Yesterday, I installed new front hubs, the 9 year old original hubs were rattling and whining, that was a fairly quick job, however it didn’t resolve all my front end noise.
So, today I swapped out the LCA in the passenger side, the ball joint was dry and loose! I put in a new rear bolt and a new pinch bolt for the ball joint stub. This really helps with the noise and rattling.



Old OEM bushing , 9 years of service spongy but not cracked

New FE5 bushing

New Moog greasable ball joint

Old dry loose ball joint, 209,000 klms / 130,000 miles

 

The over the last 2 days, I removed the swaybar and steering rack, in order to get at the driver’s side cage nut, I used a pair of 10 “ vise grips to hold the cage nut , then used my impact gun to back the bolt out! I’ll save you the hours of trying different things to get this done


The old cage nut and frame bolt are out!!

This is where that cage nut lived, it’s now occupied by the new cage nut, I managed to get a smaller pry bar in there and straighten out the front side of the cage , that held the new nut from spinning, so I could torque and turn that new bolt 180 degrees.

 

Today , I received new vent guards from WeatherTech , it’s still pouring rain , so I’ll wait till tomorrow!

They are installed, it’s like I chopped the roof 2 1/2 inches, love it!


I like the wind protection

 

Without going to look, I think mine are from AVS, in dark smoke.. They really make a nice difference..

 

I really like the way there’s wind deflection at the mirrors


This area is where most of the bugs bounce off the mirror and into the cabin, usually a bee, on Sweetie’s side.

 

I still miss vent-windows..

 

Today , I investigate an engine noise, I believe to be the water pump, but it could be something else, it’s almost 50 F degrees here today so at least I won’t freeze! My garage isn’t insulated or heated!
yea, I got the front cover off , the tensioner did not deploy, and the outside of the timing chain has worn significantly, that and the nylon piece in the tensioner guide is completely detached from the arm!
Moral, don’t go cheap, this chain kit , I got off EBay for $35.00.
It’s apart and yes the water pump is making a noise when I spin the impeller by hand. But the more alarming part is that the timing chain tensioner did not deploy and the tensioner arm has damaged plastic on it , I can see from the top.
After wrestling with that pipe the coolant runs thru from the water pump to the thermostat housing, and torquing the bolts, I called it a day yesterday. I ordered new camshaft bolts, new crankshaft bolt, Cloyes 9-4201SA timing chain kit and 9-4202A balance shaft chain kit. Thankfully I ordered the water pump and a Felpro water pump gasket kit, that gave me new gaskets for the pump 2 O-rings for the tube and the thermostat housing gasket. I’ll have time to clean all the bolts and gasket surfaces, while I wait for the new parts.
I also will be replacing the thermostat housing, the OEM has that coolant hose with the cap and clamp, there are cracks in that cap of aging rubber, the new housing I ordered is from a 2007, from Dorman, it doesn’t have that plug .
I also will replace the OEM thermostat with an AC Delco 131-158 180 degrees unit.

So, no driving the BlackSwan for a few days.
I just went through my notes, I changed the timing and balance shaft chains on Feb 25, 2020 and had to reuse the tensioner, I installed a new tensioner on May 5 2020, and as I recall I just changed the tensioner, and apparently it is not always going to deploy unless you remove the valve cover and deploy it manually, a soft tipped instrument and a gentle whack with a mallet or hammer.
I must have been lucky installing a new tensioner in Sweeties’03 Sunfire and my ‘07 HHR. So from now on, deploy the tensioner manually.

 

Old thermostat housing has the port on it, this would be for the oil cooler on 2.0 SS and earlier 2006 2.4 Ecotec engines
However, the 2007 style, has no water port to the oil cooler, well because my 2011 doesn’t have a water cooled oil cooler.


The OEM capped off thermostat housing

The 2007 housing from Dorman, no cap to crack and leak.



The rubber cap that is clamped on can crack and leak.

 

The new water pump is installed


Old water pump on the balance chain side

Old water pump , coolant side , note a touch of corrosion along the seal line , it was not long until a leak would have started

The new pump installed between the coolant housing on the left, which the tube slides into , (you see it there in the middle of the photo at the bottom) and the engine block on the right