my main question is can a obd1 from a 95' cavalier be used with an auto? according to the link, a 95 quad 4 autos came with an obd2, link. interrested in a 2.3l swap into a 97 cavalier.

I hope you are asking about the ECU and not the engine. And for that, I don't know.

ok...im confused as well...from what i gather you want to swap in a 2.3 into your car that is any auto..and since your car is an auto youll need that pcm that came with the 2.3 auto...which isnt really a problem..soooo...if the pcm worked on the motor in the car it came in ..why wouldnt it work in yours? im lost
.. are you asking if the OBD1 pcm that came with the MANUAL 2.3 will work with your auto ?

I think he wants to swap an earlier quad 4(which is the only thing that makes any sense). He wants to keep his automatic transmission (which he can't since he owns a 2.2L), but needs the 95 pcm since it is the only J-body with a quad, but the auto quad only comes in obd-II and the older motor has to stay obd-I...Does that sound about right?

well he can use the pcm that came with the auto quad in 95..itll work...just gotta get a tranny..
i just wasnt sure what he was doing..thanks

waiting for Gilles..."the motor isn't OBDI or II"

I bet he's getting pissy about saying the same thing over and over LOL

hahaha you got me again. Yeah it get old saying all the time: "An engine is not OBDI or OBDII". The Ecm is.

The engine is just a chunk of metal. The Ecm is the electronic part.

If he would have had a 2.4, he could have just swap it in with little modification. But to go from a 2.2 auto to a 2.3 auto is a waste of money.



Gilles
2.3 Ho

I am fully aware that the ECU is either obd-I or obd-II, but if I remember correctly, the 95 requires the use of a cam position sensor which is absent on previous quads, and since the 95' 2.3L auto J-body ECU is obd-II, it will cause the ECU to run in batch fire which is hard to tune (The major reason LD9 guys/gals don't run H.O. cams in our motors) .

sry for the unclear question ppl. thanks for the replys. scott and brian pretty much figuered out wat i meant, but i want to swap the 2.3l HO 180hp motor joined with the auto tranny i have. as far as i know th HO (180hp) engines only came with manual trannys and obd1 ecu's, am i right on that? or was that only true for the W41's? my goal is to have a decent amount of hp for not to much money. so as a result i'm trying to find out if i can swap a 2.3l HO 180hp motor and along with it's obd1 ecu to my auto tranny? the reason for the 2.3l and the obd1 is because i don't want to tune an ecu, so the obd1 would take care of that issue? Or am i competly wrongs guys/gals?

you can run the quad with an auto tranny..its been done...and theres away around the cam postion sensor..ill look it up for you..have you tried searching for this cus thats what im gonna have to do

yeah, the 95 auto cam tower fits on the manual motor as well...it has a cam position sensor built into it, I have one on my HO. to keep the PS pump stock.

thanks guys. um as far searching on j-body.org i couldn't find anything sepcific, i have read some of the lastest posts about the 2.3l, i've read articles about the motor at hotrod.com, other fourms, did research on what cars the Ho came in and found websites that have parts for the motor. it would be a great help scott. hey ppl, y does the cam position sensor affect the swap? is it a manual "thing" only? hotbug1776, i was thinking about removing the ps pump to simplfy the swap but i've read is not a great idea for a fwd car, anthing on that? so i can run the quad 4 with an auto; would that be the quad 4 HO? and can i use the obd1 with the combo?

from what i can remember you just use the the 95 auto pcm and wiring...this way itll hook up and run your tranny properly ..the only other problem youll have is the cam sensor which i believe will have to be machined into the cam tower....gilles knows how to do this EXACTLY..i remember cus i got into an arguement with someone on here who said the HO quad couldnt be mated to an auto and run in a jbody and no one would believe me till gilles said exactly how to do it

sweet thanks scott. hopefully gilles can share the info. as far as wiring, is it just the engine harness?

Go driving around a parking lot (1-20mph) and shut the car off (dont let the wheel lock, just of and back to the on position), now, try to steer. I had my car stall one time (alternator went out and I drove till the battery died...long story) and I tried to turn into a driveway...I'm 300lbs. and it took quite a bit of wrestling for me to get around in the driveway. Power steering is a godsend in a FWD car.

Like I said the 95 AUTO cam tower bolts right on and has the CamPS already in it. I got my motor with a CamPS on it from mantapart when I bought it. The only problem I've ever heard about was the work needed to make the cam work with the sensor.

