96 GT 2.4L Engine Questions

I bought a '96 GT w/ a 2.4L engine and a 5 speed trans as a project car. The timing chain broke which caused major damage. I am looking at putting a used engine in the car. I have not had a chance to read through the 1000+ threads to find out the common problems with this engine. (I only made it through about 25 so far.) Can someone give me a rundown of problematic items to be aware of?

Today I found a '97 SE w/ a 2.4L at a local new car dealership with 182k miles. Should I bother looking at this car, walk away, or run?

Thanks for any input.

Hey,

I have a 97 Grand AM GT with the 2.4 and 5 speed. I like the car for the most part. I have only done regular maintainance to it. I do know it is on it's second motor and tranny, but the kid who owned it before beat the hell out of it. I have put a heater core in it, and changed some gaskets, breaks, etc.

The only problem I have with the car is that I fried my dash backlighting and have been chasing it for a while now. But that was my stupid fault for not detaching the battery and being easily entertained with lights that go on and off just by touching some wires togeather.

Personally, if all the 96 needs is an engine-I'd go with that one. a 97 with 182K is a lot. Good luck

The 2.4 is a good engine. Most of the questions on this forum relate to the timing chain and the water pump/thermostat. The other issues involve how to change the plugs and plug boots. The key is proper maintenance, change the oil and filters at recommended intervals. Keep the coolant in good shape and you should have many miles of trouble free driving. Plugs and boots should last 100K but more frequent changes are OK too.

Thanks for the advice.

And thanks GTP Dad for a threads summary.

The 2.4 is a good engine. Most of the questions on this forum relate to the timing chain and the water pump/thermostat. The other issues involve how to change the plugs and plug boots. The key is proper maintenance, change the oil and filters at recommended intervals. Keep the coolant in good shape and you should have many miles of trouble free driving. Plugs and boots should last 100K but more frequent changes are OK too.

GTP Dad is right on, if you get a junk yard motor change
- timing chain set, adjuster, and all of the guides
- water pump & thermostat
- plugs & wires
- crank position sensor (while you have the motor out, expect the old one to break)
- oil pump if over 50,000 miles on motor (just as a precaution, easy to do while out of the car)

If you know much about cars why not rebuild the motor you have? Then you know what your getting, unless your looking at needing a new block it might be the safest way to go, if your planning on keeping the car. I'd tear it down & pull it, take it to a shop that does machining & get prices, if the block is good and you find a head at a yard you should be able to get it rebuilt for under $2000, and thats probably a high estimate.

I don't know how comfortable I am with rebuilding an engine.

I have very little experience with internal engine work and the outcome on the one and only project I did have wasn't too good. My dad and I changed the head gasket on his car a couple years ago. Less than a year later the new one was leaking; so that left a bad taste in my mouth.

My original intent for this car was to fix it (hopefully real inexpensively), run it for a year to prove that everything works, and then sell it (hopefully, again, for a slight profit.)

Now here's the twist. The day we picked up the Grand Am, my brother offered to buy it from me once I had it running. So I may want to do the best job possible since I know who the buyer will be. I may look at dropping a crate engine in, too.

Thanks for the advice Gmack221.

A crate motor isn't a bad way to go ... but you might be able to save some money by getting a junk yard motor & having it rebuilt by a machine shop, or having yours rebuilt, if you pull your motor & take it to a machine shop they could tear it down & give you an estimate on rebuilding it, most will do the tear down cheap & get good used parts (if you need a head or something), and the best part about them getting parts is if it isn't good, they get another one! Most machine shops also build motors, so its like getting a crate motor back. I don't know where your from, but around my area there are several good shops that do good quick work at a reasonable price ... doesn't hurt to check with them for prices on crate motors either.

good luck & do it right
FYI ... the junk yard head for my 95 2.3L (almost the same motor) was only like $125 ... can't imagine the 2.4L is much more expensive.

on your dads car, did you change the head bolts & make sure the head wasn't warped before you put the new head gasket on it?

I never thought of going to a machine shop. I know of two within a 10 minute drive from my house. I'll have to give them a call.

My dad's car, well, that was a quick and dirty fix. He told me if I didn't want to fix it, he was just gonna junk it. So he and I fixed it together, just for the experience. We didn't machine the head. The block and the head had the same minor warped surfaces, so we just put it back together as it was.

After the new head gasket started leaking, he drained the anti-freeze and put straight water in. He figured why leak AF when water is nearly free. (We were far enough out of winter not to worry about cracking the block.) With only water in the coolant system, it didn't leak anymore. Go figure. Anyway, the frame needed welding around the gas tank in order to pass inspection. And since he didn't want to do any more major work on this car, he took it to the local scrap yard.

Don't worry, no one would have wanted it.