F#&K! Blew my FORTH ENGINE!

yhandor · 01-12-2008, 02:51 PM

Well all was good until last night, keeping in mind I have a 97 Z24, 176,000KMS, and this was my 4th motor in it. Come home last night and heard something strange, guess what the same noise every other engine made before she blew, that damn rod bearing is gone. What do I do. Is there anything I can do to fix this, I am seriously thinking of selling this and buying something other than a Chevy. 4 engines, I have had the car a year and a half. $1200 a piece. Any insight from anyone? The EcoTec swap is way too hard, and this is my daily driver around and to and from work....

jakegday · 01-12-2008, 03:31 PM

buying something other then a chevy? even you KNOW the problem is with that specific engine and not all chevys in general,

ZenithZ24 · 01-12-2008, 04:07 PM

Change your oil Change you oil Change your oil. At the very least make sure there's enough.

yhandor · 01-12-2008, 06:08 PM

Yes I always do regular oil changes, and check the level occasionally, put lucas in it, put high octane gas in, and they all still blow

Lefix · 01-12-2008, 08:00 PM

so thats 4800 bucks into motors that are all super old and now dead.
Maybe its the way you drive..
Get a cheap honda and drive it like a OLD HONDA, dont speed around and there you have a good daily driver that will last a while..

Schister66 · 01-13-2008, 12:14 AM

Buy a D series Honda and have fun...if it goes, get a new shortblock for $300 and spend 4 hours swapping it. The end

Classicrocjunkie · 01-13-2008, 12:22 AM

$1,200 a piece? R u fucking serious!!!!!. i bought a rolled over 03 for $1,165 delivered to RDFABS, for a straight over eco swap. Your getting jewed. Eco Motors are becoming a dime a dozen now.

yhandor · 01-13-2008, 02:19 PM

Yea Cody, $1200 a piece. I need a 2.4, not an eco, I would love to do the swap though, but its just too much damn work that I don't know how to do. And I tend to screw things up. I found a guy who has 3 2.4s, $550 he wants for one, so I will take the one with the lowest KMs. ANd then it will cost me 400 or 500 to get it installed. Now, is it worth keep this engine? It runs, but you can hear the click coming from 3 blocks away, when I do need to go somewhere I go slow becuase the clicking goes higher as you gas it. The conclusion though, this sucks, i think after its fixed maybe Ill try and sell it for 5 g's, buy something thats stronger. Cavalier is my favourite car but it is letting me down too much, everything in the last 2 weeks has broken on it, I get MAJOR wind noise from the driver side door at high speed, when you dry turn your wheel left and right, you hear popping sounds, found a couple of wires hanging from the car dragging on the road, which were cut in half, a green and a white wire twisted together, just been a headache the last couple weeks then this happens. UGH, I need some enlightenment lol.

Classicrocjunkie · 01-13-2008, 02:28 PM

Why not take the one you have out now. Pull the crankshaft out and replace the main bearings?

JStumpalump150 · 01-13-2008, 02:34 PM

well your not going to get 5000 for it, maybe 2000 if your lucky cuz you have wayyyy too many miles on it even if it does have a new engine the rest of the car has too many. and im sticking with my theory that you are just not maintainng it properly or racing it. no one else seems to have nearly as many problems as you.

yhandor · 01-13-2008, 04:17 PM

I don't know how Cody, and I think it is the Rod Bearing #3 that goes in the engines each time. And Jstump, I do race all the time, and usually give it hell wherever I go....but it should be able to withstand it?, it is a "Z" series, Chevys performance line. I don't drive slow, I just love how you punch it down and you get that big kick that throws you back lol, it's a powerful motor, that just can't handle anything but daily driving. Chevy should have recalled and re made these motors so they dont blow so easy, none of my motors have lasted no more than 200,000 KMs. and Stump, 176,000KMs isnt a lot of miles on a car here in Canada. A lot of cars here sell with over 200+ on them. Cody, all the mechanics I go to and say can you fix this motor, they say it is a lot cheaper to get a different engine becase it is going to cost a lot to fix that problem. Anywho, I am off to do some things, hopefully I can come up with the money soon to fix this pile of junk. I still love it though, just dissappointed.

JStumpalump150 · 01-13-2008, 05:08 PM

its a cavalier z24 not a corvette z06. now if the corvette was blowing engines there is something wrong, but it is a cavalier. sure its the "performance" line and yeah its a quick little car but it wasnt ment for racing everywhere. it can handle some rough driving cuz i too like to play around with it and floor it some times but im not going to race everywhere i go just because i can. most people got the z when it was being produced cuz it had all the nice accessories like power windows not to race it.

i feel silly because im 17 and i will admit i dont treat my car perfectly and will drive it rough just like most teenagers but even i know how to treat a car so it does not get ruined every 2 months.

yhandor · 01-13-2008, 05:49 PM

Good point. I'm young as well, I'm 21, I like going fast, but after 4 engines I think I will keep it to a minimum, only racing the ricers that bash Cavaliers, there's a lot of Honda kids in this town that need a good spank, they think they are invincible, even a guy with a right ahnd drive civic here, he always tries to race me, that's one I HAVE to beat.

JStumpalump150 · 01-13-2008, 06:05 PM

lol, that is realy the only time i race, i mean when they pull up next to you with the fart can they bought from auto zone and give you the look while they rev their POS you just have to laugh and whoop some ass when the light turns.

but around here if you have a modded car and its NOT a honda you just kinda give the nod of approval to the other guy showing that you like his car and thats the end of it, you drive off with each others respect. no need to race unless you set it up with the other guy.

Classicrocjunkie · 01-13-2008, 06:14 PM

I'm 21, but i don't like having to pay to fix them all the time. Which is why i own my Daily driver 03 Pt cruiser. I drive like a normal human being in that and keep it under 3k rpms. Gas is too expensive to just be flooring it all the time. When i get my J back together, i have to run premium fuel with the charger and 93 octane is 3.79 around here a gallon. I will still baby my J. I know you up in canada are paying something like 1.09 a liter. I know i am not made of money, soooo.... maybe adjust your driving habits. These were designed to be economy cars... I'm just shocked your transmission is still holding up.

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