Apparently....

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Well, when cold mine is a little rough too. It also has shortage of power till it's warmed up. But no piston slap, and not THAT rough. It always starts fast and smoothly.
 
The GM 2.2L OHV is rough running but that is not why I don't like them.

I don't like them because their timing chains and tensioners are problematic, and nearly every one of the develops a head gasket leak at the #4 cylinder.
 
I don't know what your talking about... The head gasket is perfectly fine at 129k miles, and so is the timing chain and tensioner... No noise from the timing chain. Some of them might have those problems, but it is ignorant to say that all of them will. Alot apparently have cooling system problems, but I've yet to have any of those either.
 
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Originally Posted By: silverrat


And if your 2.2 OHV runs smoother than the 4.6L v8 then theres something wrong with the v8.


I dunno, I have had 2 4.6 liters and they are not quite what I would describe as silky smooth.
 
Originally Posted By: LS2JSTS
Originally Posted By: daves87rs
Originally Posted By: LS2JSTS
My 2.2 Eco is smooth as silk, not quite the Honda sewing machine but still a very smooth engine. Under hard acceleration I actually like the way it sounds, which is rare for me and a four banger.

Rudolphna, my ecotec has twin balance shafts, where did you hear that the eco doesn't. Or is that something that was added in later years?....Doh, nevermind, see you have the OHV 2.2



Eco? Cobalt?


Kissing cousin, HHR


Good choice!
 
Originally Posted By: ls1mike
Yeah I had a 99 GT, silky smooth does not come to mind.




That's the 2.4, which is so so engine....
 
Originally Posted By: artificialist
The GM 2.2L OHV is rough running but that is not why I don't like them.

I don't like them because their timing chains and tensioners are problematic, and nearly every one of the develops a head gasket leak at the #4 cylinder.




And how many of these have you worked on?


It depends on the year of the engine.....
 
Originally Posted By: daves87rs
Originally Posted By: ls1mike
Yeah I had a 99 GT, silky smooth does not come to mind.




That's the 2.4, which is so so engine....

That is a Mustang GT :)
 
I still think some people are subjective and biased. Why is it no matter how small and buzzy a japanese 4-cylinder is, and how much the mechanical followers clatter, they hardly ever are critical of them. Then they criticise engines like the 2.2 OHV, and Ecotech, which has been measured and tested to be smoother and quieter than import competition. It's subjectivity and bias.

If you took the most esteemed import designs and told people they were made by GM, they would instantly scream "Junk!". And vice versa if you took some of GM's best designs and labeled them import brand people would say how great they are lol. there actually have been cars that were the same Japanese design, made in the same factory with the same workers, and the Japanese branded car got higher reliabilty consumer reports than the domestic branded identical car lol lol. The difference reported was as significant or more significant than the difference reported between two truely import and domestic designs. I don't pay much attention to what some people say. I'm not saying GM hasn't had issues, but not to the extent some make it out to be and imports have their issues they never mention.
 
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Originally Posted By: mechanicx
I still think some people are subjective and biased. Why is it no matter how small and buzzy a japanese 4-cylinder is, and how much the mechanical followers clatter, they hardly ever are critical of them. Then they criticise engines like the 2.2 OHV, and Ecotech, which has been measured and tested to be smoother and quieter than import competition. It's subjectivity and bias.

If you took the most esteemed import designs and told people they were made by GM, they would instantly scream "Junk!". And vice versa if you took some of GM's best designs and labeled them import brand people would say how great they are lol. there actually have been cars that were the same Japanese design, made in the same factory with the same workers, and the Japanese branded car got higher reliabilty consumer reports than the domestic branded identical car lol lol. The difference reported was as significant or more significant than the difference reported between two truely import and domestic designs. I don't pay much attention to what some people say. I'm not saying GM hasn't had issues, but not to the extent some make it out to be and imports have their issues they never mention.


This thread was never domestic v. import.
 
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Originally Posted By: rudolphna
I don't know what your talking about... The head gasket is perfectly fine at 129k miles, and so is the timing chain and tensioner... No noise from the timing chain. Some of them might have those problems, but it is ignorant to say that all of them will. Alot apparently have cooling system problems, but I've yet to have any of those either.


Maybe the previous owner addressed those problems already. Unless you are the original owner and have maintained the car well and those problems never came up.
 
