My 1999 (Autobahn) Major Overhaul

[alienel]

Hi Aurora owners. I just thought I would post a couple of pictures of my 1999 Aurora. I just had the engine rebuilt as well as the transmission.
The only parts I didn't change were the crankshaft, pistons and the heads. My engine was extremely clean inside but the engine leaked oil on the exhaust crossover
and was starting to leak coolant. When the engine was torn down the heads were actually leaking externally and into the block under the intake manifold.
No coolant had got into the oil or oil in the coolant.

The engine block has 40 New TimeSert inserts (20 for the head bolts and 20 for the block)
New crankshaft bearings and connecting rod bearings. New Piston rings.
New timing chains, new tensioners, new timing chain guides and shoe kits.
New Crankshaft position sensors and oil level sensor.
New Head gaskets and all new gaskets on the whole engine including exhaust gaskets
Basically the complete engine was resealed using sealant on the block, oil pan rail and oil pan. (As per GM service bulletin for reseal)

The 4T80E Transmission was torn down and found to have no sticking valves and very clean inside. I had a code for the TCC solenoid inside the side cover and when the transmission
was tested with the scan tool the torque converter was not performing to specs.
I had a new torque converter and solenoid installed. I had all the gaskets and axle seals replaced. Since the sub frame was out and I had to have an alignment anyways
I had the front ball joints replaced as well.

Before I brought the car in to have all of this work done I had already replaced both belt tensioners, the idler pulley and new belts myself.
I had also just replaced the alternator and the blower control module out of necessity. I put new stabilizer bar link kits on the front and back
using polyurethane bushings which I highly recommend.

All I can say is Wow!! does this car ever feel nice. I have pictures of most of the teardown on the engine and transmission but I am just posting a couple of pictures for now.
Sorry for the long post but if anyone wants to ask questions about what the engine was like with 123000 miles on it, feel free. One timing chain tensioner was ready to fail
and could have been catastrophic.

[RCA1186]

Wow that's a lot of work! Mind if I ask what it ran you? Would love to see pics of the engine and trans rebuild if you have em

[alienel]

It certainly is a lot of work. The parts alone for the engine and transmission as well as a few A/C seals and a few other fittings ran
a little over $6400 in parts. I'll let you use your imagination for labour as it was done at the dealership (Ouch!!)

I have to resize all my pictures as they were taken with a high resolution camera. Here are two pictures the day the engine was removed.
My engine was very clean inside as I always used Mobil 1 synthetic. You can see the oil leaks from the block and the oil pan as well
as where I tried to seal around the perimeter of the oil pan with RTV sealant. The temporary sealing lasted all last summer but the oil
dripping on the exhaust crossover and getting sucked into the interior was what made up my mind to fix it.

I am actually glad I had the dealer do the work because I was going to have the heads and reseal done by Northstar Performance
in Manitoba but after a trip all the way to Manitoba and a bad experience when I arrived I decided to not leave my car there.
I actually think the inserts used to repair the threads on the heads and block are very durable instead of using an oversized stud.
The inserts can actually go to second oversize if the standard size happened to be damaged.

I will try and post more photos when I resize them. Right now I can only show two photos at a time before the size limit is reached.
I just goy the car back on Monday last week and it really feels good.(Especially no burning oil smell)

[electrostatictommy]

I did much the same, but I replaced the pistons and used cast inserts instead of timeserts. I also used new lifters.

[alienel]

Wow!! Hello ElectrostaticTommy. That looks like a really clean rebuild. Where did you get the giant box of pistons?
My pistons actually had only a thin layer of carbon that just wiped off with cleaner. I checked all of the connecting rods
and wrist pins and none of them had any play in them in any direction. Since they were in good condition I just had new rings installed.

The GM rebuild documentation even said that if the crosshatching was still visible in the cylinder sleeves no honing was necessary.
The sealant used to seal the block as well as the oil pan rail(manifold) and oil pan comes highly recommended. I read that the sealant is
used on all the Duramax diesel engines and once the parts have bonded and cured it is really hard to get the pieces apart.

I wish I could have had the heads overhauled but the engine always ran quiet at the cam covers. The cost was getting so high I decided to not
to touch the heads. Now that the car is up and running I can say it is as quiet and smooth as it ever was. I really think the use of synthetic
oil really kept the engine in great condition. Here is a couple of pictures, the one picture shows the engine partially rebuilt with just one
of the cam timing chains installed(waiting for a couple of guides to arrive) the other picture is when they were just installing the engine and
transmission onto the sub frame.

I have one more question. How do you get so may nice pictures in your post? I seem to only be able to put two pictures
and I've reached the size limit. I would like to post more photos of the rebuild process. Mine isn't as clean as yours on the outside
but the dealership doesn't go out of it's way to do extra cleaning. I did get to follow the progress closely and was very happy with the cleanliness
inside and the extra steps to reseal the engine and cooling system as well as the transmission sealing. I strongly believe that the engine is
sealed much better than when it was originally built. I'm going to have to get busy this summer to clean up the cam covers and paint them in the
car. Lots of tape and paper. Thanks for showing me some of your photos. Nice Diamond White Aurora!!

[electrostatictommy]

Those are lifters, not pistons. I use photobucket to post photos. Mine isn't white diamond, it's bright white with graphite interior.

[alienel]

I should have realized those were the new lifters from your post. Your Aurora looks really nice with the polished aluminum factory wheels.
The bright white paint looks great and your car is the only white with that nice graphite interior I have seen.

Here is a couple of pictures of mine back in the car