Well my 2000 cav 2.4 only lasted about 20 laps until the motor blew up. Didn't over rev it and made sure the oil was always perfect. Now before I put another motor in can anyone give me some advice on how to prevent blow ups or even if its better to go to a 2.2.
Thanks
Rob
This will start a war, but in my opinion go ecotec if you can or 2200 ohv if you cant. You already know everything you need to know about the 2.4 ld9 motor. Only downside to the 2200 is that you'll lose some hp but at least you'll finish the race, EVERY time.
"In Oldskool we trust"
With the 2.2 can you do much to the head to get some extra hp?
First you need to be able to answer some questions.
What caused the blow up? What exactly broke or blew up?
What is your rules of your class? I know Ecotec (2.2) isn't allowed in a lot of classes. Heck even the 2.4 isn't.
FU Tuning
Any 4 cylinder is allowed. Don't know why it blew up. Couldn't see any visible damage ie: oil leak, etc. car lost all power and the oil dipstick was dry. Didn't dump blue smoke or anything either. Car runs but knocks terribly. I've raced V8 chevs for years so these 4 bangers are new to me.
Rob wrote:Car runs but knocks terribly.
Sounds familiar...
If any 4 cylinder motor is allowed it's going to come down to how much custom work you want to do. Are you limited to the stock pcm?
"In Oldskool we trust"
It's only a performance PCM if you get caught....
The golden rule of racing.. If you ain't cheatin you ain't tryin.
"In Oldskool we trust"
There are plenty of things you can do to a 2200 that will increase the power, but theyre all minimal in the long run when youre n/a and need to appear stock (compared to the dohc J-body motors). a ported head, cam and tune would be the best mods to do in my opinion because you cant see any of that on the outside. You could upgrade the lifters and springs and pushrods and increase the rev limiter a bit too, which would make a difference with a cam upgrade. Springs required me to have the valve seats machined down, but I cant remember what spring I went with now. The LN2 oil pump from (iirc) the ~'93 motor is a higher volume pump as well and bolts in without any modification (if starvation was a worry)
now if you are allowed any 4cyl, do the same things above to an l61 and win every race.
Tune it with HPT and no one will ever know the difference.
"A car just isn't a car without a little blood, sweat, and beers." -- Shadowfire
Ok I'm new to this. What is the l61 and hpt?
Ok so no oil on dip stick, but no oil leaks? Something doesn't add up. If it had enough oil in it and it did not leak it went somewhere.
My guess is pcv system. If this was not setup and working properly you could have been pushing oil out of the motor.
Quad motors have been running oval track racing for years making big power and very successful. Of course setup properly.
The 2.4 (LD9) is known for spinning rod bearings when low on oil. If I was to run one in this style racing I would run extra oil in the system. Also a oil cooler.
The L61 is the 2.2 Ecotec. It is easier to pick these up cheaper than a LD9.
FU Tuning
I'm going tear the motor apart this week and hopefully I will know better as to what happened. Thanks for the info.
Ok. I jumped the gun a bit. When the car first lost all power I figured it blew it was dark and I couldn't see the oil level. Took my first good look at it today. Car runs fine, oil level was perfect. Now my question is what would of caused it to lose power and eventually stall? Temp was fine. Almost like it went into limp mode. Any suggestions?
Rob wrote:Ok. I jumped the gun a bit. When the car first lost all power I figured it blew it was dark and I couldn't see the oil level. Took my first good look at it today. Car runs fine, oil level was perfect. Now my question is what would of caused it to lose power and eventually stall? Temp was fine. Almost like it went into limp mode. Any suggestions?
Our cars do not have a limp mode.
Can you check for codes see if you have any.
Maybe a vapor lock, or some kind of fuel issue?
Power or ground issue.
FU Tuning
since when is an eco cheaper and easier to pick up over an LD9, john ? it isnt in my experience, anyway. i can get LD9s all day long here for around $125. same price as eco.. IF you can find one. eco's are barely even in the yards yet here. these are the you pull it yards i am talking about....
OP, im with john, that oil went somewhere. it didnt just magically disppear lol. for whatever reason, it was ran low on oil. LD9s do not like this.
RIP silver car. You will be missed.
Oil was good actually. Car lost all power and eventually died. Would the temp control module being bad cause this?
Let me say it like this Brad. To get a LD9 that I would put in one of my cars would cost anywhere from $700-1200.
Yeah I could get a $125 LD9, but I would not trust it or use it.
