Anyone familiar with GM Quad 4 engine??

[marriedmanw]

You may recall my previous post about my Grand AM 2.4cyl OHC engine making a rattle noise. The first mechanic opened the hood and listened and thought it was a spun bearing and advised to replace engine. I decided to drive to another mechanic yesterday but while in route the rattle sound stopped and engine died. The engine would crank over but not fire up. I towed to shop and mechanic looked it over and thinks the timing chain broke or jumped timing, and the valves have been damaged. He did a compression check and found 0 compression on all 4 cylinders. While cracking the engine I noticed that the cam is turning since it turns the power steering pump, so my question is: How does the cam turn if the timing chain is broken, and what would cause 0 compression on each cylinder? Do the pistons move while the engine cranks even with no timing chain?
2nd mechanic was really helpful and spent a hour looking it over doing the compression test, and charged me nothing. He said it will take a new head, valves, timing chain, etc... to fix and he advised he'd do the work but the cost would exceed the value of the car. I've towed the car home and sitting in my driveway till I figure what to do next.
I wonder if the bucket seats will fit the Ranger...
Thanks for any input.

 

[COPPERHEAD85]

yes pistons will move
probably jumped time and bent valves=0 compression
junk it.......
ive got seats out of a nissan pulsar in mine....
hope this helps.

 

[rboyer]

How old is the car? If it's 2000-up it may be worth enough in value to fix but once you start reaching the 10 year mark then something like that will probably be worth half of the mechanics bill. If it's a later model then i'm sure you could find a late model salvage yard that would sell you a complete running engine for less than it would cost for a new top end. I have put engines in older cars that still look decent but that's only because I can go pull an engine at the local junkyard for less than $100 or for $175 get to see one running in front of me and then have it pulled and loaded in the back of my truck. If you can find a cheap engine then the labor costs for having it installed would definitely not be as much as having the top end rebuilt.

 

[marriedmanw]

Copperhead - Thanks for the explain, that does make sense. I guess the pistons smacked the valves pretty hard. btw... What did you use to bolt down your seats? I was thinking of drill through cab floor and using high grade bolts.

Rboyer - It's a 93 model with 130K, and KBB shows blue book at $755. I'll probaly part it out then sell the metal to junk yard. I did check around on used engines but most junk yards want $400 for this engine with higher miles that what was on it. A reman was around $2K. The 2nd mechanic said if I decide to put an engine in it, the labor would be around $700. He also quoted $1500 to rebuild top end.
Thanks for both of the replies.