Turbocharging my 2003 2.2L ecotec Cavi

Hey every1! I recently bought a mitsubishi TDO5H turbocharger. Does any1 know where i can get an installation guide? also does any1 know exactly what ill need to run this turbo at 7psi without upgrading the internals. any help would be greatly appreciated. oh yea also where can i fing the parts that i need?

uhh what exactly do you know about engines and forced induction, you sound like you dont know much from that post.

uhh what exactly do you know about engines and forced induction, you sound like you dont know much from that post.
I know pretty much what i need. I.E. Upgraded fuel pump, injectors, exhaust manifold, downpipe, not need but i will put in an intercooler. However, I was just curious on what else i need, where i can find, and a detailed installation guide. i know pretty much what needs to be done as far as installing the other parts and turbo i just want to make sure i have everything and that i dont screw it up. oh btw it is a Garret T3 turbo NOT a mitsubishi TDO5H turbo

ok, so you have all the turbo components to make it run. you are forgetting one tiny little thing thatll run you about 3grand if you get it installed. crank, rods, forged pistons with lower compression, head job to reenforce the valves... the cavalier ecotec under a horsepower test blew all 4 rods at once when they asked the engine to turn 267hp. 225hp should last about 1000 miles on stock internals... maybe.. not to mention that chevy builds there trans's to support around 25% additional load, plus the axles will blow under one decent launch. i wouldnt even think about turboing the car without fortifying the block and driveline... good luck, not trying to shoot you down or anything, just a million things to look for. and dont forget an ECU, stock one will screw up with that much additional load, wont know what to do with bigger injectors, funny air readings etc.

ok, so you have all the turbo components to make it run. you are forgetting one tiny little thing thatll run you about 3grand if you get it installed. crank, rods, forged pistons with lower compression, head job to reenforce the valves... the cavalier ecotec under a horsepower test blew all 4 rods at once when they asked the engine to turn 267hp. 225hp should last about 1000 miles on stock internals... maybe.. not to mention that chevy builds there trans's to support around 25% additional load, plus the axles will blow under one decent launch. i wouldnt even think about turboing the car without fortifying the block and driveline... good luck, not trying to shoot you down or anything, just a million things to look for. and dont forget an ECU, stock one will screw up with that much additional load, wont know what to do with bigger injectors, funny air readings etc.

OK thanks for the heads-up. However I was told that the 2.2L Ecotec would be able to handle the turbo if not but over 8PSI. I also inquired from hahnracing, J-tuners, and Turbo-kits.com. Turbo kits sells a garret T25 which from my understanding could suppy a bigger boost if need(up to 30PSI) but only pushes 8PSI when you buy it from the company. They also said it would give a 56% hp increase safely on a stock engine. So im not sure if i need all the other things. however i apperciate the feedback. Ill keep that in mind when im buying the rest of the parts.

OK thanks for the heads-up. However I was told that the 2.2L Ecotec would be able to handle the turbo if not but over 8PSI. I also inquired from hahnracing, J-tuners, and Turbo-kits.com. Turbo kits sells a garret T25 which from my understanding could suppy a bigger boost if need(up to 30PSI) but only pushes 8PSI when you buy it from the company. They also said it would give a 56% hp increase safely on a stock engine. So im not sure if i need all the other things. however i apperciate the feedback. Ill keep that in mind when im buying the rest of the parts.

even if you throw a rod, bearing or break a valve you'll have to rebuild it anyways so its worth breaking the stock parts :p

ok, so you have all the turbo components to make it run. you are forgetting one tiny little thing thatll run you about 3grand if you get it installed. crank, rods, forged pistons with lower compression, head job to reenforce the valves... the cavalier ecotec under a horsepower test blew all 4 rods at once when they asked the engine to turn 267hp. 225hp should last about 1000 miles on stock internals... maybe.. not to mention that chevy builds there trans's to support around 25% additional load, plus the axles will blow under one decent launch. i wouldnt even think about turboing the car without fortifying the block and driveline... good luck, not trying to shoot you down or anything, just a million things to look for. and dont forget an ECU, stock one will screw up with that much additional load, wont know what to do with bigger injectors, funny air readings etc.


LMAO biggest pile of BS ive ever heard.

Dont worry about internals, crank, forged pistons, lower compression, your only planning to run 7 PSI. Thats completely safe on the ecotec, ive seen people running 15 PSI daily on stock internals with no problems. Yes the engine will blow around 275HP, but you wont be anywhere near that. The transmission is fine, again your nothing making that much more HP, expect around 200WHP or so at 7 PSI. The Axles are very strong in our cars stock and can handle alot of abuse. But again you wont be able to break them with 200WHP or so. The ECU of course wont work, it cant see boost pressure. You will need an FMU or upp the fuel pressure.

Just remember your car will only run as good as your tune. So spend the money and get a good dyno tune once your all done with your mods. A bad tune and you can blow your engine in a week.

Your engine is very similar to my engine, ive been running 7 PSI on stock internals for over 10K miles with no problems. Stock transmission, no problem, stock everything, no problem.

LMAO biggest pile of BS ive ever heard.

