Firebirdjoe

Hey guys, ok heres whats going on with my engine swap.

My 3.1 had a cracked head and two bent valves, so we junked the engine and swapped it out for a 2.8 from a parts car that I bought. The 3.1 had 170,000 miles and the 2.8 has 111,000. The 2.8 engine was also babied, well taked care of and ran excellent up til the accident the parts car was in.

We yanked out the 2.8 with the tranny and dropped it in my Firebird. We got everything hooked up, double checked everything to make sure it was correct. I've been driving the car for the past four days and it's been a little sluggish but nothing too bad. Now I am having problems getting the damn car to even move at all. It is extreemly slow, slower than yesterday. My speedometer and Tach guages are really sluggish too. They tend to idle really low on the dash board.

On the budget that I have, this was the only option I had to get this car running. So here's my question, is dropping in a 2.8 from a 1988 Firebird into my 3.1 1991 Firebird a bad thing? Or should everthing pretty much hook up and be the same?

Thanks for your help, Firebirdjoe

Project: 85 2.8 bird

Am I gonna have to go down there again? This is what happens when you get rid of the parts car before I was done :nono:

recheck all the vacuum/electrical lines. did you remember to replace the braided grounding straps on the back of heads?

Firebirdjoe

Hey Nate! We rechecked all of the vacume and electrical lines. Everything seems to be in place and in good condition. I didn't know anything about braided grounding straps on the heads?? I'm not mechanically smart if you remeber... (I'm a dumbass when it comes to cars....LOL)

I am just getting really pissed with this car. It runs like crap, the dash is cracking, there is rust everywhere etc... I don't think there is any part, big or small, on my car that isn't broken or doesn't have a problem. I'm so pissed I'm ready to junk it and buy a Honda Civic for the reliability!

Hmmmm... maybe if I can get a buddy to steal it and roll it into the Ohio river I can collect the insurance money...??

Project: 85 2.8 bird

yo trash that sweet ride I'll godown ther & kick yor as$!!!!

Are ther any codes ? you did put every thing that was on the 3.1 on the 2.8 correct? gotta make sure..recheckthe hard vacuumlines, they like to snp & not let you know it. Aso check the egr lines again.

Firebirdjoe

No, we ran out of time so we just dropped the 2.8 in as a whole engine. We haven't checked for any codes... although it has been done before by two mechanics and an auto-zone employee and nobody has ever been able to get any codes off this car. A lot of people have been baffeled by my car, I've even had people who think the entire computer system in the car is fried...

KED85

MAYBE ya want to believe the engine has/had ONLY 111,000 miles...
IF it ran before it should now.
IT starts so computer is "OK"
I'd seriously do a compression check to see where it's at.
My 211,500 2.8 1985 Blazer engine, even after the head swap that was WORTHLESS EFFORT (BUT I paid like ZERO for all stuff, so was worth the TRY, NOT the effort....)
only generated 50 PSI per cylinder.....
Yep, I junked that mill so fast when I had the option of buying the 50K mile 3.4

I think ....... Sorry....
Should have sold all the stuff & found a better engine option for the effort....
I know shoulda/woulda/coulda
Ask TomP, he's been down that "Cheap 2.8" engine swap route before...

PS IF the computer registers the "code 12"... computer is OK....

Check all hoses for good connection.
BUT even lousy vacuum hose connections can still make car move.....
Check compression......
Ya want a compression of atleast 100 per cylinder.....

TomP

Like Project85 said, you should've swapped the injectors and intake manifold and throttle body and knock sensor and etc over to the 2.8 block.

2.8
----
adjustable TPS
MAF airflow measurement requires no knock sensor
cold start injector

3.1
----
self-adjusting TPS
MAP (speed density) air measurement requires knock sensor
no cold start injector (eliminated with speed density)

Supposedly you can cap off the outlet at the top of the fuel rail to eliminate the cold start sensor. There should've been no way to plug electrical into it since the 3.1 harness would've had no plug, though. I didn't even think the TPS connectors were the same (passenger side of throttle body)?

And how's the timing? I'm not sure if there's a hole in the 2.8 block for the 3.1 knock sensor...?

Doward

Tom beat me to it... just follow his advice, lol.

Basically SD vs MAF. You've got to have the rest of the 3.1 stuff to go to the 2.8 block. Think of it as you are only using the 2.8 heads, block, cam, and rotating assembly.

TomP

Well, ya know, I'm quick on the draw like the horse named Mcgraw...

Where the hell did That come from? Whooo boy... I better fix that exhaust leak soon.

Damien00677

maybe this is a bit to simple but could his timing have been off and the clamp thing is loose so it is working itself farther and farther out of sinc?

Doward

One other thing to think on... the 2.8 would have had a 3.42 rear, vs your 3.23. Can you still access the parts car? IF so, snag that rear end!

Firebirdjoe

We located the problem, apparently the fuel pump was going out from what I understood. So we'll see... I'm not a mechanic but I hope this is it.

Damien00677

Of course....why didn't we think of it....something completely unrelated...isn't that how it always is

How hard is it to replace our fuel pump anyway, probably takes longer than that 20 min for the fuel filter

Project: 85 2.8 bird

no, the parts car is gone

KED85

HOW do ya know the pump is gone.
Have ya pressure tested it yet?
That is the ONLY sure way to know.....
YET hope that is the problem as it's a PITA job Once solved car goes back to full speed zoom again!

Firebirdjoe

My buddy who rebuilt the car tested it and found it was the culprit. Hopefully he is right. I'd rather it be the fuel pump that an electrical or sensor problem.