Aveo Engine Durability

I'm sort of back, haven't posted in 2 years since the aveo died. But I came across an '04 Aveo in the yard today with the engine still in place. For fun I checked the timing belt and it was in one piece and it turns over easily by hand.

But what worries me is the car was immaculate and here it sits in the junk yard. It's an automatic transmission car so possibly the transmission gave the owner enough head aches and they junked it.

When checking over the engine I noticed that the air filter housing was not mounted to the car, like someone had removed it to do some work but just left the bolts in the housing.

I'm hoping my step dad can get the car back from his friend he sold it to for cheap so I can buy the engine and do a swap and get the darn thing back on the road.



So, my question is. If turning it over by hand shows no signs of binding , the timing belt is not snapped, and I see no holes in the block. All should be well?

I would have a shop do a leakdown to make sure everything was healthy in there. You never know if there was an issue that was on the verge of destroying something big.

if you verify the engine turning over turns the top end too, i would probably do a compression test cranking it over by hand in the yard before you pull it.. even if you only check one cylinder.

However, be careful turning it over too much without the oil priming, and knowing if it has any water in it or such.