So the engine didn’t just come back out a second time just so I could add some heat shielding…
With the car running I drove across the street for an alignment (sitting in the pic here waiting to go on the rack)…
On the drive back across the street to the shop, the rear tires locked. Fun times sliding into our parking lot. Motor was seized. Oil pressure was strong and everything was running right so best guess right now is that it was the thing I had feared in the back of my head from the beginning – this engine had come from a donor car that we discovered had been flipped, so if the engine had been running while it was upside down, the bearings were doomed from the start.
Not going to allow this to stop me, I gave myself one day to come to terms with things and began the hunt for a motor the next day. Made some calls and found that Cord Bauer of Catfish fame had a unicorn of a motor sitting around that he was willing to part with – this one from a 2013 with only ~500 miles on it (!!) Thanks Cord!
That engine is here already, and I’m about half way through transferring everything from old engine to new:
LFX’s are growing on trees around here! That’s the new motor on the right, with nearly everything swapped over:
A peek inside the pan from the old motor confirms that yeah those bearings are done! Thoroughly cleaning everything in the oil system before swapping over to the new engine (pan, pickup, adapter plate, lines, cooler, etc.)
Interesting discovery while swapping parts over from the old motor to new…
2012 valve covers – plastic, 3.45 lbs each
2013+ valve covers – aluminum, 6.40 lbs each
So the newer engines have 6 more pounds up high. The plastic valve covers are now on the new engine.