I have a 95 cavalier z24 5 spd that has around 161k miles and I have decided I want to put a different engine in the car. I wanted to get some info from people on here about putting a 2.4l quad 4 in the car with a 5 spd tranny from the same engine. What would I need for the swap?
Not worth doing that kind of swap.
Just drop in a 3100 into the car to replace that 2.8 and you're good.
If anything and you're interested, you can check out the guys at www.v6z24.com for some more information on swaps like this since their more inclined to have the same generation Jbody as you own.
And really, there's nothing wrong with just rebuilding the engine you've got and save yourself some money in the long run.
Misnblu.com
Newbie member since 1999
Thank you Dave and JBO! 
I have a 95 cavalier z24 5spd manual transmission, has around 161k miles on it, and I wanted to find out what I would need to swap a 96 and up 2.4l quad 4 in for the 2.3l quad 4, I know the best swap is to throw in a 2.3 h.o. or something more along that line, but Id rather throw in the 2.4l quad or something different and I want to get some advice from the people of j-body.org to see what I should do, and what parts and supplies I would need for the different possible swaps for my car, Ive had this car for a few years and I really want to keep it, just need a different engine
So wait, does he have a 85 or 95??? Because his post says both lol
Well.. obviously, the easiest swap would just be another 2.3 from a 96..
If you want to put in a newer 2.4, youre going to need the computer & wiring harness as well. They changed the plugs on the ECU after 96 and the old harness wont work... 97-98 2.4 should be fairly simple, especially if you are able to take the ECU & engine harness as well..
Im sure someone else will chime in & be able to elaborate a little more...
^^^ they did not make a 96 2.3. in 96 it was the 2.4.
a 96-98 2.4 will run on a 95 harness no problem. a 99-02 will run on it as long as you swap the knock sensor, no problem.
you could swap to a 2.4 or an older 2.3, either will run on the 95 harness. or you can simply swap to a 96 or 97,98 harness ecu and do the same. its not hard.
If it takes forever.... I will die trying. Underdog Racing
z yaaaa wrote:^^^ they did not make a 96 2.3. in 96 it was the 2.4.
a 96-98 2.4 will run on a 95 harness no problem. a 99-02 will run on it as long as you swap the knock sensor, no problem.
you could swap to a 2.4 or an older 2.3, either will run on the 95 harness. or you can simply swap to a 96 or 97,98 harness ecu and do the same. its not hard.
Ahhh, Im sorry... Dont know where my brain is. For some reason, I got confused, but I KNOW its a 95 w/ a 2.3..
Plus, you have to consider the EGR valve. They dont have one in the newer engines 99+ I think..
If you used an older harness & ECU, you would have a CEL unless it was disabled or simulated somehow..
95, posted this on a sleepless nite, up with the baby, accidently hit the 8 instead of 9 lol its a 95 cavalier z24 5 spd
so I could swap in a 96-98 2.4 with my 2.3 harness all I would need is the ecu, what about the fuse box, or would I need to rewire the interior gauge panel to work with the 96-98 engine, anything else needed for this swap ?
the engines have pretty much the same sensors, it will not be an issue. as far as the EGR goes, the 95 2.3 doesnt have it so you dont need it.
you will need the proper 2.4 specific intake and exhaust manifolds, however. you could port match the 2.3 intake to work on the 2.4 if you wanted to though....
If it takes forever.... I will die trying. Underdog Racing
Since you have a 95 (OBD 1)... the best, and probably easiest, swap for stock power... if you can find one... would be a Quad 4 HO.
John Lenko wrote:a Quad 4 HO.
Durr.. should have slept in.. make that... a Quad 4 HO with some W41 parts added to it
go with the 2.3 HO quad...its almost a bolt in...why would you want to swap engines for one with the SAME power output???? unless you have something planned your not telling us....
I just want an egine with close to the same power. There isn't a lot of the 2.3 quads in my area so the next swap is a 2.4 and I have found qjuite a few of those. But if I were to put a h.o. in what year would I look for what cars<? And what parts do I need for the swap)
if you were looking for an HO, youd be looking for 1989 - 1994 oldsmobile calais and achieva , pontiac grand am gt,chevy beretta gtz, 8th digit in their VIN will be an "A"
grab a motor with decent mileage, or at least maybe some kind of warranty would be good.
the engine will bolt up to yours, your going to have to use your 95 alternator and water pump housing i believe, everything else should be straight forward, your trans will bolt up.
but if you want an upgrade, the transmission that came with the quad in 1992-94 is a better trans and bolts up in your car all the same.
could I use the wiring harness from one of those cars also? or would the harness in my car work just fine? and do I need to use the ecu from one of those? any thing like fuel injectors or anything need to be used in one of those engines to work, and is there any parts from my engine that would add extra power to the h.o. or any parts I could buy to upgrade performance
like i said... use ur stock wiring. no other ecu or wiring needed. its plug and play, just be sure to use ur 95 alternator.
you will need to tune it if you want a good amount of power though, it might run a little weird at idle due to the larger injectors though...
If it takes forever.... I will die trying. Underdog Racing
oh..and if POSSIBLE try to get the downpipe that comes with the HO..its different than the 95, the exhaust is not a bolt on................unless your getting a header and in that case nm lol
lol anyone know where I could locate a 2.3 h.o. I can locate a 2.4 easily thats why I wanted to know everything I would need to put the 2.4 in, if I could use the trans and @!#$ from a 2.4 that would be great because like I said I can locate a 2.4 but i havent been able to find a 2.3 ho or lo where I live, so my last question I have is what would I need to put the 2.4 engine and trans in my car, or if I can find a 2.3 h.o. what trans wouild I need, what car could I pull a trans out of to work for the 2.3 h.o., but my best bet is the 2.4 so I really need to know everything I need to put it in, if the 2.4 trans will bolt up and all that good stuff?
well you dont have your location listed in your profile, so i cant tell you where ones at near you.
as for the 2.4 youll need the same stuff to put it in as the 2.3. the 2.3 and 2.4 will both work on the transmission you have now
check out car-part.com. they have a lot of quad 4's.
plus... ebay has them from time to time if you wanna go that way.
If it takes forever.... I will die trying. Underdog Racing
Is there something wrong with the current engine? You'll get next to no gains by swapping a 2.4L in there from the 2.3 you already have. If you're looking for more power, just changing to a different (same) engine is not the way to go.
If your engine is fooked.. then replacing it with another identical 2.3L Quad 4 is the easiest way to get it going again. Going to a 2.4L wouldn't get you any gains... but going to a Quad 4 HO with W41 stuff on it... that's a bunch of power.
Use your stock wiring and stock trans, your best bet for the same power output is any 2.3. HO would need a tune or it would lean out in the high rpms. But they should bolt right in, youll need to swap over the old power steering if you use the older 2.3 which is simple. If you switch to a 2.4 itll still be a fairly easy swap as said above. Itll bolt to your current trans, EGR is not an issue, you might need to adapt the knock sensor, and intake/exhaust manifolds.
so the 2.3 comp. will run the 2.4 engine and trans? and i need the harness for it because the front was rebuilt a while back and the fog light wiring is @!#$ on the factory harness? would i need to update any fuel injectors or anything i just need a list of all the parts i need and the ones i can use that i already have?
