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May 25, 2006  My wife and I headed to Harry's U-Pull-It in Allentown, PA. They had a $45 engine special this week. We located a 2.4L (sans oil pan and exhaust cam gear) from a 1996 Cirrus. The engine had already been pulled when the transmission was salvaged. A quick snip of the throttle and cruise control cable was all that was needed to pull the engine. I grabbed an exhaust cam gear from another 2.4L in the yard. No guarantee on what I'm getting, but it gives me an inexpensive starting point.

June 2, 2006  I picked up a 1,000 lb. capacity engine stand on sale from Harbor Freight.

June 3, 2006  Today began by constructing the engine stand purchased yesterday. I needed to get this engine off the floor of my shed to begin the tear down. Not having an engine hoist available, I used a clever system of three ratchet straps, chain, and a roof truss of my shed to lift the engine and get it bolted to the engine stand. Unfortunately, I did not get any pictures of this procedure.

I began some minor tear down removing hoses, accessory brackets, wiring harness, and intake and exhaust manifolds. I found some evidence of a coolant leak around the thermostat and water pump. However, this could have been leakage from the engine being pulled.
   
June 10, 2006  I started to get into the gravy of the tear down this evening. Removed most of the front of the engine (timing belt, water pump, etc.) and began working on the head. The only problem I found during the head tear down was the R5 cap on the exhaust cam was loose. I could jiggle the cap and remove the cap bolts by hand. Other than that, just some normal wear and tear.
           
June 11, 2006  I got the head pulled off this morning. Here are a few images of the cylinders. Cylinders #1 and #4 are relatively clean. Cylinders #2 and #3 were a different story.