Anyone had Astro van engine experience ?
Well I dropped a cylinder in my service van, this winter. Burnt valve.
'94 Chevy Astro with 4.3 V6.
198K miles(never been opened up & religiously maintained) and am hearing a little piston slap. No oil usage or loss. Was still strong before the cyl dropped.
Question; I know I SHOULD freshen up the whole engine, but if all I can really afford is a valve grind, Am I going to need to pull the engine or can it be done in-chassis ? I really dislike working on 'van' engines, and it takes me 1.5 hours to just change the plugs on THIS one ! VERY tight quarters.
If I have to yank it out, do I drop it out the bottom or through the front of the engine room ?
It's my experience that opening up a high mileage engine is like opening a can of worms. Ya start finding things that NEED and SHOULD be replaced ! ARG.......