Im moarning the recent passing of my 97 Cavalier 2.2l Ohv 4 speed auto.

Brand new Snows, Brand New Brakes, Brand new headlights, Brand New Paint

The heads gone in it, i dunno if its cracked or warped or the gaskets just gone.

190k on it, 118m and im thinking that i might just change out the engine, there pretty easy to come by but im wondering just what my options are.

Ive been browsing a bit and trying to gather up as much info as possible about what my options are but thought id make a thread and see if i can get some more accurate info.

Id like to keep the same tranny and just change out the engine.

What kinda options am i looking at and whatd be the best swap you guys would recommend.

Any thoughts and opinions are much appreciated.

Im looking at what years i can basically just drop right in with no worries, and things i might need to get with the new engine, such as the wiring harness etc

Well, if you don't want to change the tranny, you're stuck to the 2.2 or a V6. Read the sticky and then you will have an idea if you want to get into it or not.

Not advocating either way being the better one for you, but something to consider is that you can swap a 2.4 DOHC into your car as a bolt-in swap. If you get everything from the donor car, (engine, tranny, wiring harness, etc), it will all go right in. The tranny from the 2.4 will bolt into the car with no modification (assuming you get one from a 96-99).

I took a look at the V6 thread and i have to say that im pretty impressed with the thread, and the detail it goes into, gives me something i didnt even consider doing to think about now.

I might look into the idea of going to a 2.4 plenty of donor cars around that i could get all i need out of.

If i was to stick to a 2.2 ohv, what years would be easily interchangable, any years i should stay away from etc?

I believe the 96-99 are the same, but I'm not 100% on it. The bottom line is that if you get the ECM/harness and motor from a 96-99, you'll be fine. They are all compatible with your car.

Sweet mate thanks allot
Gonna think about it over the next couple of days, and just look around for what i can find and what its gonna cost me.

I do like the idea of a V6 in it, just because it dont seem to be that difficult with all the information available on here.

To answer the 2.2 question, there were minor differences between the 95-97 and 98-02. Just to be on the safe side, if you get a 98-02 2.2, get that year harness as well.

95-97 are the same, so for the simplest swap, you need that year engine.
98-02 are the same, this is where it gets tricky though...
If you go this route, get the complete engine harness and pcm with it to be on the safe side. BUT if you get a 2000+ engine, you will need to purchase a 98 or 99 harness and pcm since 2000+ is completely different and nothing on your cluster will work plus all the idiot lights will be lit up.

Ok what ur sayin GTPsunfire since i have a 95 cavalier that i can just put a 2.4 that came from a 95 car????? i have a 2.2 ohv n a 95 cav... and i want to do a engine swap....just want to make sure im hearing u right.. thanks

No, thats only for the 2.2's. Having a 95, you would probably have to get another 95, because your wiring and engine is different. 2.3's were in 95, the 2.4 didnt come until 96.

what all could i do to the 2.3?????

You could do a 2.3 HO if you went with the 2.3 setup. But you'll have to change transmission, the 2.2 tranny does not bolt up to the 2.4/2.3 tranny.

gtpsunfire wrote:95-97 are the same, so for the simplest swap, you need that year engine.
98-02 are the same, this is where it gets tricky though...
If you go this route, get the complete engine harness and pcm with it to be on the safe side. BUT if you get a 2000+ engine, you will need to purchase a 98 or 99 harness and pcm since 2000+ is completely different and nothing on your cluster will work plus all the idiot lights will be lit up.

This is not completely true. You can put a 98+ 2200 in a 97 car (I have done it). All we did was wire in a 2200 injector harness to the 97 wiring harness. We also have to pull some wires out of the harness to reach for the coils (since they are in different locations). Car ran fine with the 97 ECU. We also later installed a 98 ECU into the 97 car that had a 2001 motor. Ran fine.

I have a 98 2200 motor, 3 speed tranny, axles, wiring harness ECU with 67k on it if you are interested.

If it was me I would get another motor and swap in. When swaping motor harness etc... good chance you are going to lose your 4 speed tranny. 2200's and 4 speed's are not that common.



FU Tuning

I would think that the timing would be off on a 98 engine with 97 ECU since they messed with the timing notches on the 98. Of course, IIRC they advanced those so maybe it'll just give you more power on the 97 ECU.

SHOoff wrote:I would think that the timing would be off on a 98 engine with 97 ECU since they messed with the timing notches on the 98. Of course, IIRC they advanced those so maybe it'll just give you more power on the 97 ECU.

I do not see the timing being off (Because the motor would be times already). Timing tables in the tuning might not be 100%. I just compared a 97 2.2 and a 98 2200 stock files. The 2200 ECU has less timing in some tables (not all). SO the 97 ECU would give more timing advance to the 2200 motor. I think in most cases this would be fine, and no real differences. I knwo for a fact this can be done because we have done it. A 97 ECU could always be reflashed to a 2200 ECU.



FU Tuning