My Aunt's 2008 Saturn Vue

[packman]

My aunt came over a couple hours ago whilst working on the Crown Vic. So I cut that work short to take a look at her catch can. And to my surprise; it was filled with that froth and water. So I figured that I had the flow wrong? I thought with a pcv system; air is sucked in through the air intake tube and through the valve cover. Perhaps that's the idea with a traditional system; air comes in from the air intake tube; through the valve cover; and into the crankcase. Then the crankcase gases are expelled through the (lower) intake manifold and reintroduced through the intake manifold behind the throttle body. In any event; I reversed the flow of the catch can and will check on it next time she comes over. If I see the same thing; I will put it back the way I had it. If it's filled with oil like it should be; I will leave it. And I fail to remember cleaning the other end of the pcv system. I don't think I did that last summer. That's the tube that runs from the top of the intake manifold to the bank# 2 valve cover. Next time she's over; I will pop it off and clean it out for good measure.

Pics

[jaywish]

On a traditional system the air intake system sucks dirty air from the valve covers or directly from the crankcase. It gets burned along with the fresh air and gas. The PCV meters the dirty air being sucked out of the engine. So unless I am missing something the catch should be between the PCV and the intake with the flow arrow pointing away from the PC valve to the intake. I could not figure out if that is what you have from the pictures.

Jay

[packman]

The arrow is by the "K" and is pointed away from the pcv valve fitting. This 3.6 is different from most engines I've dealt with. My 305sbc, both Rangers, the 2.8 in the S-10, the 5.0/5.8 in the CV, and my 4.6 all have a clear intake side of the pcv (usually through the valve cover); and an exhaust side of the pcv (usually from the intake manifold). But this engine has 2 tubes coming off of each valve cover bank. I will see what that catch can look like the next time she's over. I'm also going to clean out the other tube because I don't remember touching it when I initially installed the catch can.

[jaywish]

If it on the PCV hose & pointing away from the pcv it should be correct on pretty much any install.

[sly]

Side note: If she does lots of short trips and the nights are cool, it could just be condensation built up in the catch can from humid air and not getting the vehicle up to operating temp for very long.

[packman]

So last Wednesday, I had to fish my Aunt out of Morris Plains. She told me that her Vue had the symptoms of a bad battery. So I was able to jump her Vue to get her back to her place. I went out and got a new battery and replaced the old one. Her Vue cranked and fired right up. All was good until I smelt something burning; which was the alternator. Long story short, after much running around, we got a new alternator. Spent most of the weekend replacing the alternator. On Saturday afternoon, I started by removing the front wheel to get at the pulley tensioner and the alternator pulley bolt from underneath. That took a good 15-20 minutes to get those items loose. Discovered later that I didn't need to do that. What I should have done is remove the airbox assembly to get access to the tensioner and alternator pulley bolt; it's easier that way. After doing that I removed the 2 side bolts on the alternator; disconnected the regulator wiring and the charge cable; then removed the alternator from the side of the engine. Removing the alternator and replacing it with the new unit took 4 hours; yes, it took me that long to figure out how to squeeze the old one out and cram the new alternator back into the engine compartment. What I learned is that I needed to remove the upper radiator hose and unbolt the radiator from its mounts. I did this to push the radiator forward so I could have a little more space to take out and put in the alternator. Otherwise, I would have to remove the engine mount like a lot of the YouTube vids suggested I do. Doing these things made it possible to remove the alternator without having to mess with the engine mounts.

With that said; when we attempted to fire up the Vue; it wouldn't start. Somebody hooked the battery back up after I disconnected it on Wednesday night. I think this drained the battery because the old alternator was shorting out. After going home and coming back with my car (borrowed the Explorer to bring all of the tools, jacks, and stuff), I tested the battery and jumped the Vue. It fired right up and ran good. After running it around the block, my Aunt said her door chime went off a bunch of times during that trip. She said it did this a couple years ago after she first got the Vue; and she shut the car off for a few minutes and restarted it; and the door chimes haven't gone off (whilst driving) since. I will look this up in the meanwhile to figure out what is going on. Otherwise, the Vue runs smooth and she no longer has a CEL. I managed to kill the front airbox bolt (the one that is at an angle) when I tried to put it back in. I will have to remove the headlight, drill those threads out, and stick a bolt and nut to hold the front of the airbox in place. So yeah, that was the weekend. Next time she's over, I will change her oil and see about getting the new rotors and pads installed.

Pics

[87gtVIC]

You are a nice nephew.

Why oh why must some jobs require that much work for a simple item?

[packman]

Because some car manufacturers hate me. LOL

At least now I know how to change the oil in a much cleaner manner than I had been. The oil filter is in a really bad spot and angled 45* down. When I took that lower valance off, I had better access to the oil filter. I can get a hammer and punch in there instead of trashing my drills.

[packman]

Welp, this car is no more. Chucked a head gasket and trashed its timing chain; or perhaps the gear(s); my Aunt tried to recall exactly what the mechanic told her.

A friend of her's hooked my Aunt up with a 2007 Kia Sedona. Went down to south Jersey to take a look at it yesterday. 130k on the odometer and had most of its recalls replaced except the lower control arms as they look to be in good shape. Her friend's boyfriend had it at his shop; so we had it up on the lift and looked everything over. It seems to run smooth and it has little rust. So I have a new potential project. I'm annoyed that the Saturn let go like that after all of the work that I done to it; but happy that she seems to have a better vehicle.