Originally Posted By: silverrat

This thread was never domestic v. import.



No? Could've fooled me after reading the posts. So tell me what was the thread about?
 
Originally Posted By: mechanicx
Originally Posted By: silverrat

This thread was never domestic v. import.



No? Could've fooled me after reading the posts. So tell me what was the thread about?


Correct me if im wrong but the only one who really mentioned it was yourself in your first post. We were comparing 2.2L OHV smoothness to other 4 cyl smoothness. In fact some people said their import 4 cyls were noisy as well.
 
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Originally Posted By: artificialist
The GM 2.2L OHV is rough running but that is not why I don't like them.

I don't like them because their timing chains and tensioners are problematic, and nearly every one of the develops a head gasket leak at the #4 cylinder.


I've had 2 OHV Cavaliers and never had one of those problems. I get rid of a car at around 150-160K.
 
Originally Posted By: silverrat
Originally Posted By: mechanicx
Originally Posted By: silverrat

This thread was never domestic v. import.



No? Could've fooled me after reading the posts. So tell me what was the thread about?


Correct me if im wrong but the only one who really mentioned it was yourself in you're first post. We were comparing 2.2L OHV smoothness to other 4 cyl smoothness. In fact some people said their import 4 cyls were noisy as well.



But you didn't quote my first post, you quoted my second post that I posted after reading several criticisms of GM 4-cylinders and praises of imports. So before that point, the import vs. domestic theme had developed, as it inevitably does, really independently of my first post. You got to figure that if people said the 2.2 was rough in the first place, then what were they comparing it to if not import 4-cylinders? They had to have some relative or comparison in mind don't you think? Anyway, if I did compared them first in this thread then I was still well within reason to do so.
 
Originally Posted By: cousincletus
Originally Posted By: artificialist
The GM 2.2L OHV is rough running but that is not why I don't like them.

I don't like them because their timing chains and tensioners are problematic, and nearly every one of the develops a head gasket leak at the #4 cylinder.


I've had 2 OHV Cavaliers and never had one of those problems. I get rid of a car at around 150-160K.


I've had or closely known others that had 3 with that engine. Over 150K miles and not one blew a headgasket or had timing chain problems. Many people don't maintain Cavaliers. they overheat them and then say they blow headgaskets. There are engines that run rougher and blow headgaskets worse than this engine.
 
Originally Posted By: mechanicx
Originally Posted By: silverrat
Originally Posted By: mechanicx
Originally Posted By: silverrat

This thread was never domestic v. import.



No? Could've fooled me after reading the posts. So tell me what was the thread about?


Correct me if im wrong but the only one who really mentioned it was yourself in you're first post. We were comparing 2.2L OHV smoothness to other 4 cyl smoothness. In fact some people said their import 4 cyls were noisy as well.



But you didn't quote my first post, you quoted my second post that I posted after reading several criticisms of GM 4-cylinders and praises of imports. So before that point, the import vs. domestic theme had developed, as it inevitably does, really independently of my first post. You got to figure that if people said the 2.2 was rough in the first place, then what were they comparing it to if not import 4-cylinders? They had to have some relative or comparison in mind don't you think? Anyway, if I did compared them first in this thread then I was still well within reason to do so.


They were comparing the 2.2 to the ecotec, that's what they were doing on the j-body site too.

It looks like you like reading into things and are acting defensive.

I think you should reread this thread omitting your own posts and see that there is no import v. domestic argument, just 2.2 OHV versus every other 4 banger.
 
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Originally Posted By: mechanicx
I've had or closely known others that had 3 with that engine. Over 150K miles and not one blew a headgasket or had timing chain problems. Many people don't maintain Cavaliers. they overheat them and then say they blow headgaskets. There are engines that run rougher and blow headgaskets worse than this engine.

This is true. Especially with the price they get them at, they don't feel like spending money on them, so they go downhill. I have seen many many with high mileage.

The only pain is oil filter access.
 
Originally Posted By: silverrat
It looks like you like reading into things and are acting defensive.


Quote:
So according to folks on J-body.org, the 2.2L OHV is the roughest running, cruddiest sounding 4 cylinder in the world.


That's what the thread started with. Then there preceded to be your requisite GM engine bashing and import praising. you can say it's not in this thread proceeding my last comment you quoted but I read it and saw it. I think you are being too defensive not me, but I'll rest my case so to speak.
 
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