No power steering = end of the world. I drove my Gtz with no PS (I had no pulley on my Hot grind) for 80km and it's not even funny. It's just a PITA.

The "manual" thing is that the 5spd 2.3 in 95 were OBDI so you could just swap in a 2.3 Ho and chip the Ecm.

The auto were OBDII so you could not go and just chip it.

There's a bunch of way to do it but you have to remember the first thing to do: Modify the Ho intake cam with a cam sensor lobe. The PS Hex can be weld to the cam and Gm sell it apparently.

Use a 2.4 Ecm and use a 4spd tranny.
Use a 95 ecm and use a 3spd tranny.
Use a 95 Manual Ecm and use a 5spd tranny
Use a 2.4 Manual Ecm and use a 5spd tranny.

You need to decide what you want to do cause it's long to write everything that you can do.

What I can tell you is that you don't want the Ho with the 3spd. The Ho with the 4spd would be more fun to drive.

You'll need the harness for a 2.3 or 2.4 depending on what you want to do. A 2.4 Ecm would be easier for you.



Gilles
2.3 Ho

thanks again, you guys are a great help. well if the following question can be answered, it would help me decide, like gilles said i need to do. according to cars.com, the 95 cavalier came with 2 options for motors. the 2.2l with either a 5spd or 3spd. and the 2.3l with a 5spd or a 4spd. i'm excited about the 4spd. Heres the link specs. the link shoows the options for the 2.3l. it also says the motor has 155-hp @ 5,200RPM and 185 lb.-ft. @ 4,000RPM. some thing has to be wrong, it's either cars.com or the link on j-body.org, nullfaq. so which is wrong, i'm hoping it's the j-body link. AND the TORQUE, 185, Is it true? i'm looking foward to any help.

o yea, i won't be going with out ps. thanks, the examples and funny commets made clear.

The 2.3 didn't had 185lbs of torque. none of them did.

You can use a 2.4 ecm or a 2.3 ecm to run a 2.3 engine.



Gilles
2.3 Ho

damn, i was hoping it was true. I'm still unclear about one thing; is it or is it not possible to use an obd1 ecu with an auto? the part that lost me is when i read the list of options gilles wrote that should the different combinations. Please bare with me. If the obd1/auto tranny combo is not possible; i'm thinking my best option would be to do the 2.3l motor, tranny and ecu from a 95 cavalier. hey GILLES, u wrote "The Ho with the 4spd would be more fun to drive." so i'll take it that the 2.3l had an option of a 4spd? the reason i ask is because of a link on j-body that states the 95 cavy only camewith 2 tranny options; 3spd and 5spd.

The 2.4 had a 4spd auto tranny option. That tranny fit the 2.3. Not only the 2.3 tranny fit the 2.3. The 2.4 tranny do too.

also, the ONLY OBDI AUTO 2.3 ecm are from the 87-94 Lo and they all used 3spd tranny witch were a PITA to work with the Ho. If you use a 2.4 computer and a 4spd tranny, you can tune it all you want and still get a decent amount of power from the 4spd.

better gearing in the 4spd mean you'll be faster and enjoy it more.

Just in case you'd like to ask, no you can't use a 3spd ecm with a 4spd tranny and vice versa.



Gilles
2.3 Ho

I use wikipedia for anything I am not completely sure about. I would say they are 100% accurate 99% of the time. Quad 4 specs

gilles, thanks for answering all my questions. brian, the link helped, thanks dude. do the heads on the 95 LO and a HO differ? i know the cams are different, what about valve diameters and any machining differences? And the 2.3l HO head is not a direct fit on the 2.4, right? does the head need machining or the block?well i'm left with two options. would you guys suggest to swap a 2.3 in and modify it or swap a 2.4l in and swap the head to a 2.3l HO? Either way i'm looking to get 160-170 whp all motor and be able to run a minimum of 100 shot; direct port.

i just remembered the post about the 2.4l block and 2.3l head, ill read it and try to answer my own questions related to it but answers to my other question and input from u guys.

The 2.3 head need some modification to the coolant ports.

The Ho put out 155-160whp stock. Go with a 2.3. Same job but cheaper in parts (you don't have to modify it as much to get the samew Hp numbers).

Yes the 95 head is different. The only good one is the 086 head. It has the biggest port and the biggest valves.



Gilles
2.3 Ho