# 1999 chevy malibu



## RyanEllington (Feb 20, 2010)

hello i have a 99 chevy malibu 3.1 v6 and i was driving down the road and car cut off. went to start it back up and it spins over normal but as soon as it fires up it starts to make a knocking noise and doesnt have any power. so i took valve cover off and only 3 rockers move when cranked. but what gets me is that if a motor is broke and blew up it would make the knocking noise when turning over but it doesnt until it fires. Any suggestions!


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Are they the first 3 back from the timing gear?


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## SABL (Jul 4, 2008)

Your engine has two valve covers...what is observed on the other bank of cylinders?? Three rockers moving is very odd but indicates a wiped camshaft... any rocker movement indicates the cam is rotating but to lose three of the six rockers on either side of the engine indicates wiped lobes or complete loss of oil pressure to the affected lifters. In reality you do not have real oil pressure until the engine hits a certain RPM... the rockers should have movement even when cranking. 

A failed engine may not knock when being turned over and only knocks after firing up. There is no stress during the cranking and symptoms will only present themselves once the engine comes to life. In your case I am thinking spun bearings (which do cause a knock) and total failure due to low oil level. I hope I am wrong.


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## SABL (Jul 4, 2008)

I'm glad wrench showed up...whew!! The picture I am seeing is not so pretty.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

My picture isn't much better first 3 would mean a broken cam.


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## RyanEllington (Feb 20, 2010)

wrench97 said:


> Are they the first 3 back from the timing gear?


yes they sure are!


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

It's probably a broken cam shaft then, they usually break because they were hit buy a broken connecting rod but not always. You'll have to get a little deeper and pull the intake off to get the lifters out and look in the holes to see what you can see.


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## SABL (Jul 4, 2008)

*OUCH!!*

I am familiar with the spun bearings.... did that with a 327 Chevy many years ago!! Sounds like major failure. Never broke a cam but did my share of trashing a few engines...:grin: The kids won't trust me with their cars...wonder what I could do with a '95 Z-28?? Lit it up big time when the kid brought it home for a test drive... all I said was "get out".... I brought it back with no fuel and little tread left on the rear tires..:laugh: Had no trouble with the 6 speed shift gate and made a good test run... he made a few improvements over the years and hides the keys from me.... it sits in my garage at this very moment.


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## wolfen1086 (Oct 4, 2007)

Even though it probably has a broken cam shaft the fact that it turns over and you not mentioning a big oil puddle is a good sign that if a rod is also broken it didn't go through the block yet, so in certain conditions it might be possible to rebuild it. but if you just want to swap it Rock Auto has a long block for your year with all fed emissions for $1623.79, its remaned by Marshal, so if you contact Marshal Engines they might have it cheaper or the same price. Here's a link to rock auto
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/raframecatalog.php?carcode=1367074&parttype=5240&a=FRc1367074k986995

and marshall
http://www.marshallengines.com/


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