2000 Cavalier 2.2 engine porn

[Anduril]

Saw the other thread like this and was replacing a leaky valve cover gasket today so figured why not snap a pic. Car has 135,000 miles on it, I purchased it back in 2007 with about 50k on it. Hasn't moved for the last 3 years. Before that, it got Rotella 15w-40 every 5,000 miles.

 

[Nick1994]

You replaced the valve cover gasket on a car that's been sitting for 3 years? Are you going to be driving it again?

The varnish! Oh the horror!

Merk would not be happy

 

[2010Civic]

It obviously gets the job done but that looks like a pretty crude valve train.

I recently replaced an engine in a 2006 Civic (the car hit something on the road taking out the radiator and the brilliant owner kept driving until the engine fried) and the valve train on that is like a piece of art.

 

[eljefino]

This from a 93:

You can play "spot what changed"... I only had one injector, but the rockers are on studs, and there's some sort of tin plate in there doing something or other.

 

[The_Eric]

Originally Posted By: Nick1994

The varnish! Oh the horror!

Merk would not be happy


Speak of the Devil... Where has he been?

 

[The_Eric]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
This from a 93:

You can play "spot what changed"... I only had one injector, but the rockers are on studs, and there's some sort of tin plate in there doing something or other.


The tin plate is likely what positions/holds/guides the push rod and rocker. It was required because the old style rocker was on a ball and could rotate, which would do bad things to the push rod. The newer set up places the (roller) rocker in a holder, aligning it, thus no push rod guide plate required.

 

[tig1]

It's my understanding these engines are well known for lasting a very long time.

 

[Driz]

I got an 03 cavalier with this mill years back with 130k on it. it had been owned by a long distance commuter I would imagine and it been wrecked in the front fixed. My daughter drove this car 2 years of high school and off through four years of college and another couple years after which I still find amazingly hard to believe . I can honestly say that this was by far including the Honda's iPhone so many of the best engine I've ever laid eyes on. I can honestly say I never really got to know much about this engine because it's the only high mileage engine I ever saw that I never had to really touch other than changing fluids. We sold it at 217,000 and the guys probably still driving it today.
It's unfortunate that the body on those cars was so thin and they had a few other on desirable characteristics like it handle horribly and snow unless you had a good snow tires on it but aside from that the general car held up well, far far better than any other Chevrolet of the many ive owned. I did some looking up concerning this engine series eco-tech and I understand it was actually developed back in 1974 and shelved. Something about a joint venture that would work in the US Japan and Europe and it was designed by engineers from all three locations. I never thought I'd see the day when I can't say they made a Chevrolet that held up better than a Honda Civic but believe me that version did and I've owned a lot of Honda Civic's CRX s and the the like.

 

[Anduril]

Originally Posted By: Nick1994
You replaced the valve cover gasket on a car that's been sitting for 3 years? Are you going to be driving it again?

The varnish! Oh the horror!

Merk would not be happy

Yes, I am going to be driving it again. It was leaking when I parked it but obviously I didn't fix it then.

Originally Posted By: tig1
It's my understanding these engines are well known for lasting a very long time.

Wife had the same car and the engine went to 237,000 before the transmission died.

 

[Lolvoguy]

Originally Posted By: tig1
It's my understanding these engines are well known for lasting a very long time.


You would be correct.

Despite being terribly antiquated and primitive design, these engine's were known for racking up crazy mileage due to their simplicity and robust design. Heck, I really wish some of it's simplicity would have rubbed off on my Focus with it's plastic intake manifold, and tumble flap issues...but I digress.

Sure it won't win and "Ward's Best" engine awards, but it'll always do it's job, and for a very low cost.

 

[Anduril]

The whole car (minus the dash) is pretty easy to work on, too.

 

[addyguy]

I had a 2002 Cavalier with this engine. Crude looking, yes, but indestructible.

Possibly the best car I've ever had - should have never ditched it.

Glad to see you kept yours, and are putting it back on the road.

 

[SatinSilver]

Kind of reminds me of the 1980 Olds Omega we used to have. It had the Iron Duke in it and never had any issues with the engine over the 12 years that we had it.

 

[bbhero]

You are very correct Tig1. If I am not mistaken this motor was in my lady's 2001 Sunfire. Great motor that never leaked and burned an inconsequential amount of oil per 7k mile run. We sold the car for $800 to a young fella. Car had 214k miles on it at the time. I told that 16 fella not go drive it like Jeff Gordon and that if he did that it would last a good bit longer. My lady saw him on the road in that car last year. Pretty impressive.

 

[Nick1994]

Originally Posted By: The_Eric
Originally Posted By: Nick1994

The varnish! Oh the horror!

Merk would not be happy


Speak of the Devil... Where has he been?
He had a suspension on here but came back, hasn't posted since April but his profile shows he logged in a couple days ago.

 

[Hootbro]

Had a 2001 Cavalier with a 2.2 and that was the best part of the car. Everything else around it from the junk plastic interior and body panels fell apart but that 2.2 engine you could not kill. Got a hair over 300K on mine before my teenage son wrecked it and other than a slapping timing chain around 150K that got fixed then, never had a problem with the engine.

Eventually put three teenage kids in 3 different Cavaliers with the 2.2 because it was so easy of an engine to work on.

 

[Colt45ws]

Mine from back in the day.

 

[Anduril]

That poor engine... flooring it without even warming it up first? Looks like yours had the 3 speed auto, which is absolutely horrible for both acceleration and MPG. I made sure I got one with the 4 speed and remember getting a personal best of 37 mpg doing 400 miles of straight freeway at 70-80 mph. Doesn't sound bad for a 4-cylinder with a pair of Magnaflows behind it, especially compared to a similar Honda.

I swapped out my gause cluster with one from a Sunfire, because I like the layout better along with the red backlighting. Swapped the HVAC controls and gear indicator to match. Paint is holding up ok except for the c-pillars and both bumpers which have been replaced. I might do a DIY repaint on those, as I do actually like the body style (sort of a baby Camaro of the same vintage, imo). Perhaps a red racing stripe (yes, I know...) to match the interior.

 

[Colt45ws]

Originally Posted By: Anduril
That poor engine... flooring it without even warming it up first? Looks like yours had the 3 speed auto, which is absolutely horrible for both acceleration and MPG. I made sure I got one with the 4 speed and remember getting a personal best of 37 mpg doing 400 miles of straight freeway at 70-80 mph. Doesn't sound bad for a 4-cylinder with a pair of Magnaflows behind it, especially compared to a similar Honda.

I swapped out my gause cluster with one from a Sunfire, because I like the layout better along with the red backlighting. Swapped the HVAC controls and gear indicator to match. Paint is holding up ok except for the c-pillars and both bumpers which have been replaced. I might do a DIY repaint on those, as I do actually like the body style (sort of a baby Camaro of the same vintage, imo). Perhaps a red racing stripe (yes, I know...) to match the interior.

Oh I floored that thing everywhere, anytime, and for any reason. The gas pedal might as well have been a ON/OFF switch.
And yeah, the 3 speed. That engine did quite a bit of running at 4500ish rpm for hours on end through the Nevada desert since there was no OD. First time I did that was when I discovered it would slurp Mobil 1 5W30 faster than 1qt/1k mi while running like that.

 

[nthach]

Is that engine an variant of the Iron Duke or it's different engine family? I've thought GM made a push to "update" the Cavalier/Sunfire with the Ecotec engine and 4-speed with OD in the late 90s...