Replacing valves and fixing timing belt restore compression?

I have a 2007 Chevy Aveo w/ 1.6L engine. A few days ago my car died and I had it towed to a mechanic. He showed me that there was 0psi compression coming from the cylinders (I believe all of them). Also he showed me where my timing jumped. I'm pretty sure the valves are bent but I refuse to pay $2500 on a new engine. Will replacing these two things restore compression? The mechanic says it could work but it would cause high pressure in the top of the engine and low pressure in the bottom so he doesn't advise that. I have done deep engine work before so i know what I pretty doing when it comes to the manual labor. I just haven't worked on a case like this before so I'm not too sure.

You'll need to pull the head to know the full extent of the damage. If the pistons survived, new valves and possibly seats and/or guides along with a timing kit (don't cheap out and not change the water pump) should have you motoring for much less than $2500.

I lost two timing belts in the life of my Aveo,
Both times, I bent multiple valves, with minimal surface damage to the pistons.
I was able to get it running both times, having spent:
$50 - New set of valves
~$200 - Timing kit, Including Water Pump
$35 - Head Gasket and Valve Cover Gasket
$25 - New Set of Head Bolts

You can save a lot of money doing it yourself,
But expect multiple days of labor.
(I did the work in two weekends.)

Most of the work can be done with typical tools,
except for the valve spring compression when putting in new valves.
I would recommend doing the research and spending the $80 on the proper tool,
having wasted many hours doing it with the wrong tools.

If you have any questions,
you can PM me.
I did both valve jobs pretty recently so its still fresh in my mind.

Thank you both!

+1

Yeah, you could prob pick up a refurbed head as well, most of the time there is no damage on the lower end but you should look anyways. I would avoid that mechanic though. How many miles is on the aveo?

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Originally Posted by thehunterooo

+1

Yeah, you could prob pick up a refurbed head as well, most of the time there is no damage on the lower end but you should look anyways. I would avoid that mechanic though. How many miles is on the aveo?

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A little over 103,000. The mechanic said this is really high miles for my small engine. Is it really that bad? It sounds like lower miles to me.

My family has a 2007 Yaris with 239,000 miles on the original engine. I don't consider 103k high mileage if it has been maintained properly.

Was the timing belt ever done before? The timing belt service should be done every 60k miles on the 1st gen's. The engines will last 100k's of miles if maintained, the mechanic sounds like a noob lol

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Originally Posted by tbarb13

A little over 103,000. The mechanic said this is really high miles for my small engine. Is it really that bad? It sounds like lower miles to me.

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It's "high miles" for an Aveo that hasn't had it's timing belt service. Unfortunately the 2004 to 2008's run on borrowed time after 60K miles if they don't have the service done. It's right there in the owner's manual, but most people don't realize how catostrophic it can be to not get it done on time on 1st generation Aveo's. It's really the achilles heal of the car. On the bright side your valve cover gasket would have started leaking at some point anyway.

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Originally Posted by thehunterooo

Was the timing belt ever done before? The timing belt service should be done every 60k miles on the 1st gen's. The engines will last 100k's of miles if maintained, the mechanic sounds like a noob lol

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I just bought this car 2 weeks ago so idk. But, I went to take the timing belt off and it looked GOOD. Like new with a little dirt on it good. But I still cant be too sure so I replaced it anyway. However when i was changing it I did find a what looked like a shred of a belt inside the bottom of the timing cover (on top of the crankshaft gear). I'm thinking that the belt did break at some point and the last mechanic did a very poor job. It kinda all adds up with the timing being off, a new looking belt, and a shred of the old belt in the cover. I'm thinking this got between the belt and caused the timing to jump some.

How many miles is on the car now?

when you do the timing belt, do the tensioner, and idler pulleys as well as the water pump.

the comment of high pressure in the top end and low pressure in the bottom (or whatever) means you need a different mechanic, he doesn't know why he is talking about.

103,xxx miles

If the pulleys and such look a little old I doubt it was ever changed to begin with lol. I know when I did mine at 56k the belt looked like new still but one of the pulleys was breaking down already.

Ok so I got the head off and I'm taking it to a shop today! Do NEED a new head gasket and exhaust manifold gasket? And can the same torque sequence used to put the intake & exhaust manifolds on as I took them off. Because I know the head bolts have a different sequence for removing and putting back on.

You definitely need get new gaskets, and follow the proper install procedures for the head, the manifolds are not as crucial. but it is the same concept so find them and follow those as well.