need to retime the car also also u will need a new timing chain cover gasket and new intake manifold gaskets as well as trottle body gaskets and new coolant crossover gaskets and new egr valve gaskets and new valve cover gaskets new exshaut manifold gaskets clean the hell out of all of the gasket material that is left over from the old gaskets

you will also need a new crankshaft seal. LOL its hard i done it all but i love my car

I believe retiming the car is difficult isnt it? I know there are several special tools needed for disassembling the 3.5. I know there is one tool to hold the cams in place when servicing that area.

Im just going off hearsay and what little ive seen in various manuals, but I believe its all complicated stuff.

? Get head machined
43x2= 86 New head bolts Rockauto
New head gasket
New Timing chain cover gasket
New Intake manifold gaskets
New Throttle body gaskets
New Coolant crossover gaskets
New EGR valve gaskets
New valve cover gaskets
New exhaust manifold gaskets
25 New crankshaft seal Rockauto
228 for upper engine repair only kit from Rockauto

Remove entire timing chain housing and chain
Clean all gasket material from all previous gaskets
Bolt in certain pattern and place over guide pins
Retime the engine

This looks like a lot of work and time I think I have to pull out the engine and their just isn’t enough room for the work not to mention removing the accessories also, and draining fluids out, I think if I do a little more by unbolting the flywheel from the torque converter and motor mounts, wires, hoses, whole exhaust section I could lift it out. I also got to change the ac compressor with clutch or just the clutch.

I was wondering if it was easy but I think I might sell the car earlier now. I remember last year I drove it hard one night and when I came back to the garage floor I noticed that car just dump a line of oil from the HG by the front of the car and it also leaked coolant slowly before that so must be it, but its holding up the oil did fall down a little. I couldn’t believe if it was for real nothing mixed and now I’m trying to find pics of a LX5 with the head off to study this leaking.

What i ment by getting the head machined was taking it have it clean and shaved when you take the head off of the car it always good practice to have it checked for cracks and warpage it the head it warped they can shave the head back to a flat line there is very little room under the hood but i managed to be able to pull all the parts off and reinstall them under the hood untill we found out that the block was warped. and yes it is very cramped but it is possible to take the heads off without taking the engine out of the car.

have the head machined will save you a little money becuase they might be able to fix it rather than you have to buy a new one i know because i spent the money to have it done on both the front and back heads. vers me buying new heads which would have put in the hole. or you can buy a remanufactured engine online i have seen a couple but there are pricey. or you can buy a used engine and rebuild it from the ground up as i did

Yes they wanted like 225.00 dollars for the cam holding fixtures at summit racing i thought they would be expensive but not that is no to expensive compared to everything else that is needed. im not to sure about the timing order i have a huge book that has all of that stuff in there.

Why is this happening only happens sometimes and it dosent other i have never understood it. is there anything that may help slove this problems

Why is this happening only happens sometimes and it dosent other i have never understood it. is there anything that may help slove this problems

I think everyone has the same problem it's really noticeable in winter to me, the dealer replaced my alternator twice which never really fixed it. I just learned to live with it and I really dont notice it anymore, it may not even do it.

If you replaced the alternator and the lights still flicker, it's most likely the air pump cycling on and off. It's especially noticeable if you have a failing battery, as the alternator is always trying to charge the battery while powering everything else.

No it was not hard to replace the engine altought the transmission mounts were a little diffacult to get to,

I have to replace the engine on a 99. Should I get a cherry picker and pull it from above, or drop it out the bottom? Are the axles hard to get out from the transmission on the inboard joints? Does the transaxle shift cable just pop off the selector switch?

Thanks.

I'm glad somebody has the time and energy to swap engines on Intrigues. It would not take much for me to get a new car. That said, my Intrigue is running like new and am planning a 3000 mile road trip this March in it. Hope to keep it until the new hybrids are available.