Eco's are in more cars ion the junkyards around here, and I would pay $200 for them (if I had a reason).
FU Tuning
Addicted to meth wrote:Let me say it like this Brad. To get a LD9 that I would put in one of my cars would cost anywhere from $700-1200.
Yeah I could get a $125 LD9, but I would not trust it or use it.
Eco's are in more cars ion the junkyards around here, and I would pay $200 for them (if I had a reason).
that doesnt make sense. you would pay an outrageous bloated amount for an LD9 but are just fine with getting a 200 dollar piece of @!#$ eco? how does that work exactly? on one hand its ok, but the other its not. explain.
RIP silver car. You will be missed.
-Z Yaaaa- wrote:Addicted to meth wrote:Let me say it like this Brad. To get a LD9 that I would put in one of my cars would cost anywhere from $700-1200.
Yeah I could get a $125 LD9, but I would not trust it or use it.
Eco's are in more cars ion the junkyards around here, and I would pay $200 for them (if I had a reason).
that doesnt make sense. you would pay an outrageous bloated amount for an LD9 but are just fine with getting a 200 dollar piece of @!#$ eco? how does that work exactly? on one hand its ok, but the other its not. explain.
I will not put a 97 LD9 with who knows how many miles in my car.
If I was putting a junkyard LD9 in my car it would have to be a 2000+ with under 100k on it. OPnly way you will find one of those is to pay the money around here, and you would have a warranty also.
Ecotec's are in plenty of cars in the junkyards around here.
FU Tuning
Addicted to meth wrote:-Z Yaaaa- wrote:Addicted to meth wrote:Let me say it like this Brad. To get a LD9 that I would put in one of my cars would cost anywhere from $700-1200.
Yeah I could get a $125 LD9, but I would not trust it or use it.
Eco's are in more cars ion the junkyards around here, and I would pay $200 for them (if I had a reason).
that doesnt make sense. you would pay an outrageous bloated amount for an LD9 but are just fine with getting a 200 dollar piece of @!#$ eco? how does that work exactly? on one hand its ok, but the other its not. explain.
I will not put a 97 LD9 with who knows how many miles in my car.
If I was putting a junkyard LD9 in my car it would have to be a 2000+ with under 100k on it. OPnly way you will find one of those is to pay the money around here, and you would have a warranty also.
Ecotec's are in plenty of cars in the junkyards around here.
yes i completely understand why you would pay that amount for an LD9. (although the mileage is always written in grease pen on the car somewhere (usually the windshield) and there are 2000-2002 LD9s in the yards here...they go for the same money regardless of mileage or year. also, you do get a warranty with the engine. i believe its 30 days, basically just enough to make sure its good) the question asked was why you would feel comfortable paying that amount for an LD9 but not an eco. why would you not want the same warranty and expressed low mileage for an eco is what i dont understand.
edit, to add on how cheap i can get LD9's... two years ago i managed a 77,000 mile 1999 LD9 complete longblock with all accessories for $40. and mind you this was during the "40 dollar wheel barrel" day where you pay $40 for ANYTHING you can fit into a wheel barrel. in fact, actually LESS than $40 if you think about it because not only did i get that LD9 i also got a bunch of other stuff as well. they do this event every year. ive actually gotten three great quad family motors out of this event. my first one was a 94 remaned HO quad, again... complete longblock with all accesories. absolute garbage nasty on the outside but when i tore it down the inside was like BRAND NEW.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edited Thursday, August 15, 2013 6:14 PM
RIP silver car. You will be missed.
the op mystery remains why did it die? as a killer of the ld9 i always worried about oil levels.
given the options available both engines (ld9 and eco) have potential, the ld9 na parts are more of a scrounge at this point, the best of the breed were from late 80's and early 90's cars. eco parts are readily available.
to brads point, in my neck of the woods there are no running ld9's any engine in this area runs for over five hundred. eco is the same story. perks of living in konnectikut i suppose.
I think the problem is a head gasket. I started the car and let it run. No knocks or weird noises. After about 5 mins it started getting hot and steam coming from the back of the head by the exhaust manifolds. Should get the head off this week then I will know better. While the motor is apart do you guys know of any inexpensive performance mods while the head is off?
Change to a difference head gasket (thickness) to add compression.
FU Tuning
Change your connecting rod bearings. I have seen many 2.4s blow up and it was always the connecting rod bearings. I did mine at the start of the season and it still runs like a top. It only takes about an hour or two to do and you don't have to lift the engine out to do it.