Dont worry about internals, crank, forged pistons, lower compression, your only planning to run 7 PSI. Thats completely safe on the ecotec, ive seen people running 15 PSI daily on stock internals with no problems. Yes the engine will blow around 275HP, but you wont be anywhere near that. The transmission is fine, again your nothing making that much more HP, expect around 200WHP or so at 7 PSI. The Axles are very strong in our cars stock and can handle alot of abuse. But again you wont be able to break them with 200WHP or so. The ECU of course wont work, it cant see boost pressure. You will need an FMU or upp the fuel pressure.

Just remember your car will only run as good as your tune. So spend the money and get a good dyno tune once your all done with your mods. A bad tune and you can blow your engine in a week.

Your engine is very similar to my engine, ive been running 7 PSI on stock internals for over 10K miles with no problems. Stock transmission, no problem, stock everything, no problem.

Thanks man I apperciate it. I was told that the 2.2L Ecotec was a strong engine from a couple gear heads. They said that up to 9PSI is the limit on stock internals. 7PSI is all i need. They also said that the transmission was strong. I also realize that the 5-speed getrag transmission is made by Getrag which also makes trannys for a great European car. You have heard of them BMW. LOL

so lemme get this straight, the limit is 9psi, so you are 100% safe 11% less than that at 8psi? jayson, hush. u think replace it when it breaks. i think re-enforce before you break it so there is NO chance of ruining current mods. do what u want, i was offering advice on what would compliment the turbo system better for maximum performance. stick it up your tailpipe jayson. u just proved you dont know shit.

Actually Jayson pretty much got it all good to go. Granted I would stengthen the internals just because Im anal and paranoid but it can handle 7psi no problems on stock internals. The ecotec engine handles forced induction apps like a champ on stock specs.

so lemme get this straight, the limit is 9psi, so you are 100% safe 11% less than that at 8psi? jayson, hush. u think replace it when it breaks. i think re-enforce before you break it so there is NO chance of ruining current mods. do what u want, i was offering advice on what would compliment the turbo system better for maximum performance. stick it up your tailpipe jayson. u just proved you dont know shit.

As long as you tune the engine right, your 100% safe at 9 PSI. Shit there is a guy on jbody.org running 12 PSI on stock internals, hes running high 12's. Its so blantly obvious you have no clue about boosting an engine and what it can take. But your blindass cant even read a thread, because the guy clearly asked what it would take to run 7 PSI without internals. Internals would add an extra 2,000 bucks to his cost and give him minimal gains if any at all. It would not do anything to save his engine cause 7 PSI with a proper tune wont hurt the engine one bit. Id be more worried about the trans than the engine.

So be quiet you little noob and learn to think before you speak.

*pat jayson on head* there there, youll be ok one day

*pat jayson on head* there there, youll be ok one day

wow...that was a lame response, ya dude 7psi is nothing on the ecotec...helll i even heard that the 2200SFI can handle small boosts on stock internals

correct me if im wrong but doesnt it say that the stock internals on a ecotec can handle up to 250-300 horse before they bust ?....thought i read it on a thread on here somewhere

but ya...7psi is fack all dood...do that sucker up

and tuner...word of advice...if you want to go into a cavalier forum and give advice...you need to know all if not 95% about cavaliers before you can call someone dumb and now have to worry about it biting you back in the ass as it just did here...and i would think that if you wanted to give advice for ppl on here and being here for 8 months 2 accounts later the majority of questions are about adding an upgrade that you would know the limitations of the car before you can tell ppl wether or not its a good idea.

TunerAdept, are you running boost? Yeah, thats what I thought. Jayson is, and I'm willing to bet he knows his shit.

Personally, I would either build the internals or run like 5psi. Just be 100% sure you know what the hell is going on before you start ripping into the engine. Boosting a NA car isnt an easy task. Good luck man and be sure to keep us updated.

Are u saying that i should build up the block?

no we are saying that if you only run about 6-8 psi thru the turbo that you can pull it off on stock internals.

Someone should invent a turbo that you can control the boost from the driver's seat. So you normally run really low boost like 5 psi or even less in order to not wear out the engine, but when someone tries to race you, you press a button to go up to 12 psi. Would that be a good idea?

well ya that would...you wouldnt have to get out of your car and pop the hood and re-adjust the boost controller from outside the car...it would be like the nitrous button...just..for the turbo lol

uhh they have those, they are called electronic boost controllers, and even manual boost controllers you can adjust from inside the car

Can one of those be installed on any turbo, and how hard is it? Also would an engine with stock internals be able to handle high boost (10-12 psi or more) for very short amounts of time (a couple seconds) without too much wear and tear assuming it runs very low boost the rest of the time?

Manual boost controllers are very easy to install and basically any boost controller will work on basically any turbo. You run low boost on a stock NT car because you are worrying about blowing a rod or something like that, not because of wear on the parts. My friend turbo'd his Neon on stock internals and after a short while he had a rod knocking. He was going to rebuild his engine anyway so he revved it a couple times just to see if it would go. Well, the fucker did and did good. The connecting rod went through the block, the only two pieces he found of the piston were about the size of a half dollar and he fucked the head up. Thats why I suggest 5psi or built internals, because when you turbo a NT car, if shit breaks, shit really breaks.