As I was driving last night I apparently snapped my timing chain on my 2002 sunfire 4 dr GTX. What makes me more upset is that I just paid it off last May 2007. Has anyone ever experienced this before. The car has over 130K on it since I got it new back in 2002. I was quoted 3800.00 to fix this. Is there anything I can do asides rebuilding the engine.

$3800? Damn... and that's for a 2200 engine right? You can buy those complete for $300 around here.. check your wrecking yards.

Mechanic told me, the whole engine has to be rebuilt. Trying to figure out how much would it cost to buy a used engine and how much would it cost to get it in.

if your paying someone.....you shouldnt pay more than $500....but thats just labor. your gonna want to replace all the hoses at a minimum and thers always somee other misc. crap that will be needed. so i would say about a 1000 all together with motor.

$3800....dont know what that mech. is smokin. is the 2.2 an interference motor? doesnt matter. just the fact that he didnt even suggest swapping another motor instead of rebuilding tells me that he either doesnt want to do it at all or just wants to rape you

told me the same thing, that i was better off getting another car....around 138,000ish timing broke and pistons slammed into the valves, i guess slowly the chain was eating up the tensioner since it was all chewed up in the broken chain, but it shouldn't cost that much... it cost me about 70 (rough estimate, it's been a while) for all the gaskets, around 90 for the valves, intake and exaust, and about 30 for the chain, timing gears, and tensioner....other than that i'm sure the quote was for all the damn work you gotta do...as far as not having to rebuild it you'll have to get a diff motor, and possibly have the same problem again...



You pray for a savior, your cries fall on deaf ears -Divine Heresy

Being a 2002 GTX Sedan it could have either a 2.4 or Ecotec, depending on build date. I just have a SL sedan - I've always been wanting to find an available interior from a GTX to upgrade mine - much nicer materials in my opinion (same as the GT coupe). I thought it was odd though that it was only available with an automatic, where the Z24 sedan that year could be had with a 5 speed...
Regardless, it shouldn't be that hard to find a used example of either motor in reasonable shape. If you're mechanic isn't willing to go that route, it's probably worth trying to find a different place to take it. Rebuilding a motor with that serious a failure is silly in my opinion, with the number of used ones around. Even with today's labor rates, it shouldn't be more than several hundred to swap out.
Hoses, and maybe a water pump probably wouldn't be a bad investment at this time if you're planning on keeping the car. Make sure that the rear main seal looks okay too. A slight bit of weepage is normal, but if it's wet, it's better to change with the motor already out, than to try to fix later.
I would try to find somebody that will let you bring in your "own" engine for them to install. That way you could have a better chance to hand pick what you're getting, and not pay any additional markup on it. Most shops mark up parts by at least 50% for customers.
It may be a case of the mechanic not wanting to work on it too. Sometimes they will just give you a "go away" price that's so ridiculous that there's little chance of you getting them to do it.
Talk the options over with the shop involved and see what they have to say. Yes, there is a bit of risk with any used parts, but most good auto wreckers check them out first to make sure that they run properly, or they won't bother taking them out in the first place. If they seem pretty stubborn, then I would make sure that they touch as little as possible, and try to find an alternate place to take it. Talk to people - there are usually at least a couple of fair, honest guys in every town that don't think everyone's rich. If we were, we probably wouldn't be here typing this right now...
Just my .02
John

I just checked his registry.... why didn't I do that before? LOL... anyway... he lists an Ecotec.... so yeah... I'd swap it yourself. It's not that hard.... good learning experience. Take your time and do it right tho... save lots of money....

I can get an Eco here for around $300 as well.... so many, low demand.... as for a 2.4L, they always go for $1250 or so because there are so few good running ones that come to the wrecking yards, and they're always in demand.

2200's... yeah... dime a dozen.... but not the engine in question!

ah lenko you threw me off.....sorry st33tphyre...i was talking about a 2.2 ohv...not an eco...i know nothing of eco's...



