rebuilding the engine

[raceking1324]

hi have a 04 caviler and I’m think about rebuilding the engine on it it has 125000 on it and iv had it for now like 7 years and i would like to know what i can get out of it and how long will it be gone for how much it would cost me and i never did it so i will be having a shop do it for me and should i have them do the trans at the same time this is a big thing for me i love my car and i don’t want to sale it its been to good to me the big thing i need to know is a ball park on the $$$$$$$$$

Topic

[inxs]

Why are you planning on rebuilding the engine? Is there something wrong with it? Do you want it to run like the stock engine? Or is this something that you want to get more HP from the engine?

[wardak33]

Do you HAVE to rebuild it? Is it knocking on you? The ECOTEC engines that GM used in those cars are almost bullet proof and are well known for their reliablity. At 125k miles, if you don’t have any problems, I say you still have a long ways to go. They go very easy on oil, keep up with your maintenance if anything.

But if you’re still looking to rebuild it with new bearings, rings, machining the block, etc, it will most likely cost upwards of about $2-3k including labor, maybe more. If you’re looking to build it for performance, you can do that too.

Same story with the trans. If its not acting up or shifting weird, and you’re maintenance is on time, you should be fine. Replacing a trans on those would cost around the same price.

As they say, treat your car well, it’ll treat you well. Keep up with maintenance and you’ll have your engine/trans for a very long time.

[Matt]

Honestly, if it’s not broke, don’t fix it. If you haven’t experienced rebuilding an engine, it’s a fairly tedious process that involves alot of measuring with micrometers and bore gauges (I’m sure that’s the wrong term, but still..). If the car isn’t experiencing troubles, I totally agree with inxs and wardak. You should easily get well over 200k miles out of that rig with proper maintenance. Even rebuilding an engine yourself will cost several hundred dollars in a rebuild kit, off-site machining, etc, not to mention a cherry picker, some special tools, yada yada.

[SVTDice]

Depends, If there is nothing wrong with it. Even if its something Minor, There IS things you can do to possibly do to repair the problem without doing something so drastic. Anyways, I’ll wait for you to post back and i’ll give you my .02 on it.

[KLFER]

If you are wanting to build it for power you are better off buying a Cobalt SS engine because they have a forged crank, H-beam rods and forged pistons. If you want to keep it N/A you will want to swap out the pistons to raise your compression, the engine has low compression because they are supercharged and newer models are turbocharged. Swap is very straight forward.

[EricTheCarGuy]

I don’t recommend rebuilding an engine it will cost way more than just replacing it with a salvage yard unit. First determine if you even need one with a compression test or leak down, don’t just replace or rebuild an engine for no reason.

[Bigbacon]

but salvage yard engines you never know how good/bad they could be so you could end up just rebuilding it anyway wouldn’t you?

[raceking1324]

so u think a Cobalt SS engine would fit in my car i did not know that’s the car i was going to but i just love my car now but now if it will fit my car is a automatic 4 door do u think i can put a manual trans in i would love to have a manual one let me know OK thanks i like the new web page Eric.

[wardak33]

Quoted From raceking1324:

so u think a Cobalt SS engine would fit in my car i did not know that’s the car i was going to but i just love my car now but now if it will fit my car is a automatic 4 door do u think i can put a manual trans in i would love to have a manual one let me know OK thanks i like the new web page Eric.

Sure, with enough time and money, you can do just about anything. They are both ecotec motors but i’m not exactly sure if the cobalt ss/tc engine would have the same mounts. IIRC the cobalt ss sc would fit but even then, most just bolt on the supercharger to their stock 2.2. With what you have in mind, you’re gonna be spending quite a bit. Don’t forget you’ll also be needing PCM tuning and things of that nature.

[ncarter124]

I’m with everyone else here, I wouldn’t bother. If the engine is running fine then leave it alone because it doesn’t have a ton of miles on it. Yeah they are high but nothing crazy. And as Eric stated, if it is junk just get a junkyard unit, I guarantee a Cavalier engine will be cheap and most places give them a small warranty.

[ncarter124]

Quoted From wardak33:

Sure, with enough time and money, you can do just about anything. They are both ecotec motors but i’m not exactly sure if the cobalt ss/tc engine would have the same mounts. IIRC the cobalt ss sc would fit but even then, most just bolt on the supercharger to their stock 2.2. With what you have in mind, you’re gonna be spending quite a bit. Don’t forget you’ll also be needing PCM tuning and things of that nature.

Yup, with the amount of money you would be spending on that project you might as well just trade it in/sell it and buy a real Cobalt SS. It would honestly cost a fortune by the time you got the motor, got it in, mounts, new ECM, tranny?, etc.

[KLFER]

All you can do is what you want to do. The SS motor will drop right in with no mounting problems if you want to convert to a 5 speed you can just have to buy the pedal assembly and shift cables and shifter platform. But you will have a 4 door SS.

[raceking1324]

lol yes it would be a 4 door but i will be the only one in my town with one and i would have the power i want and the car too

[raceking1324]

ok then well to me it is not as strong as it was i i first got it and i miss it and i would like to add a little more power to it if i can i have beat the hell out of and it is a nice car and fun i would like to add some stuff to it to make it go faster but thats just me

[Chevypower]

It’s better to just trade the thing in than to mess with engine swaps. Now, somebody correct me if I’m wrong here, but I think that once you swap the motor and then decide to get rid of the car down the road, no dealer would give you what it’s actually worth. They don’t know who did the engine swap or rebuild, and they don’t know what the quality of the workmanship is/was. Especially if it’s a shade-tree mechanic job. I would expect the same problem with a private sale to another private owner. If you start telling the average, know-nothing Joe that you swapped engines, or rebuilt it, they could start thinking about the quality of the work and wonder why you had to do it in the first place. Then there’s the hurdle of getting them to understand something they simply aren’t interested with.

If it was me, I would check professional Service Info for any OEM Recommendations on services that I might have over looked. I’ve seen cars get their old feel back with just a really good, thorough servicing.

If I still wanted more guts out of it after that, I would look into investments in Cold Air Intake systems as well as Exhaust Systems. An engine is (BASICALLY) just a big air-pump. Think about it, if I told you to go run a mile around a track, you could most likely do it fairly well. But, when I put a straw in your mouth and tell you to breathe through that only, you’re going to have a heart attack. My point being, to a certain limit, an engine that can breathe better, will run better. When looking into exhaust, you have to also look into what kind(s) of emissions garbage is going to be required equipment.

Hope I helped,

~Jason

[Author]

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