what would i need to swap out the 2.2 ohv engine in my cavalier to a 2.3 quad 4, will the transmission bolt up? i know i'll need the wiring harness and the pcm out of the donor car, but is there anything else major i'll need?
fill out your profile..theres nothing there for us to by.......
if your car is a manual then its pretty easy ...transmission will need to be changed..which tranny you can use depends on what year car you have(once again fill out the profile) as far as engine goes...either build one or grab a HighOutput 2.3 quad 4 and itll bolt up in the engine bay using 2.4 twin cam mounts(those are the easiest) best electronics to use are out of the 1995 Z or GT ..get the pcm and engine bay wiring ..thatll make it plug and play.....i need to know the year of your car and current tranny before i can provide any further info as to what youll need
my car is a 97 cavalier 2.2 5 speed 2 door, and the donor car is a 95 sunfire 2.3 H.O. 5 speed 2 door.
Uh oh, looks you may have a problem there. All cars & trucks from '96-up use the OBD-II management system, and the emissions testers will be looking for that when you pull in. The '95 uses what's called (affectionately) the "OBD-1.5" system. It's basically a segway between the OBD-I system, which uses a 12-pin ALDL (Assembly Line Diagnostic Link) connector, and the OBD-II which uses a 16-pin ALDL. The OBD-1.5 is actually a OBD-I system that just has a 16-pin connector. It may look-like you have a OBD-II from that part alone, but those in the know know well otherwise, and that means you can't "Flash-tune" the programed parameters for the computer to go by while the the engine's running or in-gear like you could with an OBD-II system. Plus, like I said, the emissions testers will be looking for the OBD-II system on your post-'95 car since testing for your car's year includes a visual inspection as part of the test (Hence the name IM-240: Inspection-maintenance 240sec (2min.) dyno'd "Real-World" Driving Simulation Test). If they don't see it, or not get back from the computer what they should when they hook-up their Scan-Tron to the ALDL, you're screwed. I won't even get into the laws they have about what's allowable in terms of swaps, but you seem okay in that area from what I can tell.
In short, you need to find the OBD-II computer & harness equivalent of what you engine needs for a management system, or else it's an automatic fail for your car when you swap that Quad4 in come emissions test time. A 2.4's should swap in IIRC. Anyone?
Go beyond the "bolt-on".
wow.....simple fix...first of all not ALL places have emissions testing..so he might not even have to worry about it...second, if he DOES have emissions testing then all he has to do is let the inspector know it has a 95 pcm in it which will intern change the inspection to a tail pipe test...its not as big a deal as dimer makes it out to be...
heres the important part
the 95 sunfire DID NOT come with an HO quad it came with a LOW OUTPUT quad...155hp..thats it....YOU want a quad4 from 1990-1994...90-92 were best(highest hp) ....as far as your donor car if it does have A quad like you say and is a 5 speed ... you can use the pcm,wiring,mounts,TRANSMISSION..and any other little things you might need...but i DO NOT recommend using the 95 engine ..it was the weakest of all the quads...but you do have a good year car to put it in...just about everything is a drop in and bolt up..IF you can find the right engine....keep us updated
well guys things fell through with the 95, i ended finding a 98 with a 2.4 it was only 300 dollars, the guy thought the head gasket was leaking and turns out the water inlet was leaking on the side of the head (18 dollars from GM) its a 5 speed 2.4 2 door convertible. it the top and body wasnt trashed i would just drive that but im not interested in doing the body work or replacing the top. and about the emission i do require it in my county but i work at a pontiac buick GMC dealership so i dont think i woudl have run into any problems, but now i have the 98 so i have the obdII harness. my question though is it worth swaping the 2.4 into the cavy? its only rated at approx 150 hp so i dont know if that would be worth it or not.
a 98 2.4 is in a 97 is a 1 day swap if your mechanicly inclinded
JBO since July 30, 2001
ok, but do i need to swap the transmission. i know i need to swap out the harness but is it required to swap the trans and the axles? i dont know if there the same as in the cavalier.
aaron kearns wrote:ok, but do i need to swap the transmission. i know i need to swap out the harness but is it required to swap the trans and the axles? i dont know if there the same as in the cavalier.
essentially, wth our cars, if you swap to a different engine, you have to swap the trans as well. there are exception, but in your case, you have to swap basically the whole front clip.
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