My mileage stacks up quick I deliver food currently my cavalier is at 60,000 miles it has the 2.2l ohv sfi engine, and i check fluids contantly and ive degreased the engine and tranny i take care of my car and do other wierd things to i check the tire pressure once a week for wear and tear purposes.
I was just wondering if the engine can make it to the champions podium.... The champions podium being 300.000 miles, i know toyota and honda make these type of four cylinders but i cant buy one of those there just not for me i like to stick to gms im more comfortable with them and they look better i think a shined up cav looks better then a civic its just my opinion.thanks if anyone has an expierence or knows someone it be appreciated.
Anonymous2012-02-27T15:11:23Z
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this is a great motor. i have had three of these cavaliers. my 91 had about 240 on it when it got in an accident and i pulled the motor so i could keep it as a spare.
the bottom end (rod and main bearings) ..it is possible to get 300 thousand but you are going to have to be meticulous with oil changes and maybe use some slick 50 and or full synthetic oil to be sure the bearings don't wear out. a lot of the petroleum based oil today is junk . be careful because it tends to lose its viscosity very fast . you will see when you pull the oil drain plug the oil is like water after two thousand with the junk oil. and if you live where there are long winters and cold winters be sure to use the thin stuff in the cold and not too thin stuff in the hot summer.
here is the thing i need to prepare you for. it is almost a certainty that you will need to put a head gasket on this motor by the time you get to 200 thousand. and it is not cheap or easy. i do not know what year you have but most all the engines after 1990 i believe are aluminum head and cast block. and the temperature change of hot engine cool engine with an aluminum head makes it very common for head gaskets to leak on these engines. if you want to try to avoid this you need a plan to make sure your engine never overheats. the problem with these cars is they use one electric fan and it is controlled by the ecm and it is prone to failure for a lot of reasons. once these motors get overheated the head gasket starts leaking shortly thereafter.
personally i like to put dual electric fans on all my motors, one as a back up but there is very very little room to do this on these. so i carry a spare fan in the trunk. it only takes a couple minutes to swap them out. the hard part is that there is no audible warning for overheating just a light or a gauge and you will not see the gauge when it starts to overheat until too late......
your best bet is to go ahead and replace the electric motor on the fan before you get over one hundred thousand. and the radiators are also real cheap for these and they are prone to clog so if you really want to be preventive you should do your hoses and put a new radiator as well.
i am driving a 92 cav wagon right now for gas mileage and i put 50 thousand a year on. this is my vehicle of choice absolutely. super dependable cars.
one other thing you should do preventive wise is to replace the crank position sensor. that is the weak point in the electronic ignition and it is dirt cheap, just hard to get at.
i had to do a head gasket on my 94 cav wagon and my 91 cav 2 door. and i expect to have to do the head gasket on this 92 cav wagon as well. i just plan for it and drive another car while i take this one apart and take my time on it and if you do this yes it will go the 300.
tip: get on ebay and get a chevrolet service manual for this vehicle. it is a must have.
These engines will go well past 300,000 miles if maintained. The head gasket is about the simplest head gasket to do on anything this side of a Model T, and it sips fuel. I had quite possibly the worst combination for this engine: a 2.2L in a 1994 GMC Sonoma long bed with a 4 speed Automatic, and it would rack up 40 MPG with the cruise set at 60 and the air on. It died young though, because it was totaled by a drunk in a mall parking lot while I was Christmas shopping. My brother had one in a 1997 Cavalier and it rolled over 300,000 miles and was still going strong when the trans failed (3 speed automatic). He drove it like it was a race car too. The engine is not very powerful, but it will soldier on for a long time just sipping fuel as long as its oil gets chsnged, its plugs get changed, and it gets air filters. If you need a head gasket for one though, get a FelPro gasket and DO NOT REUSE THE HEAD BOLTS! They are torque to yield and must be replaced if the head comes off. For the record, my brother's Cavalier went about 40,000 miles before the head gasket failed. I put a FelPro head gasket on it and it went all the way past 300,000. Great engines, but nobody would buy one now because it is not very powerful for its size, and it isn't "high tech" enough.
RE: Is gm's 2.2l 4 cylinder a long lasting engine? My mileage stacks up quick I deliver food currently my cavalier is at 60,000 miles it has the 2.2l ohv sfi engine, and i check fluids contantly and ive degreased the engine and tranny i take care of my car and do other wierd things to i check the tire pressure once a week for wear and tear...
My 01 Cav has 232000 miles, the motor looked sludgy when I pulled the valve cover off, it runs great though. I am thoroughly convinced this motor is tough, I've never seen a motor past 200K with obvious lack of oil changes run so well. I plan to rebuild the motor and 5 speed, parts are CHEAP, and available everywhere. The car was garaged its whole life so the body and int are mint. Has a sunroof, bright red, pretty car, the air still works too.
That totally depends on you, if you keep the engine serviced with good oil & filter, keep full of anti-freeze (not just water) & ck. the air filter about every other oil chg.(may be o.k.), that engine can last as long as any and still perform well, will not take a lot of unnecessary abuse, drag race starts, hi speeds 80+ for long distance etc.