You pray for a savior, your cries fall on deaf ears -Divine Heresy

Do you guys know where I can pretty much ditch the car, like wreckers. The wife won't let me fix it, and I kinda have a bad taste in my mouth now that after owning the car for 5 years and breaking on me. My next car is gonna be an import. GM called me back, even tho I'm slightly past the 5 year mark, they don't want to help me out. The way I see it, if they helped me out with this, the returns would be greater, they'd rather lose another to the import market. I really did liked my car. Served me well.

So my question is, anyone know where I can sell this thing for the most I can get for this, for parts. If anything, I want to salvage my stereo and 6x9 speakers before I ditch her.

U just paid it off and now you want to start paying on another car??? Swap a lower mileage ECO in and save yourself thousands of dollars and years of monthly payments. Im sure you could but the money towards a nice vacation, invest it, or just put it in a saving account. I dont mean to sound harsh, but i just think its stupid to buy a new car when the "old" one requires an eazy fix.

tinkles is right...
i'd fix it if i was you...makes more sense...although this saying only kind of applies - 'it's better to fix problems than ignore them,' in this case its just cheaper and more sensible, unless you have a fat pile of green stashed somewhere and don't give a sh!t about paying on a new car...



You pray for a savior, your cries fall on deaf ears -Divine Heresy

I love all the posts where people have a problem with thier vehicle and they say "im buying an import". Because everyone knows that no import has ever, ever had any kind if failure. Every import ever built is still on the road...

Now something intelligent like..."Im buying a Hyundai for the 10 year/100K warranty" would be acceptable.


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You're retarded..soooo just sell me the car and I'll swap it out


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Just wanted to give you guys an update. GM dealership took a look at the car, with co-operation with GM Customer Service, they said they are willing to do whatever repairs can be done and GM will front half the repair cost. As per the dealership, they said it cost no more than 1500.00 to rebuild portion of the engine, possibly less. So I will only have to pay about 750.00. Confidence in GM restored.

Str33tphyre, the 2002 Eco has a weak oiling system to the timing chain.

There's a service bulletin, the dealer must have it.

It involves a kit which increases oil flow after installation.

BE SURE GM gets this modification done.

thats awesome! good luck with the rebuild, glad they helped you out...

on a side-note, the hyundai my family got to replace their beat up old mercury mini van has been amazing, though the dealership was kind of a slack dealer.

i wish i had an eco

Thanks Leland, i'll be asking them that along with whether the newly rebuilt engine will have a whole new warranty on it as well. Funny thing is, when I get my car back, I won't be driving it as my hours at work has changed and I have to take the GO Train to work, what irony. But still to happy to have my car back.

Good to hear you didn't give it away. It also impresses me that GM actually did something for you. They've never seemed very concerned about any "just out of warranty" issues I had. You must have a half-decent dealer there.
Let us know how it goes, and what the final outcome is. Hopefully they will stick to what they've quoted you.
From what I've heard from several co-workers owning different imports, things aren't always greener on the other side. I've heard horror stories about automatic transmissions in Hondas, unusually early maintenance or repair required for brakes and wheel bearings on a couple of different Toyota and Volkswagen models, very expensive "routine" maintenance required on certain Nissan and Subaru products, exhausts rotted out after only 4-5 years on some Mazda, Hyundai, and Toyota products, and the list can go on... From my experience with my own J-body, my brother's J, and those of several other co-workers, it seems like our occasional blower motor resistor, strut mount, and wheel bearing issues maybe aren't so bad - especially considering that they were essentially the least expensive vehicle that GM built at the time.

I just got my car back today. They quoted me 750.00 before tax. I paid 1200.00 after tax, after they took it all apart to fix, they realized replacing seemed like the most logical thing to do then replace. It has a 1 year warranty, if this breaks after a year, omg. Til then, sweet deal. I like looking out on my driveway and seeing my car.

Str33tphyre, your experience with this dealer is outstanding...

Others in your area might like to know the name and location....

Can you share ?

Trillium Pontiac in Scarborough. With the help of GM Canada and Trillium, I have my car back.